Ronaldo is one of the greatest individual players of all time without a doubt. His combination of skill, positioning and physical ability is almost unreal.

With that said his mentality has stopped him from becoming truly respected and praised. He does it to himself. The thing about him is that he has all the talent and ability to be a more dynamic player, but his obsession with goals and records I think transformed him. I fully believe he could still be a 40 - 50 goal player if he played without worrying about individual statistics and I still believe, behind Messi, he is clearly the 2nd best player of his generation by a mile and one of the best of all time.

Though still, I do feel people underrate his contributions as an individual. The space he provides others, his timing, finishing, shooting technique and his ability to read plays as they are developing are all top notch. People undervalue his goals as though a goal 'doesn't count' unless you've dribbled 5 players first. Look at the success rate of dribbling past more than 1 or 2 players for anyone and then look at the success rate of Ronaldo's shooting. It's really no different. It just isn't as pretty. Yes, Messi scores more beautiful dribbling goals than anyone, but he also tries them more often than anyone...because he can. Just like Ronaldo puts himself into shooting positions that he can score from more often than anyone.

He has 3 Golden Balls and people think he is up there with Messi. That's tremendous respect for a glorified, more consistent Mario Gomez.

futbol wrote:He has 3 Golden Balls and people think he is up there with Messi. That's tremendous respect for a glorified, more consistent Mario Gomez.

Ronaldo doesn't have this though

http://www.tomnash.eu/gomez-button.html

futbol wrote:He has 3 Golden Balls and people think he is up there with Messi. That's tremendous respect for a glorified, more consistent Mario Gomez.

Prime Futbol

Also, this eye test is basically a cute way of being subjective without looking like a complete hater.

He has all the talent in the world. I don't buy he is some poacher scrub.. if you had eyes you can see he clearly has fantastic technique and skill. The Franchise and Chad are putting it to astronomical proportions.

No one compares him to messi on here really

But CR's mentality has really stopped him from being 100% himself. He takes loads of shots a game and isolates the rest of the team for personal glory. I don't buy into the fact that he's an egocentric complete bellend like sport says but he does whine and complain about inattention to an extent.

If he really played for the team he would look a trillion times better. He does have passing ability and he can do anything with the ball. But he makes himself look average. It's sad what an ego can do to a player.

The beginning of last season he was doing that and he looked amazing. Now, not so much.

jibers wrote:

The Franchise wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:It's funny how people always try to downplay Cristiano's football intelligence. Most of his goals come from excelent timing and decision making. Add to that his technical, physical and mental qualities and you get the complete modern day forward.

Your just saying generic terms with no meaning what so ever. Come on dude.

What football intelligence is this you speak about? Shooting the ball every time you touch it anywhere close to the goal is a good sign of football intelligence?

What technical qualities? What mental qualities?

The guy has the most shots per game since opta started collating stats. The guy has the most shots per game in EURO history and scored 4 goals

That's intelligence for you. Great shot selection.

To be fair he hit the post the most as well.

There's a line between luck and inefficiency. he was just unlucky.

FennecFox7 wrote:He has all the talent in the world. I don't buy he is some poacher scrub.. if you had eyes you can see he clearly has fantastic technique and skill. The Franchise and Chad are putting it to astronomical proportions.

No one compares him to messi on here really

But CR's mentality has really stopped him from being 100% himself. He takes loads of shots a game and isolates the rest of the team for personal glory. I don't buy into the fact that he's an egocentric complete bellend like sport says but he does whine and complain about inattention to an extent.

If he really played for the team he would look a trillion times better. He does have passing ability and he can do anything with the ball. But he makes himself look average. It's sad what an ego can do to a player.

The beginning of last season he was doing that and he looked amazing. Now, not so much.

He also has a great first touch that most of the time goes unnoticed

farfan wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Not to mention he's been able to do it at a ridiculously consistent basis. Part of why Ronaldo/Zidane are remembered so fondly is nostalgia as well, which I suppose Ronaldo will also benefit from after retirement, although will people be nostalgic about an era where RM did not win much?

brazilian Ronaldo is still remembered fondly even though most of his teams didn't win squat .

