iseah100 5,612 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I think they are both similar.Cristiano has the edge in the air, but Bale is a better passer/crosser. I think Bale is faster as well. Bale would allow Benzema to score more as well and let RM function better as a team imo. No.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dion 2,476 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 You didn't address my point that the best players from ALL continents are all concentrated in Europe today, making competition and individual brilliance extremely more difficult to achieve.Today professional football players go through at least 3 phases before they reach the top:- Play football with your local boys and your talent stands out.- Join a junior/professional club and play with other talented kids nationally and locally.- Your talent still stands out and you move to a stronger league/country where you'll be up against the very best players from all over the globe.To become the best, you have to rise in all of these three phases today. Yet Pele never had to go past the second phase. How many players show astonishing skill in phases 1/2 and then completely disappear when they come across the tactical and talent-rich football of Europe's top leagues?Brazil has a perfect example with Robinho. He was absolutely marvelous in Brazil, tearing apart all defenses and people said he would be the next Pele. He went to Real Madrid and after 1 season he was a bench warmer. Now imagine if Robinho played in the 60s and ALL his career was made in Brazil. People today would view footage of him and say he was one of the best of all time.The comparison between Pelé and Robinho is bollocks of the highest order. Pelé destroyed in World Cups and also at club level against European clubs too whenever Santos came to play in Europe. And to be completely honest, only retards thought Robinho was the new Pelé. I always thought Neymar was better than Robinho, for example, and even then I knew he wouldn't be the next Pelé or anything like that. And those things are kinda unpredictable really. Ronaldinho was not too outstanding in Brazil but later on he turned crazy good at PSG and Barcelona. There are players who were mediocre in Brazil and turned good in Europe and also the opposite.Also, according to you, only in the recent past Europe began concentrating all the talent, so there were still a lot of good players in Brazil when Pelé was destroying everyone, so many that we won 3 world cups almost in a row with local players. In addition, playing with top talents in your club also pushes your own performance further, especially when you're playing the fodder from your league. You don't see Messi and CR dominating as much in their respective NTs - because they're playing with a squad not as good as their clubs and the decent opposing NTs are usually way tougher than most teams of La Liga. The concentration of talents in the top clubs makes it actually harder to assess, imo the gap has never been this wide. When you are in a team that often thrashes smaller teams it gets way easier to pump up the numbers and performance, since you can find a better understanding with players at your own level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom2013 446 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Cristiano is by far the best player in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Lion 1,223 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Cristiano is by far the best player in the world.In 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom2013 446 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 In 2008In 2013 and 2014 also. Cristiano will be clearly the Ballon D'Or of this year.THe difference between Cristiano and all the other players is really big, a lot bigger than in the last years. Mainly because Messi is half the player he was 5 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Lion 1,223 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 In 2013 and 2014 also. Cristiano will be clearly the Ballon D'Or of this year.THe difference between Cristiano and all the other players is really big, a lot bigger than in the last years. Mainly because Messi is half the player he was 5 years ago.What are you on about? Messi in 2009 managed to scrap up 30 goals a season, whereas now in his best years 2010-2013 he managed to score 60 goals a season and 93 in a calender year. Ronaldo's main benefit is his scoring ability and his historic CL goal scoring record, but here is another variable, last season was Messi's worst season in a Barca shirt since 2007 and Ronaldo's best in a Real Madrid shirt, yet statistically Ronaldo barely edged him. That's saying something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom2013 446 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 What are you on about? Messi in 2009 managed to scrap up 30 goals a season, whereas now in his best years 2010-2013 he managed to score 60 goals a season and 93 in a calender year. Ronaldo's main benefit is his scoring ability and his historic CL goal scoring record, but here is another variable, last season was Messi's worst season in a Barca shirt since 2007 and Ronaldo's best in a Real Madrid shirt, yet statistically Ronaldo barely edged him. That's saying something. That says that Cristiano was a lot better than Messi last season, and also Cristiano is better in this season.You just need to watch the games, or go to any forum of Barcelona to know what people were saying about Messi in there.Crsitiano in the last season, and in the beginning of this season is a lot better than Messi in any aspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Lion 1,223 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 That says that Cristiano was a lot better than Messi last season, and also Cristiano is better in this season.You just need to watch the games, or go to any forum of Barcelona to know what people were saying about Messi in there.Crsitiano in the last season, and in the beginning of this season is a lot better than Messi in any aspect.I could literally give two flying fucks about Barca fans in all honesty as the majority of them on those forums have started supporting them post 2009. Messi hasn't been the same for a couple years due to injury and anxiety of obvious reasons, but this season he looks to have picked up the form. Having a better season doesn't necessarily mean they are the better player. That's like saying Cannavaro in 2006 was the best footballer in the world. You have to interpret and analyze both of their abilities to create a rational judgement, and as a footballer, Ronaldo doesn't reach Messi's level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didierforever 7,349 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I could literally give two flying fucks about Barca fans in all honesty as the majority of them on those forums have started supporting them post 2009. Messi hasn't been the same for a couple years due to injury and anxiety of obvious reasons, but this season he looks to have picked up the form. Having a better season doesn't necessarily mean they are the better player. That's like saying Cannavaro in 2006 was the best footballer in the