Cristiano Ronaldo - v1

[raskolnikov]

He was a much different player aged 18-19-20.

Back then, an average football fan was always happy when Ronaldo was entering the field.

People who haven't watched him when he was 18-19-20, probably have a wrong picture of Ronaldo.
He is probably one of the players who changed his style the most of all current "famous" players.
In early years, he was extremely entertaining player, with lots of entertaining tricks, he was a winger, a creator, but also, he was a leader of his team's in a build up play.

He was something like Messi today (a creator).
Whenever I watched Man. Utd in his early years, I was just yelling: just pass the ball to Ronaldo, and he will "create" something.
And most of the times, he would just create a chance for his teammate/a goal/an assist, out of nothing, like Messi today.

Today, imo, he is a much worse player.
His stats (in fact, Goal's stats) are much better, but as an overall player, he is waaay weaker.
Imo, something like:
1. aged 18-19-20-21, he was a winger and an awesome creator
2. then he turned into a 50:50 creator and more and more into a goalscorer and created less and less actions, aged 22-26
3. and in the last 3-4 years, lol, he is 90% a scorer and 10% a creator. He is only a shadow of a player he once was.

So, imo, a current Ronaldo is nothing compared to Messi.
But young Ronaldo was really a good player, and really, really entertaining.

Back in 2003-2005, when he was 18-19-20, he was more popular and more "loved/hyped" than Neymar currently.
In 2003, when he was 18 and moved to Man. Utd, the only entertaining players in the world were:
1. Brasilian Ronaldo, aged 28, with horrible injuries and problems with weight
2. Ronaldinho, aged 23
3. and a rising star, young Cristiano aged 18
-- also, in those times, Messi didn't "exist" yet
= Ronaldo had no competition, and he was the only world's future superstar

So, when people think about Ronaldo, don't judge him only based on Real days.
He was a much better player in the past, much more entertaining and he wasn't nowhere near as annoying as today.

For example, in this short video, it is clear that he was a much different player back then, and much more of a creator.
This is his debut in Man. Utd, aged 18 and a half years, back in 2003:

I didn't write my post to enter a Messi vs Ronaldo debate, but to show that he was really a much different player.
And yes, you are completely right.
Young Ronaldo was a pure winger and a creator in 442 (a MR or a ML)
He was not a FC at all.

Back then me and my friends called him cameraboy, meaning he would Always act in certain ways when he knew the camera was on him, Always craving attetion by doing a shitoad of useless stepovers that lead to nothing or a cross at best, ironically back then he was considered an ineffective player.

He was entertaining, accused of trying to act like dinho while it felt forced and dived even more. Kind of comparable to Neymar today.
But he was more fun back then for sure. It wasnt until everyone thought Rooney was going to break his legs in 2006 when he turned into a world class player who was effective, fun to watch, in my opinion still doing way too many useless stap overs, diving too much and being an arrogant prick but overall a really good player who could actually score freekicks.

I think revisionism (dont know for sure if thats the word) is applied to much nowadays to Man united Ronaldo. It shows when they voted him best player in epl history recently, while back when he left he was thought of as a quality player that had a very good united career with one world class season in 2007/08.

 

[LordLichtenstein]

I didn't write my post to enter a Messi vs Ronaldo debate, but to show that he was really a much different player.
And yes, you are completely right.
Young Ronaldo was a pure winger and a creator in 442 (a MR or a ML)
He was not a FC at all.

Same goes for Messi, it was only after 2008-09, that Guardiola began playing him as a CF. This season Lucho has him on wing duty again. In total he only played CF 5 seasons out of 11 seasons.

And not to forget, in those 5 seasons he didn't play the "traditional" CF, no, he was a false 9; dropping deep into the midfield helping with the build-up of the attack, which sometimes took him further away from the goal, than Ronaldo usually is.


But I agree, I just watch that video and MAAAAAAAN does it bring back happy memories! I wonder what changed..

