I'm enjoying the delusion. I used to be a fan of CR7 in these debates but Messi basically killed it off lately.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Much Ado About Al Nassr
- Thread starter Bastian
- Start date
Wasn’t just speed though. His basic technique was basically a 9 or 10. There are plenty of players who are fast but can’t dribble that well.
United fans pretending Ronaldo isn't technical
They must spend so much time plotting positive statistics in Excel. I bet they know exactly how many more pairs of underpants he's sold than David Beckham.
By the dribbles per 90 and/or YouTube highlight reel criteria, Adama, ASM or Ben Arfa should be among the GOATs technically then…..
Number of dribbles per 90 says very little about technique level, just like a YouTube compilation says very little about a player.
Ronaldo not being among the best in the world technically doesn’t mean he wasn’t very good technically.
Mbappe is also nowhere near the best technically, but that’s for another thread.
I remember that dick goal in 2007/8 being rather funny. But since then I realised it was nothing unique because it doesn't matter what part of his body the ball touched - All of Ronaldo's goals were scored by a dick.
There are different techniques as well, when it comes to recieving the ball when he made runs, his first touch was excellent, but somehow his touch was much less impressive whenever he was tasked with playing back to goal, as a result he was never really a CF.
Perhaps people did not understand what I said, so let me try one last time.
When Ronaldo was 17 he had great technique for his age, great dribbling, great flair. And most of all he had an exceptional work ethic. He trained harder than anyone else. The question was: where should he focus his training on? Should he focus on flair? on tricks? on passing? on crossing? on becoming a better midfielder? a better winger? a better scorer? Sure, you can improve all, but you focus your training on something.
It was Sir Alex who made the decision to create the best goalscorer in the world. It was Sir Alex that guided him to become "a better Pele" instead of "a better Zidane". That's why Ronaldo broke Pele's scoring record. He owes that to Sir Alex's guidance. He still had all the other attributes and abilities, but Sir Alex taught him that scoring is the most important thing in football and that he should focus on scoring first and foremost.
I don't know why people disagree with the above. These are not my opinions, they are facts I read. I don't see what is controversial here.
When Ronaldo was 17 he had great technique for his age, great dribbling, great flair. And most of all he had an exceptional work ethic. He trained harder than anyone else. The question was: where should he focus his training on? Should he focus on flair? on tricks? on passing? on crossing? on becoming a better midfielder? a better winger? a better scorer? Sure, you can improve all, but you focus your training on something.
It was Sir Alex who made the decision to create the best goalscorer in the world. It was Sir Alex that guided him to become "a better Pele" instead of "a better Zidane". That's why Ronaldo broke Pele's scoring record. He owes that to Sir Alex's guidance. He still had all the other attributes and abilities, but Sir Alex taught him that scoring is the most important thing in football and that he should focus on scoring first and foremost.
I don't know why people disagree with the above. These are not my opinions, they are facts I read. I don't see what is controversial here.
Yeah, I think the thing with Ronaldo’s technique is it was never beautiful.
He could pull off some fun tricks but they were often mechanic, rarely smooth. And then the conversation descends into Ronaldo fans talking about all the tricks he could do while everyone else points out that’s not what technique is. But that’s just a sideshow.
I think about his goal against Newcastle (1:10 here) and can remember loads of times where he’s running in behind and sets it in his path perfectly to score with his next touch. It’s efficient but not beautiful. But to do that over and over again under pressure in key moments requires technical excellence. What is technique if not for the ability to execute the same thing over and over again with the same outcomes?
I don’t know how you could describe his goals against Juve or Porto as anything other than spectacular technique either. That goal against Juve is one of the most technically difficult things to execute in the game, easily. I don’t know how Zidane would describe it but you can see he was blown away by it. And it’s not like overhead kicks or long range rockets were one-offs.
The back heels against Rayo, Valencia and Villa (?) showed a bit of panache. Even his goals against us for Juve and Madrid were executed with perfection. Dropping over his shoulder, first time, he puts it away with ease. Anyone who played knows how hard that is to execute, and he made it look easy. Somehow goals have just been downgraded to a number and a path to wins, devoid from any technique. But you can’t execute goals to perfection without technical excellence.
Clearly he didn’t have the creativity, dribbling or passing of someone like Cruyff. He definitely wouldn’t be in the top 10 given he’s not top level in either area. But top 100? At that point you’re just valuing elegance over skill.
I remember Ronaldo’s dribbling style during his early years at United
I had never really seen a player like that with step over after step over almost like he was tricking the opposition on which way to go - back then he was crossing a lot so it was quite often you would see him beat the defender through skill to do that.
Then he gave it all up to become a more deadly consistent goal scorer from things like long shots, heading, power, speed, short bits of dribbling but quick/less attractive on the eye to become an absolute monster.
