Ronaldo: "the other players on Madrid aren't on my level"

http://www.espnfc.com/real-madrid/story/2817002/cristiano-ronaldo--real-madrid-teammates-not-at-my-level

Talking about physicals. Said if we had no injuries we would be leading the league now.

He only said that after the fact because he knew the shatstorm it would stir... very clear what he meant initially.

Leaving? That's not an excuse to throw your teammates under the bus. Besides, he's in no position to judge because he's been easily in the top 3 of our worst players this season.

Just watched the game. Ronaldo was atrocious.

He also was atrocious about the last 10 times I watched Real.

It's clear he is in fact not on the level of his teammates, he's dragging the team down with his current lack of ability paired with pernicious, egoistical decision making.

I said my thoughts about this before, here and the following
http://www.goallegacy.net/t38569-what-should-happen-official-thread#1526732

It's clear as day he needs to go, since apparently he can't be subbed or benched.

Ronaldo is 50% of your problems. The other half is that you do not have a coach.

Sell Ronaldo, get a decent coach and give him time.

What? I thought Ronaldo was actually good. I think he doesn't mean actual ability.. he's talking about the work and dedication put into the team.

Look guys. I can completely understand as Madrid fans, why you don't like Ronaldo. we ALL have different opinions and I understand that. Me, sports for example will kill eachother over Ronaldo but agree on zidane

But if there's one person who has been incredibly professional while he's here, its Ronaldo. Works his ass off in training, doesn't drink, smoke, and spends his vacations training And I'm positive this is what he meant.

James, I'm looking at you. You should try putting in some effort outside of the pitch sometime.

FennecFox7 wrote:What? I thought Ronaldo was actually good.

No he wasn't.

He gets dispossessed, if he doesn't he takes countless shots from really stupid positions when he could pass or cross to teammates.
On top of that he misses sitters now too.

It's nice that he's ambitious and a professional. He has had a fantastic career thanks to that attitude.
His achievements are impressive.

But he's terrible at the moment, and the signs are flashing his time at Real should be over, if he insists on being the unsubbable focal point of the team on top of earning 30% of the whole teams wages, while not actually producing nearly enough.

He's done. Sell him while you still find someone who pays a lot for him.

Hapless_Hans wrote:
He's done. Sell him while you still find someone who pays a lot for him.

I don't think there's anybody foolish enough to spend big on him. He's 31 and clearly past it. MLS might want him for his marketability, but I don't think they would offer a lot for him. I think he'll see out his contract here and then, if he's shameless enough to continue playing, then he'll go on a free transfer to MLS.

PSG or Man United, however, with Mourinho coming in, sadly for you that second, sure bet for stupid money has probably disappeared.

It doesn't really matter. What's clear is he has to go.

Also, usually a player should get benched after comments like that.

Marca:

Ronaldo: "If all were at my level, we would be first. Every year according to the media it seems I'm at shit, but the numbers and the statistics don't lie.
I don't want to undermine anyone, a single player, but when the best aren't there it's hard to win. I like to play with Pepe, Karim, Bale, Marcelo.. I don't want to say that Jese, Lucas, Kovacic aren't good, they are, very, but...
"I don't know if it's due to bad preparation in the beginning but we're having many injuries and that affects us."

You've got to be kidding me? Boy needs to learn respect. What a dimwit

cristiano was rubbish today, i don't know how anybody could have watched the game and reached the conclusion that he played well, like are you kidding? the whole team was rubbish, but cristiano isn't one to be talking. and the players he highlighted he likes to play with haven't done enough to at least see us contend for the title this season, so i'm not sure what he's on.

i understand he's frustrated, but so is everyone, saying he likes playing with this guy or that guy matters little, because you played with all of them when we met barcelona, and we pretty much shat in our pants in that game. this team only loves the malmos and vallecanos of this world. a real challenge (no pun intended), and everyone disappears; no flair, no creativity, nothing. just a bunch of link up passes, some random crosses and that's it.....yeah zidane is looking very very confused. with this team's mentality, and that crap line up, ancelotti too would have lost this game.

