I do, I think. But in a sense that's irrelevant, in terms of whether he would come to us. If it's money for greed or money for recognition, either way he won't come to us.
Cristiano Ronaldo
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I do, I think. But in a sense that's irrelevant, in terms of whether he would come to us. If it's money for greed or money for recognition, either way he won't come to us.
The 5m? How about the image rights? He get's 40% of his own image whilst Messi gets 100%. Huge difference right there. Of course in our mind he shouldn't be complaining because he signed a contract and has made his bed but that's not how football works anymore.
Doesn't Eto'o have the biggest basic pay still?
For the record I think it's only fair that players share a portion of their image rights with clubs. It's a mutually beneficial partnership, he surely wouldn't be getting the same commercial contracts if he was playing for Anzhi.
The magic number with Ronaldo is that at the end of the season his contract will be four years old and will have two years to run. In other words no contract by the end of the season and people will be talking about sitting tight and transfer valuations falling. Madrid's reticence is understandable: they pay Kaka the same as Ronaldo to sit in the stand - they don't know how many more top years Ronaldo has left and don't want Kaka II.
Messi has a two year old contact (ends 2016) with better terms than Ronaldo (if only because of the image rights) and Barcelona are already offering him a new contract. It's not just that: ""It finishes in 2016, but it would be irresponsible to not improve his contract," as Rosell said. It's also great from a WUM perspective when they know Madrid aren't seriously negotiating with Ronaldo.
Ronaldo's not old enough for the Eto'o retirement deal, or even Zlatan's cash grab, but I'm sure the phrase, "wonderful project" is being whispered in his ear. Whereas Madrid are apparently saying nothing - apart from in backroom negative briefings to the press.
Messi has a two year old contact (ends 2016) with better terms than Ronaldo (if only because of the image rights) and Barcelona are already offering him a new contract. It's not just that: ""It finishes in 2016, but it would be irresponsible to not improve his contract," as Rosell said. It's also great from a WUM perspective when they know Madrid aren't seriously negotiating with Ronaldo.
Ronaldo's not old enough for the Eto'o retirement deal, or even Zlatan's cash grab, but I'm sure the phrase, "wonderful project" is being whispered in his ear. Whereas Madrid are apparently saying nothing - apart from in backroom negative briefings to the press.
He's scored 1 in his last 6 games. You could say he's taken more of a creative burden on but he's still had plenty of chances, and shots on goal.
He still averages 7 shots per game.
He still averages 7 shots per game.
He's cranked it up alright...
Loved his televised message to Fergie.
Dunno if it has been posted before, but it is a good watch.
Impressed by his English, seems to have improved it even more since he was here.
There's been a lot of Fellaini and Gibson loving going on lately so I thought I'd balance it a bit out.
Firstly nice goal
Second, nice pace (actually closer to 90m)
And thirdly, so close
Firstly nice goal
Second, nice pace (actually closer to 90m)
And thirdly, so close
What a FK! 
though he's just a shit Bale!
though he's just a shit Bale! what a strike, he loves gunning down atletico.
On another note, this is a quote from AS, surely Perez didnt actually say this to Ronaldo when he said he might leave?!
On another note, this is a quote from AS, surely Perez didnt actually say this to Ronaldo when he said he might leave?!
On the other hand
Lionel Messi has had a brilliant 2012 for Barcelona and Argentina. Once more endless goals and awards have flowed in the past 12 months. Highlights include becoming Barca's leading scorer in March with a hat-trick against Granada, becoming the first player to score five goals in a Champions League tie, a European record 73 goals last season and finally he is only a few goals away from breaking Gerd Muller's record of goals in a calendar year for club and country.
So when top Spanish journalist and Sky Sports colleague Guillem Balague asked to me prove that Cristiano Ronaldo and not Lionel Messi is the deserving winner of the 2012 Balon D'Or I thought I had my work cut out.
I firstly would like to say the purpose of this article is not to say that Ronaldo is a better player than Messi. As a statistician that is not for me to comment on. I am just trying to prove that in 2012, Cristiano is a more deserving winner that his counterpart at Barcelona.
