The comprehensive Ronaldo thread

According the Patrice Evra he wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo retired after speaking to him, since his World Cup dream is over and people think he's a bad player now.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Maybe. My own theory about these sudden declines is that they’ve been actually in decline for a few years beforehand but have found ways to compensate. But they eventually reach a tipping point where the whole house of cards comes down within a single season.
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Just think it isn't a coincidence that he fell off a cliff after he had no real preseason (of course he can only blame himself for that). A younger player could maybe compensate for it but a 37 year old one not so much. I imagine he realized that himself and since he needed someone to blame, he pointed at United's infrastructure so much.

One way or another, I have the feeling that there's a trend going on of footballers having longer careers than in earlier days (Modric, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Dani Alves, etc.) if they look after themselves and I find it somewhat difficult to believe that the one player who dedicated all there is to his fitness falls from grace that suddenly.
 
Zehner said:
Just think it isn't a coincidence that he fell off a cliff after he had no real preseason (of course he can only blame himself for that). A younger player could maybe compensate for it but a 37 year old one not so much. I imagine he realized that himself and since he needed someone to blame, he pointed at United's infrastructure so much.

One way or another, I have the feeling that there's a trend going on of footballers having longer careers than in earlier days (Modric, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Dani Alves, etc.) if they look after themselves and I find it somewhat difficult to believe that the one player who dedicated all there is to his fitness falls from grace that suddenly.
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Your lack of recovery time theory would be supported by him only really hitting any sustained form last season for a short spell when we were only playing one match per week.

On your more general point, I don’t think he was ever going to age as gracefully as someone like Modric or Messi because he’s never been someone you’d associate with guile or intelligence in the way he plays. It was always about 100 mile an hour, supreme athleticism. Running faster and jumping higher than the defenders. So once he lost his physical edge there’s not much left. Plus he doesn’t seem to be capable of the introspection needed to evolve and adjust his game to make up for the deficiencies that come with getting older (like, say, Giggs did) I’m not sure he’s even willing to acknowledge that he’s not the player he was in his prime. A victim of his own massive ego.
 
Vidic178 said:
According the Patrice Evra he wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo retired after speaking to him, since his World Cup dream is over and people think he's a bad player now.
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Clear indication offers are not forthcoming. That has got to be a huge blow for him.
 
Ronaldo has properly risked ruining his rep with all this shite this season. Him and Messi are chalk and cheese.
 
I genuinely wonder if he had a proper pre-season, and if that's a big reason why he's severely regressed this season. If so, he only has himself to blame. I'm pretty sure a manager like Ten Hag would have been happy for him to go through one.

I recall Messi being relatively shite last season and he too didn't really have a proper pre-season.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Your lack of recovery time theory would be supported by him only really hitting any sustained form last season for a short spell when we were only playing one match per week.
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Plus it's not really the first time he starts slowly into a season. I know it's not even that early into the season anymore but for him anyways.

Pogue Mahone said:
On your more general point, I don’t think he was ever going to age as gracefully as someone like Modric or Messi because he’s never been someone you’d associate with guile or intelligence in the way he plays. It was always about 100 mile an hour, supreme athleticism. Running faster and jumping higher than the defenders. So once he lost his physical edge there’s not much left.
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I think one of the most important aspects of his game used to be his movement and timing. Not only in terms of fast runs inbehind but even more so in the box. Fake runs, coming short, getting rid of markers, etc. I believe that had much to do with intelligence.

Pogue Mahone said:
Plus he doesn’t seem to be capable of the introspection needed to evolve and adjust his game to make up for the deficiencies that come with getting older (like, say, Giggs did) I’m not sure he’s even willing to acknowledge that he’s not the player he was in his prime. A victim of his own massive ego.
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Absolutely, especially the bolded part.
 
Pronewbie said:
I genuinely wonder if he had a proper pre-season, and if that's a big reason why he's severely regressed this season. If so, he only has himself to blame. I'm pretty sure a manager like Ten Hag would have been happy for him to go through one.

I recall Messi being relatively shite last season and he too didn't really have a proper pre-season.
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Wonder when the pre-season excuse will stop tbh.

Probably will go on until next pre-season. Hopefully he'll have a full pre season with his new club so people will stop using this as an excuse.
 
Vidic178 said:
According the Patrice Evra he wouldn't be surprised if Ronaldo retired after speaking to him, since his World Cup dream is over and people think he's a bad player now.
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I can see it, and it would be the right call, that is unless he wants more humiliation in a league not many will really care about watching.

He clearly need attention, and alot of it, so why not just call it a day now, get all the tributes, testamonals, interviews, etc, to keep him fed for a while, then turn his attention to whatever else he has lined up, a shot at acting, becoming a manager, trying to become a top golfer, I don't know, but he isn't going to just disappear when he accepts the inevitable, he'll still get loads of mainstream attention, and a shed load more money by doing other stuff, which is good.

If it does happen, it'd just be a shame he didn't do it with dignity when he had the chance.
 
Zehner said:
Just think it isn't a coincidence that he fell off a cliff after he had no real preseason (of course he can only blame himself for that). A younger player could maybe compensate for it but a 37 year old one not so much. I imagine he realized that himself and since he needed someone to blame, he pointed at United's infrastructure so much.