 

[MaxY]

Yap,this is why I love old Ronaldo way way more than the current one. He was 18 yo and he just came 3 days before that match yet he was a fan favorite already.

 

[BBZ8800]

Back then me and my friends called him cameraboy, meaning he would Always act in certain ways when he knew the camera was on him, Always craving attetion by doing a shitoad of useless stepovers that lead to nothing or a cross at best, ironically back then he was considered an ineffective player.

He was entertaining, accused of trying to act like dinho while it felt forced and dived even more. Kind of comparable to Neymar today.
But he was more fun back then for sure. It wasnt until everyone thought Rooney was going to break his legs in 2006 when he turned into a world class player who was effective, fun to watch, in my opinion still doing way too many useless stap overs, diving too much and being an arrogant prick but overall a really good player who could actually score freekicks.

I think revisionism (dont know for sure if thats the word) is applied to much nowadays to Man united Ronaldo. It shows when they voted him best player in epl history recently, while back when he left he was thought of as a quality player that had a very good united career with one world class season in 2007/08.

An interesting reply.
About young Cristiano, yes, he was similar in a lot of ways to a current, young Neymar.

And for example, today, I don't like Neymar's attitude and ironically, back in 2003, Cristiano was my favorite young player in the world (even though I was a Barca fan).
Now, 12 years later, when I watch young Ronaldo, you are right. There were a lot of unneeded tricks, a lot of "clownish" tricks, dribbles for fans etc, and a spoiled brat behavior
Ironically, I am bashing Neymar now for those things, but when I was younger, a player of "a similar type" was my favorite player, lol.
So, in that way, I will need to understand especially younger fans who adore Neymar and don't see too much wrong in some of his dribbles and behavior.

About him not being effective, my friend was a Man. Utd fan and never had any bad words about 18-19 years old Ronaldo.
Even though yes, his stats were poor back then.
But again, he was a 18 years old boy, and played as a winger in 442. It is hard to score Goals in those circumstances.

Revisionism, I agree with you there that his Man. Utd days are now hailed more than they were actually good in those days.
But also, people who haven't watched young Ronaldo in Man. utd rate Ronaldo's skills much lower based on his last few years in Real.

So, imo:
1. Ronaldo wasn't as good as Man. Utd revisionism claims today
2. but he was also a much better player/creator than younger fans rate him and bash today (as if he is only a tap-in player, and nothing more)

 

[CatalinR10]

And when people say RM fans are obsessed with goals,lol. You're comparing a player who was purely a winger,not even remotely a striker until a few years back to a guy who played as a striker since like forever.

Messi started as a winger and then played as a false 9 . Now he's more of a winger/AM/CM. Sums up most of madrid's fans knowledge about Messi. Most don't know he played as a false 9 or that such position even exists.

 

[BenRobbins]

You could tell just from his debut that he was going to be class. Easily the best player to play in the Prem. He took the piss.

 

[BBZ8800]

Same goes for Messi, it was only after 2008-09, that Guardiola began playing him as a CF. This season Lucho has him on wing duty again. In total he only played CF 5 seasons out of 11 seasons.

And not to forget, in those 5 seasons he didn't play the "traditional" CF, no, he was a false 9; dropping deep into the midfield helping with the build-up of the attack, which sometimes took him further away from the goal, than Ronaldo usually is.

Ok, but we probably watched both young Messi and young Ronaldo and their whole careers after that.

But again, imo, Messi always played in 433 in Rijkaard's and Guardiola's system.
So, 433, even as a RW is a position much closer to a goal, than Ronaldo's MR or a ML position in a classic 442 flat formation.

In 433:
1. Cf is the player closest to the opponent's goal
2. and LW and RW and sharing the 2nd and 3rd place of being closest to the opponent's goal

In 442 flat with Ml-Mc-Mc-Mr:
1-2. are Cf1+Cf2
And all midfield players share the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th position=closest to the opponent's goal

So, in general, Messi is several levels above Ronaldo during a whole career, and especially today.
But we need to be fair, in terms of Goals, and say that Ronaldo played much deeper in Man. Utd than Messi in Barca.