When the sides met in the first La Liga Clasico of the season in October many believed it was a straight shootout for the award and not just an early-season meeting between both heavyweights. Once again they couldn't be split as both of our gladiators scored twice in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
So how do I split them? Very difficult... my first argument would be that you cannot judge both players on purely goals. Messi has scored more goals than Ronaldo in 2012. Messi has 72 goals for Barcelona this year while Ronaldo has 57 goals for Los Blancos.
Both goal tallies have been outstanding and Messi's total is truly staggering. Barcelona's current style of play is all based around getting the ball to Messi in the final third of the field and letting him work his magic, while although Ronaldo is Real's main attacking weapon, he is forced into playing in different positions along the front to suit the team and against stronger opponents they are set up on the break.
When Messi first broke into the Barcelona team in the mid-2000s he played in a front three alongside Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho and he was primarily playing second fiddle to these great players. As Frank Rijkaard's team became Pep's, Messi's importance grew and grew and after the departures of first Ronaldinho and then Eto'o he became the number one attacking weapon and took on the role of the 'false 9' position.
Ronaldo, while mainly playing on the left of a three behind either Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain, he has also been shifted into the 'number 9' position and also into a position off the front man. This switching of positions is always to help the good of the team when in my opinion Barca under Pep and now Tito Vilanova are all set up to feed Messi and get the best out of him.
If you look into possession then Barcelona dominate Real Madrid. In 2012 in La Liga, Barcelona have averaged just over 70% possession in games, while Real average just a shade over 57%. More possession means more touches and Messi leads Ronaldo with the diminutive Argentinean averaging 83 touches per game to Ronaldo's 57. More touches means more chances to impress and thus Ronaldo having 25 touches fewer means he has to make more things happen.
Another argument into why Ronaldo should win the Balon D'Or and not Messi is that although both players are great individuals, it is a team game. In terms of trophies, Real have had a much more successful 2012 than Barcelona.Although both clubs were defeated in the Champions League semi-finals, a Ronaldo-inspired Real Madrid lifted their first La Liga title since 2008 while Messi's Barcelona only lifted the Copa Del Rey. Also although of much lesser importance, Los Blancos defeated Barca in the Spanish Super Cup at the start of this season with both players scoring in each leg.
Key period
There was a key period of just over a week in 2012 which I think justifies why Ronaldo would be a more worthy winner of the award this year.
In the middle of April both sides had two legs of a Champions League semi-final with the final El Clasico of the season sandwiched in between. Messi failed to score in all three games which is his joint worst run without a goal in 2012 and bearing in mind these three games were season defining they have to be taken into consideration. Barca were on the wrong end of all three results, seeing their dream of another treble evaporate into thin air.
In both legs against Chelsea he was quieter than normal and he missed a 49th-minute penalty in the second leg at the Camp Nou which would probably have seen Barca reach the final in Munich rather than the crafty Cockneys of Chelsea.
Ronaldo's Real crashed out of their semi-final on penalties against Bayern and although he missed his penalty in the shootout, he scored twice in normal time including once from the penalty spot to give Real a chance of reaching the final in Bavaria.
The Clasico meeting in April decided the La Liga title with Real four points ahead of Barca at kick off and with difficult remaining games they couldn't afford to lose at the home of their great rivals. Real won for the first time in four La Liga visits and with Messi quieter than usual it was left to Ronaldo to decide the fate of the La Liga title with a brilliant winning goal with the sides deadlocked at 1-1.
Other arguments for Ronaldo and facts that should be considered include the fact that he has scored more Clasico goals in 2012 than Messi. Ronaldo has scored in all six Clasicos this year (seven goals). This made him the first player from either side to score in six consecutive Clasicos.
Messi has scored only a shoddy four goals in six Clasico appearances in 2012.
In conclusion, why should Ronaldo be crowned the world's best player this year? Ronaldo is the heartbeat of Real and I believe if you took both Messi and him out of their respective teams, Real would struggle more than Barca. Although Real's squad is stronger than Barca's, in my opinion Messi's fellow 10 starters are more capable of adapting to life without Messi than their counterparts in Madrid are.
