I mean lately he has been playing awful and his performance against Real Madrid was terrible. There is plenty of Attacking Midfield Brazilian players lighting up Europe, if i started the list it would take me until tomorrow to finish so seriously i dont even see the point in him being considered anymore on this form. Yes he was the worlds greatest player, but the keyword is was because now i would rather have giovanni in ahead of him in the Barca who is a Mexican youth player..... He needs to go back and work on his fitness because he does not have that zip no more to go past players. This picture sums it all up.....
Kaka, Diego, Juninho Pernambucano, Julio Batista. F!@#!#!# Ronaldinho, he should have been removed in 2006 quando ele pipocou.
Ronaldinho has no purpose on the NT anymore imo. He not even bench material imo give his spot to more deserving player. If he can't run, can't dribble, has no mobility what is he good for. Passing? Freekicks? Brazilian has many players who can pass and take freekicks just as good as Ronaldinho if not better. Another thing to consider is Ronaldinho used to play great for Barca and shit for Brazil. If he playing shit for Barca, then what Brazil going to get? Brazil Squad should be IMO: Julio Cesar Maicon --- Lucio --- Juan --- Maxwell Elano --- Baptista --- Anderson Kaka --- Diego L. Fabiano Reserves: Gomes Cicinho --- Naldo --- Alex --- Adriano C. D. Alves --- G. Silva --- Renato Mancini --- Robinho R. Oliveria
I wouldnt write him of just yet, his experience will be needed for the next year or 2, wether he plays on 2010 is debatable but currently he is still a good selection. Remember he plays in a DM position, it's all good to say he aint creative enough but once your defensively weak in the centre of midfield you can get ripped apart especially with all the top quality AM's in South America. If you wanna cut somebody, let go off mineiro as he doesn't possess any aerial ability and isnt as good defensively as G. Silva. Lucas & Denilson are options as replacements but i seen them play this year and although there very talented, they aint quite ready yet.
G. Silva is done but I can't think of any other quality DM brazil has. Denilson and Lucas needs more playing time at their respective clubs.
We have Diego, Anderson, Kaka, Elano, Julio Baptista, Lucas (needs to play more) Thats only in Europe, so we dont need him. I fell bad for Ronaldinho, but he created this situation and now has to deal with the consequences, a professional athlete that doesn’t like to train is a bad joke. Great example for the youngster, also he never really play well for the Seleção, Julio Baptista against Argentina shoed more passion than Ronaldinho entire 06 WC
Hmm - he made some mistakes against Madrid but also played a part in some of their chances. Barcelona seemed to have the better game, but were just shredded by a beautiful one-two with Baptista and van Nistilrooy. Count me as one that's not about to write of Ronaldinho Gaucho just yet. If he starts seeing the bench in Barcelona, then obviously he probablyh shouldn't be in the starting 11. What it all depends upon is Dunga's approach to the games and if he wants to reshuffle. On a side, I'm not a Barcelona fan. I just don't like them. They play some attractive football, but IMO they try too many 'cutesy' things. And Ronaldinho is a reason for it. He did well for them a few years ago but looking at him now... he doesn't even run like he did when he was younger and just seems slow. He used to make some great runs from midfield and use his amazing tech. ability to get around any defender. He was lackluster at PSG, but even then he showed a tendency to do that. IMO he needs to get a new club and get re-motivated again. His days at Barcelona are numbered.
I'm sorry though I was very pissed at RDinho for skipping this years Copa(though it showed that neither he nor Kaka was needed!!) and also felt that Kaka was the wrong person to win the FIFA POTY......I will not put an RIP symbol on RDinho's Selecao career!! He's now our "Rivaldo" everyone shits on him saying that he does better for Barca than Brazil, but he still manages to find net!! Barca's problems are not Brazil's problems and yes he still should have a place for Brazil and he even wants one of our overage spots in Beijing'08 but I feel lets see how he performs in our most crucial pair of WQC's to date when in June we face undefeated group leaders Paraguay at in Asuncion and then after come back to Rio and face bitter rivals Argentina!! If he slips then drop him!! Also I'm predicting that Adriano will be our "Phoniex" and will have the comeback of '08!!
Are you watching International football AT ALL? He is playing $hit on Barca too and I can count on my hand the numbers of games he played well for the Seleção One more time, he is the one to blame for all those problems, he doesnt like to train, he skips practice and is a very lazy athlete, what do you expect really? Of course his form is bad. If Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t train and take care of his body his form will drop too. I think is pathetic that a millionaire professional player needs to be dropped from the team to start care about his own physical form and career. NO, we have Diego, Kaka, Anderson, Elano, Baptista, Robinho and others, he played crap in the WC, he no even wanted to play Copa America (he said he need the rest) and now even underperforming, even with the poor performances why do we have to take him? do you think is fair to the young players that deserve to be in the team and will run their asses of for a chance.
I agree with jfaria. For me it feels like Ronaldinho can play how he wants and even if he plays horrible he has got his place in the NT.When I see Diego,who plays at "my" homeclub Werder and how great he plays there I cannot believe why he does not play in the NT.He flies all around the world for 3 minutes or for sitting on the bench the hole match and Ronaldinho who plays really bad at the moment always plays.That´s what I cannot understand
Exactly, I think we sent a horrible message for our players if Ronaldinho continues to play even in a bad form, exactly what happened in the last WC. No matter how good our reserves players were they knew it that Cafu. R Carlos, Adriano. Ronaldo would never leave the team. THIS IS unacceptable, we have to play who is playing better football.
It also sends the wrong message to local talent. If I was a player with a Brazilian club I would be seriously upset that with the exception of a Kleber and the odd SPFC defender players at home be overlooked. Surely there is some serious talent at home deserving of Selecao recognition?
