Comparing the three Ronaldos

Luke1995

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Let me start by saying that I don't want this thread to be about numbers or career consistency.

The phenomenon, Ronaldinho and Cristiano are, without a doubt, some of the most skillful players to ever set foot on a pitch, and I would like to know how the Cafe ranks them against each other in terms of dribbling, creativity, pace, playmaking and ability to score beautiful goals.

In short, who is the best, looking strictly at ability ?

Also, feel free to share your favorite moments, stories about how they caught your eye and even disappointment with how their careers went if you want to.
 
Luke1995 said:
Let me start by saying that I don't want this thread to be about numbers or career consistency.

The phenomenon, Ronaldinho and Cristiano are, without a doubt, some of the most skillful players to ever set foot on a pitch, and I would like to know how the Cafe ranks them against each other in terms of dribbling, creativity, pace, playmaking and ability to score beautiful goals.

In short, who is the best, looking strictly at ability ?

Also, feel free to share your favorite moments, stories about how they caught your eye and even disappointment with how their careers went if you want to.
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The current Ronaldo, his dedication makes him the best to me. Fat Ronaldo dissapoints me because he did the usual South African thing and started partying too soon. Was he more talented naturally? Yes. Current Ronaldo is an animal that only cares about football.
 
Looking strictly at ability is a roundabout way of saying that longetivity or consistency in performance doesn't matter. Those are skills and they do matter.

But strictly on ability:

Ronaldinho
Ronaldo
C. Ronaldo
 
Ronaldinho was the most unpredictable and creative, but many people say that the Ronaldo of Barcelona and Inter could dribble and do basically anything with the ball at insane pace.

The Cristiano of Manchester had a little bit of Ronaldo's pace and Ronaldinho's creativity but I wouldn't pick him ahead of the brazilians even though he had the better career
 
adexkola said:
Looking strictly at ability is a roundabout way of saying that longetivity or consistency in performance doesn't matter. Those are skills and they do matter.

But strictly on ability:

Ronaldinho
Ronaldo
C. Ronaldo
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The thing is, very few players are actually obsessed with football and training 24H, that's why I tried to put it out of the discussion. Cristiano is almost a unique case.
 
I have a ronaldo related question.

I have heard lots of brazilian pronunciations of names beginning with R as 'H'.

Have we been saying Ronaldo and Ronaldinho wrong all along? Is it 'Honaldo' ?
 
Crashoutcassius said:
I have a ronaldo related question.

I have heard lots of brazilian pronunciations of names beginning with R as 'H'.

Have we been saying Ronaldo and Ronaldinho wrong all along? Is it 'Honaldo' ?
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I'm not allowed to posts links but if you EVER have a doubt about a player's name, go on the forvo website. You have all the names prounouced by native speakers in different areas.

It seems that it's Ronaldo, not honaldo, but the way some bresilian pronounced it almost makes the R turn into a hard H.
 
Oly Francis said:
I'm not allowed to posts links but if you EVER have a doubt about a player's name, go on the forvo website. You have all the names prounouced by native speakers in different areas.

It seems that it's Ronaldo, not honaldo, but the way some bresilian pronounced it almost makes the R turn into a hard H.
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I am listening here and it is making me think it is and always has been pronounced honaldo.

I know a heap of brazilians and they all say each other's names eg rodrigo with a fairly hard H from my perspective.

Blows me away that I have been saying 2 of my favorite ever players wrong for my whole life

Laughing too because there's an american on that site pronouncing ronaldo as if it brings anything of value at all
 
Oly Francis said:
I think you reversed the proper order ^^

If we're talking about abilities, it's pretty clear to me that :
Ronnie>R9>CR7

Consistency wise, CR7>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>R9/Ronnie
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Define “abilities”, are we talking flair?
To me, someone who wins football matches at the highest level consistently is the most important ability in football, anything else is secondary.

If flair was the most important ability then Jay-Jay Okocha would be considered the greatest footballer of all time.
 
Even leaving aside longevity, Cristiano was the better footballer of the three as his best seasons were better and more effective than their best seasons. Imo, of course. Adding in consistency and longevity just turns the win into a no contest.
 
On pure ability I'd say Ronaldinho

Magical player

All three had insane levels of talent though, no doubt
 
Crashoutcassius said:
I am listening here and it is making me think it is and always has been pronounced honaldo.

I know a heap of brazilians and they all say each other's names eg rodrigo with a fairly hard H from my perspective.

Blows me away that I have been saying 2 of my favorite ever players wrong for my whole life

Laughing too because there's an american on that site pronouncing ronaldo as if it brings anything of value at all
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Yeah, Portuguese, at least the Brazilian variety, consistently pronounces R at the beginning of words as "H". Also double R's, so Garrincha would be "Gahincha".
 
Interesting how 3 of the top 5 players of the last 25 years (along with Messi and Zidane) all have Ronaldo in their name.

Poor Rolando, he was two letters away from greatness.
 
Ronaldinho was the most naturally gifted and talented footballer I have ever seen.

He did things with a ball that nobody else has ever done and is a more enjoyable player than the other two.

C. Ron is the most effective.

Ronaldo is the most exciting
 
Based on pure ability Ronaldinho easily. The stuff he did was mind boggling. I remember the Joga bonito series in the mid 00s and in one of the ads they showed a young ronaldinho - his ball control and skills were ridicilius
 
10 - GOAT
9.5 - Best of the era
9 - worldclass
8.5 - top class

Dribbling
1. Ronaldinho 9.5/10 (peak 10)
2. L.Ronaldo 9.5/10 (peak 10)
3. C.Ronaldo 8.5/10 (peak 9)

Ronaldinho and L.Ronaldo are very close. In fact, they are probably only behind Maradona and Messi in greatest dribbler ever during their peak. But won’t give them 10/10 as their dribbling ability has declined significantly once they enter their late 20’s/early 30’s or post injury. C.Ronaldo during his Man Utd years and earlier Real years is regarded as one of best dribbler in the world.

Creativity
1. Ronaldinho 8.5/10
2. C.Ronaldo 8.5/10
3. L.Ronaldo 7.5/10

In terms of effectiveness of creating goals (assists) I’d say C.Ronaldo, after all he has over 200 assists in his career, and he used to be a winger providing quality cross for others, and he still does it occasionally. In terms of beauty of creating something out of nothing, I’d say it’s Ronaldinho. L.Ronaldo has scored some great solo goals out of nowhere, but rarely saw him creating many chances for others.

Pace
1. L.Ronaldo 9.5/10 (peak 10, post injury 8.5, getting fat during 30’s 7.5)
2. C.Ronaldo 9/10 (peak 9.5, rest of his career 9)
3. Ronaldinho 8/10 (peak 8.5, late 20’s onward 7.5)

Close one again between the 2 Ronaldo’s. L.Ronaldo has more acceleration and explosiveness before his injury/at his peak, while C.Ronaldo has maintain his pace as one of fastest player in the world throughout his 16-17 years career.

Playmaking
1. Ronaldinho 8.5/10
2. C.Ronaldo 7.5/10
3. L.Ronaldo 7/10

Well has to be Ronaldinho since he is the only playmaker here. C.Ronaldo used to involved more on build up play at Man Utd and Portugal, usually on the wing play, but much less at Real. L.Ronaldo is essentially a forward player so naturally he involves less.

Ability to score beautiful goals
1. C.Ronaldo 10/10
2. Ronaldinho 9/10
3. L.Ronaldo 9/10

Easily C.Ronaldo. He scored all types of beautiful goals from anywhere across the pitch, volley, bicycle, lob, great header, great finish, long range thunder, freekicks and solo goals. Can’t think of anyone who scored that variety of beautiful goals in the past. While Ronaldinho also scored some great solo goals, bicycle, freekicks. L.Ronaldo scored some great solo goals and finish too. Ronaldinho and L.Ronaldo scored better solo goals though, and as they scored much less number of goals, their beautiful goals tends to stand out more.
 
