Ronaldo must be world's greatest player at present.

Xenophile

Ronaldo must be world's greatest player at present.

Another great goal by Ronaldo tonight to set them on their way for a 5-0 victory.

The_Kew_Tour

Does not even need a thread.

Yes, without question he is.

wandatowell

ya.

Amirani

Yes.

fergiesfolly

How long before the "Until Messi returns" posts

fred funk }{

Do we really need another thread?

.jacksparrow.

Heard today he donates bone marrow too, fair play.

Xenophile

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Do we really need another thread?

What thread do you suggest I should have put it on. As I am not a regular here I could not find any suitable thread. Anyway this thread will soon fade so in the meantime could you all keep your cool.

Bleating Lamb

Xenophile wrote: »

Ronaldo must be world's greatest player at present.

Another great goal by Ronaldo tonight to set them on their way for a 5-0 victory.

You obviously have never heard of Paul Mc Shane.

Red Crow

Right now yes. But a fully fit Messi is still better IMO. But he hasn't looked in his best shape for about a year now.

Two fantastic players.

Oranage2

Eboue would constantly destroy him, he can't be that good.

Hannibal

I don't remember people constantly banging on about whether Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo or Rivaldo were better than each other by the month 10 or so years ago when they were all at the top.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a fantastic player as is Messi but what about how Bayern swept aside everything last season including the great Barca or how Spain dominate international football and no individuals are really given a mention.

I'd love to see both Suarez and Van Persie given a run in Spain and tbh their scoring rate would be a lot higher than what it is in England, not saying they're as good as Messi and Cristiano but they would no doubt bridge the gap to their scoring rates to show it's a lot easier to rack up goals in Spain than it is in England. Spain is turning into Scotland where you've two teams cruising week in week out and a massive gulf emerges and strikers asmass massive goal halls (v Hooijdonk, Cadete, Larsson, Viduka, Negri,)

But back to Messi and Ronaldo.. I don't think Messi would lose sleep over whether he's better or not because his trophy cabinet and personal accolades are something Ronaldo won't match. Plus only one of them has a chance of lifting the WC next year.

Just to add to that I still think Maradona is better than them both. You have to take into account Maradona played in an age of dirty players, wreckless tackles one of which nearly ended his career while at Barca. Poor pitches which are a far cry from todays carpets, Maradona carried Napoli and Argentina on his shoulders almost single handly to glory. If Ronaldo carries that Portugal team to WC victory then I'll change my mind but it's highly unlikely

Quandary

In this day and age nothing can match Ronaldo's ability as a goal scorer. He is a monster and we will not see his like again for a very very long time.

Players do not score a goal a game for over 200 games anymore. His goal scoring ratio is unmatchable IMO.

At £80m, Madrid got a bargain. At the time they bought him for that much, I thought they would never see value for money. How wrong I was!

fergiesfolly

I think both players thrive on the rivalry.
And isn't it great to see two players going at it hammer and tongs, week in, week out,seeking to improve themselves, to raise their levels, to break records, to be the best in the world.
There's a lot of crap in football, but these two make you fall in love with it again, everytime you watch them.

bad2dabone

.jacksparrow. wrote: »

Heard today he donates bone marrow too, fair play.

He does a lot of decent things outside of the game that aren't widely publicised, because he's somewhat arrogant on the pitch folks can think he's a bit of a ****, but he's just a winner.

NIMAN

He is.

His double header v Zlatan proved that.

Plus MEssi has definitely seen a dip in form as well as his injury.

If Ronnie doesn't win the big title he craves this season, he never will.

Guy:Incognito

I dont think hes even half as good as casillas in goal and he cant even get a game the whole time.

ronjo

NIMAN wrote: »

He is.

His double header v Zlatan proved that.

Plus MEssi has definitely seen a dip in form as well as his injury.

If Ronnie doesn't win the big title he craves this season, he never will.

Is this what he craves though?
Winning an award ahead of La Liga? Or Champions League?
Way too much emphasis is being put on the Ballon Dor

Blatter

NIMAN wrote: »

If Ronnie doesn't win the big title he craves this season, he never will.

