height - 6' 1"
weight - 172 lbs / 78 kg
Positives :
This kid is very fast, not Henry or Owen fast but very fast. As comfortable and technically proficient with two feet as you can be. Is very good at running and steering the ball at high speed. Has explosive speed over short distances and I think he can still improve this more. Has perhaps the fastest feet in the biz and can dribble single individuals and groups with ease. He has his preferred dribbles but he has many more in his repetoire. Is tremendous at bursting laterally with his sidestep move while a defender is chasing him, Roberto Carlos used to do this all the time. Has the ability to improvise within tight areas in order to free himself. Has very good positional sense and workrate. Has good vertical leap and heads the ball well. He is an excellent distributor of the ball. Can play virtually any position upfront.
Negatives:
To be quite honest he has no permanent negatives, all are weak spots in his game that will improve with time and instruction. Needs to build more upper body strength. Needs to improve the consistency of his crossing, as he is a very good crosser of the ball with both feet but he must learn to lean back more when releasing the ball. His corner kick is very good when executed properly. His problem is that the percentage of such good crosses is too low. Any player that knows his stuff could tell him that if wants to stab at it to give it that wicked dip, he can do it but he has to lean back for it gain more altitude. Notice he hunches and leans over the ball on cornerkicks. Striking the ball on goal needs to improve, he needs to strike it with less power, thereby improving the accuracy. He is trying to rip the net and that leads to errant shots. Also, he needs to be more selfish when near the box, far too many times this season he is faced with one man to beat and he is one on one with the keeper and he elects to give the ball to a player of lesser ability than himself. RVN doesnt do this, some may say that RVN has a selfish way about him, but look at his strikerate! Ronaldo knows that he can burn anyone, now he needs to know that he can score just as well. His defending, while immature, has improved this season and will continue to do so naturally.
Best attribute: Attitude. He has self confidence and knows that he is superior to his adversary. When he fails he never quits or complains, he gets up and runs at them again. Bravo! The only two players in recent history that I can compare him to is Ronaldo and Romario in this sense. Both Brasilians never, ever complain or get upset with themselves or others when things don't come off, they just turn around or cross themself and go back to the job at hand. Great examples to the youth. Bravo!
Ricardo Quaresma
height - 5' 8"
weight - 150 lbs / 67kg
Positives: Quaresma is of average speed over long distances but quite explosive over short distance. He is supremely confident when dribbling adversaries and posseses an unimaginable repetoire of tricks and dribbles. He has his preferred dribble where he likes to roll the ball with his right foot under his right leg while throwing his right shoulder out as bait. It doesn't always come off, but with time it will become deadly, ala the "Figo lunge". Is very good at running and steering the ball at high speed. Is tremendous at bursting laterally and incorporates incredible dribbles at the same time. Has the tremendous ability to improvise within tight areas in order to free himself, but is not the strongest player when things get overly physical. Has very good positional sense and workrate. He is an excellent distributor of the ball and can play any position up front except, targetman-striker.
Negatives: Like Ronaldo has certain weak areas of his game that will develop with time and instruction. Certainly, needs to build more upperbody mass to deal with physically strong players especially because of his shorter stature. His corner kicks and crosses are the same as Ronaldos and his incorrect form in doing so is the same. He also like Ronaldo needs to be more assertive when there is only one man left to beat and he needs to do what he did in the recent Under 21 match vs Sweden, which is run at defenders and draw fouls. This is the hallmark of the greats, he has to learn to pay the price for these incremental gains. It's nice to see that he was doing this in the second half of that match with Sweden. Quaresma also needs to improve his Self Belief. He has tremendous self confidence but has to now beleive that he can beat his adversary and that he can't be stopped. Quaresma is unfortunately only right-footed and elects to do the Mardona under leg cross rather than work on his left foot cross. I like to see it, but it's not always accurate. Also he must improve his defending like Ronaldo.
Best attribute: Dribbling wizardry. It will be a glorious day (hopefully at Barca) when we see a mature, stronger, more developed Quaresma with the Self Belief to match his appetite for defenders. Lord have mercy on them!
