https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/cristiano-ronaldos-dribbling-ability.2034024/ @JoCryuff98 His dribbling prime coincided with his prime as an all time legendary FW/LW 2007-2010 During which time he Propelled Manchester united to a hattrick of premier titles,a cl trophy and another final,winning a ballon dor and finishing runner up twice from the age of 22-24 He was by 24 years old already a top 35-50 all timer(by my estimation probably even higher) @ko242
You still haven’t answered my question. He wasn’t the great dribbler like he was during his peak (24-28 yrs) nevertheless and how did it deteriorate.
It's interesting. Everybody says it's because he's old but that's not the truth. Ronaldo takes supreme care of his body and his dribbling game declined in his late 20s! Personally, I like Ronaldo's dribbling in 11-12. Although it was extremely direct. I think there's 2 reasons. 1) he became so consumed with scoring goals. Ronaldo would rather spend all his energy running into positions to score goals than use his energy dribbling. The more he dribbles the less energy he has to make more runs. That's his thinking I think. 2) I could be wrong about this but as he got older he seemed less mobile. I mean in terms of his upper body movement. Which is critical in dribbling in tighter spaces. Perfect example would be Maradona. Ronaldo seems to have gotten more stiff with time and I think this is because of certain weight lifting that he does. I actually think Ronaldo dribbling was at his peak from about 18-21 before he started lifting a lot. Although he was ineffective he was extremely agile as a dribbler. In any case I prefer his dribbling from 11-12
Someone here in BS had a good post about his dribbling abilities during his days at MUtd, comparing him to Giggs , basically saying his style was that of a trickster rather than a true dribbler such as Giggs. I was at the time not entirely convinced, but now see the wisdom of his analysis and concur. I would also agree with ko242 in that it takes continuous practice to keep your skills in prime condition, meaning that he has lowered his dribbling practice time in favor of better positioning and shooting practice.
Ronaldo was more of a speedster dribbler, but I have seen Utd Ronaldo perform some good dribbles nevertheless.
I think his peak as a player (technically and tactically speaking) was between 2013-2015, but his peak as player didn't coincided with his physical peak 2007-2011.
@Jaweirdo Better headers based on what exactly? C.Ronaldo has around 120 headers scored in official games Do you have stats for pele(official games only) The difference between Pele and ronaldo (peak)isn't nearly as big as you probably think
Nothing in that video suggests that he was an elite dribbler. He was a fantastic dribbler nevertheless until 2009-10 season, but not a legendary or unique dribbler. Not even close to that level. If he was really an elite level dribbler then his dribbling ability wouldn’t have deteriorated during his peak.
Who are elite dribblers in your opinion? Note There is not a single dribble that prime Ronaldinho could do that is not shown on the compilations above(and yes even the dribble vs Bilbao) And the same can definitely be said about rivaldo,neymar(in Europe against professional defenders),figo,giggs,zidane,Brian laudrup,stoichkov,hazard,redondo,iniesta,Eusebio etc Peak cristiano was a potent dribbling threat with video evidence of him dribbling up to 4 players,scoring over a dozen goals were he dribbled 2-3 players etc As far as dribblers go imo only messi,maradona,savicevic,cruyff,pele,zico,peak r9,peak baggio,George best and few others have superior dribbling technique
Don’t make me laugh. Cristiano wasn’t capable of dribbling like Ronaldinho,Zidane,Giggs,Hazard, Figo etc because his close control,agility and balance wasn’t nowhere close to these guys. Like I said before, don’t type gibberish again. Zidane even though he was a bit overhyped was far talented and better than CR7 in dribbling ability which was his primary asset. Cristiano was a speedster dribbler like Bale.
Show me those videos. Ronaldo never scored dozen of goals by going Messi mode. He did score few when he was at Utd and first season with Real. If Ronaldo was an elite dribbler he wouldn’t struggle so much in tight spaces(his size isn’t really a problem at all when I’ve seen taller or players with similar height dribbling well in tight spaces). Also, an elite level dribbler’s ability wouldn’t deteriorate so much at their peak.
That’s only few and I already agreed he scored “few” solo dribble goals. Yet those goals he scored also doesn’t make him an elite level dribbler. Neymar tore apart many professional European World class defenders lol. When did Ronaldo ever tear apart world class European defenders like Messi,Zidane or even Hazard for that matter. Cristiano can never dream of dribbling like Neymar, Hazard, Zidane, Ronaldinho etc because his agility, balance and close control isn’t elite level like I said. Hell, I would rank Thierry Henry as a better dribbler than Utd Ronaldo. David Ginola in his prime was I guess as tall as Ronaldo(he has shrunk now) where he could dribble very well in tight spaces like a 5’8 or 5’9 guy.
LMFAO You are clearly drunk on your own stupidity Henry isn't nearly as good a dribbler as ronaldo,nor as skilful,nor as athletic etc When did zidane ever tear apart any team with dribbling except in very few games in his career (I.e. Valencia 02/03,brazil 2006,Ajax 96/97 and maybe a few more) Cristiano was regularly tearing teams apart in epl with his dribbling day in day out week in week out (Scoring solo goals,creating goal opportunities with his dribbling,earning penalties with his dribbling etc)he was unplayable quite literally So much so that he was lauded as being the best dribbler/player in the world by some of the exact players you think were better than him(at dribbling) Your namesake Johan cruyff called him the greatest player in the history of Manchester United when he was just 23 years old (better than George best,charlton etc) Bobby Charlton called him a superior player to sir tom finney when he was only 22 years old and most pundits/experts ranked ronaldos prime as amongst the best if not THE best ever witnessed in British football history (forget about the premier league) You are alone(along with a few die hard Barcelona fans who frequent this forum)that think cristiano isn't a legendary talent The consensus of the football world (i.e. The opinion of people who actually matter) is in complete contradiction to the nonsense that is continuously being spouted by yourself(and a few others)
I think you’re the one who’s “drunk”. Johan Cruyff called him the greatest player in Utd’s history, not the best and most talented dribbler that existed in Utd’s history nor in the world. When did Cruyff or his peers ever state Ronaldo was the best dribbler in the world? You’re a pathological liar who makes up random statements to mislead people. Many non-Barca fans on this forum or the football consensus do not believe he’s a legendary talent(which he isn’t) so stop spouting lies. Only Ronaldo fanboys such as yourself and Hala GGMU fans believe he is a unique talent.
Eusebio(on cristiano) “He has magic in his boots. The first thing you notice about him is that he is incredibly quick and very, very powerful for such a young man. “He has great, close control and his technique is excellent. He believes he can do anything with the ball, and that confidence makes him very special indeed.” Lionel Messi(on ronaldo in 2009) Manchester United have quality everywhere. They have so many good players. But if I had to pick one out it would be Ronaldo. He is a player I would pay to watch. He and I are very different players but he is unbelievable, very special, and it will not be easy to stop him. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/f...onaldo-is-one-to-watch-says-Lionel-Messi.html (I guess messi was also a fanboy of prime cristiano-or at least prime ronaldo that played for united) John terry (in 2007 when he was arguably the best defender in the world) "I could watch Manchester United just to watch him. He does things with the ball that you don't see anyone else in the world doing the at the minute. He is the best in the world at the moment.When he is at his best I don't think there are many people who can stop him.When he is running at you like he does with his skills and tricks, you don't know which way he is going.A lot of teams double up on him and he has often said he has two players to beat in every game. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-448976/Terry-Ronaldos-best-world.html Etc... Barcelona fanboys ....but but Ronaldo did not have legendary dribbling technique...