I think Ronaldo showed on his worth to Los Blancos on Saturday night in the Madrid Derby. In a drab first half a world-class free kick from CR7 effectively gave Real the win over their City rivals and thanks to Ronaldo they are still just about holding onto Barca's coat tails at the top of La Liga.
Real should do whatever they can to keep him happy and contracted to them. With whispers of his unhappiness leaking into the Spanish media, Real cannot afford to let him leave.
Whoever will be announced as the winner in Zurich on January 7 will be a worthy winner and if Messi does win the award for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time who am I to argue? His performances, goals and stats speak for themselves in 2012.
However if you dig a little deeper, you may just think that the boy from Madeira may for this year, be a slightly more deserving winner.
So when top Spanish journalist and Sky Sports colleague Guillem Balague asked to me prove that Cristiano Ronaldo and not Lionel Messi is the deserving winner of the 2012 Balon D'Or I thought I had my work cut out.
I firstly would like to say the purpose of this article is not to say that Ronaldo is a better player than Messi. As a statistician that is not for me to comment on. I am just trying to prove that in 2012, Cristiano is a more deserving winner that his counterpart at Barcelona.
When the sides met in the first La Liga Clasico of the season in October many believed it was a straight shootout for the award and not just an early-season meeting between both heavyweights. Once again they couldn't be split as both of our gladiators scored twice in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
So how do I split them? Very difficult... my first argument would be that you cannot judge both players on purely goals. Messi has scored more goals than Ronaldo in 2012. Messi has 72 goals for Barcelona this year while Ronaldo has 57 goals for Los Blancos.
Both goal tallies have been outstanding and Messi's total is truly staggering. Barcelona's current style of play is all based around getting the ball to Messi in the final third of the field and letting him work his magic, while although Ronaldo is Real's main attacking weapon, he is forced into playing in different positions along the front to suit the team and against stronger opponents they are set up on the break.
When Messi first broke into the Barcelona team in the mid-2000s he played in a front three alongside Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho and he was primarily playing second fiddle to these great players. As Frank Rijkaard's team became Pep's, Messi's importance grew and grew and after the departures of first Ronaldinho and then Eto'o he became the number one attacking weapon and took on the role of the 'false 9' position.
Ronaldo, while mainly playing on the left of a three behind either Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain, he has also been shifted into the 'number 9' position and also into a position off the front man. This switching of positions is always to help the good of the team when in my opinion Barca under Pep and now Tito Vilanova are all set up to feed Messi and get the best out of him.
If you look into possession then Barcelona dominate Real Madrid. In 2012 in La Liga, Barcelona have averaged just over 70% possession in games, while Real average just a shade over 57%. More possession means more touches and Messi leads Ronaldo with the diminutive Argentinean averaging 83 touches per game to Ronaldo's 57. More touches means more chances to impress and thus Ronaldo having 25 touches fewer means he has to make more things happen.
Another argument into why Ronaldo should win the Balon D'Or and not Messi is that although both players are great individuals, it is a team game. In terms of trophies, Real have had a much more successful 2012 than Barcelona.Although both clubs were defeated in the Champions League semi-finals, a Ronaldo-inspired Real Madrid lifted their first La Liga title since 2008 while Messi's Barcelona only lifted the Copa Del Rey. Also although of much lesser importance, Los Blancos defeated Barca in the Spanish Super Cup at the start of this season with both players scoring in each leg.
Key period
There was a key period of just over a week in 2012 which I think justifies why Ronaldo would be a more worthy winner of the award this year.
In the middle of April both sides had two legs of a Champions League semi-final with the final El Clasico of the season sandwiched in between. Messi failed to score in all three games which is his joint worst run without a goal in 2012 and bearing in mind these three games were season defining they have to be taken into consideration. Barca were on the wrong end of all three results, seeing their dream of another treble evaporate into thin air.
In both legs against Chelsea he was quieter than normal and he missed a 49th-minute penalty in the second leg at the Camp Nou which would probably have seen Barca reach the final in Munich rather than the crafty Cockneys of Chelsea.