Zidane himself said that:
-  He takes responsibility because it's his job to get the guys to perform.
-  He said the problem isn't physical anymore... it's mental.  He feels that the guys lack the mental edge needed.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Zinedine-zidane-real-madrid-la-liga-est-terminee/638273

I have said and continue to feel that everyone other than our CBs, Carvajal and Navas... are soft.  Pillow soft.  When someone punches them, they fold like a chair.

Like seriously. I don't understand our teams lack of aggression and fight now. This is fking real Madrid. If you play for the jersey, you fight for it. foul, tussle for 50/50s, work your ass off.. I'm not saying the likes of isco and kroos are physical giants. But look at veratti. Dude's 5 feckin 4 and he still fights like its his last day on earth.

@fennecfox7, its not just fight that's lacking....there's no grit not because they don't want it, but because they can't. they can't because the shape is terrible. you mentioned veratti; isco and kroos don't play the same position as veratti. they have no defensive bone in their body, so as hard as they might try, they'll come up short. they, especially isco, like the ball at their feet, chasing down attackers isn't their forte.

what bothers me is, when we do have the ball at our feet, they do nothing. for all the attacking talent in that midfield, it seems that nobody can dribble, nobody can beat players. i'm beginning to think james' best position isn't even as an attacking midfielder. i'm thinking he's a support striker, cos all he really seems to do well is crack a shot for an amazing goal, or score good free kicks. i don't think he's an amazing passer, he's not a dribbler, not a play maker.

its not just them by the way, the team as a whole....even the injured bale. let's not leave him out, his injury has been making him look like a martyr, but he played against sevilla ,barcelona and had a cameo against atleti the first game but did nothing. so let's not act like he was getting the job done in these crucial match ups before the injury.

the team is shaky on defense, cos we have offensive guys there. shaky on offense cos we lack creativity, and can only play the counter attacking system; once opponents don't let us do that, it becomes an array of one touch, link up passes that don't do anything cos opponents are wise enough to hold their position

titosantill wrote:@fennecfox7, its not just fight that's lacking....there's no grit not because they don't want it, but because they can't. they can't because the shape is terrible. you mentioned veratti; isco and kroos don't play the same position as veratti. they have no defensive bone in their body, so as hard as they might try, they'll come up short. they, especially isco, like the ball at their feet, chasing down attackers isn't their forte.

what bothers me is, when we do have the ball at our feet, they do nothing. for all the attacking talent in that midfield, it seems that nobody can dribble, nobody can beat players. i'm beginning to think james' best position isn't even as an attacking midfielder. i'm thinking he's a support striker, cos all he really seems to do well is crack a shot for an amazing goal, or score good free kicks. i don't think he's an amazing passer, he's not a dribbler, not a play maker.

its not just them by the way, the team as a whole....even the injured bale. let's not leave him out, his injury has been making him look like a martyr, but he played against sevilla ,barcelona and had a cameo against atleti the first game but did nothing. so let's not act like he was getting the job done in these crucial match ups before the injury.

the team is shaky on defense, cos we have offensive guys there. shaky on offense cos we lack creativity, and can only play the counter attacking system; once opponents don't let us do that, it becomes an array of one touch, link up passes that don't do anything cos opponents are wise enough to hold their position

Posters like you make me proud to be a Real Madrid fan.

@The Demon of Carthage....lmao well, madrid leaves us little to be proud of these days. i've supported madrid for many, many years, and don't get me wrong, i've seen worse sides than this madrid. but i never thought i'd see the day when us beating atleti would feel like an upset....they've had our number before, but damn these days we play atleti, and its like their players are extremely excited to play us

Because they know they don't have to worry about our width... Atleti plays a very very yet effective style. They play very compact and pack the middle of the pitch and then recover wide. They attack via the counter or, ironically enough, with width on Juanfran's side.