Zidane had more technical ability but part of that is because he had no speed so he was kind of playing at his own tempo which was very beautiful to watch even if it was no where near as successful as Ronaldo.
I’m personally one of the few people that think technical ability is a bit overrated by some and prefers a consistent player over just a pure technical one.
A technical consistent winning player leads in to GOAT sector.
I had never really seen a player like that with step over after step over almost like he was tricking the opposition on which way to go - back then he was crossing a lot so it was quite often you would see him beat the defender through skill to do that.
Then he gave it all up to become a more deadly consistent goal scorer from things like long shots, heading, power, speed, short bits of dribbling but quick/less attractive on the eye to become an absolute monster.
Zidane had more technical ability but part of that is because he had no speed so he was kind of playing at his own tempo which was very beautiful to watch even if it was no where near as successful as Ronaldo.
I’m personally one of the few people that think technical ability is a bit overrated by some and prefers a consistent player over just a pure technical one.
A technical consistent winning player leads in to GOAT sector.
It's got nothing to do with technical. Every skilful player is technical. It's about the level of the skill and some of you are pretending that Ronaldo was at the top of it.
He was showboating for crying out loud. Being a good dribbler and a showboater are 2 different things. Just look at that thumbnail when he was dancing around the ball in the same spot - that's not dribbling.
Stepovers just arent skillful. In fact they are so easy to do. Only a few players were ever efficient at beating players with them and it wasnt Cristiano
A lot of players were doing them and being pretty good at it before the 00s. It was basically the number one skill you learned at the time as a kid.
Brazilian Ronaldo was such a step over merchant usually beating the goalkeeper and people are rating his technique also.
Absolute drizzle.
I’m not saying that I don’t rate Ronaldo but then not rating thing like stopovers are utter bullshit.
Absolute drizzle.
I’m not saying that I don’t rate Ronaldo but then not rating thing like stopovers are utter bullshit.
Yeah but good defenders usually arent thrown off by it. It was more R9 hitting the scene and being effective with them that made it a popular trick.
You got to be joking? Before the internet when we you couldn't see all these moves like the elasticos'... Step Overs were basically the first skill you learned as a kid if you trained back in the 90s.
The step over, ball roll, drag back, Zidane's pirouette, fake shot those were all skills back then that kid's used.
Last edited:
Not the best technical player, but i do remember him doing quite a lot of dribbling in his first season at RM, entertaining and with a purpose, was a somewhat different player in his first season.
Was a genuine great dribbler once upon a time.
Was a genuine great dribbler once upon a time.
Last edited:
You are repeating the same thing over and over, goal-scoring is the most important thing over and over which makes zero sense as others have said. Maradona, Pele and Messi are not considered top-3 because of their goal-scoring only. If that is the case Gerd Muller will be the greatest player ever, Ronaldo is nowhere near Gerd Muller in terms of his stats and what he did at the biggest stages consistently yet nobody consider Gerd Muller even a top-10 player. Platini, Zidane, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Modric are not considered among the greatest players ever purely because of goal-scoring.
That's the problem with Ronaldo, he had to compromise to excel in an area unlike Messi who is always regarded as one of the greatest players ever in terms of goal-scoring, playmaking, dribbling, passing, creation etc. Plus, no, Ronaldo is not a better Pele, far from it, the guy is not a better Gerd Muller even, far from it. He is a player that could only become a league top goal-scorer like once in the last 8-9 years, disappeared in 5 WCs despite playing as a poacher with no playmaking duties. The guy has less Golden Shoes than Messi, for many Messi is a better goal-scorer yet that's not why people adore Messi, people love him because of his magical playmaking, technique like they love Maradona or Zidane or Pele or Cruyff etc. Goal-scoring is like cherry on the cake for these players.
Also, no, Ronaldo would not emerge as a top technical player like Maradona, Messi, Zidane if Sir Alex decided to use him as a playmaker, he is not suited for that role instead of goal-scoring. You do not lose your technique by playing as a forward/striker either.
International records mean little, Gerd Muller had 68 goals in 62 games with the NT, 1.1 per game when you did not have Andorra, Faroe, Lichtenstein etc. Ronaldo's favorite rivals, almost double of Ronaldo's per game ratio. Gerd Muller left his mark in the WC, EC finals yet again nobody considers him a top-10 player even the best player of 70s. That distinction goes to Cruyff and Beckenbauer who are not known for goal-scoring first.
These are not "facts", these seem to be "your facts". The controversial thing is you seem to not know what football is about repeating over and over that goal-scoring skills are the most important here which many as you can see here finds laughable. Maybe you should spend some time trying to learn why Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Messi, Maradona, Platini, Pele etc. are considered among the best and Maradona/Messi/Pele as the top-3 greatest players ever.
Last edited:
Im not talking about what is skillfull in the sunday league. And yeah i played football in the 90's. Certain elite players were great at stepovers at the highest level. Ronnie would do a 1000 without beating his man a lot of the time. R9 was skilfull in doing stepovers effectively.
