Robben has half the actual talent of Ronaldo fiznact. However; he has put the ball in the net a few times, and be raved about, so I will give him the edge right now. He looked an average winger yesterday imo. From what I can remember in Euro seeing as I was pissed a lot, he just carries the ball, nothing Darren Fletcher can't do. Duff is much better.
He also tracked back well and made a couple key plays in our own area to thwart attacks. Good game all around though. As a left fullback myself, I've got to give props to Heinze on the pass that started goal # 2. Perfectly weighted ball that split a couple defenders along with an obvious call to Giggs to just "let it run" and start charging forward. Perhaps our best 1-2-3 goal of the season on a great counterattack. Good pass to start, great killer ball by Giggs and a professional finish. Wonderful in its simplicity.
I do agree that Cristiano Ronaldo has the better technical and creative talent, but Robben is indeed in the same class. Robben really makes things look very easy out there. It will be fun to watch these two develop to their full potential, both as players and people. By the way, the comparison of Fletcher to Robben is amusing at best - no offense to Fletcher, who's a decent player in his own right. Duff, who's a tireless worker, and darts around the field like a waterbug is class, but he's a few yards off the pace of Robben. Robben is Chelsea's second best offensive force, after Lampard - who is gaining my respectability more and more.
All you should have said was that you didn't watch the game. It would have meant comments like "he lost the ball every time he had it" would have made more sense. You're right, however. He did look better when we were scoring. Because he's an offensive player. What, did you think he'd look better when he was defending?
Here's the deal with the Ronaldo v. Robben discussion: Robben scores consistently, and even when he doesn't he is an impact player. For 20 yr.s old he looks very mature. On the other side Ronaldo does not score consitently. For a 19 yr. old he looks his age. For a team loaded with quality shooters he gets more chances than he rightfully should and misses the target alot. He may be flashy, creative, whatever..but as we all know goals win games, not stepovers. Every week I watch our games, and every week I get the feeling that Ronaldo is having trouble fitting it. Last year he filled Beckham's spot of the right and worked hard all season long to provide service to RvN. At times this developing relationship was painful to watch. It was clear that RvN didn't know where the cross was going to wind up w/ Ronaldo, which I'm sure was a bit unnerving after having Goldenballs put it on his head consitently in the previous season. Luckily by mid-season they had started to click. What screwed this plan was Rooney arriving. Now you have two young guns, both who like to shoot, on the pitch. It's clear that Rooney has been given preference over Ronaldo. I have no doubt that many at Man U prefer his meat and potatoes style of play to Ronaldo's flash, an it seems that SAF has changed the formations this year to try to accomodate Rooney more than Ronaldo. If anything look a tthe stats reagarding how many shots Ronaldo has taken that have been goals, vs. the same stat w/ Rooney. No brainer there. Yesterdays game v. Soton was the first time I've really seen the two work on the same field together, but it's obvious that they can't communicate yet. For example look at the Rooney goal service by Giggs. Then look at Ronaldo's blast through traffic that Keller barely saw and saved. In the first Giggs set up a Rooney, but more important he *looked* for him. In the second, Ronadlo at 3-5 yards outside the box, with plenty of traffic between him and Keller, opted to blast a shot through everyone while Rooney stood 10 yards in front him, wide open, with that "what's he going to do now?" look on his face. I think my point is that if Rooney and Ronaldo can get on the same page we're in the money. Like Cole and Yorke. Serious potential. If they don't get it together I think you'll see young Cristiano traded in 2-3 years. Just my .02 USD
I think some of you might be forgetting Ronaldo's performances for Portugal at Euro2004, and through qualifying for the World Cup in Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo has had more impact than Robben, when speaking on the int'l level. As for their play for their respective EPL teams, Ronaldo had a monumental year last year as an 18/19 year old. Robben is doing much the same in his inaugural year for Chelsea as a 20 year old. The learning curve of their progress seems to be in similiar trajectories.
What do you guys think about Smith in this match? I think, for once, that he has been out muscled by the Southampton defense. He has not been able to hold up the ball effectively during the match. I thought we really missed RVN's physical presence during the first half. I was really glad that Scholes got the first goal so that we could play counter-attack and beat them by pace. Saha should be the 2nd choice to Ruud's target striker position. He's physically stronger than Smith, even though he's looking a bit skinnier than he was last season
I agree with the earlier comment that Ronaldo was much better in this game. Maybe someone has finally convinced him that he is more dangerous staying on his feet than winning free kicks that (generally) come to nothing. His service is still not the best but he should get better. We have to resign ourselves to the fact that at least once a game he is going to cut in and fire a shot instead of passing to an open player. All and all, though, his most satisfying performance this season.
That would be my avatar right now if I didn't have an overwhelming urge to stick it to Carpetbagger Bill Self.
Interesting you should say that... well, he has had a bit of a rest so i think that had a bit to do with his performance, he is just 19 so i think he needed that break - several of us had been saying so earlier... my congrats to him for getting stuck in... early in the game around 20 mins or so he had gotten fouled twice in quick succession... not diving or anything - just getting roughed up, I think the second time it was Delap and the next time the saints had the ball on his side of the pitch he took it out on someone... a rough tackle, stopped the player cold and inadvertantly nicked him in the face... i think it was le zaux... it seems he is ready to run at teams and put fear in their hearts once more... i cant say that im not ready for that...