serghei
Senior Member
Tell me one player who could create chances for Messi as consistently as Kroos, Isco, Asensio, Modric, Marcelo other than Iniesta, I will accept that I'm biased.
Man, a lot of those passes he receives are good passes, but are not jaw dropping stuff that leaves Ronaldo completely alone for a tap in. Many many many Barca fans completely underrate 2 key parts in Ronaldo's goals that are just his own mastery of being a fucking legendary striker. One is his movement. He just roasts opponents with his diverse tactics of baiting defenders, faking near post claims than going for the far post corner instead, attacking channels frequently, pulling defenders around then accelerating when they are flat footed, there's a whole array of diversion tactics before any kind of service is made that can be found in textbook attacking tactics and ploys. And some of those tactics he uses are probably custom made for specific defenders. They probably discuss those things in tactical sessions before the game. Because defenders, like attackers, have strong points and weak points. Like Suarez is not great in link-up and has a heavy touch a lot of times, some defenders are more likely to be tricked by some specific movements. You see, defenders aren't magicians. They don't have 360 degrees vision, there's a lot of things that happens around them, but they are positioned in a way where they can always be tricked. You think you're right next to Ronaldo but before you know it, he's somewhere else poping up and scoring and you're left marking no one. The game favors attackers.
And that's only the movement part that allows him to get on the perfect trajectory of a lot of passes, crosses, cutbacks etc. that are not 'genius playmaking' stuff as it's made out to be. But it's not enough to get you there, you have to have the right shooting technique to score once that gap in time and space is created and the defender is caught off guard. And he has that too. His 1st goal vs Juve is hugely underrated and is even more of a proof of his amazing killer instincts than the praised overhead kick (for good reason). The amount of space he has to place a shot there is minimal and the window of opportunity is slim. Gap is there for a very short time, and there's 2 Juve players I think who would've got there and blocked the shot, but Ronaldo goes for a quick, sharp, outside of the boot finish, a very difficult shot technically. You have to time that perfectly because a split second late and it's a misshit (and Ronaldo has had miss hits specifically because he goes for technically complex executions a lot of time). Some other striker would've went with the classic execution, which would've take a longer prep time, and the play would've ended with a last minute tackle by Chiellini and people praising him for being this old school great defender. But the gap was there, and Ronaldo choose the right execution, this very sharp touch with the exterior of the boot and it's 1-0 in the 3rd minute. Hammerblow for Juve. Imagine starting a game in which away goals are key and being 1-0 down in 5 mins.
So, bottom line, Ronaldo is an expert at moving, attacking space and tricking defenders. That's why he always appears to be in space in areas where it's usually very crowded. Because he moves a lot. And he is also pretty great at shooting the ball.
Last edited: