Originally Posted by Pogue Mahone

Some players are dealt a good hand to begin with, when it comes to certain attributes, but the mistake that Chief and Scholesy is making is that they're extrapolating from this that others can't learn and develop these exact same attributes.

Of course, if the player who has a head-start to begin with works on their football as hard as everyone else, they will always be ahead of the pack. But if they don't put the graft in then it's quite possible for player's with less natural talent to catch up or even surpass them.

Ronaldo is a great example of someone who is blessed with an amazing talent to begin with (based mainly around his athleticism) but continues to work his bollox off in training to be the best that he can be. Which means that he is getting better and better at a frightening rate.

Rooney is very similar, as it happens, but he is doomed to be continually compared with someone who is already the best player in the world at the tender age of 22. And that's always gonna be a harsh comparison.