Cristiano Ronaldo - v1

[Luftstalag14]

Of course Messi is no saint, he can sulk and get moody if those accounts out there are to be believed. And certainly CR7 is not a bad person, but with his arrogance and self-appreciation to the extreme, he is just not a very likeable person.

 

[TornAndFrayed]

I agree. I get bugged sometimes though when people act like CR should publicly state that he's inferior to Messi. It is partly thanks to him that many non Barca fans also consider Messi the best ever

 

[Maria]

Of course Messi is no saint, he can sulk and get moody if those accounts out there are to be believed. And certainly CR7 is not a bad person, but with his arrogance and self-appreciation to the extreme, he is just not a very likeable person.

Not only self-appreciation..but also with his denial of acknowledging what other players have achieved(and not going to the gala when Ribery won the award for the best player in Europe or implying that Messi won all his awards because Blatter likes him) or with his agent paying journalists to write nice things about him(the same thing that Marca and MD are doing for Perez and Rosell) or appreciating or not the BdO or the Golden Boot depending on whether he's winning them or asking Pedro how much he's earning, Cristiano is making me dislike him profoundly. And yes, I know that Messi is not a saint..he spat on people, he scored a goal with his hand, he sometimes argues with his team-mates, he missed a penalty against Chelsea and broke my heart and he didn't payed his taxes. But we can't say that one is genuine and the other just knows how to hide his feelings better because we don't know them personally. Also as far as Cristiano behaving this way because he's in Messi's shadow, he wasn't any better when he was the best player in the world.

I agree. I get bugged sometimes though when people act like CR should publicly state that he's inferior to Messi. It is partly thanks to him that many non Barca fans also consider Messi the best ever

I don't care whether he says that Messi is better than him or not..what I care though is that he implies that Messi won his BdO's because of Blatter. And I consider Messi the best for his game against Juventus in Gamper, for his performance against Chelsea in 2006, for his goal against Getafe, for his goal against Estudiantes, for his performances in the last Clasicos that we won at 5-0&3-1 when he didn't even needed to score to be the best, for his performances in CL in 2010-2011, for what he did last year in the league or against PSG, for being humble again and working for the team in the last El Clasico or for how he played for Argentina since Sabella is his coach.

 

[MVBarcaFan]

Ronaldo epitomizes the football player as pure athlete. If one is of the mind that football is solely about scoring goals, winning games, being stronger, faster, hardier- one can't argue that Ronaldo shouldn't be one's top pick.

But football is not just a sport. It's also poetry. We watch and play to satisfy the soul, not just to quench a lust for winning.

Ronaldo the Athlete: 10
Ronaldo the Poet: 0

As a spectator, I find Ronaldo utterly boring. Football to me is the Xavis, Messis, Iniestas, Ibras, Sneijders, Pirlos, Riquelmes, Gutis, Ronaldinhos. It's the players we watch with eager anticipation for the surprising unexpected magical moments we know are coming- how did he do that!? Trickery, vision, mischievousness, fluidity. They are Magicians who evoke Wonder. Ronaldo may evoke Amazement - what an excellent machine - but never Wonder. Ronaldo is the Dudley Do-Right who strides into the room and attracts a bevy of vapid gym bunnies. The Magicians are the unkempt guys who amble into the party unnoticed but walk out with drop dead gorgeous bombshells (smiling seductively at them) on their arms- how did he get her!?

There is no mystery to Ronaldo, it's quite simple- good genes and good training. Clearly the man works hard to make the most of what he has, and is brilliant at it. But these others are more complex, other-worldly, inexplicable. Those of us who admire the mystery will always choose the Mozarts over the Salieris.

Well said.

 

[antonnn]

TBH Messi isn't as much of a football artist as some like to believe, IMO. He has artistry to his game, definitely more than complete and utter machine Cristiano Ronaldo, but to me he's still more of a well oiled machine built for efficiency when compared to the likes of past players like Zidane, Laudrup, Pirlo, Bergkamp or Ronaldinho. Zidane oozed grace, Ronaldinho almost defined magic. I wouldn't say I find Ronaldo boring, I can appreciate a physical specimen, but he doesn't really get me excited like former players. Same with Messi to an extent, as I said earlier, he's more of a footballing artist than Ronaldo but he also doesn't absolutely capture my heart. My favourite of the Barca dream team was, and always will be, Sir Andres Iniesta.

