https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/f...becoming-one-of-the-greatest-of-all-time.html https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....l-news/law-ronaldo-can-be-the-best-989337.amp https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2306026/Dazzling-Ronaldo-strides-among-the-games-legends.html Bearing in mind CR was 6 years his Junior and already better at everything single facet of the game barring finishing I think he wins easily Not everyone will agree,but Having watched most of his prime performances for Manchester United/Real Madrid live and having recapped on them at various times over the past 10 or so years, for me it is clear that the highest peaks of ronaldos career were: 1.)The CL KO stage of 2016/17(as decisive as any player in the history of the game has ever been) 2.)2011/12 club +country 3.)The first half of 2013/14 (club+country) 3.)The first half of 2014/15 (club) 4.)February till May 2010 (17 goals+9 assists in 17 matches returning from an ankle injury he sustained against Marseille he came back on God mode) Now In answer to your question: Ronaldo from November 2006 till the CL quarterfinals vs Roma In early April 2007 is the best version of a winger EVER During this time he won back to back PL player of the month awards. playing predominantly as a right midfielder he scored a stupendous 19 goals+16 assists in 34 matches(all club competitions) https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/cri...06&verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id= That is a level of output not reached by Luis Figo,Ronaldinho gaucho,zinedine zidane,nedved/whoever else played as a wide midfielder/wing playmaker in the noughties (Although I think Ronaldinho with his astronomical amount of penalties could compete here ,at least as far as 2005/06 is concerned) Unfortunately his(ronaldos) form dipped towards the tail end of the season with some disappointing performances in high profile matches vs Chelsea in the FA Cup final and Milan away in the champions league
I don't think Ronaldo in 06/07 was a winger in the classic Figo or Giggs sense. It was obvious watching him then that he was more of a roaming forward. Saha, Smith, Solksjaer, and Larsson all missed most of the season for one reason or another, and it was Rooney and Ronaldo who were the two main forwards of the team, and Rooney was notorious for dropping deep. Some of the media terms are misleading. Even now, Salah is still referred to as a 'winger'. For broad classification, he still falls under 'midfielder.' So just because the media classify Ronaldo as a winger doesn't mean he was playing similar role to Figo, so I don't think it's fair to compare their numbers. Even in the TM link you posted he's referred to as a winger, which is the same as his position at Madrid under TM. The 'wingers' we think of, the Figo and Giggs of this world, are classified as 'left midfielder' or 'right midfielder' under TM, not 'left winger' or 'right winger'. Even among players classified as 'midfielder' by TM, there is a huge difference. Both Pires and Giggs are classified as 'left midfielder', for example. However, here is the graph for Pires' assists in 2003/2004: Pires wasn't really a left-winger in the same sense Giggs was was he? I don't have the same graph for Giggs, but something tells me there'd be more crosses and less throughballs. Still, most media would classify them under the same term. One of Ronaldo's best aspect is his humility and drive to improve. Every coach who's ever worked with him will attest. This is how he developed into a goal-scorer at Man Utd: The pair (Ronaldo and Man Utd coach Rene Meulensteen) worked incessantly, studying videos of Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry to improve his output ever further. Working on three zones – No.1: in front of goal, No.2: either side, No.3: outside the area – Ronaldo became deadly. Who says goalscorers are born, not made? So obviously the Manchester coaching staff recognised Ronaldo's potential as a forward and had him study the forwards and coached into one. Why Shearer and Henry? The coaching staff (or perhaps Ferguson?) must have (correctly) foreseen that Ronaldo had the ridiculous potential to combine the best of both a creative roaming forward and a classic striker. This could partly be because they recognised the death of the classic winger and the rise of the wide-forward. Whatever they taught him obviously worked because we see it both in 07/08 and later in his career that movement is one of his best skill.
He was a winger, a orthodox winger like Beckham/figo/Giggs in 2006/07 Saha did not miss most of the season, he got injured in late March 2007 before then he made 34 appearances Manchester United played with two wide men in ronaldo and Giggs and two centre forwards in Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney(and there were other strikers as well like Alan Smith,ole solksjaker and henrik laarson who came on loan) SAF had 5 centre forwards at his disposal in this season Perhaps you are getting mixed up with 2007/08 when ronaldo/Rooney/Tevez played as part of a fluid front 3 constantly interchanging positions Even so in the premiership SAF played 4-4-2 and ronaldo was a wide midfielder in practically every single game he played 2006/07 is the only elite season ronaldo played as a orthodox winger In the season after he was more goal oriented and less creative Btw No official source ever listed salah as a midfielder Klopp played 4–4-3 last season so he was a wing forward at best and this season thus far he is a striker/CF Ronaldo was actually a midfielder and recognised as such by the PFA,uefa team of the year and many other sources Only since 2008/09 has he been recognised as a forward Btw Don’t take my word for it Ronaldos position in the QF vs Roma 2007 https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....n-team-of-the-year_sto1189995/story-amp.shtml Listed as a midfielder in the champions league team of the season alongside kaka,essien and seedorf Henry/salah/Suarez/Agüero were the furthest fielded players
I must have remembered Saha wrong. I don't recall him starting too many games in the EPL that season. I know Smith, Solksjaer, and Larsson missed most of the season. In the Transfermarkt link your provided, Ronaldo was already classified as a right-winger, which is the same position as Salah is classified as now. Giggs, on the other hand, was not classified as a 'left winger' but as a 'left midfielder'. So obviously, according to TM, there was already a distinction between the role Giggs played on the left, and Ronaldo on the right. Obviously, it's not the most reliable source, but it is crowd-sourced, so it does reflect what fans think of players a bit. Here's his stats on PES: https://pesstatsdatabase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10125 The fans who worked on him, think he was a wide-forward and not a side-midfielder as well. Most of all though, 'Ronaldo as an orthodox winger' simply doesn't survive the eye-test in my very own opinion. So I admit, it is hard for me to see him as such, as I remember him vividly as something else. On that note, I think I'll just agree to disagree. I'll read whatever response you might have, and take it on board, but that really should be it before this thread gets too off-topic like many others. I'll post the arguments for 03/04 Henry later, so we can actually talk about the topic at hand.
When you say he failed the eye test at least be kind to refer to specific performances in 2006/07 where he did not look like a orthodox winger It obviously is critical to this discussion that we reach a common ground on this very point because you will no doubt attempt to try and minimise his output but claiming he was a forward (when you make your case for TH14) Some real time views on ronaldo (his role in 2006/07 )by fans who actually watched him at old Trafford and the clear distinction they made between his 06/07 and 07/08 seasons http://www.redcafe.net/threads/06-07-07-08-08-09-ronaldo.278515/