Don't forget Duncan Edwards was full England international at 17.
You say Januzaj does well against lower end teams and then bring up the FA cup final against a league 1 team. On ability alone Januzaj is quite comfortably in our first team this season. Moyes didn't want to keep playing him. Ronaldo was playing in a better and yet managed to be infuriating many times whereas Januzaj has played in a team completely bereft of any kind of confidence for most of the season. His passing, composure, influence, football brain have all been at par with Ronaldo at the same age.
Messi was light years ahead of anyone at 18 and that includes Ronaldo.
There's probably been loads of guys who were full internationals at good nations at that age.
I didn't see many people wanting Januzaj to start for us against Bayern and clearly Moyes didn't either and that's with Mata cup tied. I don't think he's a nailed on starter yet, Kagawa, Rooney, Mata, Welbeck all have a case ahead of him and so does Valencia in certain games.
He wasn't better than Pele.
It was clear Ronaldo had a lot of talent but I remember seeing him then and he didn't stand out like he was going to be the best player in the world. I was here as well during that time and I remember many here feeling the same. 05-06 you could see a big improvement but that summer of 2006 is when things really changed. I don't know what this guy did but he came back looking like a fecking tank and never looked back. Cut all the bullshit out of his game and was just focused on scoring and setting up goals. I think Suarez had a similar transformation last season, before you could see the talent but so much drama and other shit, he cut that out and focussed all his attention on actually scoring and has pushed on.Ok, monster is a little too much for the 18 year old.
But Januzaj is 19. Ronaldo led Portugal to a euro final with 19. I had that final with a 18 year old Ronaldo in my head. Sorry.
Januzaj has been better than all of our attacking options this season bar Rooney and perhaps RVP. Ronaldo was good at 18 but no one could have predicted he would become this good. People are letting the current Ronaldo alter their perception as to how good he was when he initially signed for us.
I didnt say that at all. I said he was clearly the main driving force. Of which he was. As I said no team is a one man team but one man can be the driving force for the entire team and thats what Ronaldo was.
How can you say that? He was good in a few matches this season, but had many poor and weaker showings too. Becauce of his age and no other good United story he was blown up by the media. He is not the first and wont be the last.
i dont see Portugal winning it i think we will reach QF that is my prediction we have a good midfield in Joao Moutinho Miguel Veloso and William Carvalho and a strong defense as well as a good keeper in attack Nani ( hopefully he will hit form ) and of course Ronaldo is a good team Portugal tend to perform in international tournaments so as i said i feel we will get QF but if we get to the Semis at that point anything can happen im already in World Cup mode
Nope. In my opinion we will pass group stage. Everything else is a bonus. We only hit form against Sweden. Our qualifying round was very poor. Like i said multiple times, we really need a class striker to have any chance. The best prospect i see in the youth ranks is actually from Porto Academy. It´s the son of former Porto and Portugal internacional Domingos. Gonçalo Paciença is a very interesting striker with decent ability and strong physical attributes. He is currently playing in the Porto B team but i think he will have a chance at their main team soon. Porto has just appointed former Spain U19 and 21 National team coach Lopetegui and besides some spanish purchases i expect him to give a chance to some youth, since Porto will be rebuiliding their side next year. This Gonçalo Paciência dribble was very good:
I don't remember reading those posts but they were/are IMHO a ridiculous exaggeration.
Against Arsenal? Rooney and Scholes ran riot as well if I recall correctly. But yes, Ronaldo tore Lauren a new asshole that day.
I think the poster is referring to Milwall match, and Ronaldo was sublime that day, but the entire side dominated a weak opponent. Keane and Scholes were amazing too. But so was Alberto in the CL Final that year against a much stronger side than Milwall.
fantastic skill but his scoring record for the B team is not that good last time i checked he looks like a guy that plays better behind the striker in a 2 striker formation
Fat Ronaldo was the first real prodigy of the modern era. He was on a Messi trajectory. Without injuries I've no doubt he'd have been racking up similar numbers. He was on a goal per game rate until the first big injury at 22.
Ah. Fair enough. The final the following year sticks in the memory more. And I remember Ronaldo running riot against a still strong Arsenal.
