when or if? I think it will be harder for him to 'turn it on' like he did four years ago, with more injuries and being older. Not to mention he hasn't been hitting the back of the net regularly for Brazil in the past year.
that's simply not true. the reason why he hasnt been hitting the back of the net for brazil this season was because he was booted off the team for his whining. remember, he didnt play in several qualifying games in the summer of 05...and didnt play in the Confed Cup. Even with his injuries and goal scoring drought and not playing in like 4 or 5 qualifiers, Ronaldo still managed to lead all players in goal scoring in CONMEBOL. And, Ronaldo still has recently shown immense skill by scoring with his elbow in the most recent Brazil game against Russia (sarcasm). But yeah, I think he will be fine for Brazil. Ronaldo usually delivers for Brazil and despite his month-long woes (which really have more to do with overall team form in my opinion), he should pick it up.
in their prime i dont think so. pele was more of a creator then ronaldo, but ive never seen any player as unstoppable as ronaldo was in his early days. he just ran through any defense whenever he wanted. it was crazy. obviously comparing pele at 29 with ronaldo at the same age is a "big fat insult"
I don't know. I don't doubt his ability, but this time it seems like he's just let himself go too much, and there's too much ground to make up before the WC. I guess we'll find out in a few months, but I don't think he has ever (or at least not in recent memory) been healthy and yet still playing so poor for his club.
i agree with you on this. however, we have to keep in mind 2002 where he was recovering from those devastating injuries and wasnt even playing with Inter really. everyone counted him out and look what he did. granted, he was 4 years younger, but the injury he had at the time was worse. we'll see. but i think that players love to prove their critics wrong, and i think this is especially the case with ronaldo... so we'll see.
Ronaldo was never as good Pelé. You don't forget how to play football because of an injury. If the injury would have just slowed him down, ok, but now he is nothing more then a very good poacher. But at that he isn't better then Müller, not to mention Pelé.
Talent is nothing when you have some mental problems. There is no such thing as a great player with a bad attitude, cause great players don't have those problems. That's one of the things which has made them great.
well look at the thread name. its called "the most talented footballer ever" and then attitude or mental problems are irrelevant.
No. Let me make this a little more easy for you(as you obviously need that): A person can be hugely talented in areas as ballcontrol, passing, dribbling, shooting and much more, but if that person does not have the stable mentality to work on his strong points and get better in areas where he is not so good he isn't going to get anywhere. When you are not developing, your opponements will catch up with you. You think Pelé was born as the best player ever? Sure some people(especially Pelé himself) would like to think so, but that's not true.
To me Romario is more like Best. Hugely motivated when you challenge them, but when you don't they will stop trying. Ronaldo is just too easily satisfied and too soon, especially post-injury. Instead of living on class, Ronaldo has been living on his name more then anything. Still a very good player, but something like this would never have happened to Maradona, Pelé, Di Stefano, Cruijff or Beckenbauer. Cruijff also had acceleration as one of his strongest points, but at the end of his life as a player he lost most of that. So he used his vision which he had gained because of his experience and combined that with his passing(which had only gotten better with the years) and became a playmaker in a more withdrawn role. This way he lead a very poor Feyenoord side to a championship over an Ajax side with players like Jesper Olsen, Marco van Basten, Jonny Bosman, Frank Rijkaard and John van 't Schip.