He already has.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Quandary wrote: »

In this day and age nothing can match Ronaldo's ability as a goal scorer. He is a monster and we will not see his like again for a very very long time.

Players do not score a goal a game for over 200 games anymore. His goal scoring ratio is unmatchable IMO.

At £80m, Madrid got a bargain. At the time they bought him for that much, I thought they would never see value for money. How wrong I was!

Apart from Messi you mean, who, when fit, has continually outscored Ronaldo, including breaking the record of most goals in a calender year.

I can only imagine that this thread exists because of Messi, and the thread title is indeed representative of that.

Anyway, 2 great players, easily the best of their generation. Ronaldo has had a great year and is thoroughly deserving of his impending Ballon d'Or, but it cannot be denied that he has benefited from Messi's injury problems.

Unearthly

When I saw the result and scorers last night, I thought to myself he only scored 1 goal what happened there?

Injured. Ahhh the world makes sense again

klose

Yup he most certainly is, even the staunchest of barca/messi fans would agree id imagine.

GTR63

Checks La Liga scores......jesus can teams not even score 1 goal when they take on the top 3 anymore and conceed 4, 5 or 7

Andersonisgod

Hannibal wrote: »

I don't remember people constantly banging on about whether Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo or Rivaldo were better than each other by the month 10 or so years ago when they were all at the top.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a fantastic player as is Messi but what about how Bayern swept aside everything last season including the great Barca or how Spain dominate international football and no individuals are really given a mention.

I'd love to see both Suarez and Van Persie given a run in Spain and tbh their scoring rate would be a lot higher than what it is in England, not saying they're as good as Messi and Cristiano but they would no doubt bridge the gap to their scoring rates to show it's a lot easier to rack up goals in Spain than it is in England. Spain is turning into Scotland where you've two teams cruising week in week out and a massive gulf emerges and strikers asmass massive goal halls (v Hooijdonk, Cadete, Larsson, Viduka, Negri,)

But back to Messi and Ronaldo.. I don't think Messi would lose sleep over whether he's better or not because his trophy cabinet and personal accolades are something Ronaldo won't match. Plus only one of them has a chance of lifting the WC next year.

Just to add to that I still think Maradona is better than them both. You have to take into account Maradona played in an age of dirty players, wreckless tackles one of which nearly ended his career while at Barca. Poor pitches which are a far cry from todays carpets, Maradona carried Napoli and Argentina on his shoulders almost single handly to glory. If Ronaldo carries that Portugal team to WC victory then I'll change my mind but it's highly unlikely

I read this message, I promptly stood up and, with great vigour, banged my head off of the concrete wall next to me several times.

I'm not sure what Bayern Munich (the team) have to do with a topic on the quality of an individual player.

Why would Suarez and and Van Persie score more in Spain? Gareth Bale got quite a few in England last season, will he get as many in Spain this season? The assumption that Suarez and Van Persie could suddenly become 40+ scorers in the Spanish league is ridiculous. Lovely of you to forget Atletico Madrid too.

An age of dirty players (which Messi has also had to deal with on occasion) but less tactical systems designed to frustrate attacking players, less physically gifted players than in this era of sport science and played in an era where more reliance was placed on individual brilliance rather than the overall good of the team, something which Messi at Barcelona must certainly deal with.

klose wrote: »

Yup he most certainly is, even the staunchest of barca/messi fans would agree id imagine.

At present? Yes he probably is, though Messi's injuries are the deciding factor in that I believe. When fully fit, there is no player, Ronaldo or otherwise, to rival the Argentine genius.

Skylinehead

Players do not score a goal a game for over 200 games anymore. His goal scoring ratio is unmatchable IMO.

People seem to have short memories. Lionel Messi has scored well over a goal a game for well over 200 games now. Unmatchable?

Ronaldo should definitely win the Ballon D'Or this year, but Messi has a case for being the best of all time.

Moneymaker

Ronaldo has been the best player in 2013.

Messi has been the best player for the last 5 years or so.

/thread

bucketybuck

Skylinehead wrote: »

People seem to have short memories. Lionel Messi has scored well over a goal a game for well over 200 games now. Unmatchable?

:rolleyes:

Yeah, we all forgot about Lionel Messi. Who is he again?