But I agree, I just watch that video and MAAAAAAAN does it bring back happy memories! I wonder what changed..

About that, I remember when I watched back then Cristina for the first time (even though, he was a Cristiano back then, he later turned into a Cristina, lol), I watched this match live (Sporting vs Man. Utd friendly) and thought: wtf? Who is this guy?
18 year old kid Ronaldo, played a one man show against mighty Man. Utd (in those days), and since Barca have stolen Ronaldinho a few days earlier from Man. Utd because of a few Millions extra, Ferguson needed a 2nd option.
And after this friendly match, Man. Utd players were talking in the plain on a return home: who the fuck was that kid?
Ferguson asked: should we buy him?
Players replied: lol, yes, if possible!
And Man. Utd bought him a few days after that.

Again, he was really an entertaining kid back then.
A much better player than the current lazy, whining diva from Real Madrid.

 

[valk]

He was a much different player aged 18-19-20.

Back then, an average football fan was always happy when Ronaldo was entering the field.

People who haven't watched him when he was 18-19-20, probably have a wrong picture of Ronaldo.
He is probably one of the players who changed his style the most of all current "famous" players.
In early years, he was extremely entertaining player, with lots of entertaining tricks, he was a winger, a creator, but also, he was a leader of his team's in a build up play.

He was something like Messi today (a creator).
Whenever I watched Man. Utd in his early years, I was just yelling: just pass the ball to Ronaldo, and he will "create" something.
And most of the times, he would just create a chance for his teammate/a goal/an assist, out of nothing, like Messi today.

Today, imo, he is a much worse player.
His stats (in fact, Goal's stats) are much better, but as an overall player, he is waaay weaker.
Imo, something like:
1. aged 18-19-20-21, he was a winger and an awesome creator
2. then he turned into a 50:50 creator and more and more into a goalscorer and created less and less actions, aged 22-26
3. and in the last 3-4 years, lol, he is 90% a scorer and 10% a creator. He is only a shadow of a player he once was.

So, imo, a current Ronaldo is nothing compared to Messi.
But young Ronaldo was really a good player, and really, really entertaining.

Back in 2003-2005, when he was 18-19-20, he was more popular and more "loved/hyped" than Neymar currently.
In 2003, when he was 18 and moved to Man. Utd, the only entertaining players in the world were:
1. Brasilian Ronaldo, aged 28, with horrible injuries and problems with weight
2. Ronaldinho, aged 23
3. and a rising star, young Cristiano aged 18
-- also, in those times, Messi didn't "exist" yet
= Ronaldo had no competition, and he was the only world's future superstar

So, when people think about Ronaldo, don't judge him only based on Real days.
He was a much better player in the past, much more entertaining and he wasn't nowhere near as annoying as today.

For example, in this short video, it is clear that he was a much different player back then, and much more of a creator.
This is his debut in Man. Utd, aged 18 and a half years, back in 2003:
-- he came to Man. utd 3 days before the match

I didn't write my post to enter a Messi vs Ronaldo debate, but to show that he was really a much different player.
And yes, you are completely right.
Young Ronaldo was a pure winger and a creator in 442 (a MR or a ML)
He was not a FC at all.

You're wrong. the only season Ronaldo combined his creator side with his scoring side was in 2006-07. In 07-08 he became the player he is today. In all of Utd's big matches he was deployed as a CF. Besides that, in 2003, nobody thought that Ronaldo would go on to become the second best player of this generation. Rooney, Quaresma, Robinho, Robben, Kaka were all rated higher. in 2004, when Rooney came to United it was clear who was the better talent. pre-2006 he was a frustrating player, fact that's confirmed even by Neville.

 

[Frodo_FCB]

You guys overcomplicate things. Don't look at the positions each player has played..Just look at the shots they make in every game, even when Ronaldo had been playing in wings. Simple as that.

