Cristiano Ronaldo

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ADJUDICATOR said:
It doesn't matter who won because Messi will be remembered as a better player.
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Will he though? It's not set in stone.

I believe Messi to be the better player, but say Ronaldo wins a couple more Ballon d'Or's? Which he may well. And Messi never wins one again? Which he may well. You'd have Ronaldo, on more Ballon d'Or's and the fact he did it in both England and Spain... All hypothetical of course, but possible.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Will he though? It's not set in stone.

I believe Messi to be the better player, but say Ronaldo wins a couple more Ballon d'Or's? Which he may well. And Messi never wins one again? Which he may well. You'd have Ronaldo, on more Ballon d'Or's and the fact he did it in both England and Spain... All hypothetical of course, but possible.
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He will. As much as I pissed a lot of people off, I think Ronaldo does owe a lot to Messi's injuries and the chaos at his club. And I think it's kinda generally accepted Ronaldo will never reach Messi's peak, which was 2011 for me when they won the CL at Wembley.
 
His reception at Old Trafford when we were against Madrid suggest that the majority of United fans still like Ronaldo.

He's part of SAF legacy, and he always makes sure that the world knows it. Many feels that it's his genuine feeling. I think that plays a big part of why so many United fans still like him. SAF is United.

That happens with Mou's not so secret admiration of SAF, that make some have favorable impression of him (plus his achievement).
 
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Red Stone said:
Quite frankly, considering all the things he's got going for him and the work he's put in to get there, I'm shocked he isn't even more of a cock. I know I wouldn't be able to handle myself if I was in his shoes. Best footballer in the world, great looks, great body, great-looking girlfriend, more money than he'll ever be able to spend, marketability through the roof. Can anyone say their ego wouldn't explode if that was your life? The remarkable thing is how he's continued to improve at his sport despite all the distractions everywhere. Every second of his life is a 110% effort at trying to get better at what he does. I can't imagine the type of mentality you need to be so extremely focused on one thing in the way he has for the past decade. What a machine he is, an absolute monster.
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This, hundred times this. The lad is bent on being the best in the world and is determined to compete with the best of the best. Credit to him.
 
Snake Plissken said:
He will. As much as I pissed a lot of people off, I think Ronaldo does owe a lot to Messi's injuries and the chaos at his club. And I think it's kinda generally accepted Ronaldo will never reach Messi's peak, which was 2011 for me when they won the CL at Wembley.
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Well if Ronaldo wins three in a row...
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Will he though? It's not set in stone.

I believe Messi to be the better player, but say Ronaldo wins a couple more Ballon d'Or's? Which he may well. And Messi never wins one again? Which he may well. You'd have Ronaldo, on more Ballon d'Or's and the fact he did it in both England and Spain... All hypothetical of course, but possible.
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I seriously doubt future generations will look to the number ballon d'ors won to base their opinions on who the greatest players in history were - it only began in 1991 for a start.

I think statistics and video footage will be studied more than in past generations (because there's more of it) and obviously Ronaldo will be thought of as 'up there' due to his phenomenal stats and incredible highlight reels.

But ballon d'ors won? I doubt anyone in the future will care that much about them. People can think for themselves.
 
JUPITER said:
I seriously doubt future generations will look to the number ballon d'ors won to base their opinions on who the greatest players in history were - it only began in 1991 for a start.

I think statistics and video footage will be studied more than in past generations (because there's more of it) and obviously Ronaldo will be thought of as 'up there' due to his phenomenal stats and incredible highlight reels.

But ballon d'ors won? I doubt anyone in the future will care that much about them. People can think for themselves.
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Ballon d'Or wins will definitely be considered in any future Ronaldo vs. Messi debate. It's only the two that have made the award as significant as it is nowadays.
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Well if Ronaldo wins three in a row...
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Messi's already got a ready made excuse with the transfer embargo :lol:

Nah but seriously he probably will make it 3 in a row. Madrid are getting stronger, he just needs to keep tucking those penalties away and he's a shoe in.
 
I like Ronaldo, he's a fantastic player and his professionalism and work ethic are legendary, but he fails to grasp something very simple: he would have been more popular and loved, if he didn't behave like a self-absorbed arse. That's a shame because he's such a wonderful athlete.
 
