He cannot stop the hands of time: Postecoglou's boldness puts Ronaldo before the dreaded question

The criticism was not muted. Former France star Thierry Henry summed up the problem with a harsh sentence during his analysis of the World Cup matches: "It is the team that needs to score, not the individual," citing a moment in which Ronaldo dropped back instead of pushing forward to create space for his teammate, at a time when the team badly needed to drive towards goal rather than move away from it.

An even more telling verdict came from inside the pitch itself. Asked whether there was a specific plan to mark Ronaldo, Congo midfielder Ngalayel Mukau answered frankly: "We know he is no longer the player he once was, and that he has aged, but he remains one of the best players in history."

Roberto Martinez, the former Portugal head coach, did not dare to take him off despite all of that. He defended the decision openly: "It makes no sense to take off the all-time top scorer in a match where we badly need to score," adding that Ronaldo's experience in the penalty area "cannot be replaced."

Almost two months later, in a completely different context, with a side down to ten men and trailing 0-2, Postecoglou took the decision Portugal's head coach had avoided. He removed Ronaldo from the equation entirely, turning instead to Al-Khaibari and then Al-Hamdan to restore balance. The result vindicated him: Sadio Mane struck twice, Al-Omari added a third, and Al-Nassr completed the comeback for a 3-2 win.

Here a legitimate question arises. Was Postecoglou really bolder than Martinez, or are the two situations so fundamentally different that no comparison holds? In Houston, Portugal needed a goal and the only solution on the table was to bank on Ronaldo's goalscoring history.

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In Dammam, Al-Nassr first needed numerical parity. That has nothing to do with Ronaldo's goalscoring ability and everything to do with his position on the pitch, a player who takes no part in the pressing and recovery phases.

Even with that explanation, the point still stands. This is the first time this season that a coach, in a moment of genuine crisis, has decided the route back into a match runs not through Ronaldo but entirely without him.

Ronaldo did too little in the first half to make Postecoglou think twice. He managed just two shots, one on target, with his attempts worth a mere 0.05 on the expected goals scale, according to Sofascore.

His absence from the build-up told the real story. He touched the ball only seven times, completed three passes out of five, and played just one into the attacking third. No chance created, no key pass. Al-Nassr were two goals down and a man light since the 12th minute, crying out for someone who could shape the game minute after minute. Ronaldo offered nothing of the sort across those opening 45 minutes.

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Taking him off at the break, then, made statistical sense for Postecoglou. Whether it was the right call is another matter, and one the fans will keep arguing over, because Al-Nassr went on to turn the game around.

Ronaldo is 41, struggling badly in Al-Nassr's chaotic environment, and after a performance that fell short of expectations at the World Cup, he appears to be approaching a stage where the factor of time can no longer be ignored.

To say the end has already begun would be premature. One match, or one substitution decision, cannot pass judgement on a player who has built his career on defying expectations. Nor can you reduce Ronaldo's ability to score and make a difference to a fleeting moment.

One thing has changed, though: the question itself is no longer far-fetched. For years, talk of leaving Ronaldo out or taking him off mid-match seemed like a slight on his standing. Now coaches discuss decisions over his role and impact as a matter of course, and question marks hang over whether he can still deliver the level the world grew used to seeing from him.

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The hands of time do not stop, even for the greatest of stars. However long his life on the pitch lasts, Ronaldo cannot halt them.

The sharper question now is not whether he has reached the end, but when football will force him to accept that the version the world knew is no longer what it once was.