Well I'm glad I'm not by myself - I missed your comments fellas, sorry. It would indeed be interesting to see how Sellasie would cope in the Premier League, Sid - I think he'd do a pretty good job from what I've seen though. And Carra, while I believe Ronaldo was extremely good for Man United, he has still matured loads as a player since then. Sorry if you've said this already but he is, as has been evident the last few weeks, more of a team player, if not still as much as Messi. Haven't got a clue what he's like as a person though...
He and his agent have recently paid for a 9-year old's cancer treatment, which is something I highly doubt he would of done when he was in Manchester.
I do believe Ronaldo is a very good player, my origional post was more aimed at the media's obsession with him becoming very annoying. I think he is undoubtedly one of the best players on the ball and his movement in the final third is excellent. However until he learns the team is more important than himself as an individual he will never reach his true potential imo. He may well of improved since his Man U days but I have seen him plenty of times since and if things are not going his way his attitude is still very poor. He never puts pressure on the ball (although I guess many will claim thats not his role) anywhere on the pitch and while his shooting is good his efforts from 40m just show greed and are of little benefit to the team. Plus i can't stand it when he is cleanly tackled and he stays sitting on the floor looking up to the ref in disbelief he has not been given a free kick. Clearly a fantastic player, a f***ing prick of a person (on the pitch at least) and a somewhat volatile attitude imo
You make a very convincing argument, and I agree with most of what you say, especially in regards to his attitude on the pitch. However, his shooting isn't only 'good', it's incredible, and I believe he IS acting in the best interests of the team by shooting from such distances. Besides this, you are focussing merely on his negative sides, and I believe his positves vastly outweight these points. For a start, he's incredible off the ball, always finding space, and not just in the final third, but everywhere. He's got incredibly quick feet, and can carve a chance from anything and anywhere, and he will usually take that chance. He is also fantastic in the air, and this is where he is undoubtedly better than Messi, who, although very convincing with his head, is not as good as Ronaldo. What's more, he's shown all this, and more, during Euro 2012 - and on countless occasions. He gets media attention because he well and truly deserves it. After all, in this time of middle east uprisings, financial crises, etc., isn't it a good thing that people are just able to focus on the positives for once?
Ronaldo hit the post twice last night, with the first one being football of the highest quality that even Messi would of applauded the efforts. IMO, he could get them to the final all by himself.
Without doubt positives outweigh the negatives of his play, as I stated he is certainly a very good player, but could be even better. I just feel it is a team game and all players play a very important role so be focusing on only one player is not right, in particular during a game, not got too much of a problem outside of the matches though. But everyone has a different opinion I guess.
ronaldo is absolutely world class. anyone who suggests he isn't is biased. however, the whole point of this article was to say that he has not been as good as the commentators have made out and i totally agree with that. he didn't play brilliantly last night - he played quite well, but he does appear to be growing into the tournament a bit and i was very impressed with him against the dutch. his first two matches were nothing special and that is the point being made here - that he is being overrated for his current displays simply because of who he is, rather than how well he is actually playing.
Maybe I didn't make my point clear then. I believe that he has been just as good as the commentators have made him out to be in the last two games (I didn't see either of Portugal's first two games), and I thought he was comfortably man of the match last night, as my earlier post highlights.
Disagree. He was everywhere last night, and was the stand-out player. He is the best player in the tournament so he is always going to get more attention than the rest of the players, and with that comes over exaggeration. In any case, when does anyone pay any attention to what Jonathan Pearce and Martin Keown say?
hmm, i thought he did ok last night but moutinho was different class compared to him. he's very important to portugal as he gives them that outlet that all sides need but apart from the goal, he was frequently being selfish on two or three occasions when in good positions and other than producing a great turn but then missing when he really should have scored, i struggle to remember him doing much. i could name you three portuguese players who played better on the night: moutinho, coentrao and pereira
that's my point! exaggerating how well he is playing!! there's no denying he's a great player, but to wax lyrical about him every time he goes near the ball, even when he buggers it up is ridiculous. he even kept miscontrolling the ball and the commentators said it was 'a great piece of skill'. no it wasn't, he trod on the ball! he was a 7 out of 10 last night, not 10 out of 10. against the dutch i'd have given him a 9.
Pearce is an idiot, no doubt. And Moutinho was very good last night - I agree with all your points, and must say that, being the kind of player he is, he will not be as noticed as Ronaldo, but Ronaldo was better. Maybe my observations when it comes to the more unsung players in that team aren't as acute as yours, but I believe that, considering how different the two player's jobs are, Ronaldo was still different class. I agree about Coentrao by the way - he's a very special player.
You have to remember he is given the ball in most of Portugal's attacks. Love to know the stats on the amount of time he had the ball last night. I would guess it would way more than any other player on the pitch.
I remember that tread on the ball. You can only put that down to the incompetence of the commentators.
the two full backs and moutinho completely controlled and dominated the match, allowing ronaldo to operate higher up the pitch. without them playing as well as they did, he'd have seen the ball more rarely or at least have to drop far deeper to collect it. i felt nani played just as well as ronaldo yet no mention of this - that's cos a) he's not ronaldo and b) he wasn't playing brilliantly! as i say, he did well but was nothing special last night, that's why it was irritating hearing how apparently he was 'incredible' and 'amazing' when he really wasn't. he's capable of much, much more.
Completely agree with this Although he was a bit better than Nani last night, but certainly not in their first 2 matches. It is a team game and as good as he maybe, he can only be effective if the rest of his team allow him to, lets be honest he is not too interested in defensive work. Pepe is also a very good player, crucial to Portugal being solid at the back with the CM's holding allowing Ronaldo to play further forward.