Conclusion : Portugal is blessed to have two players that are the same age, best friends and both with the same tremendous attributes. It's quite unique. I personally like Quaresma better but I beleive that of the two Cristiano Ronaldo is the better player because he is a better athlete and is more versatile. Good luck to them both.
weight - 172 lbs / 78 kg
Positives :
This kid is very fast, not Henry or Owen fast but very fast. As comfortable and technically proficient with two feet as you can be. Is very good at running and steering the ball at high speed. Has explosive speed over short distances and I think he can still improve this more. Has perhaps the fastest feet in the biz and can dribble single individuals and groups with ease. He has his preferred dribbles but he has many more in his repetoire. Is tremendous at bursting laterally with his sidestep move while a defender is chasing him, Roberto Carlos used to do this all the time. Has the ability to improvise within tight areas in order to free himself. Has very good positional sense and workrate. Has good vertical leap and heads the ball well. He is an excellent distributor of the ball. Can play virtually any position upfront.
Negatives:
To be quite honest he has no permanent negatives, all are weak spots in his game that will improve with time and instruction. Needs to build more upper body strength. Needs to improve the consistency of his crossing, as he is a very good crosser of the ball with both feet but he must learn to lean back more when releasing the ball. His corner kick is very good when executed properly. His problem is that the percentage of such good crosses is too low. Any player that knows his stuff could tell him that if wants to stab at it to give it that wicked dip, he can do it but he has to lean back for it gain more altitude. Notice he hunches and leans over the ball on cornerkicks. Striking the ball on goal needs to improve, he needs to strike it with less power, thereby improving the accuracy. He is trying to rip the net and that leads to errant shots. Also, he needs to be more selfish when near the box, far too many times this season he is faced with one man to beat and he is one on one with the keeper and he elects to give the ball to a player of lesser ability than himself. RVN doesnt do this, some may say that RVN has a selfish way about him, but look at his strikerate! Ronaldo knows that he can burn anyone, now he needs to know that he can score just as well. His defending, while immature, has improved this season and will continue to do so naturally.
Best attribute: Attitude. He has self confidence and knows that he is superior to his adversary. When he fails he never quits or complains, he gets up and runs at them again. Bravo! The only two players in recent history that I can compare him to is Ronaldo and Romario in this sense. Both Brasilians never, ever complain or get upset with themselves or others when things don't come off, they just turn around or cross themself and go back to the job at hand. Great examples to the youth. Bravo!
Ricardo Quaresma
height - 5' 8"
weight - 150 lbs / 67kg
Positives: Quaresma is of average speed over long distances but quite explosive over short distance. He is supremely confident when dribbling adversaries and posseses an unimaginable repetoire of tricks and dribbles. He has his preferred dribble where he likes to roll the ball with his right foot under his right leg while throwing his right shoulder out as bait. It doesn't always come off, but with time it will become deadly, ala the "Figo lunge". Is very good at running and steering the ball at high speed. Is tremendous at bursting laterally and incorporates incredible dribbles at the same time. Has the tremendous ability to improvise within tight areas in order to free himself, but is not the strongest player when things get overly physical. Has very good positional sense and workrate. He is an excellent distributor of the ball and can play any position up front except, targetman-striker.
Negatives: Like Ronaldo has certain weak areas of his game that will develop with time and instruction. Certainly, needs to build more upperbody mass to deal with physically strong players especially because of his shorter stature. His corner kicks and crosses are the same as Ronaldos and his incorrect form in doing so is the same. He also like Ronaldo needs to be more assertive when there is only one man left to beat and he needs to do what he did in the recent Under 21 match vs Sweden, which is run at defenders and draw fouls. This is the hallmark of the greats, he has to learn to pay the price for these incremental gains. It's nice to see that he was doing this in the second half of that match with Sweden. Quaresma also needs to improve his Self Belief. He has tremendous self confidence but has to now beleive that he can beat his adversary and that he can't be stopped. Quaresma is unfortunately only right-footed and elects to do the Mardona under leg cross rather than work on his left foot cross. I like to see it, but it's not always accurate. Also he must improve his defending like Ronaldo.
Best attribute: Dribbling wizardry. It will be a glorious day (hopefully at Barca) when we see a mature, stronger, more developed Quaresma with the Self Belief to match his appetite for defenders. Lord have mercy on them!
Conclusion : Portugal is blessed to have two players that are the same age, best friends and both with the same tremendous attributes. It's quite unique. I personally like Quaresma better but I beleive that of the two Cristiano Ronaldo is the better player because he is a better athlete and is more versatile. Good luck to them both.