I'm actually inclined to call out people who've never been to OT if you're saying Ronaldo was never technically good. He used to do some mental shit during warmups in terms of skills.
And those have nothing to do with dribbling. That's freestyle
Ronnie is technically very good. Those who say he is not top 100 are deluded. Its whether he belongs in the top 10 or 20 or whatever.
Is Ronaldo technically better than Scholes, Kroos, Ozil, Modric, Xabi Alonso, some of his former teammates?
They excell techinally at different things. Ronnie cant pass like Scholes, but Scholes couldnt dribble like Ronaldo and Scholes forfeited penalties after he missed some. You would think someone who could strike a ball as well as Scholes would be god like at freekicks but he never tried his luck even after Beckham left.
No one to blame but Ronaldo going out like he did for that.
They are better playmakers, but Ronaldo dribbles(at his prime) better than all of them... different skillet.
And i have to choose one player to sign for many years to secure success and consistency, i choose CR7 over any of those, except Modric.
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Yes, he was technically better than all of the above. Only Messi was better than him. In the last 10 years, Ronaldo has focused on scoring because he wanted to break Pele's record, but for 10 years before that, he was better than any of the above in ball handling and passing and dribbling and crossing. Often, it was meaningless for him to pass the ball, since he was a better finisher than anyone else. While, for example, Scholes was not as a good finisher as Nisterlooy so it made sense for Scholes to pass the ball. For Ronaldo, it usually made sense to try and score himself than pass to another striker. So, Scholes is known as a passer (who scores goals... sometimes) and Ronaldo is known as a scorer. But Ronaldo could pass better than Scholes when he wanted to.
Ronaldo is a narcissist and probably an asshole. (Messi is an asshole, too) And people have been offended by his behavior last year. However, we should not confuse character with skills. He was an amazing footballer, a complete footballer, one of the best ever.
Enjoy the pass:
Last edited:
simply NO.
Why are we still talking about him?
He did well here initially, then became an arse and we should move on.
He had it all though, no doubt.
He did well here initially, then became an arse and we should move on.
He had it all though, no doubt.
Ronaldo with better ball handling and passing than Modric ffs 
The definition of exaggeration.
You can post youtube videos but they mean nothing.
Fact of the matter is Ronaldo was never a great dribbler (around 2 per game in his prime and personal best of 3.3 per game), never a great passer (occasionally could produce a good one but never with any consistency), never one of the most creative (his key passes stats have never been anywhere near the top) and I've hardly, if ever, seen him produce passes that open up the defence and he certainly was not Scholes.
His greatest attributes are his athleticism and his eye for goal. What he lost after his prime was some of his athleticism and therefore became a poacher. No need to pretend otherwise.
The funny thing about the inclusion of someone like Zidane is that he was extremely physical. A lot of those players that played against him remarked about how strong he was, and he never shirked challenges, constantly used his body to shield the ball and muscled opposition players frequently. He was much more “physical” on the pitch that Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was more athletic (jumping, sprint speed, acceleration etc…) but he certainly wasn’t more physical.
Ronaldo was more athletic (jumping, sprint speed, acceleration etc…) but he certainly wasn’t more physical.
Ronaldo had very good technique especially shooting, heading and setting himself to score but outside of these (all geared to scoring), he wasn't as good as quite a few greats.
What Ronaldo could do, other good players can but he did it consistently and over a long period of time. That is what makes him a historic great, not some otherworldly attributes or techniques that his fanboys pretends he had/has.
Very harsh on Ronaldo, but his interview was incredibly misguided I agree. But his lack of self awareness was always his worst trait.
I agree Ronaldo's technique is underrated, probably because of recency bias but you can't be seriously claiming he was only behind Messi in his generation. There are quite a few players who offered a better alround package and quite a few of them even played alongside him (Modric, Isco, Marcelo, Özil, Kroos, ...). And then there still is Neymar who is undeniably better in terms of technique. If we're being precise, even Ronaldinho and Zidane played at the same time as him and they were on another level as well.
You don't become as good as Cristiano without being a magician on the ball but much of his greatess stemmed from other attributes as well. In terms of pure ball handling ability, I wouldn't even say he's necessarily top 10 despite him clearly being top 2 all attributes considered.
You don't become as good as Cristiano without being a magician on the ball but much of his greatess stemmed from other attributes as well. In terms of pure ball handling ability, I wouldn't even say he's necessarily top 10 despite him clearly being top 2 all attributes considered.
True, Ronaldo was far easier pushed off the ball than Zidane throughout his career, even when he bulked up. Zidane’s ball control and dribbling were two of his main assets but they were partly because he was so agile to go with his height and strong frame. Most number 10s of his profile were a few inches smaller. A unique player.
When did Fergie make that decision?