Edit: I just noticed I included Pirlo as a player of past when he's still playing. Oops! I guess my point will still get across anyway.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

TBH Messi isn't as much of a football artist as some like to believe, IMO. He has artistry to his game, definitely more than complete and utter machine Cristiano Ronaldo, but to me he's still more of a well oiled machine built for efficiency when compared to the likes of past players like Zidane, Laudrup, Pirlo, Bergkamp or Ronaldinho. Zidane oozed grace, Ronaldinho almost defined magic. I wouldn't say I find Ronaldo boring, I can appreciate a physical specimen, but he doesn't really get me excited like former players. Same with Messi to an extent, as I said earlier, he's more of a footballing artist than Ronaldo but he also doesn't absolutely capture my heart. My favourite of the Barca dream team was, and always will be, Sir Andres Iniesta.

Yup, I agree.

 

[footyfan]

Hmm "artists" always tend to be slow midfielders.

Slow players with great talent will always ooze class when compared to speedsters with great talent. Doesn't mean the speedsters are any less talented.

What do you think of R9? Messi and him are like Zidane and Iniesta on drugs IMO. I find them better to watch than the latter.

 

[DonAK]

Lazy elegance. They make it look so easy, so smooth and slick.

 

[antonnn]

Hmm "artists" always tend to be slow midfielders.

Slow players with great talent will always ooze class when compared to speedsters with great talent. Doesn't mean the speedsters are any less talented.

What do you think of R9? Messi and him are like Zidane and Iniesta on drugs IMO. I find them better to watch than the latter.

Yeah, I don't think they are less talented in any way, and they are still enjoyable to watch, it's just I have a personal preference for the more elegant players. Being either one of those two types is an immense talent in itself if you're considered one of the worlds best. The way to do it is to have at least one of each in your side.

 

[BerkeleyBernie]

Zlatan is an artist who doesn't rely on speed. Luis Suarez is far more fun to watch than C7. I even like Robben more than C7, because he has that sweet elegant Dutch touch. C7 is not skill-less in other areas, but his areas of excellence are all athletic, the body as finely-tuned machine, cyborg football. I simply prefer watching players with a more interesting bag of tricks at their disposal. C7 is predictable- he'll get there faster, he'll get up higher, he'll tap it in, he'll penaldo, he'll shoot a lot. Ehhh. I don't find a steady diet of counterattacking football interesting- hence not much interested in pacy wingers.

 

[footyfan]

I think Messi is one of those rare players that combine artistry with pace and acceleration. The biggest reason is that he has the absolute basics covered at a very high level. Just look at the number of touches he has of the ball when he's running at full throttle, it's amazing, I've never seen it before. His body responds so naturally to the position of the ball, and that gives him the millisecond advantage over the opposing defender.

Look at this, he dead controls the ball off a 60 yard pass with his chest, cushions it with his right foot and kicks it forward with his left, all in one smooth motion. And then proceeds to score a beautiful goal.

One of the most fluid players I've seen play, only Iniesta tops him. Iniesta, however, is done once he has created the space that he wanted; Messi, on the other hand is, all this time, advancing forward with the ball at his feet, which is no doubt a lot more difficult and awe-inspiring. Here's the goal following the control.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

LMFAO of @ "C7" and "TBH Messi isn't as much of a football artist as some like to believe, IMO."

I'm OUTTA HERE!!!

 

[antonnn]

What's the point of even doing that to the font? Just leave it normal lol.

And he's not, pure artists are guys like Zidane/Pirlo, Messi is a more a cross-breed speed demon/artist, he's not as reliant on his speed as pure speed demons nor is he as artistic as the slower, more elegant players.

 

[AnfieldEd]

Messi is the best player in the world but what is an undisputed fact is that Ronaldo has closed that chasm this season imo.

However Ronaldo will not have the last laugh after he wins Ballon D'or because you just know Messi will out gun him yet again by winning the world cup!

 

[Aryagorn]

Messi is the best player in the world but what is an undisputed fact is that Ronaldo has closed that chasm this season imo.

However Ronaldo will not have the last laugh after he wins Ballon D'or because you just know Messi will out gun him yet again by winning the world cup!

if Messi wins the WC it's not just CR7 he will have overtaken