I will also always fondly remember Ronaldinho.

It's really not rocket science, sports summed it up.
He's just not likeable enough.

I think his ability is respected adequately by most neutral fans.
You can't demand we love him though when he's behaving like an egotistical douche.
We've all played on the pitch with kids who think they are the shit and never pass the ball, always want to be on the end of it no matter how unsuccessful their dribbles, and want to take every free kick for themselves.

Also I agree with Fennec. He's hurting himself with it.

He does it for recognition, but he'd be even more recognized, and indeed loved, if he loosened up a bit and started to give off a more teamplayer than ego trip vibe.
Like Robben did.

farfan wrote:

The Franchise wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:It's funny how people always try to downplay Cristiano's football intelligence. Most of his goals come from excelent timing and decision making. Add to that his technical, physical and mental qualities and you get the complete modern day forward.

Your just saying generic terms with no meaning what so ever. Come on dude.

What football intelligence is this you speak about? Shooting the ball every time you touch it anywhere close to the goal is a good sign of football intelligence?

What technical qualities? What mental qualities?

coming from the guy who just +1'd a post arguing that Ronaldo isn't one of the best because he doesn't pass the " eye test " ?  that's objectivity for you .

Objectivity? This is a subject sport with everything is merely opinions.

What world are you living in?

No one on here compares him to Messi true, but they do in general which surely means he is respected no?

Also I disagree that he can do anything with the ball. He's not a scrub or anything but he's not amazing at passing, close control, dribbling in tight spaces or many other things.

He used to be much better at these things true and his ego does play a part but he was never amazing at these things although he was much better granted.

That's not his fault mind, not many players are and Messi is a once in a lifetime freak so because he can do those things doesn't mean much.

The Franchise wrote:

farfan wrote:

The Franchise wrote:

Your just saying generic terms with no meaning what so ever. Come on dude.

What football intelligence is this you speak about? Shooting the ball every time you touch it anywhere close to the goal is a good sign of football intelligence?

What technical qualities? What mental qualities?

coming from the guy who just +1'd a post arguing that Ronaldo isn't one of the best because he doesn't pass the " eye test " ?  that's objectivity for you .

Objectivity? This is a subject sport with everything is merely opinions.

What world are you living in?

expecting people to at least attempt to be as objective as possible when discussion a topic is asking too much ?

an " eye test " ? give me a break .

Let me have an opinion that's different from your's, its ok.

When I watch Cristiano, he isnt impressive. He can score 8 goals in 2 games and none of them bring me any feeling he is a great player like Messi, like Cruyff, like, Maradona, like Pele and so on.

What more do you want?

I'm exactly of the opinion Dani is.

The Franchise wrote:Let me have an opinion that's different from your's, its ok.

When I watch Cristiano, he isnt impressive. He can score 8 goals in 2 games and none of them bring me any feeling he is a great player like Messi, like Cruyff, like, Maradona, like Pele and so on.

What more do you want?

if dats not hitting on nail then I dnt know what is

The Franchise wrote:Let me have an opinion that's different from your's, its ok.

When I watch Cristiano, he isnt impressive. He can score 8 goals in 2 games and none of them bring me any feeling he is a great player like Messi, like Cruyff, like, Maradona, like Pele and so on.

What more do you want?

i don't want anything
but you're actually quoting people and acting all shocked that they think Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time , criticizing others for resorting to " generic terms with no meaning " to upsell his abilities as a player ... all while your knock against the guy is that he failed your " eye test " .

Nope, your wrong. I quoted someone not because they think Cristiano is great, but why. The guy I quoted didnt say at all any specific reasons why, he just spouted random words without any sense.

I have clear reasons why I rate him as I do (and if anyone asks for more specific reasons I can do that too), I simply asked for someone else to explain more why they rated him.

First off, I do agree with the people who say he is respected enough. And that is because GL opinions are not the mass opinions.

I count him as one of the greatest attackers of all time. He is generally regarded as the second best player of his generation. There is as usual hyperbole here saying he is a glorified Mario Gomez ( ) and he is not intelligent at all etc. Opinions of a minority does not reflect the overall respect he gets.