Ronaldo's Real crashed out of their semi-final on penalties against Bayern and although he missed his penalty in the shootout, he scored twice in normal time including once from the penalty spot to give Real a chance of reaching the final in Bavaria.
The Clasico meeting in April decided the La Liga title with Real four points ahead of Barca at kick off and with difficult remaining games they couldn't afford to lose at the home of their great rivals. Real won for the first time in four La Liga visits and with Messi quieter than usual it was left to Ronaldo to decide the fate of the La Liga title with a brilliant winning goal with the sides deadlocked at 1-1.
Other arguments for Ronaldo and facts that should be considered include the fact that he has scored more Clasico goals in 2012 than Messi. Ronaldo has scored in all six Clasicos this year (seven goals). This made him the first player from either side to score in six consecutive Clasicos.
Messi has scored only a shoddy four goals in six Clasico appearances in 2012.
In conclusion, why should Ronaldo be crowned the world's best player this year? Ronaldo is the heartbeat of Real and I believe if you took both Messi and him out of their respective teams, Real would struggle more than Barca. Although Real's squad is stronger than Barca's, in my opinion Messi's fellow 10 starters are more capable of adapting to life without Messi than their counterparts in Madrid are.
I think Ronaldo showed on his worth to Los Blancos on Saturday night in the Madrid Derby. In a drab first half a world-class free kick from CR7 effectively gave Real the win over their City rivals and thanks to Ronaldo they are still just about holding onto Barca's coat tails at the top of La Liga.
Real should do whatever they can to keep him happy and contracted to them. With whispers of his unhappiness leaking into the Spanish media, Real cannot afford to let him leave.
Whoever will be announced as the winner in Zurich on January 7 will be a worthy winner and if Messi does win the award for an unprecedented fourth consecutive time who am I to argue? His performances, goals and stats speak for themselves in 2012.
However if you dig a little deeper, you may just think that the boy from Madeira may for this year, be a slightly more deserving winner.
http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,,12087_8304752,00.html
I don't really care about Ronaldo and insecurities but the best parts of the article for me were when the author explains the roles that the full backs and wingers play in helping each others game. That is why I like having Young or Welbeck or Rooney on the left side before Nani, who doesn't track and was one of the main reason for the weakness on the left side last season. This season Evra has looked better and us more secure due to the presence of players other than Nani.
I don't think that's true. One thing you can't complain about Nani is his tracking back. He does a good job as far as that is concerned.
There is a bit of a flaw in that article
"With Ronaldo, though, it's always all about him. Take, for example, the 2008 Champions League final. Ronaldo, playing on the left side of midfield, headed Manchester United into the lead. For half an hour or so he dominated Michael Essien, who was playing at right-back for Chelsea that night. But then Essien started running past him. Ronaldo didn't track him. One Essien surge led to Frank Lampard's equaliser. Chelsea had the better of the second half and extra-time, in part because Essien's advancement gave them an extra body in midfield."
The flaw is that Fergie a couple of times when Ronaldo was with us stated that he didnt want Ronaldo tracking back.
"With Ronaldo, though, it's always all about him. Take, for example, the 2008 Champions League final. Ronaldo, playing on the left side of midfield, headed Manchester United into the lead. For half an hour or so he dominated Michael Essien, who was playing at right-back for Chelsea that night. But then Essien started running past him. Ronaldo didn't track him. One Essien surge led to Frank Lampard's equaliser. Chelsea had the better of the second half and extra-time, in part because Essien's advancement gave them an extra body in midfield."
The flaw is that Fergie a couple of times when Ronaldo was with us stated that he didnt want Ronaldo tracking back.
Something that Gary Neville reiterated only recently, perhaps he had read that article.
That's not true and is probably the laziest stereotype any of our players have ever got. Berbatov was lazy, Park was just a hard worker, Carrick only passes sideways etc. are all bad but to say that Nani doesn't track back is the worst. Just because he has a bit of flair doesn't mean he only hangs around at the top of the pitch
The main flaw in his article is that Ronaldo has always been the biggest attacking threat in which ever team he has played for and is why managers have always allowed him the freedom to do what he wants while asking other players to do the defensive work for him.