Treble said:
I like Ronaldo, he's a fantastic player and his professionalism and work ethic are legendary, but he fails to grasp something very simple: he would have been more popular and loved, if he didn't behave like a self-absorbed arse. That's a shame because he's such a wonderful athlete.
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I doubt he gives a shite to be honest
 
KiD MoYeS said:
Well if Ronaldo wins three in a row...
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He'll still need to reach Messi's peak to have a claim to be better. At the minute he's still a long way short, and as good and hard working as he is I don't think he's capable of reaching that level.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
He'll still need to reach Messi's peak to have a claim to be better. At the minute he's still a long way short, and as good and hard working as he is I don't think he's capable of reaching that level.
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At best he'll match his goalscoring feats/records.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
At best he'll match his goalscoring feats/records.
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I doubt he'll even do that to be honest. He'd have to continue at his current insane goalscoring rate to match Messi's best (73 goals in a season, Cristiano is at 33 currently).
 
Bob Loblaw said:
I doubt he'll even do that to be honest. He'd have to continue at his current insane goalscoring rate to match Messi's best (73 goals in a season, Cristiano is at 33 currently).
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He might. Madrid are capable of battering teams. It's not completely relevant thought imo.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
He might. Madrid are capable of battering teams. It's not completely relevant thought imo.
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Yeah, think you're right on both counts - it's not exactly impossible that he'll match/better it but it wouldn't mean his season was better than Messi's best, just as he could have a better season without matching his goals.
 
Ah such surprise, Ronaldo just won the 3rd Ballon D'or and the discussion revolves around the same.




Was interesting hearing Costinha talk about his work ethic and how he set himself targets to accomplish in order to motivate himself. In Portugal's national team training sessions he had to the goal of holding his own in strenght terms against his teammates. In his noodle head days, he went from struggling to beat Costinha (who although a hard player, was skinny) to kicking Fernando "The animal" Couto arse in the exercizes. Makes me laugh imagining the duo in competition.
 
JUPITER said:
I seriously doubt future generations will look to the number ballon d'ors won to base their opinions on who the greatest players in history were - it only began in 1991 for a start.

I think statistics and video footage will be studied more than in past generations (because there's more of it) and obviously Ronaldo will be thought of as 'up there' due to his phenomenal stats and incredible highlight reels.

But ballon d'ors won? I doubt anyone in the future will care that much about them. People can think for themselves.
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Well the Ballon D'Or started in the 1950s, it was the FIFA award that kicked off in 1991. But comparing across generations isn't easy given South Americans weren't eligible for the Ballon before 1996. Nor because the club game has changed so much, and even the game itself with players now less likely to succumb to permanent injury before their late-20s.
 
So the race for Ballon d'Or 2016 starts now right? Or did it take into account performance between now and when the nominations for the 2015 award was announced?
 
Bob Loblaw said:
I doubt he'll even do that to be honest. He'd have to continue at his current insane goalscoring rate to match Messi's best (73 goals in a season, Cristiano is at 33 currently).
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amolbhatia100 said:
He might. Madrid are capable of battering teams. It's not completely relevant thought imo.
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Bob Loblaw said:
Yeah, think you're right on both counts - it's not exactly impossible that he'll match/better it but it wouldn't mean his season was better than Messi's best, just as he could have a better season without matching his goals.
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Maybe you have to take into account that Messi achieved these feats with a superior team, having behind him arguably the best midfield at club level ever. As good as Kroos, Modric, and Isco are, they are nothing like Xavi and Iniesta in their pomp. Achieving the same records with a lesser team would be quite astonishing in itself. Besides, the myth about Ronaldo's average creativity has already exploded this season. If I'm not mistaken, in terms of goals and assists per minute he is having currently a better season than Messi's best ever. Thanks to his amaizing contributions Real won 22 consecutive games which was impossible even for Pep's Barca.

I think that when people think that Messi is undoubtedly superior to Ronaldo, they tend to overrate technique. Personally, I rate technique very highly. Ronaldinho was my favourite player, I liked Berbatov very much as well. But as important as technique is, there are many other important qualities. Otherwise, Berbatov would have been a better player than Rooney which he clearly never was. It is not clear cut who is better between Messi and the current version of Ronaldo, not at all. Watch this space.
 