And on trophies, the guy has 2 CLs. That only looks disappointing when comparing to a handful of players who who played for the recent Barca sides, early 2000s Madrid players and Milan players who were there for both Sacchi/Capello and then Carlo's Milan.

Calling him among the greatest of all time is not that farfetched. He is without a doubt up there with the best attackers of the game.

He really doesn't deserve that much respect tbh.

He's a *bleep* clown. A ridiculous, stupid clown.

Takes a free kick from 35 meters out on the right side directly, skies it, while the rest of his team is lined up in the box

Because he's an utter clown and an absolute nothing player.

He has ZERO to his game, except scoring easy goals.

A poor man's Inzaghi without the amazing passion/personality that Pippo had.

Natalie Portman wrote:Because he's an utter clown and an absolute nothing player.

He has ZERO to his game, except scoring easy goals.

A poor man's Inzaghi without the amazing passion/personality that Pippo had.

dats harsh. But true.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:No one on here compares him to Messi true, but they do in general which surely means he is respected no?

Also I disagree that he can do anything with the ball. He's not a scrub or anything but he's not amazing at passing, close control, dribbling in tight spaces or many other things.

He used to be much better at these things true and his ego does play a part but he was never amazing at these things although he was much better granted.

That's not his fault mind, not many players are and Messi is a once in a lifetime freak so because he can do those things doesn't mean much.

No he's not. This thread proves it. I'm not even a CR fan (i've really given up on his egocentric personality on the field) anymore, but there is a bias against him. He's more comparable to players like ibra, suarez, iniesta, but he is better then all three of those players for example. He does not deserve to be compared to gomez.

He can dribble in tight spaces, I never said he was brahimi, messi, iniesta, nolito, etc, but he does have ability with the ball, that much is obvious.

he has a great passing technique but he ALWAYS looks for the shot. it's frustrating because he put out some ridiculous passes i never expected from him. in his mind the only thing he thinks of is shoot shoot shoot. today also proved it.

His ego doesn't just kind of hold him back. It holds him back completely. There is no reason in the world he cannot be a better team player. He just doesn't want to. as a team player i've given up on him. but hopefully he can actually start scoring again

I dont believe people dislike ronaldo for his general personality (see maradona), we seem to mostly disrespect him because of his on pitch limitations and on pitch attitude. How can a guy not use his abilities to the maximum if the team is built around you without question? (on pitch limitation), how do u not celebrate with team mates when they score goals? How do u constantly throw a tantrum when a team mate doesnt pass u the ball once in a while? how can u continue to monopolize freekicks when you're not even remotely good at them? (on pitch attitude).
So, while what fox said is mostly correct, i tend to also agree with GLS more. Cr7 was never a really good dribbler, he was more of an average dribbler with just an above average technique & a below average ball control in tight spaces. Nothing too otherwordly. Hence, he doesnt look like the best when he plays (eye test and they are all on pitch problems).
I mean, after what casciavit, thimmy and franchise said, this threads question is pretty much answered.

Btw, i have a very vaque and hilarious reason why no one rates cr7s technique or driblling ability. It has to do more with perception.
I think its because of his unexciting leg shape. If cr7 pulls off a move no matter how unique, it would always come off as uninspiring and unelegant compared to say an isco or a neymar (completely different dribblers tho). If he had bow shaped legs, like neymar, isco, robben, maradona, rivaldo, benzema or even a straight one like messi, dinho, ronaldo, zidane then people will be fapping all over anything he does on the pitch or at least notice it more. *Lol*.
Lets face it, those bow legged players are generally more elegant dribblers and have unreal close control than other players. Or they come off as such, which is mostly true anyway. It is thesame reason most people think maradona is the better dribbler compared to messi. Unknowing to them. We are naturally more endered to such players as they are generally more exciting.
Well, so much for my theory then. *lol*

He is in clear decline. Last season, although he was a scoring machine, was obvious. This season, it's even more obvious as he has only scored in 3 games.