he's probably the best atm
Penal Madrid
- Thread starter PearLBLacK
- Start date
he's probably the best atm
serghei
Senior Member
Depends on what you see as an AM. Messi and Hazard are comfortably better than James everywhere in the last third.
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
De Bruyne comes close, but James edges the comparison.
Messi and Hazard are different players. James is a number 10 than plays like a number 10. He retains possession while ocassionaly penetrating, both with his cerebral passing and his sudden burst out of nowhere. He does everything, scores, assists, defends. He reminds me of Gullit in that way.
serghei
Senior Member
James doesn't do everything with the same efficiency. His strenght is in the offensive department. Hazard also does defending, but that doesn't make him a CM, not even a box to box midfielder. AMs also do some defending especially in 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, less so in a 4-2-3-1. Isco did it, James does it, especially since RM doesn't have a true DM to break opposition's attacks.
But James is a no 10, and Messi is also a no 10, and Hazard a no 10 as well. That's why all three wear the no 10 jersey. Because they are players who are supposed to create danger in the last third, as in make plays with their creativity. Messi is in a class of his own, because not only he is the best playmaker in the world, but he is also a very prolific scorer. Because he is those things, he doesn't do defending, except on those rare occasions when Barca needs to defend as a whole, see vs. Bayern at 2-0 on Camp Nou.
But one of the many failures of Madrid this season is not letting James on the ball more. Ronaldo thinks the ball is his, he and only he has the right to hold on to it for more than 5 seconds. But he is useless on the ball if he's not in a position to score, both Isco and James have better vision than him, and a better dribbling. How many times did Ronaldo get the ball and he tried to shot from 25 metres out wide? There are games in which it happens every 3 mins.
Last edited:
James plays like a classic number 10. Messi and Hazard are a hybrid between trequartista and inside forward.
serghei
Senior Member
Messi is a special case indeed. Hazard is more AM than anything. James is also a trequartista, which is kind of the italian word for a playmaker with good scoring qualities in the final 3rd.
MaxY
Devil May Cry
Lol that's so wrong. Most of the time Ronaldo will pass the ball backwards or to the right side to run into a position near the goal. He releases the ball very quickly,he isn't a ball hog.
serghei
Senior Member
Better than Ronaldo, who is a poacher with no playmaking skills whatsoever these days.
Of course it was an exaggeration, it was meant to be so, but Ronaldo is still the player who gets most of the action at Real. You run everything through him. That's why Benzema and Bale have such low stats. Ronaldo and his poor on field attitude makes you weaker. I hope you don't realize this and keep him. Him following personal stats at the expense of the team. I love it.
Last edited:
Catalan Fan
New member
valk, you must be old.No one understands the term "inside forward" these days...
For the record, I started playing at inside left as a youngster, in a 2-3-5 formation
Last edited:
Bunch of nonsense, you dont have 23 assist if you have "no playmaking skills whatsoever". Ronaldos vision is alright, personally i wouldnt say that Isco has better vision. Its not all about numbers, i watch Real Madrid often and i know that Ronaldo isnt a great playmaker. But neither is Isco, he is a great dribbler but he doesnt know what to do with the ball in the final third, his vision is not good at all atm. "Personal stats at the expense of the team"
You do know that his second best stats 2011/2012 is when we won the league right? You put to much importance on a single player. Other than looking at Ronaldos stats alone, how about the defence? We conceded alot, do you expect him to defend as well as scoring hatricks?
Last edited:
KingMessi
SiempreBlaugrana
He still has memories of the hero ball he played at Malaga.
serghei
Senior Member
Bunch of nonsense, you dont have 23 assist if you have "no playmaking skills whatsoever". Ronaldos vision is alright, personally i wouldnt say that Isco has better vision. Its not all about numbers, i watch Real Madrid often and i know that Ronaldo isnt a great playmaker. But neither is Isco, he is a great dribbler but he doesnt know what to do with the ball in the final third, his vision is not good at all atm. "Personal stats at the expense of the team"
You watch RM more than I do for sure, and Ronaldo's numbers always looked better than his actual performances on field. But Isco is a very good playmaker. Unfortunately, he is in a team that doesn't allow him to express himself, and show the potential he has. Ronaldo pretty much reached a new, odd kind of low, with not celebrating team goals. He acts like all he cares is if he scores. He scored 3 vs Espanyol and he was happy even though that game meant RM went trophyless this year. If that is not a sign of egocentricity, nothing is. I have never imagined that I will ever see a player being frustrated -- and what's worse is that he had no problems showing that explicitly -- when one of his teammates scores. I supported Ronaldo on this forum, until this season, when his behaviour towards some of his teammates and fans has been abject. Yea, I think all he cares these days is personal stats. Otherwise, I can't explain why he was mad when one of his teammates scored a goal.
Last edited:
blaugrana1987
New member
Ronaldos vision is fine, but lets not pretend he is Messi/Zidane level. He gets so many assists because Reals team makes about 20+ chances in game, and thats fine, but they are hardly what I would call visionary. Seeing Messi making inch perfect pass behind entire defense for Rakitic to score is completely different then shooting and having your teammate deflect the pass (that happen 2 or 3 times actually this season).
No mean to hate, but if stats where be all end all, then Cesc>Xavi+Iniesta any day of the week.
No mean to hate, but if stats where be all end all, then Cesc>Xavi+Iniesta any day of the week.
Home of Barca Fans
