in my opinion Ronaldo is better at the moment but if Messi wins the world cup in my opinion he will be the best player ever.
i agree. messi is definitely the better footballer. smarter, more skilled, better teammate. ronaldo's a great athlete, but a tad bit whiny.
Messi is a better player than Ronaldo and IMO the gap is quite clear. Messi is already a top 10 all time player, likely top 5 with an argument for best ever. Ronaldo is a great player but not top 10 ever. He was little better than Messi last season when Messi was injured but for the majority of the previous 5 years Messi has been his daddy.
I try an sort out characteristics of the players. faster: ronaldo quicker(agile): messi stronger: ronaldo Better header and higher jump: ronaldo better free kick: ronaldo better passer: messi better crosser: ronaldo better defender: ronaldo, only because he can defend on corners and is bigger better long shooter: ronaldo better finisher in the box: messi better pk taker: ronaldo ronaldo 8- messi 3 ronaldo is the more complete player. all of messi's ballon d'or wins iniesta and xavi were in top 5, and when messi didnt win ballon d'or iniesta and xavi were farther down the list. I believe messi looks better because of his teammates. Where as no other real madrid broke the top 10 in voting except iker in the past 4ish years
Ronaldo is a great player but shouldn't be compared to Messi as Messi is on a higher level than him. This is the best and most comprehensive list I've seen so far of the all time greats:
Ronaldo is a great player (2nd best player of this generation) but shouldn't be compared to Messi as Messi is on a higher level than him. This is the best and most comprehensive list I've seen so far of the all time greats: http://xtrahistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/Greatest-Ever.html This blog was created by @Dearman in collaboration of other football historians.
The ones in red is not correct CR7 was not really better in crossing, defending nor in PK (very arguably here with a bit better rate) stronger? is not a skills for footballer ... just advantage depends on situation = no count Adding vision, long pass, ball control to Messi
This will be long but let's do it .. which player win in each attribute : - Calm finishing : Messi - Long shots : Ronaldo - Headers : Ronald - Vision : Messi - "Winning personality" and leadership : Ronaldo - Dribbling : Messi - Skills and trickery : Ronaldo - Speed : Ronaldo - Through balls : Messi - Crossing : Ronaldo - Defending : Ronaldo (not by that much) - Agility : Messi - Stamina : Ronaldo - Strength : Ronaldo - Position flexibility : tie (or hard to decide) - Game intelligence : TIE This reflects in decision taking for Messi and off-ball movement for Ronaldo. I know that many think Messi is easily the "smarter" player but, Ronaldo in nothing less than a genius. Watch Bale. He has strength, speed, finishing, long powerful shots. However, Ronaldo is easily ahead of him. Game intelligence is the reason. ________ Now, the result reads 9-5 for Ronaldo. I don't care that much. I always knew that CR7 is the more complete player. However, the "sum of abilities" between the two greats is not really big. It depend in their utilization of it. One may argue that 2009-2011 was GENERALLY Messi's "era". while 2012-now is generally Cristiano's "era". _______ Anybody who thinks either of them is miles ahead of the other should look more carefully. Anybody who thinks either of them is the best or the second best ever should do that too.
That has also to do with Spain's success though. Iniesta was actually injured quite a bit in 3 of the years Messi won ballon d'or, but because of what he did for Spain those years he got a lot of additional votes. In any event, Messi and Co. reached greater heights than Ronaldo and Co. You are talking as if Ronaldo accomplished the same with less talent around him which is not quite accurate. He accomplished less with less talent around him.
agree ... Together: Barca + Messi at best was a beautiful team to watch and they were very much invincible CR7 + Real at best were also close invincible, but less beautiful Individual Messi reached higher form in liga than CR7 (so far ) Messi is also a bit more beautiful to watch than CR7
I don't really agree with the highlighted parts : - CR7 is taller which naturally gives him an advantage of being better in the air, but Messi for a short player, actually knows how to time his headers and occasionally scores headers (not as much as CR7 though) - IMO both player have winning personnalities, but both players also lack leadership qualities. - What do you mean by "skills & trickery"??? just before that, you said Messi was the better dribbler (and if i'm not mistaken, he's also scored more goals with trickery involved than CR7) so how's CR7 better in skills & trickery??? - Both players hardly ever put in crosses, but atleast Messi takes corners and indirect freekicks. So what makes CR7 the better crosser??? - I really don't know about this one, because Messi takes a lot of tackles and more often than not still tries to stay on his feet. - I'll give it to Messi for the position flexibility, went from playing on the wing to playing as a false 9 to now playing as a 10 (playmaker). As for Bale & Ronaldo, what makes CR7 the better player now is his end product. He has an obsession with scoring and getting himself in goal scoring positions that Bale doesn't have (yet). Both players are "positionned" as wingers, but CR7 plays much more centrally. Skillwise, Bale is just as good as CR7 and is even a better dribbler in "tight spaces". He's also a bit faster too if i'm not wrong...