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The simplest way to define the three Rs is to say that Ronaldinho was an artist, Cristiano is an executioner, and Ronaldo was a combination of the two. I understand the question, but you are going to get push back on it, because clearly dedication, longevity, consistency, and hard work are all traits that make Cristian stand out, but for the purpose of this ability test have been eliminated.

That said, if you were to take the three players on their very best day and ask me who was the best, or the most talented, I’d say Luis Ronaldo by a hair over Ronaldinho. Just because he married the artistry of the buck toothed wonder, with the clinical relentlessness of Ol’ ostrich neck.

Here are a few things that I’d like to point out about Luis Ronaldo....

....Prior to his injury he was an absolute force of nature. Scoring every manner of goal imaginable. A one man wrecking machine. At just 20 he scored 47 goals in 49 games for Barcelona, and hadn’t even peaked yet. At 21 he had broken the world transfer record twice already. His phenomenal scoring record continued in Serie A, which at the time was notoriously difficult to score in.

He won world player of the year three times, yet got injured in November of the ‘99 season, missed the rest of that season, the entirety of the 2000-01 season, and half of the 2001-02 season. Having three major operations in that time gram on his knees for ruptured tendons. It is hugely possible, nay....probable he would of picked up another 1-2 WPOTY prizes in that period. And if he hadn’t been robbed of so much of his explosiveness. He would have ended his career as a legitimate contender for GOAT. He was that good pre-injury (and pretty damn good after, winning one more WPOTY) that he could have scored at the rate Cristiano has throughout his career. He was on track prior to injuries.

Dribbling: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Pace: Ronaldo>Cristiano>Ronaldinho
Creativity: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Playmaking: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Beautiful Goals: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Ball Control: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Finishing: Ronaldo>Cristiano>Ronaldinho
Heading: Cristiano>Ronaldo>Ronaldinho
Flair: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Joy: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
 
simonhch said:
The simplest way to define the three Rs is to say that Ronaldinho was an artist, Cristiano is an executioner, and Ronaldo was a combination of the two. I understand the question, but you are going to get push back on it, because clearly dedication, longevity, consistency, and hard work are all traits that make Cristian stand out, but for the purpose of this ability test have been eliminated.

That said, if you were to take the three players on their very best day and ask me who was the best, or the most talented, I’d say Luis Ronaldo by a hair over Ronaldinho. Just because he married the artistry of the buck toothed wonder, with the clinical relentlessness of Ol’ ostrich neck.

Here are a few things that I’d like to point out about Luis Ronaldo....

....Prior to his injury he was an absolute force of nature. Scoring every manner of goal imaginable. A one man wrecking machine. At just 20 he scored 47 goals in 49 games for Barcelona, and hadn’t even peaked yet. At 21 he had broken the world transfer record twice already. His phenomenal scoring record continued in Serie A, which at the time was notoriously difficult to score in.

He won world player of the year three times, yet got injured in November of the ‘99 season, missed the rest of that season, the entirety of the 2000-01 season, and half of the 2001-02 season. Having three major operations in that time gram on his knees for ruptured tendons. It is hugely possible, nay....probable he would of picked up another 1-2 WPOTY prizes in that period. And if he hadn’t been robbed of so much of his explosiveness. He would have ended his career as a legitimate contender for GOAT. He was that good pre-injury (and pretty damn good after, winning one more WPOTY) that he could have scored at the rate Cristiano has throughout his career. He was on track prior to injuries.

Dribbling: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Pace: Ronaldo>Cristiano>Ronaldinho
Creativity: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Playmaking: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Beautiful Goals: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Ball Control: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Finishing: Ronaldo>Cristiano>Ronaldinho
Heading: Cristiano>Ronaldo>Ronaldinho
Flair: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
Joy: Ronaldinho>Ronaldo>Cristiano
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You are saying L.Ronaldo is the most talent at their peak, but then in the 10 areas you define (dribbling, pace, creativity, playmaking, beautiful goals, ball control, finishing, heading, flair, joy) Ronaldinho top in 7 of those, while L.Ronaldo top in 2 only. It doesn’t add up though. Ronaldinho should be your most talent player out of these 3.
 