 

[Stric]

Ronaldo's position means nothing. He has an immense number of attempted shots. And therefore a pretty bad conversion ratio.

EDIT: now I see that others have pointed out the same thing, sorry about that

 

[BBZ8800]

You're wrong. the only season Ronaldo combined his creator side with his scoring side was in 2006-07. In 07-08 he became the player he is today. In all of Utd's big matches he was deployed as a CF. Besides that, in 2003, nobody thought that Ronaldo would go on to become the second best player of this generation. Rooney, Quaresma, Robinho, Robben, Kaka were all rated higher. in 2004, when Rooney came to United it was clear who was the better talent. pre-2006 he was a frustrating player, fact that's confirmed even by Neville.

Again, who is "measuring" that thing "who will be the best player"?

Internet was different back then in 2003.
Youtube was a new site, there weren't forums like today etc.
I was reading only an official Barca's site and ********* back then.

Quaresma, he was a fail of a player even after a few Months in Barca.
Kaka, ok. But he was never nowhere as near as entertaining as Ronaldo.
Rooney was good player for years, but never that enteratining.
I don't know too much football fans who will say: "Oh, tonight is the match. Let's sit and watch Kaka's or Rooney's moves".
Robben in Chelsea was nowhere near entertaining as Ronaldo. Robben was just extremely fast and repeated one trick for 100 of times.

So, I am talking from my experience. Me and all my friends who were younger football fans, in those days watch the football only because of 2 guys:
Ronaldinho and Cristiano.
Later Messi came to that list.

So, I am not talking who was the better player, Kaka or Cristiano, or Rooney vs Cristiano in those days.
Again, this is why I am comparing him to a current Neymar.
Imo, Neymar is not THAT good player YET. But people love to watch him, he entertains them even when he doesn't score goals.
The same was with Ronaldo, in my eyes.
Me, and all my friends were talking only about Cristiano, and watched all matches from Man. Utd and Portugal just to see a few moves and he would always make you laugh (in a good way) with those moves in those days.

pre-2006 he was a frustrating player, fact that's confirmed even by Neville.

With this, I can't agree.
Revisionism, I guess.
His prime years in MU are hailed, and some are trashing his early years.

For example, his 12 Goals from a winger's position in 2005-2006 Season.
He was a pure winger back then, and Man. Utd had 3 forwards in 442: Rooney, Ruud VNistelrooy and Saha.

Now, people are saying that those stats are frustrating (12 Goals as a winger).
But then, in our 433, Iniesta as a semi-CAM scores 0 goals per Season.
Xavi scores zero. Rakitic scored 4-5 Goals, right?

Cristina scored more goals as a winger in 442 back then than our whole midfield in this Season, and now, some posters make it sounds as if he was a horrible, frustrating player with zero end product back then.

My memories about him back then are different :/

 

[Stric]

Also, lately so many people have been complaining about Messi's free kicks. Here's a thought: Cristiano the-free-kick-God recently scored his first FK goal after a stunning 56 attempts since his last one. The details about which attempts even go to target are laughable.

 

[BBZ8800]

Also, lately so many people have been complaining about Messi's free kicks. Here's a thought: Cristiano the-free-kick-God recently scored his first FK goal after a stunning 56 attempts since his last one. The details about which attempts even go to target are laughable.

Neither of them (Messi and CR) is a free kick god.
They are both very average in that part for the last few years.

 

[6 Ballons for Messi]

Neither of them (Messi and CR) is a free kick god.
They are both very average in that part for the last few years.

Messi is not average at freekicks at all.
Most of his go just a few centimetres off the bar or hit it, like in the last game.
Cristiano's attempts just hit the wall most of the time.

 

[Morten]

Messi is not average at freekicks at all.
Most of his go just a few centimetres off the bar or hit it, like in the last game.
Cristiano's attempts just hit the wall most of the time.

Its either a goal or a miss, doesnt matter if one is closer with his attempts if it doesnt lead to anything.