According to Christian Seifert


The Portugal international moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 in a world-record €94 million deal after establishing himself as one of the game's hottest properties during his six-year spell at Old Trafford.

Since his arrival, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 98 goals in all competitions for the club, but the CEO of DFL, which operates the 1. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga believes the 26-year-old would struggle in Germany.

"I am firmly convinced that Cristiano Ronaldo would not be a superstar in Germany," Seifert told reporters.

"Hes a midfielder. And they have a greater importance than a goalkeeper or a defender."

If Robben can go from Real to Bayern and become Bundesliga's best player I don't see why CR7 can't easily do that.

It's totally ridiculous opinion really.

Also, am I retarded, or is there just no reason given? He just said that, and that's fine and all, but: why??

VivaStPauli wrote:Also, am I retarded, or is there just no reason given? He just said that, and that's fine and all, but: why??

I was thinking the exact same thing, the only thing that is added adds to the idea of his importance in Seifert's eyes. We realise that interviews must sometimes be cropped, however this is simply ridiculous, unless he really is just standing there screaming: U MAD BRO?

EarlyPrototype wrote:If Robben can go from Real to Bayern and become Bundesliga's best player I don't see why CR7 can't easily do that.

have you seen on form robben?
btw he would not go there, he will back to M.U if they again reach CL final this season

billionmillion wrote:

EarlyPrototype wrote:If Robben can go from Real to Bayern and become Bundesliga's best player I don't see why CR7 can't easily do that.

have you seen on form robben?
btw he would not go there, he will back to M.U if they again reach CL final this season

So now Robben is better than Ronaldo?

A fit Robben is the best winger in the world!

I second the notion that if Robben can do it. It should be a walk in the park for CR7.

Why is even anyone questioning this? Why wouldn't he be a success. Most world class players are world class wherever they go. They might do a bit worse or better depending on club and league, but they'll still be good.

Cristiano Ronaldo is suffering

BTW, I think this is a bit more context (Language German): http://www.handelsblatt.com/dfl-boss-seifert-schweinsteiger-ist-ein-superstar/5766484.html

Aaaah, wow, the translation was horrible. I don't wholly agree, but the full German version actually makes a fair bit of sense.

since when super stars like Ronaldo would want to play in germany anyway

rwo power wrote:BTW, I think this is a bit more context (Language German): http://www.handelsblatt.com/dfl-boss-seifert-schweinsteiger-ist-ein-superstar/5766484.html

So the final line is referring to Schweinsteiger, who isn't even mentioned in the article. That being said, I assumed that due to the appalling nature of the article, it had come from goal.com, however I just checked that and the quotes there were fairly complete in comparison, so I've no idea where Xabi has copied this from.

I can only work off translation software, so please excuse me if I miss the point, however is he saying that his goal-scoring would be less appreciated in Germany, or that he would struggle due to the competitiveness of the Bundesliga which means he couldn't rely on his one club dominating most teams? Or something else?

dostoevsky wrote:I can only work off translation software, so please excuse me if I miss the point, however is he saying that his goal-scoring would be less appreciated in Germany, or that he would struggle due to the competitiveness of the Bundesliga which means he couldn't rely on his one club dominating most teams? Or something else?

This. Seifert commented that in Spain only Real and Barca are the (financial and thus competitive) powerhouses while the other teams can't do much as they are on the brink of bankruptcy and thus they are mostly getting beaten easily by a wider margin of goals (by Real+Barca) than it would be common in the BL.

The quotes don't make any sense...if more emphasis is placed on midfielders (since when is Ronaldo a midfielder BTW) and Ronaldo is a midfielder...then how is that a reason he won't succeed?

bundesliga defenses are not that great either lol.. ronaldo would be even more prolific there

english_jewel wrote:The quotes don't make any sense...if more emphasis is placed on midfielders (since when is Ronaldo a midfielder BTW) and Ronaldo is a midfielder...then how is that a reason he won't succeed?

In the full interview, that quote is actually about Schweinsteiger, they've barely included any of the quotes surrounding Ronaldo into that article.

rwo power wrote:

dostoevsky wrote:I can only work off translation software, so please excuse me if I miss the point, however is he saying that his goal-scoring would be less appreciated in Germany, or that he would struggle due to the competitiveness of the Bundesliga which means he couldn't rely on his one club dominating most teams? Or something else?

This. Seifert commented that in Spain only Real and Barca are the (financial and thus competitive) powerhouses while the other teams can't do much as they are on the brink of bankruptcy and thus they are mostly getting beaten easily by a wider margin of goals (by Real+Barca) than it would be common in the BL.

Ok, in that case I understand where he is coming from, however I can't agree with this at all. Ronaldo is an elite goalscorer and he'd succeed in this capacity in any league. He'd thrive against teams playing a high line in a counter-attacking system, I could only see him struggling in a weaker team where he isn't guaranteed service and is starved of touches, however he'd simply become a Podolski like figure in my eyes, keeping up his club when its system doesn't suit him; though he'd have a superior return in my eyes.

I agree with Dostoevsky, some players are just too good, you can't really discount them, even with a weaker side supporting them.

Sure, I can get behind the idea that Ronaldo would score less, but so would Messi or anyone else, simply because huge win margins are rare, even for Bayern (yes, they do still happen, and this season they seem to happen more than usual) - that doesn't mean that he'd disappear or not be a star.

The Podolski comparison is actually excellent, because since last season even when Köln sucked, Podolski looked comparatively good. And if Reus can do it for Gladbach, CR7 could do it for any team, I reckon.

That being said, I agree that Schweinsteiger is probably a more classic example of a true star player, but only because his personality and position are better suited to be captain of a team one day. And I'd have preferred him to Lahm. Give us a little... Spice.

But whatever, the guy being interviewed is the German league president - of course he'll overhype the Bundesliga and talk down Mr. Shirt Sales.

Take statements from people like that with a grain of salt, always.

I have thought a bit about what Seifert might have meant with that, but maybe there is a slight undercurrent that he thinks here it is more beneficial for a player to be not too selfish and work for the team all over the place?

Actually I don't think that in another club as Bayern, a player with a big ego would work. Look at Diego - he was successful at first when he put himself into the service of the team Bremen, but after he got successful and took up primadonna antics, he crashed badly at Wolfsburg.

As for Bayern - I think Bayern atm wouldn't want to destabilise their team by adding another player who might be too selfish - Robben is absolutely enough in that respect, as one can see that Bayern plays rather successful without him, too, so in a way it might be actually a benefit that Robben can't play in each match. Ronaldo is much less injury prone, so he would play each match, and I am not sure if he could work well with Gomez who is dependant on getting the ball from his teammates, while Ronaldo prefers to do stuff on his own. So possibly Gomez could be rendered ineffectual, and I doubt that would be in the interest of the Bayern big wigs.

RedEyesWhiteBeard wrote:dont know about germany, but this ronaldo would fail in the epl, he hasnt been tested against the NEW stoke city yet

Man United won home and away against stoke in Ronaldo's last season for United.

Ronaldo does thrive on being the centre of attention and having the team play for him, though it should be said that he hasn't been in a team short of creative influence too often in his career, such as when Diego failed in your example.

If Ronaldo were willing to play as a centre-forward or even if Dortmund perhaps put Großkreutz as a forward to interchange with him on the wing, he'd have an amazing goal record.

Your point about Bayern and Robben is interesting, given that Madrid offloaded Robben when Ronaldo arrived, it's a dynamic that may have affected the transfer - though I believe Robben's injury record was foremost in mind.