It´s his first year since moving from the youth ranks. He had very interesting numbers in the youth ranks. My Porto friends keep raving about him. I´m basing my opinion on their judgement.
Would have been the greatest ever probably. He dominated Serie A defenders when it was the best league in the world. Had he remained at Barca and injury free, he'd have topped 40 league goals annually. Damn shame.
because our own Betinho also had a very good youth rank scoring record and decent scoring in the B team 9 goals this year before being loaned out im hoping he gets more appearances for Setubel next year...now one player i think we can both agree i cant wait to see in our first team is Iur Medeiros what a year he had for the B team such a talented player
To end the off topic since this is the Ronaldo thread, i don´t think Betinho will make it. I had my reservations about João Mario (Mental terms not technical) but i have to say you were right. Great loan spell at Setúbal and he is on Paulo Bento first World Cup list. About Iuri Medeiros, i´m sure that somewhere in the near future there will be a thread about him in this forum. Kid is that good.
Completely, you just got me before the edit which made that point.
i completely agree with you ...i really hope betinho makes it tho ....ok thats the end of the off topic
Maybe on the international stage, but overall I think slim Ronaldo takes it by a fair margin.
do you think Ronaldo did that good for Brazil because he also had such an amazing team around him ? just wondering also how do you think Cristiano would fair in that Brazil team ?
Very well. Even torres managed to win the top scorer award at euro 2012 for spain and he didn't start all the matches and didn't even play in some games
Well that's the point innit. He still achieved what would be most people's career peak well after he'd been made half the player by injury. We judge him by his own imagined standard.
It depends what Ronaldo. Pre-99 Ronaldo, without a doubt. Post 99 Ronaldo, who knows. But that team wasn't exactly '70 pedigree itself. It was top heavy. It had Kleberson & Gilberto Silva in CM FFS! He still scored 8 goals, more than any other WC striker since Muller in (ironically) '70
thats why as good as Ronaldo was i still wonder who in fact the "Real Ronaldo " is international career Ronaldo had the privilege of playing in a amazing Brazil team ..Cristiano does not have that privilege as for club football its different ...i would like to here a lot of you guys opinions who is better Cristiano Ronaldo or Brzilian Ronaldo ? or do you think Cristiano will only be better then him by the time he retires or is he already ?
Imo there is no "real" Ronaldo, they are both legends. Brazilian Ronaldo was probably more naturally talented, but was hindered by injury but still had an amazing career. Cristiano will probably surpass him or maybe already has surpassed him through sheer consistency that only messi has matched. Some people will consider the Brazilian to be a bigger legend because he won the world cup but if Ronaldo helps Madrid win la decima and becomes madrids all-time top goal scorer surpassing raul and di Stefano in less games then there is a big chance he will be seen as madrids best ever player. That is probably the most any current Madrid player can achieve as di Stefano will always be seen as the most important player in the clubs history and the clubs biggest legend the same way cruyff is at barca and Bobby Charlton at united.
If Ronaldo stays at Madrid for the rest of his career I think their is no doubt he will be the top scorer in the clubs history and in such a short time is incredible also if he wins la decima would be quite a achievement will Real Madrid fans ever consider CR7 as the best ever to wear Madrid colors tho ?
Like I said, if he becomes the all-time top scorer and helps the team to win la decima he probably will be seen by many fans as the clubs best ever player. I think the title of most important player and biggest club legend will always belong to di Stefano though as he helped transform the club and was the main man in a team that won 5 European cups in a row which was arguably the most important and defining moments in madrids history. Without those 5 European cups who knows how big a club Madrid would be now, but it is hard to imagine Madrid being viewed with the same prestige that they are viewed with now without them.
That's mostly because people remember 'The Phenomeon' at his peak and recognise, as good as he was post-knee injuries, he was less than he might have been. It sounds stupid when you consider moments like his hat trick at Old Trafford came after the period thought of as his best days. However, its clear than Luiz Ronaldo lost a lot of his exposive pace after that injury at Inter.
Cheers thanks for the opinion
Im laughing but you are right