Sponsors control football and they don't want Ronaldinho cut. The big talk from Dunga about earning a spot doesn't apply to everyone. It's money that picks the team.
It is because Diego hasn't always played well for the Selecao either. While I agree that he deserves more of a run-out than he's gotten, in some of the games he played I don't think he was that impressive. And a part of that ties into how he's used. He's a good #10, and IMO the question is, for Brasil, how do you fit him into the system and are you really comfortable giving him the keys to the midfield? For me, it sort of reminds me of the Juinho Paulista situation of 5-6 years ago. Ronaldinho needs to get his head on straight and get back at it. The whole 'training' and 'out of shape' bit shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. I mean, almost 9 years ago, Luxemburgo, that lovely former manager, dropped him because he claimed Ronaldinho Gaucho was 'fat'. I believe he also dropped Dida for the same reasons (said they were both unfit). Lux was an arrogant one, but I did commend him for having the guts to do that. Ronaldinho's only about 26-27 years old. he should be entering the prime of his career and instead, he looks like he's lost a lot of speed and focus. Seriously... who remembers when he burst into the scene? Wasn't he much faster then? And much quicker? No doubt he's a smarter player, but he needs to move on from Barcelona IMO.
Well Diego and Anderson if not injured will surely be automatic spots in the Olympics I'm just taking about the overage players cause besides RDinho, Kaka has said he'd like to take part as well!! If the Olympics were tomorrow the 3 overaged players I'd take would be Kaka, Juan and Luis Fabiano!!
Christ Almighty!!! That photo is damning (please tell me it's a fake). I mean, seriously, I'm at least as fit, and I've got 20 years and a dozen surgeries on the kid. Someone needs to light a fire under that boy, and remind him that he represents Brazil!!! (He can chase Maradona's girth records and hot-pocket endorsement contract after retirement, FFS).
Don't necessarilly count on that, mate. He just got to change airs and move on. We've got to learn with History's lessons... Didi although already a genius in 1950 frustrated Brazilian rooters in 1954; but in the 1958 WC, precisely at the age 30, The Ethiopian Prince was acclaimed as the best midfielder ever. Forgot last year playing for this same Barça the 'toothy kid' got a standing ovation at the Santiago Bernabeo? He for sure deceived us in 2006... Notwithstanding Ronni's experience in 2010 might prove to be invaluable to Brazil. Incredible how people so lightly elect & destroy idols in the world of football. As if a player of his class were nothing but a used light bulb ...
I've expressed my feelings before ... drop him for all the reasons already mentioned. It's clear in my mind that he is not 100% in the game (practice, keeping in shape, etc...). He has also won every possible title for a player. It takes a specific type of individual to stay 100% dedicated to the game after all of his accomplishments. He is clearly not one of them. My best memories of Ronaldinho at the NT will be WC-2002 and the few prep games right before the competition. At that time Rivaldo was carrying the main work load in the midfield and Ronaldinho was free from most responsibilities. That's when he played his best for us. It's sad that he has never been able to carry the midfield at the NT. He seemed like the natural successor to Rivaldo. Before WC-2006 a friend told me Ronaldinho was not the type of player that could carry the Selecao like Rivaldo did. I disagreed with him citing how he was carrying Barcelona ... but in the end, I think he couldn't have been more right. As for Diego, I don't even remember one good performance from him at the Selecao. In fact, they have been pretty damn bad if you ask me. He will need to step his game up a lot if he wants to run the midfield.
If Ronaldinho has any pride at all, he should post the "before" and "after" photos in his mirrors at his home, at the Barca facilities, and take copies on the road. It's one thing to lose ability with age; time and gravity eventually claim us all. But, as another poster pointed out, he's now what should be the prime of his career. While he did some nice dancing v. Madrid, he never truly was able to take on a defender with any effectiveness. It's easy to see why. I hope that someone (Rijkaard seems to be trying) can shame him into remembering who he is and the great gift it is to be blessed with such ability. If he can't accept the corresponding responsibilities that come with the rewards, then he should retire. There are millions who would give years off their life to have the opportunities that he's pissing away.
He was injured for the weekend game, but as for the Madrid game, I don't think Ronaldinho played particularly poorly to be honest. He had one of their very best shots. It's just that Madrid has the world's top GK (IMO) who stopped it. Had Ronaldinho scored, who knows?
I think Ronaldinho without a doubt, should always be considered. In a strange way and counterintuitively, the club form of Brazilian craques can be irrelevant. It was just a few months ago that Robinho was not even in the Real Madrid team and he had all sorts of problems last year with Capello, but none of it stopped him from being the leading scorer at the Copa America. The traditional way of thinking about "form" was irrelevant. Rivaldo had all sorts of problems with both Barca and Milan in 2002, but ended up being arguably Brazil's most important player in the World Cup. Ronaldo wasn't even playing club ball in 2002 and ended up with more goals that anyone else in 30 years. Ronaldinho's 2006 club form was blistering hot, but he it didn't end up well in WC 2006. I'm just bring up these points as Robinho said after the Ecuador game that he enjoys playing for Brazil a whole lot more than Real Madrid. Players don't usually say that about teams that pay them $$$$, so it must be a very, very different environment. Big clubs always have their own agenda.
This might suck but I think the CBF might have to step in and make some "quotas" for home based players on the NT. For instance right now nobody has a shot at making the national team that doesnt play in eastern europe... For example to solve this problem and give more chances to deserving home based players make a rule saying that at least one home based goalie needs to be called up, and maybe at least 6 other spots need to be given to homebased. Maybe more spaces if necessary. Because if they don't, its like why have a league in Brazil?