Funny Thread I always keep these threads subscribed basically so I can have a laugh when I'm bored. Posts range from bizarre to clueless to simply misinformed in an instant. Quite the rollercoaster. Anyway, I find this subject can only nearly be objectively viewed by those who were old enough to have watched Ronaldo in real-time at his (little did we know) Zenith in the 90's. Watching this player in full flight, at his peak, live - not with hindsight or any kind of idea what will happen or when - was surreal. You'll find that everyone (I have never seen an objector with an ounce of football knowledge in his head contest this) who is old enough to have witnessed this player in full flight could not believe what they were seeing. The endless articles, the media frenzy, the way he could sprint towards goal with full control of the ball taking on anything in his path, all of it was surreal. Even posters on here who apparently hate the player (because of what he did to Inter) are on record, archived on this site, saying the player was like nothing they'd ever seen. Indeed, how quick people are to forget. A lot of the younger posters have no way of comprehending this, much in the same way most of us can't really comprehend the likes of Eusebio, Di Stefano, Pele et al. We see a handful of games, read books, see clips , but that is nothing like witnessing genius in real-time..not knowing what will happen from minute to minute. For many on this site their first memory of such a player is Maradona, for most in that age bracket it is incomprehensible to fathom Pele being 'better' -they saw one in real time, during their childhood - those memories are etched until death..the only way they could have the same comprehension of Pele (if Eterno didn't do it for them) is to have been there watching the unknown unfurl before their eyes. The only people qualified to answer this question are the ones who were able to see, first hand, the genius of Puskas, Garrincha, Di Stefano, Pele, Cruyff, Best, Eusebio all the way through to Ronaldo, There's probably 20 posters on the entire site in that age bracket! No one else can pass comment that can be balanced or even truly comprehend what it is they are talking about - all they've seen is second hand sources. Perhaps 10-50 games (unless you're a true scholar of the game) That's little more then a season's worth of games! and numerous third hand sources espousing the player, be it from the media or relatives etc. What I can say from my time alive, watching the game is that in real time, is that there are only 2players that left me amazed, flabbergasted, baffled: Maradona and Ronaldo, others who I found amazing, but comprehendable were Platini, Zico, Dalglish, Romario and Ronaldinho at times. Maradona and Ronaldo were those players (to me) that at any time in a game could just do something completely unbelievable with such unerring frequency that you were glued to the screen when they were on - you didn't know when it was going to happen, but you dare not leave the room, just in case. No other players have had such an affect on me in terms of awe. That's what I'd say Ronaldo's game was at Barca and Inter: awe inspiring Luis Suarez, the all-time great said that Ronaldo could never do that (in reference to the brilliant Barca season) in Italy. He said that Ronaldo would get marked out of the game in Italy... can it be comprehended by those that didn't see it, why Ronaldo was called il Fenomeno when he went to Italy? Do they grasp what a phenomenon is? It's so easy to brush over such things now - it was a long time ago, but at the time it was a frenzy. In fact, I have all the of the catalogue of world renound World Soccer magazine from the time Ronaldo was a young prospect through to when he wa a fully fledged #1 player in the world. Look at this: This is World Soccer Magazine asking the question ‘is Ronaldo the best player ever Now if you know what standing this magazine has and the in-depth coverage they have done of the beautiful game and its players since the 50’s!! You will be able to comprehend just how highly Ronaldo was regarded at the time. I’m positive I’ll never see this question posed again for any player from now until I die on the front page of World Soccer magazine. Those that witnessed his Barca season in particular first hand should have a full grasp..those too young to remember will most likely find it preposterous, which is perfectly understandable. Until I saw Eterno, the superlatives attached to Pele did not really match with the little footage I had seen. After I’d seen Eterno I could at last comprehend the player – if you’ve never seen Ronaldo at his very best, you can’t comment in this thread with any authority or plausibility through no fault of your own. As for the question itself, I can’t answer it. What I know and anyone who saw Ronaldo in his prime knows, is that it is not a ridiculous argument from the outset nor is it ridiculous to compare Ronaldo's natural talent with any of the truest of all-time greats. He was never the complete player, he was never the smartest, but it is certain he was in the league of Garrincha and Maradona for dribbling and unmatched for running with the ball at full speed, whilst maintaining full control. Is this enough to win a 'talent contest?' I have no idea, but it's certainly worthy of debate...if you're that way inclined.
Good post Dark. I am going to say when Ronaldo was in his best form, there were comparisons to Pele back in Brazil because of the way he played. Just like Pele, Ronaldo dribbled through defenders with speed, control, and most importantly physical power. They way they attacked defenders was similar. So they have been compared from that aspect. But of course, we all know Pele was a lot more versatile than Ronaldo and did so much more on the field.
Ronaldo in his Barca-time was a damn good striker...but there is no way you can put him in the top 5 all-time players ! Because he dont have the vision of the game like those greats as for example Pele,Cruijff and Maradona .... He's not so versatile as them....
Um...they're playmakers. That's their job...you know? to have that kind of vision..Ronaldo's job was to put the ball in the back of the net, exclusively.
Versatility isn't necessarily relevant. He could create goals out of nothing just like Pele/Cruyff/etc could. Since Beckham has better vision than Ronaldo, does that make Beckham a better player?