Well done mate.

Skylinehead

bucketybuck wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Yeah, we all forgot about Lionel Messi. Who is he again?

Well done mate.

Well the guy I quoted, who's saying nobody else has matched Ronaldo's record, seems to have forgotton alright.




Oh, I forgot: :rolleyes:

Rayne Wooney

People say without Ronaldo, Messi would be this and that and the reverse as well but I think the rivalry between them is why they're on a different planet to everyone else in the game.


Ronaldo has 67 competitive goals in 2013 and 5 more games until the year is out to add to that, he's been the best player in the world this year without a doubt, you have to give credit where it's due.

IamtheWalrus

Not saying this is necessarily a bad thing but I don't think Messi needs to work as hard as Ronaldo to be as good as he is.

marbless

I heard Robbie Keane on Newtalk the other night saying he voted Ronaldo No. 1 for Ballon d'Or this year

Too Tough To Die

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Not saying this is necessarily a bad thing but I don't think Messi needs to work as hard as Ronaldo to be as good as he is.

It's all perception. You see his physique and say wow this guy puts in some serious work. You can be assured that Messi trains like a beast too. Less crunches though.

Talib Fiasco

Messi is still an active player in football therefore he's the better player, now, last month, last year etc. Form is temporary, Messi is and has been better than Ronaldo by some distance with a fair while now.

Mr.Nice Guy

marbless wrote: »

I heard Robbie Keane on Newtalk the other night saying he voted Ronaldo No. 1 for Ballon d'Or this year

Yeah, he was on Goals on Sunday this morning and he said his 1, 2, 3 was Ronaldo, Messi, Bale. It was funny when he was asked how the process works.

'Mary just gives me a form and I fill it out.' :pac:

As regards the debate, if we're talking now, as in right now, then yes Ronaldo is the better player as Messi has some fitness issues currently. If we're talking the calendar year, though, one can make compelling arguments for both. Certainly Ronaldo is in the debate this year whereas I felt in previous years he wasn't, frankly. That's not knocking him; I just thought Messi was the standout player on the planet in previous years. This year I find myself conflicted on the matter.

The_Kew_Tour

Viva Ronaldo.:)

Best player this year. Will be well deserved.

Will go down as one of the greats

Dolph Starbeam

Quandary wrote: »

In this day and age nothing can match Ronaldo's ability as a goal scorer. He is a monster and we will not see his like again for a very very long time.

Players do not score a goal a game for over 200 games anymore. His goal scoring ratio is unmatchable IMO.

At £80m, Madrid got a bargain. At the time they bought him for that much, I thought they would never see value for money. How wrong I was!

Such rubbish. If nothing could match his ability to score goals then why did he not just win the European golden show? And who has won it 3 out of the last 4 years? To say nobody can match him is just not true.

And at present yes Ronaldo is the greatest player in the world, but thats only because Messi is injured.

Corholio

YayaBanana wrote: »

Such rubbish. If nothing could match his ability to score goals then why did he not just win the European golden show? And who has won it 3 out of the last 4 years? To say nobody can match him is just not true.

And at present yes Ronaldo is the greatest player in the world, but thats only because Messi is injured.

Ronaldo was playing better than Messi a fair bit before Messi got injured.

darced

This post has been deleted.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Ronaldo has scored more goals than 12 other clubs in the La Liga so far this season! Stat!

cournioni

Ronaldo could play in any team in the world and make them compete with the best. Messi wouldn't be able to do that in my opinion.

Skylinehead

cournioni wrote: »

Ronaldo could play in any team in the world and make them compete with the best. Messi wouldn't be able to do that in my opinion.

Why not? All that Ronaldo has over him is athleticism. Messi has much more to his game, can't see why he couldn't do what he does anywhere else.

cournioni

Skylinehead wrote: »

Why not? All that Ronaldo has over him is athleticism. Messi has much more to his game, can't see why he couldn't do what he does anywhere else.

Ronaldo scores different types of goals than Messi, he can score from 40 yards where as Messi's generally are in the box or just on the edge of it. Smaller clubs generally don't get in the opposing box of top teams all that often and when they do its generally a set piece, even at that Ronaldo is better in the air.

bullvine

I'd really like to see Messi leave Barca, go somewhere else, to a different league like Germany but it will never happen. It would be great to see him in another league.

