Football FanCast columnist Rob Facey reacts to Wesley Sneijder's comments that Man United's Cristiano Ronaldo can't perform in the big games and wonders if this is a fair accusation?

Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder has accused prospective future team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo of going missing in big matches; and the Dutchman has a point.

He scored in the Champions League final after some slack marking from Michael Essien but other than that rarely had a kick.

His cocky, stuttering penalty was saved in the shootout and once the final whistle was blown he sunk to his knees in relief more than unmitigated joy.

Nobody can deny that he was the best player in the world last year, but Euro 2008 was supposed to be the tournament that marked him out as one of the all time greats.

After a scintillating domestic season with Manchester United in the Premier League which had pundits suggesting he would be able to walk his team to victory pre-tournament, a few goals aside, he and his team dramatically underachieved.

"I hope Robinho stays because I think he is equal to Cristiano Ronaldo," Sneijder said, as reported in The Guardian.

"People have criticised Robinho because he hasn't performed in the big matches but I saw important matches for Manchester United and Cristiano didn't perform either."

Sneijder, who was part of the brilliant Dutch team at the Finals, was also keen to point out that the Portuguese winger joining the club could have a negative effect on the players.

"It would be bad for the dressing room if he gets a much higher salary than the rest of the squad. It's not important to me but I know other team-mates would not like that at all.

"It's obvious that I want to play with Cristiano but you also have to maintain the equilibrium in the dressing room."

A valid point, perhaps, but one that is likely to fall on deaf ears as far as the Madrid authorities are concerned. Sneijder has stated that he would be just as happy playing alongside Robben or Robinho rather than Ronaldo, mainly due to the disruption this could cause; does he have a point?

In the age of total player power, how will a prospective team mate's questionable support of a club's signing go down with the board? And why is it that Ronaldo fails to live up to expectations in the big matches - Is it a fair claim?

Is it because other sides mark him out of the game, or is it simply that he doesn't fancy it, in the same way that Thierry Henry would often go missing in important Arsenal clashes?

Why was the winger so average at the Euros? Was it because of this injury? Was it because of the off the field distractions (despite the fact that he was calling the shots)?

Or was is simply that he couldn't handle the pressure of all those expectant eyes bearing down on him every time he set foot onto the pitch?