If Rooney was the one scoring 40+ goals a season for us when Ronaldo was playing with us, does he honestly think Sir Alex would get Rooney to do the tracking back instead?
This!
Carrick has more forward passes than Xavi! Nani certainly tracks back more than most wingers. We are just spoilt with wingers such as Beckham, Giggs and Valencia. Get Robben, Di Maria, Ribery, Mata etc in our side and see if they track back more. Maybe Nani isn't the best defender, but he still tracks back.
Agreed, there's a few things you can throw at Nani but that aint one of them.
Sorry but that's nonsense. Nani does track back, and you obviously don't pay enough attention if you don't see that.
That article is hilarious 
So Ronaldo played a key role in us winning a CL in 2008, and a key role in getting us to a final in 2009, but it doesn't work with Madrid?
I do remember SAF shouting at Ronaldo once because he didn't track back after he lost the ball. We conceded on that play..
the ronaldo article has a huge flaw: the journo seems to think that ronaldo could score 160 goals in 160 games while tracking back the rival players
which is stupid, because if he did so, no matter how much stamina he has, in 20 minutes he wont be tracking back and wont be scoring
so, if you are his coach you have to think what do you prefer, him scoring shitloads of goals while risking that from time to time a player he didn't track back becomes esencial on the rival team to score one goal, or the opposite?
which is stupid, because if he did so, no matter how much stamina he has, in 20 minutes he wont be tracking back and wont be scoring
so, if you are his coach you have to think what do you prefer, him scoring shitloads of goals while risking that from time to time a player he didn't track back becomes esencial on the rival team to score one goal, or the opposite?
I dont think the article contains that assumption. It could easily be that the journo thinks Ronaldo scoring 120 or 100 goals, but tracking back, would be better for the team than him scoring 160 goals and not.
Not saying I think that. Just that it seems consistent with what the article is saying.
Surely this is not that contentious a point to make, generally speaking. RVN scored us a shit load of goals, when he left we were arguably a better team. Whether it applies to Ronaldo is another matter, but the principle is hardly new.
Not saying I think that. Just that it seems consistent with what the article is saying.
Surely this is not that contentious a point to make, generally speaking. RVN scored us a shit load of goals, when he left we were arguably a better team. Whether it applies to Ronaldo is another matter, but the principle is hardly new.
It's also horseshit about him not tracking back in the CL final against Chelsea. He was tracking back towards the end of the second half and into extra time where we started to take back control of the game. He tracks when it's necessary but most of the time for Madrid and us it isn't.
162 - Since he joined Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo has attempted more direct free kicks than any other La Liga team (Barca 158). - Opta
Tbf, his conversion rate is better than I thought:
10 - Of his 162 direct free kick attempts for Real Madrid in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo has converted 10 into goals. Response.
Wasn't there stats that he was scoring something like one in 30 last year?
Tbf, his conversion rate is better than I thought:
10 - Of his 162 direct free kick attempts for Real Madrid in La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo has converted 10 into goals. Response.
Wasn't there stats that he was scoring something like one in 30 last year?
Looking back you always think he banged them in for fun at every opportunity, but I wonder if his conversion rate was every especially high?
1 goal for every 16 freekicks?! I thought it was higher than that..
Are you sure of this stat Amar?
Are you sure of this stat Amar?
Sounds about right.
The only reason we remember him as a good free kick taker is because his free kicks are usually really spectacular.
How many of the 158 have Barcelona converted out of interest?
Are you serious? It used to drive me nuts, he would hit the wall 9/10 times.
But the shots that did to in were spectacular. You never remember the misses only the goals.
To be fair, unlike other FK takers, this fecker does try shooting from anywhere within 40 yards.
I reckon his rate at FK's within 20-25 yards is pretty damn good.
I'd really like to know this too.
Since the 09/10 season when Ronaldo joined Madrid
Here are the records from their usual Free kick takers over that time period:
Messi 8
Xavi 3
Zlatan 1
Alves 1
Villa 1
So that's 14 goals in total
Source Transfermrkt.co.uk
Cheers Id.
Shows that Ronnie stats are fine then, especially considering the distance he hits many of them from.
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