Treble said:
Maybe you have to take into account that Messi achieved these feats with a superior team, having behind him arguably the best midfield at club level ever. As good as Kroos, Modric, and Isco are, they are nothing like Xavi and Iniesta in their pomp. Achieving the same records with a lesser team would be quite astonishing in itself. Besides, the myth about Ronaldo's average creativity has already exploded this season. If I'm not mistaken, in terms of goals and assists per minute he is having currently a better season than Messi's best ever. Thanks to his amaizing contributions Real won 22 consecutive games which was impossible even for Pep's Barca.

I think that when people think that Messi is undoubtedly superior to Ronaldo, they tend to overrate technique. Personally, I rate technique very highly. Ronaldinho was my favourite player, I liked Berbatov very much as well. But as important as technique is, there are many other important qualities. Otherwise, Berbatov would have been a better player than Rooney which he clearly never was. It is not clear cut who is better between Messi and the current version of Ronaldo, not at all. Watch this space.
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How has he proved anything about his creativity? He has a lot of assists but 9 out of his 10 assists are "short lay-offs", only 1 of which is a through ball. Which is the problem with using assists as evidence that a player is creative, you can rack up assists without being creative and you can be creative without racking up assists.

Anyone who watches Cristiano Ronaldo knows he's a solid passer but not particularly special at it, unlike say...Messi.
 
Bob Loblaw said:
How has he proved anything about his creativity? He has a lot of assists but 9 out of his 10 assists are "short lay-offs", only 1 of which is a through ball. Which is the problem with using assists as evidence that a player is creative, you can rack up assists without being creative and you can be creative without racking up assists.

Anyone who watches Cristiano Ronaldo knows he's a solid passer but not particularly special at it, unlike say...Messi.
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I agree that assists and creativity and not very closely related and that Messi is a (far) superior passer of the ball. But everyone who has watched Ronaldo 06/07 knows how creative he can be, I think that this season he makes steps toward merging his old version circa 06/07 and his older Madrid self. Messi is far superior in terms of technique but Ronaldo is far superior in terms of strength, movement, heading, two-footednes, hunger, will to win etc etc. which sort of compensates for his inferiority as a technician.
 
JUPITER said:
I think the theory is that if someone disagrees with the majority opinion, they're inventing the opinion in order to get a reaction...
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I don't think it is called artificial opinion. It is side effect of socialist mindset.
 
Treble said:
I agree that assists and creativity and not very closely related and that Messi is a (far) superior passer of the ball. But everyone who has watched Ronaldo 06/07 knows how creative he can be, I think that this season he makes steps toward merging his old version circa 06/07 and his older Madrid self. Messi is far superior in terms of technique but Ronaldo is far superior in terms of strength, movement, heading, two-footednes, hunger, will to win etc etc. which sort of compensates for his inferiority as a technician.
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Fair enough. Aside from two-footedness I agree, as Messi has definitely improved in that area over the past few seasons.
 
Treble said:
Ronaldo is far superior in terms of strength, movement, heading, two-footednes, hunger, will to win etc etc. which sort of compensates for his inferiority as a technician.
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Messi is already well known for his abnormally low centre of gravity and supreme balance on the ball so strength isn't that much of a disparity. He's shown good development in his contribution with his weaker foot too. Cristiano Ronaldo might be better conditioned to find predatory spaces in the box but Messi is far more intelligent in every other area of offensive play that it's barely worth mentioning.

It's not close at all really. Messi is far and away the best player anyone in this generation will have seen and the discussion of awards is only relevant when he isn't meeting the ridiculously high standards we all know him to be capable of. Standards that Cristiano Ronaldo will never reach.
 
Even if we take haters boring 'just hard work, no special talent' argument in consideration (though flawed), it puts Ronaldo in a class of his own, never seen before because if a player just by hard work can achieve this much then he is among the very best ever just because of that. The fact that no one else in the game ever could take performance up several notches just based on 'hard work' for a period of more than a decade tells everything. Not in football but in any other field, achieving consistent success at topmost level through sheer hard work is most difficult part. It tells volumes about the people who underestimate success based on hard work.
 
fishfingers15 said:
You haven't answered the question though, is the list true? :lol:
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He has never even heard of the class of 92. He made this post before and was rightly called out by United fans.
CLARiiON said:
I am not good with United's history. But did you guys ever have many players in the playing eleven like Barca do from academy? I don't think I heard that much rumbling in past about United's academy players, I could be very wrong though. Is all the fuss made beacuse of Welback?
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I highly doubt he was around to see or has even watched videos of the all-time greats.
 
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