A video is doing the rounds on Twitter that claims to show the difference in football IQ between Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford.
After enduring an inconsistent couple of years, Rashford is now enjoying the best season of his Manchester United career.
The 25-year-old striker has scored 25 goals in all competitions, and is undoubtedly one of the most in-form attackers in world football.
Rashford’s up-turn in form appears to have coincided with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, who left Old Trafford at the end of last year after a falling-out with United boss Erik ten Hag.
Ronaldo will forever be remembered as a United legend, and rightly so. It was at United that he established himself as one of the best players in the world, winning the Ballon d’Or in 2008 before winning four more at Real Madrid.
However, there is no denying that his poor performances and attitude hindered United during the early months of Ten Hag’s reign.
Rashford has taken on the attacking burden left by Ronaldo with ease, although a video has emerged online that suggests the Portuguese star’s game intelligence could be harder to replace.
The video shows a goal Wayne Rooney scored for United in a 4-1 win against Bolton Wanderers in March 2007.
Rooney took the plaudits with a delicate dinked finish over the goalkeeper, but only after he and Ronaldo had played a series of devestating one-two passes all the way up the pitch.
The killer moment was when Rooney flicked the ball into Ronaldo’s pass and the Portuguese dribbled through the heart of the pitch at speed.
He delayed his return pass to Rooney until exactly the right moment, when there was no chance of any defenders catching the England striker.
This video clearly shows the difference in football IQ between Ronaldo and Rashford.
Two similar situations but two different outcomes pic.twitter.com/KqpQMSe8WC
— TZ5 (@totalzizou) March 13, 2023
The clip has been compared to a similar move that Ronaldo tried to put together with Rashford earlier this season, with Ronaldo playing the role of Rooney and Rashford playing the role of ROnaldo in 2006.
After United looked to break up the pitch, Ronaldo flicked the ball inside to Rashford – as Rooney had done for him in 2006 – and sprinted up the pitch.
However, instead of dribbling into the acres of space ahead of him, Rashford imediately returned the pass to Ronaldo, despite his teammate being surrounded by defenders.
By the time Ronaldo had a chance to return the pass Rashford had drifted into an offside position and the move broke down.
United fans were quick to pick up on the comparison.
“Not a cr7 stan in the slightest but why doesn’t rashford just continue instead of laying the ball off – there’s nobody there bruv,” commented @sealteamsix22.
@AGFennec didn’t hold back, saying: “Rashford’s IQ is the biggest thing holding him back from being a world beater.”
However, not everyone agreed. @Issaspambrodie said: “You’re literally showing us that Ronaldo chose to slow the whole attack by not threading a through ball to Rashford.”