world. You have to interpret and analyze both of their abilities to create a rational judgement, and as a footballer, Ronaldo doesn't reach Messi's level.by "this" season, do u mean the 5 matches that barca have played so far. cos as far as i remember, messi was very average the whole of last half season. infact, barca not winning the league despite ATM and RM dropping points left right and center is proof enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myself 793 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 His argument is actually valid. Pele, for example, played before the tactical revolution of total football. He played at a time where small teams were cannon fodder to be beaten 10-0 in a lot of games. Not unlike today where it's not uncommon for a small team to beat a big one (e.g. Leicester vs United) if the managers do a good job. Football is much more tactical and organized. Today players like Messi and Cristiano are given a very specific list of instructions whereas back then, the star of the team was just told to get in there and try to score goals.Besides, today the very best players from all continents are concentrated in Europe. Even small teams have players from all over the world. Which means players like Messi and Cristiano are competing at a level that Pele, for example, never had to deal with. Not even close.I do believe the top players today are much better than the ones from past generations. And certainly football will continue to evolve and 50 years from now those generations will be even better than the ones from today.Tell me, did you actually what the so called 'weak' Braziilan league back then? Unless you watched Pele and the league I don't think you can make that statement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Lion 1,223 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 by "this" season, do u mean the 5 matches that barca have played so far. cos as far as i remember, messi was very average the whole of last half season. infact, barca not winning the league despite ATM and RM dropping points left right and center is proof enough. It was ever so blatant he was saving himself for the world cup, hence the growing anxiety, and he was tormented by the media for it. Last season, Messi's body language and work rate were dreadful in that sense, but this season (I watched every barca game to see how Munir El Haddadi is performing) he's been looking like his former self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didierforever 7,349 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 It was ever so blatant he was saving himself for the world cup, hence the growing anxiety, and he was tormented by the media for it. Last season, Messi's body language and work rate were dreadful in that sense, but this season (I watched every barca game to see how Munir El Haddadi is performing) he's been looking like his former self. who cares if he was "saving" himself for the cup? messi was average at best last season. this is not a legitimate excuse. he is a pro-footballer who earns 300kpw with literally barca's la liga title hopes on line, and he SHOULD NOT have been "saving" himself for anything. as for messi this season, he has been his older self. but CR has scored 2 hat-tricks in the 4 liga games he has scored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Lion 1,223 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 who cares if he was "saving" himself for the cup? messi was average at best last season. this is not a legitimate excuse. he is a pro-footballer who earns 300kpw with literally barca's la liga title hopes on line, and he SHOULD NOT have been "saving" himself for anything. as for messi this season, he has been his older self. but CR has scored 2 hat-tricks in the 4 liga games he has scored. I'm agreeing with you so no need to direct it as an argument. And for his standards, he was below average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD3D 1,038 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 What are you on about? Messi in 2009 managed to scrap up 30 goals a season, whereas now in his best years 2010-2013 he managed to score 60 goals a season and 93 in a calender year. Ronaldo's main benefit is his scoring ability and his historic CL goal scoring record, but here is another variable, last season was Messi's worst season in a Barca shirt since 2007 and Ronaldo's best in a Real Madrid shirt, yet statistically Ronaldo barely edged him. That's saying something. Messi last season won 0 trophies. Not to mention he was massively criticized by Barcelona's own fan base for dragging himself through the field in the club's most important games. He scored almost nothing against top teams last season. Even in the world cup, a hero against Iran, Bosnia, etc. and disappeared against Neatherlands, Germany, Belgium. Ronaldo will outscore him again this year. Specially considering Suarez will now be taking away goals from Messi.I'm not going to enter the debate of whether Ronaldo is better than Messi because everyone has his opinion but whether you like it or not, Ronaldo will be the Ballon D'or again this year. That's an unshakable fact. And I'm confident they will finish their careers with the same number of Ballon D'ors.100 years from now, people will still be debating who was better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikeRise 1 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 This notion that some players are big game players while others are not is so difficult to assess...Perfect example is Cristiano. everything about him screams a big game scrub, but the fact he has his superior aerial ability, makes him skip the conversation of big game wankers...Honestly, big game I guess means either 3 things. Set piece maestro, dribbling/ball control god or rocket outside the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFC888 219 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 In the midst of arguably not the greatest run of form by his standards and all this shit going on with Bale, he comes out and scores 5 times in one game including an eight minute hat trick. Insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essien19 1,415 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 He is one of the best goalscorer in football history! It's impressive how he still manages to stay in such a good shape and he can't stop scoring!I am curious how far he can lead his team this season in the Champions-League, the match against Schalke 04 really impressed me,nowadays he is a real leader.Unfortunately he plays as a left winger, therefore Bale can't reach his potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iseah100 5,612 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Still not better than Messi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essien19 1,415 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Still not better than MessiOnly one Ballon d'Or behind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlueGuy 1,552 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Remember when people thought Hazard was better than Ronaldo hahahahahah yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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