Messi being so short gives him an huge advantage in dribbling. We never hear this though, he just always gets the credit for being a better dribbler. Funny how that works. Ronaldo has close to 70 headers in his career, 67 to be exact. You can't possibly take exception to him being vastly superior in the air. He's excellent at defending corners in the air as well. Ronaldo is easily one of the greatest aerial players in history. Messi looks and behaves disinterested in many games, he walks around aimlessly at times completely detached. Ronaldo is always trying to score or bring himself into the game somehow. Ronaldo's work rate, passion and determination is unmatched by Messi. Flicks, back-heels, rabonas, scissors, chops, step-overs, 360's....etc. Messi does not utilize tricks to beat defenders. Ronaldo has an arsenal of foot-work, i.e. Denilson, Robinho, R9.... Wow, you continue to prove you don't watch many games of Ronaldo's if any. He sends in crosses from the wings repeatedly throughout a game (every game). Many of his finest assists in his career are off of amazing crosses. Lol, so its Ronaldo's "obsession" that makes him better than Bale. I'll have to remember that. "Getting himself into scoring position" could also be considered a skill that requires intelligence, situational awareness, anticipation and fitness. Maybe it just falls under the obsessed with scoring skill.
This is true. Messi's low center of gravity is an advantage for dribbling specifically in tight spaces. Ronaldo's heading ability is definitely better. Although, nobody give a fuk about defending in corners when rating attacking players. That's laughable. Also Madrid concede loads of corner goals. More than Barca over the last couple of years. So his impact is really irrelevant in that area. This is also true. At least over the last 3 years or so. But that's because he was moved to a false 9 from the wing. Ronaldo actually seldom beats people when he pulls these tricks. Used to be more effective when he was younger. I think they are both decent at crossing. Ronaldo's cross has more pace, Messi has good placement. His speed is an asset to bet defenders to a spot. Just like Messi's quickness in the box and anticipation gave him many "tap in" goals.
1- If we will take circumstances (natural or not) in consideration, many things will be dropped. Examples : Low centre of gravity gives Messi an advantage of dribbling. Ronaldo playing as a classic winger helped in his crosses being better. Messi playing as a false 9 (and playing in a Tiki-Taka system) helped in his through balls being better. + Ronaldo is not only a "tall player". He has an incredible leap and a precise direction. Examples are countless. 2- You will never see Ronaldo "walk around" or "surrender" when his team is losing. He takes responsibility, which is a form of leadership, silent leadership. That is why you will see much more last minute goals and assists from him than from Messi. 3- Things like Elasticos, Stepovers and flicks. 4- Ronaldo is a winger-attacker most of the time. He doesn't make as many crosses as he used to at United but, he still does it. And usually these are inch-perfect. Crossing is one of the things that I have zero doubt that Ronaldo is superior at. Just look at his cross at the WC or, if you want something from this season, his match against ATM. 5- Messi is quite strong for his size. However, Ronaldo is superior to him, and to most others, in every physical aspect. 6- This season, Ronaldo played as a classic winger, a false 9 (something similar actually) and behind the striker in addition to his normal role and he was the best on the pitch every single time. Messi played as a false 9, a false 10 (if you will) and a LWF (not this season). So, I feel a tie is fair. 7- I have to disagree with you. Ronaldo is far ahead of Bale because of his off ball movement. It's his main strength, just like decision taking ias Messi's main strength, and the reason why keep scoring no matter who is behind him. I talked about that in detail here : http://100and21.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/the-2-most-important-attributes-in-modern-football/
How does Messi being short give him an advantage in dribbling? The ball is already on the floor when dribbling so all players have equal advantage, but you either have the skill on not and Messi is just a better dribbler than CR7. Yes Ronaldo is a great Aerial player, i never said otherwise. But when comparing Messi aerial impact to his, there's no way you can ignore the height difference. Yeah Messi looks so detached that when he has the ball, he often tries to make an quick impact lol. And besides what you're saying doesn't change what i said about CR7 and Messi not having "leadership" qualities. Now lets be honnest, most of the times when Ronaldo does those flicks, the defenders rarely move and he ends up passing the ball backwards. Offcourse there're also occasions where he's beaten players with those flicks too. I watch a lot of CR7's games and i'll like you to please post a video of these "finest" assists from crosses you're talking about, if you don't mind... It's game intelligence and determination to score, it's not a physical skill.
Messi crosses very rarely, almost never attempts crosses especially in barca's play style. On the other hand ronaldo has played more on the wing, and has proven at his time at man u and real that he is phenomenal at crossing. Crossing definitely goes to ronaldo. Neither messi nor ronaldo defend in the flow of play, but since ronaldo can muscle players off the ball easier and can defend corners effectively in which messi cannot. Therefore, you have to conclude that ronaldo is more valuable than messi when the opposing team has posession of the ball. The stats I could find on PKs: Ronaldo 34/38, 89% and Messi 20/27, 74% 15% is a significant difference. Ronaldo most certainly is better at PKs. no you are right, strength is not a skill just like speed and agility. But these physical attributes makes a player better so you cannot disregard them. Lets change it to Ronaldo is stronger on the ball and has a higher top speed with the ball, and messi is more agile with the ball which is the same as ball control. So adding ball control would double count it. You also said add vision and long pass to messi. I already gave messi better passer. Vision and long passing is included in that. But if you rather split up passing to short and long passing, then messi gets short passing but messi rarely hits long balls, normally he's on the receiving end of long balls. So i dont believe there is sufficient argument to lean either ronaldo or messi so I guess its a tie. The revised list: Faster with and w/o the ball: Ronaldo Quicker with and w/o the ball: Messi Stronger on the ball: Ronaldo Better header and higher jump: Ronaldo Better Freekick: Ronaldo Better short passer: Messi better crosser: Ronaldo better defender: Ronaldo better long shooter: Ronaldo better finisher: Messi better pk taker: Ronaldo Ronaldo 8 - Messi 3