DyldeBrill

Ronaldo a 100% deserves the ballon d'or award this year. Love listening to people's arguments on Ronaldo and Messi, arguing whose better. At the end of the day, Messi has been spectacular and has been the better player in the past, but as far as this year has gone, Ronaldo has been the better and has stepped up his game. Yes Messi is injured but even if he wasn't I'd still go for Ronaldo. Not only has he been banging in goals for Real but he's been pelting them in for his country too! The lads a class act!

DyldeBrill

bullvine wrote: »

I'd really like to see Messi leave Barca, go somewhere else, to a different league like Germany but it will never happen. It would be great to see him in another league.

Can't see this happening. It'll take a silly amount of money that no club will be able to afford .

TheDoc

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Not saying this is necessarily a bad thing but I don't think Messi needs to work as hard as Ronaldo to be as good as he is.

Hence why Messi suffers more injuries imo. Ronaldo is a much better, stronger physique. Messi doesn't have the same stamina as Ronaldo which is overlooked. It's not in anyway a measure against him, they are just worlds apart in terms of physique and stamina. Messi lights up when the ball is around him or when he is on the ball, but he never moves back past the final third and he typically strolls around.

I don't think he actually has the stamina to do a up and down wing job for 90 minutes, which is nothing against him.

But when I watch Ronaldo, while he doesn't always track back, he does it alot more then he gets credit for. Granted he cant tackle, he is typically there trying to be a nuisance a fair amount. He has the same burst of pace in the 89th minute as the 2nd minute. His engine and stamina is unrivalled and is just a pure athlete. He scores so many goals in the last two minutes, when the opposing team is starting to fatigue, he is still operating at full capacity.

To maintain that level of fitness requires an extra ordinary amount of work and dedication.

I've always maintained that Ronaldo would last longer at the peak of his powers. I'm in no way saying that Messi is slipping, hes in a blip of form and injury. But when you read about Messi and the growth he had to go through unnaturally, that is going to take its toll as you exert yourself in top sport year in year out.

I don't subscribe to Ronaldo benefiting from Messi's absence. A time wwas bound to come where Ronaldo userped him as King. I'm sure if you asked Ronaldo in private he would rather Messi be firing on all cyclinders.

As football fans we are blessed to see the two of them week in week out, most generations had one good player who ruled the roost for a few years alone. WE are being gifted two amazing players going head to head each week. Regardless of what they say or commentators say, La Liga is now simply Ronaldo v Messi each year, and its fascinating.

And at the end of it all, you can only judge a player when they finish their career when you can truly appreciate the genius and magic. I'd be certain that when he retires, someone like say Ibrahimovic will be looked back and regarded as a genius. The lastof a dieing breed of just intellegent footballers. An outragous goal scoring record and medal haul, his image is reflected alot by people who listento Sky Sports and the likes who always say he fails to showup at the big games against British teams. Fact being he doesn't really need to prove alot, considering he has scored 20+ goals a season for something like 9 seasons in a row, which is a disgusting strike rate.

cournioni

cournioni wrote: »

Ronaldo could play in any team in the world and make them compete with the best. Messi wouldn't be able to do that in my opinion.

You really went out on a limb there considering Messi has only had one club!

bullvine

DyldeBrill wrote: »

Can't see this happening. It'll take a silly amount of money that no club will be able to afford .

Na, it will never happen, I think it would be good for his legacy though, to leave his comfort zone.

Too Tough To Die

bullvine wrote: »

Na, it will never happen, I think it would be good for his legacy though, to leave his comfort zone.

His legacy seems to be doing fine without.

bullvine

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

His legacy seems to be doing fine without.

That's stating the obvious.

Skylinehead

cournioni wrote: »

Ronaldo scores different types of goals than Messi, he can score from 40 yards where as Messi's generally are in the box or just on the edge of it. Smaller clubs generally don't get in the opposing box of top teams all that often and when they do its generally a set piece, even at that Ronaldo is better in the air.

Messi can run from 40 yards and score