One way or another, I have the feeling that there's a trend going on of footballers having longer careers than in earlier days (Modric, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Dani Alves, etc.) if they look after themselves and I find it somewhat difficult to believe that the one player who dedicated all there is to his fitness falls from grace that suddenly.
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There's looking after yourself like messi, modric, giggs etc.. but then there is looking after yourself like ronaldo who seems more focused on looking good for topless instagram pics and is hampering his balance and agility, even last season he moved stiff and robotic due to the muscle mass and is why in the last few season he is often off balance when he latched onto balls at the slightest of angles
 
Pronewbie said:
I genuinely wonder if he had a proper pre-season, and if that's a big reason why he's severely regressed this season. If so, he only has himself to blame. I'm pretty sure a manager like Ten Hag would have been happy for him to go through one.

I recall Messi being relatively shite last season and he too didn't really have a proper pre-season.
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He's 37-38. Even last season there were signs he wasn't up to scratch anymore.
 
Pronewbie said:
Yes but this sharp drop in performance is akin to his 3rd season at Juve.
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Not to mention we're talking about Ronaldo here. The guy is literally training during his free time so saying no pre-season having an effect on him is kind of a moot point.
 
Vidic178 said:
Wouldn't Pele's 3 World Cups make him the best ever by that logic?

If France win the final, Mbappe would have 2 World Cup wins. Does that make him better than Messi/Ronaldo, who would both still be on 0?
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Bill Russell has more nba championships than Michael Jordan but MJ is still ahead.
 
Lee565 said:
There's looking after yourself like messi, modric, giggs etc.. but then there is looking after yourself like ronaldo who seems more focused on looking good for topless instagram pics and is hampering his balance and agility, even last season he moved stiff and robotic due to the muscle mass and is why in the last few season he is often off balance when he latched onto balls at the slightest of angles
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Very good point. It's a good reason that Tom Brady of the NFL has been able to play into his 40's.

"Brady does not bench press or squat, and he incorporates equipment such as resistance bands, massage balls, and vibrating foam rollers.

The workout program is designed to keep his muscles soft, flexible, and active."
 
Chesterlestreet said:
Let's not forget either that both Ole and Ralf more or less catered to him/allowed him to play a game that suited him.

(Even under those circumstances he was pretty shite in spells.)

When ETH came along, he was badly exposed in several ways and it became very apparent that he had no chance of doing what was required of him.

In a hypothetical scenario where ETH arrives along with Ronaldo, I don't see him (Ronaldo) faring much better.

EDIT: I mean in a hypothetical scenario where ETH and Ronaldo both arrive before the 2021-22 season.
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When you mention Ole, still find it funny how Ronaldo said to P. Morgan that standards have dropped at United over the years etc. and in the same interview praised Ole saying that he was the right man for the job even though every team, including Liverpool at Old Trafford, trashed us towards the end of Ole's tenure. He basically loved Ole for making him the main man and didn't care if we were getting embarrassing results against everyone.
 
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For every Ronaldo, Modric, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Dani Alves there are 5 players who have been totally done for awhile (e.g. Bale, Hazard, Fabregas, Suarez, Kaka, Iniesta). He is 37 for the love of god. At 37 Messi will be hobbling like an old man.
 
MostHandsomePlayer said:
He is 37 for the love of god. At 37 Messi will be hobbling like an old man.
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At which point he won’t still expect to play in the Champions League or call his manager disrespectful for resting him.

That’s the problem with Ronaldo. He’s finished and it’s understandable that he’s finished to everyone except him.
 
Judge Red said:
At which point he won’t still expect to play in the Champions League or call his manager disrespectful for resting him.

That’s the problem with Ronaldo. He’s finished and it’s understandable that he’s finished to everyone except him.
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Yeah, no one (other than some weird section of Messi fanboys who hate Ronaldo) would be enjoying Ronaldo's downfall if he didn't start acting like a prick 6 months ago. United was the problem, ten Hag was the problem, then comes World Cup and same happens in Portugal NT with their manager Santos :lol: idiot decided to burn bridges with United and it was relationship probably even more special than the one with Real Madrid.
 
Lee565 said:
There's looking after yourself like messi, modric, giggs etc.. but then there is looking after yourself like ronaldo who seems more focused on looking good for topless instagram pics and is hampering his balance and agility, even last season he moved stiff and robotic due to the muscle mass and is why in the last few season he is often off balance when he latched onto balls at the slightest of angles
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Other elements of his vanity may be coming back to bite him too. I remember a few occasions where he insisted on playing in dead rubber fixtures through injury with painkillers just because he was chasing top scorer awards. That sort of idiocy causes long term damage to a body no matter how little Coca-Cola he drinks.
 
MostHandsomePlayer said:
For every Ronaldo, Modric, Thiago Silva, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Dani Alves there are 5 players who have been totally done for awhile (e.g. Bale, Hazard, Fabregas, Suarez, Kaka, Iniesta). He is 37 for the love of god. At 37 Messi will be hobbling like an old man.
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Messi can be old man. Modric can play until 55. Whatever nonsens.

It doesn't excuse behaviour of Ronaldo last couple of months.
 
My dad who dont really follow football just told me Ronaldo is definitely supporting Argentina and Messi because his wife is an argentinian. I just laughed my ass off one of the funniest shit I heard in a while :lol:
 
Any debate is finished forever with a World Cup medal for Messi. Especially a World Cup where he has scored in the Ro16, quarters, semis and the final.
 
Without a doubt he's in emotional turmoil right this moment.
 
He could score a hatrick of own goals in this final and still go down as the greatest to ever play the game for me. This world cup changes nothing for me although I suspect for many it will
 
No-one in a proper league will touch Ronaldo, while Messi looks set to lift the World Cup, while also being top scorer. Messi was the GOAT before this, but this just adds to it.

Ronaldo fanboys will cry and look for excuses, but it doesn't change anything. Messi head and shoulders above the rest.
 
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