There are also thousands of situational decisions you need to make that all need to be correct for you to make a run as good as those Ronaldo does. Looking at your defender's movement, judging his next move by his hips, faking runs, stopping, accelerating at the right moment for your opponent to definitely not be able to catch up to you. Ages ago there was this Castrol documentary where they show where his he keeps his eyes when on the ball and he needs to do the exact same things when fighting for a cross. Ronaldo was pretty much never the fastest sprinter on the team where most of the quickest players were either other wingers or centre backs. On average Barcelona had more of these than Madrid in fact.
Yes, all of that is true. And while I understand the difficulty of it, I could never rate that over a guy who constantly takes the ball, dribbles 2-3 guys, then either scores a great goal, is fouled like on a rugby field, or plays a brilliant pass for a teammate. Again, with the tennis comparison, Nadal's ability to hit a 5000 rpm forehand that lands on the opponent's shoulder area is insane, much like Ronaldo's ability to attack space and roast defenders (I still insist the main component that allows them to do that is motivational, and physical - athletic traits rather than strictly football or tennis related). But can it be greater than Federer perfectly hitting every shot in the tennis book and having every tennis coach in the world showing that movement in 'how to hit X shot like Roger Federer' tutorials? Not for me. Can be applied in every sport.
How do you even gauge talent? You somehow think none of this ball striking is drillable? Consistency isn't. THAT is talent. Not making the pass itself. Dudes like Guti were considered talented, but undisciplined. Nah. Visualising a really great pass every 5 games isn't talent and that is a ratio of most greats. Your teammates being in a position to succeed for you to make that pass? Different story.
Talent for me is a natural inclination towards something. It is like in arts. Two people who learn to play violin with he same teacher practicing the same amount of hours will never play to the same degree of excellence, because hard work and dedication is great, but not everything. One of them is more naturally talented, in the sense that he takes what he learns, and adds his own special vibe to it, a unique signature that derives from talent. Messi doesn't work as hard as Ronaldo. Not off the pitch and not on the pitch. But he is a naturally gifted footballer in a way Ronaldo isn't. That can be seen in their career, in every single season, and every single match.
Nope. Again, this sport isn't individual.
Of course. And I always said Messi never carried Barcelona in a way a lot of people here said he did back during Pep, because of the exact same argument, that football is a team sport. But even so, not all players and not all positions are the same. Some players carry more weight than others. Most players are like a piece of a puzzle. If everything falls into the right place, they bring their contribution and everything works great. Messi though, he almost never stood and waited for everything to fall into place. He was more the guy who made the puzzle. Arranging each piece on the field, almost like a manager's joker.
Ronaldo is a more complete striker. Messi is a more complete footballer. If you ask me who is the best striker I'd give Ronaldo an edge even though Messi has a better gpg ratio. If you ask me who is the better player it's Messi without a doubt.
