A pass is a communication. So is a movement to occupy the space or receive a ball. An effort to maintain the structure requires communication.
By definition, it involves two entities, at least physically.

Not to Ronaldinho.Ronaldinho, in his mind must be a solitary traveller.

Flying hair, dancing feet, swivelling waist, a loose shirt and a big, innocent smile giving an unwavering belief.
He is here only to enjoy with a ball at his feet like a kid in Porto Alegre…

And therein lies the conundrum. He was never going to fit a rigid system of which an extreme would be van Gaal. We complained about his attitude, his late night parties and “lack of focus”. It wasn’t that for him to start with…

If you go to YouTube, you would see clips of him doing unbelievable stuff, from backheels to triple sombreros to juggling a ball with a blindfold on and what not. It’s as if he communicated with not the players, but the ball. You remember the goal after which Santiago Bernabeu, the home to our staunchest of enemies stood up for him and couldn’t help but applaud? Look at that goal. Look how he keeps moving the ball at that pace. The ball must have been some 4 meters away from him for a couple of moments. Yet you know the ball is still WITH him.

That must be what football is to him. Only and only a source of joy. Did it end well? No. Ronaldinho we saw never reached what he could have. I wonder if there has ever been a person with so much of raw talent. Yet, the freedom, the enjoyment kept it raw. I am pretty sure we never saw even 5% of what he was capable of.

So do we chastise the artist for being an artiste, for not adhering to a system or do we weigh in for the system so that it helps the artist take his art to a new level?
Maybe you can criticise the horse for not pulling a cart, but what if he is not meant to pull it?

That is Ronaldinho. The one who told us the limits to which a man can and cannot emphasise absolute freedom, but without a doubt stood for the idea that joy comes first.