RedRonaldo said:
You are saying L.Ronaldo is the most talent at their peak, but then in the 10 areas you define (dribbling, pace, creativity, playmaking, beautiful goals, ball control, finishing, heading, flair, joy) Ronaldinho top in 7 of those, while L.Ronaldo top in 2 only. It doesn’t add up though. Ronaldinho should be your most talent player out of these 3.
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Not necessarily...Ronaldo could be further ahead in the categories he leads than Ronaldinho in his.
 
RedRonaldo said:
You are saying L.Ronaldo is the most talent at their peak, but then in the 10 areas you define (dribbling, pace, creativity, playmaking, beautiful goals, ball control, finishing, heading, flair, joy) Ronaldinho top in 7 of those, while L.Ronaldo top in 2 only. It doesn’t add up though. Ronaldinho should be your most talent player out of these 3.
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Indeed, because such a simplistic rating doesn’t take into account how negligible the differences between the top two often are.
 
Which Ronaldo was better? Ronaldo. Duh.
 
Charlie Foley said:
Not necessarily...Ronaldo could be further ahead in the categories he leads than Ronaldinho in his.
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If you read into his rating, L.Ronaldo is only better at pace and finishing. I don’t think it’s that further ahead enough to overturn a 2-7 scoreline in terms of most talented at peak.
 
L.Ronaldo is the first to get Nike heavily involved in football and create player-brands. In a way, he allowed Cristiano and Ronaldinho to exist. Not a lot of players were playing with his flair and acceleration at the same time. Maybe if he didn't exist (and Nike didn't ventilate his image all throughout the globe) Ronaldinho and Cristiano played in different styles or wouldn't be allowed by their managers to do so.
 
This isn't even a debate. Cristiano is light years ahead of fatty who again is a solid level above the unmistakable Ronaldinho.
 
Ronaldo
Ronaldinho
Cristiano

In that order for me, based on preference of course. Although he's a unique and incredible footballer, I really dislike the type of footballer Cristiano is. Not my cup of tea
 
CR currently, no question. His career is crazy it is hard to not pick him.

However the other 2 were more fun to watch especially Ronaldinho of course and I think Ronaldo the phenomenon was more of a complete player than the other 2 but injuries fecked him up by the end unfortunately.
 
C.Ronaldo clearly has the best career and was the most effective, but hes the least talented of the three.

Ronaldinho has the most talent but he couldn't utilise it like the other two.

Luis Ronaldo pre injury is the best player I've ever seen live. He could do everything. It just wasn't for very long.
 
11101 said:
C.Ronaldo clearly has the best career and was the most effective, but hes the least talented of the three.

Ronaldinho has the most talent but he couldn't utilise it like the other two.

Luis Ronaldo pre injury is the best player I've ever seen live. He could do everything. It just wasn't for very long.
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This pretty much sums it up for me. C Ronaldo will probably end up best of all time because of his goal scoring and longevity which is mostly down to his insane dedication.

However the other 2 were probably the most talented exciting players in my lifetime. Had it not been for injuries who knows what level they would have ended. Incredible players
 
fergiesarmy1 said:
The current Ronaldo, his dedication makes him the best to me. Fat Ronaldo dissapoints me because he did the usual South African thing and started partying too soon. Was he more talented naturally? Yes. Current Ronaldo is an animal that only cares about football.
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Leave us Saffers in peace! ;)

Based on ability and absolute peak alone:
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo
....
C Ronaldo

Based on career & achievements
Other way around
 
C.Ronaldo is the best of those 3. All of them are great players but Cristiano is GOAT level and among the best to ever play the game.

Ronaldinho and Ronaldo were probably the best in the world at their peak but just short of that GOAT status for me.
 
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