Since they feel we can cross until our face turns blue and wouldn't score... they have literally everyone packed in the middle. There's no room there.

Why are they so confident? Because none of our midfielders are a threat in the box at all these days... not even Isco. None of them dive when there''s a cross. So they are basically playing 5 or 6 against our front 3 and the odds are great.

The shape looks good to me.... the line gaps are fine and pitch is well covered. But like you said tito, unless Benz links up, nobody takes risks. This is the most risk averse group i've ever seen at Real Madrid other than Ronaldo who just takes stupid chances.

You can't hold possession and maintain territory without shape. But that shape amounts to nothing if the movement is too slow in the final 1/3, the runs aren't there and people don't take chances.

We don't do anything to create imbalance against decent opposition. We've become too predictable. This has only been a problem this year btw... not sure what happened. It seems like the life has been sucked out of several of these guys and they can't get it back. As questionable as we were defensively last year, we were plenty dangerous on the attack.

You said it yourself, CR is our biggest attacking threat this year since he is the only one taking risks. Hate it or love it without CR we would be worse.

The fault is our attacking midfielders. They are not good enough. BBC is a amazing trio, Özil & Di Maria would rack up so many assists in this team.

guest7 wrote:You said it yourself, CR is our biggest attacking threat this year since he is the only one taking risks. Hate it or love it without CR we would be worse.

The fault is our attacking midfielders. They are not good enough. BBC is a amazing trio, Özil & Di Maria would rack up so many assists in this team.

No he isn't. Both Benzema and Bale has been better than him. That makes him worst performer among front three. He is the biggest reason why Marcelo's side struggles defensively, did he mention that in his interview?

How about the LCM is basically a role created to run for Ronaldo ?

He should be v last one to complain about teammates. They have been trying all years to boost his stupid stats.

miss clear chances and deflects the blame on other players , cr finally doing what his fans been doing for years, what a leader .

sportsczy wrote:Zidane himself said that:
-  He takes responsibility because it's his job to get the guys to perform.
-  He said the problem isn't physical anymore... it's mental.  He feels that the guys lack the mental edge needed.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Zinedine-zidane-real-madrid-la-liga-est-terminee/638273

I have said and continue to feel that everyone other than our CBs, Carvajal and Navas... are soft.  Pillow soft.  When someone punches them, they fold like a chair.

It's true, some of our players lack aggression and determination. That has been obvious for quite some time...! Well, that's what happens when you replace true warriors like Xabi and Di Maria with Kroos and James.

Adit wrote:

guest7 wrote:You said it yourself, CR is our biggest attacking threat this year since he is the only one taking risks. Hate it or love it without CR we would be worse.

The fault is our attacking midfielders. They are not good enough. BBC is a amazing trio, Özil & Di Maria would rack up so many assists in this team.

No he isn't. Both Benzema and Bale has been better than him. That makes him worst performer among front three. He is the biggest reason why Marcelo's side struggles defensively, did he mention that in his interview?

Actually no. Where have either of them been for the past few games? Bale had a good run of games then disappeared. NEITHER three of these run for the team. It's not just CR7. Bale, sometimes, but he doesn't track back like he should.

FennecFox7 wrote:

Adit wrote:

guest7 wrote:You said it yourself, CR is our biggest attacking threat this year since he is the only one taking risks. Hate it or love it without CR we would be worse.

The fault is our attacking midfielders. They are not good enough. BBC is a amazing trio, Özil & Di Maria would rack up so many assists in this team.

No he isn't. Both Benzema and Bale has been better than him. That makes him worst performer among front three. He is the biggest reason why Marcelo's side struggles defensively, did he mention that in his interview?

Actually no. Where have either of them been for the past few games? Bale had a good run of games then disappeared. NEITHER three of these run for the team. It's not just CR7. Bale, sometimes, but he doesn't track back like he should.

The CF should always be the one who tracks back less, that's why you see Benz getting a free pass. However, that's not to say he shouldn't track back at all!