Cristiano Ronaldo

As good as he is (and he knows how good he is) it's accepted that he's not as good as Messi and I think he knows this and it tortures him.

Good article in the Guardian here...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jun/14/euro-2012-lionel-messi-cristiano-ronaldo

The thing is, he is better than Messi at a lot of things. Skills, heading the ball, free kicks, he beats Messi with ease. What makes Messi better overall is that he does the simple things with ease. Messi just plays football like it should be played. Coaches in Spain and Portugal focus on skill, skill, skill. I know this as my mate in university has been in a training academy in Spain and he's told me. They're focus is on one touch passing and skill. Messi doesn't focus on skill. Its all passing, positioning, balance and finishing. Everything someone in the attacking third should master.

The thing with Ronaldo is that he isn't as clinical when in the box and he doesn't have the same core balance which means rather than just shift his weight to take on a player he needs to use skill which is more difficult. Messi has genetic advantages over Ronaldo in the fact he has great core balance due to his small height.

Im just glad I get to see the two greatest players of all time in my lifetime. Messi and Ronaldo are the two greatest of all time for me. They play against players who are on stricter diets, who have better stamina, in more disciplined formations due to managerial advancements under the likes of managers like Mourinho and so forth. Everyone says about Maradona but for me, he was a class act but he wasn't playing against players who had strict training regimes or followed strict lifestyles like players like Ozil. A lot of the best players, athletes in modern sport are so because of their way of life which for me is what puts them in an elite, fitter league of their own against the athletes from previous decades.

RedIsTheWay wrote:The thing is, he is better than Messi at a lot of things. Skills, heading the ball, free kicks, he beats Messi with ease. What makes Messi better overall is that he does the simple things with ease. Messi just plays football like it should be played. Coaches in Spain and Portugal focus on skill, skill, skill. I know this as my mate in university has been in a training academy in Spain and he's told me. They're focus is on one touch passing and skill. Messi doesn't focus on skill. Its all passing, positioning, balance and finishing. Everything someone in the attacking third should master.

The thing with Ronaldo is that he isn't as clinical when in the box and he doesn't have the same core balance which means rather than just shift his weight to take on a player he needs to use skill which is more difficult. Messi has genetic advantages over Ronaldo in the fact he has great core balance due to his small height.

Im just glad I get to see the two greatest players of all time in my lifetime. Messi and Ronaldo are the two greatest of all time for me. They play against players who are on stricter diets, who have better stamina, in more disciplined formations due to managerial advancements under the likes of managers like Mourinho and so forth. Everyone says about Maradona but for me, he was a class act but he wasn't playing against players who had strict training regimes or followed strict lifestyles like players like Ozil. A lot of the best players, athletes in modern sport are so because of their way of life which for me is what puts them in an elite, fitter league of their own against the athletes from previous decades.

It's a fair comment about the strict lifestyles the players Messi and Ronaldo are playing against, but they are on the same diets with the same training. It's true that Maradona was playing against players on poorer diets, but at the same time Maradona's diet would've been poorer than the likes of Messi.

I personally don't like to compare players from different era's, but would like to think that world class players would stand out if it was possible to put them in any given era.

Imagine being as good as Ronaldo and still not be the best in the world!! Lol

Messi has his ego in check, Ronaldo doesn't. The other day when Ronaldo missed an easy chance and his team went on to score the winner he immediately made it about him...

BigREDbird wrote:Imagine being as good as Ronaldo and still not be the best in the world!! Lol

Messi has his ego in check, Ronaldo doesn't. The other day when Ronaldo missed an easy chance and his team went on to score the winner he immediately made it about him...

Did you notice how when that lad (cant remember hsis name) scored the winner everybody in the Portugal team celebrated with him apart from Ronaldo, who was closest to him when he actually scored the goal.

All I cud be wrote:

BigREDbird wrote:Imagine being as good as Ronaldo and still not be the best in the world!! Lol

Messi has his ego in check, Ronaldo doesn't. The other day when Ronaldo missed an easy chance and his team went on to score the winner he immediately made it about him...

Did you notice how when that lad (cant remember hsis name) scored the winner everybody in the Portugal team celebrated with him apart from Ronaldo, who was closest to him when he actually scored the goal.

That's what I meant! His ego is out of control!! It has to be about him and that's why for me Messi>>>Ronaldo

He knows he's not considered better than Messi, and tries too hard to prove he is, if he took that off his mind in my opinion he could be better, just not as consistent as Messi

It isn't a debate. Messi is by far the superior and more naturally gifted player.

Messi will always be better than Ronaldo.

The Lad wrote:It isn't a debate. Messi is by far the superior and more naturally gifted player.

Well it is a debate, one of the biggest in world football, but yes, I do agree with you.