Ronaldinho takes the michael...
- Thread starter I'm always right
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
That's a great vid to show that B9 is talking out of his arse.
At his peak Ronaldinho didn't slow the play, he did nearly everything at top speed. B9 is confusing the off peak, slightly larger Ronaldinho with the best player in the world Ronaldinho.
At his peak Ronaldinho didn't slow the play, he did nearly everything at top speed. B9 is confusing the off peak, slightly larger Ronaldinho with the best player in the world Ronaldinho.
Ronaldinho was fecking rapid to be fair.
His acceleration wasn't quite as devastating as Messi's, but there wasn't a million miles in it. Neither to be fair could live with Ronaldo's acceleration or sheer pace.
Exactly. Didn't say he was slow or Berbatov, but he didn't have the pace of the aforementioned. He was rapid, pacy player, but not one of the fastest, as Messi/both Ronaldos/Giggs etc.. He had to rely much more on the natural trickery in his game..
Deffo. Bleedin' rapid
Scored 26 goals that season mostly through freekicks and penaltys but something was clearly missing from his game.
In the past he would push play forward but most of the time in 2006/07 he would slow play down and it continued the following season.
It became a real issue for Barca.
There was something that didn't seem right about his health and energy for the game.
He has a good speed, probaly the same as Messi.
Not in the Theo Walcott or Cristiano category.
It went down quite dramatically towards the end of the 2005/06 season.
Only God knows why.
Here's old and significantly fatter Ronaldinho slowing the game at Milan. Notice how many touches he makes before making the final pass...
I can't watch that at work so you'll have to expand on your point there.
but I don't think you can slow down Milan's play really.
That's the style in Serie A.
but I don't think you can slow down Milan's play really.
That's the style in Serie A.
No I am not. I am saying that being an intelligent and skilful passer does not rule out the possibility that there can still be negatives to your passing game. In Ronaldinho's came, the weakness came from his primadonna mentality to linger on the ball. Just as it did with Rivaldo.
Ronaldinho was one of the best around when it came to one touch passing and combinations. When he did them. But even at his peak, he was rarely one to get continually involved like this and would be rather secondary to Deco when it came to proper buildup in the final third that wasn't an attempted chance creating pass. He was a phenomenal passer of the ball, but he was also far more of an impact player than actual playmaker. If he wasn't doing that, he wasn't a great asset.
An example, this pass to Guily against Milan:
Was a phenomenally inspired piece of vision from a Ronaldinho at his peak, but I remember the game well and the game largely passed him by apart from this. His passing wasn't otherwise particular quick or incisive in that game the way Deco's was, he intimated to do some tricky and dangerous stuff on several occasions but it didn't really come off.
Ronaldinho at his peak was quite capable of doing things at top speed, he often did. He certainly did not 'do everything at top speed' and would often coast through games and then pop up with a few pieces of game-deciding magic.
It was a weakness to his game even at his peak and he could have been even better if he had had it drilled out of him, since he was brilliant in the quick passing game when he was up for it. Later, it became almost a defining feature of his game.
I don't see the point of trying to make him out to be the perfect player when he wasn't. He was still easily the best player in his prime, for my money's worth better than Zidane was. But he was lazy, played like a primadonna and for all his brilliance on the ball, he wasn't always a good option to pass it to if he wasn't going to do something great with the ball.
Contrast to Zidane who would always make good and intelligent use of the ball when he wasn't attempting the extraordinary. Similarly, Maradona also displayed fabulous economy on the ball.
People just don't realise how good Deco was, it's actually quite shocking what is forgotten.
He was the definition of world class.
He was the definition of world class.
Terrific stuff.
What an epic game that was. Messi had the beating of Carlos pretty much everytime, Eto'o was on song, Deco absolutely ran the show in midfield and Ronaldinho outshined them all.
It's a shame that video cuts directly to his goal as the first cameo in the second half. His second half performance overall as I recall it was simply immaculate and pretty much everything he did came off.
You need to take into account that its boss you're talking about. He pretty much just quotes b9 and then references stats. He forgets to add that most of those "free kicks and penalties" were free kicks right out of the top drawer. He wasn't as his best but he wasn't shite.