On Ronaldo and Real Madrid fans
This is the result of accumulated reactions on how Ronaldo always seems to have to justify his place against Raul, against Moro, at one stage even against Guti, if he goes 2-3 games without scoring. The latest example being how everyone wants him to be benched instead of Moro because Moro scored 2 goals last night in the Champs League qualifier (with Raul playing a rubbish game)
It amazes me how little Madrid fans seem to appreciate Ronaldo.Yes he does not have the work-rate of a Raul or the leadership of a Hierro or the team skills of a Roberto carlos. But we knew what we were getting when we bought him... he was always supposed to be the goalscoring machine, a player who may not do much the rest of the match but will decisively alter the outcome of a match with one moment of transcendent genius. We were not buying raul...we were buying a guy who was as clinical as Romario and Ruud, as fast as Henry or Eto, with the ball skills of a Figo rolled into one.
This may not be a player with a gtreat work rate who tracks back, but this is a player who (despite all the "El Gordo" jibes) scores more than 0.7 goals a game for Madrid in the league!!!!Who is Pichichi despite missing more than 5 games, a player who was almost pichici in his debut season when he missed some 30% of the games.
A player who gets a standing ovation from at the home stadium of your biggest rivals for the title of "biggest club in the world".
A player who was one of our two best players last year despite being worked to the ground. The player in whose absence our descent into chaos began, a player whose absence against Juventus saw us knocked out of the Champions League 2 seasons ago (and even then he came on half-fit and won us a penalty which Figo missed).
This is a player who before surgery deserved to be put on the same pedestal as Pele and Maradona, and who even after surgery still has a better goalscoring record against any other leading forward (Henry,Ruud, Trez, Vieri, Owen... even Sheva).
He may not have the party tricks of Zidane but I'm sure that any coach would rather face a team with Zidane than a team with Ronaldo, because Ronaldo is decisive.
Raul is a childhood favourite of mine. I am a fan who grew up with Quinta del Buetre (sp), on to Suker and Mijatovic, the emergence of raul and the buying of Moro. I will never forget Raul scoring at the Nou Camp and putting a finger to his lips silencing 100,000 cules. I felt pride when Moro scored against us last year at the Bernabeau. These guys are players that I would fight for in any argument.But to claim that any of them are better than the 2nd best pure goalscorer of all time is ridiculous.
So bench Ronaldo if he isn't playing well but let's not for a moment pretend that he is not a better footballer and forward than Raul and Ronaldo. And let's not pretend that raul on current form deserves to be on the pitch more than Ronaldo (or Moro).
This is the result of accumulated reactions on how Ronaldo always seems to have to justify his place against Raul, against Moro, at one stage even against Guti, if he goes 2-3 games without scoring. The latest example being how everyone wants him to be benched instead of Moro because Moro scored 2 goals last night in the Champs League qualifier (with Raul playing a rubbish game)
It amazes me how little Madrid fans seem to appreciate Ronaldo.Yes he does not have the work-rate of a Raul or the leadership of a Hierro or the team skills of a Roberto carlos. But we knew what we were getting when we bought him... he was always supposed to be the goalscoring machine, a player who may not do much the rest of the match but will decisively alter the outcome of a match with one moment of transcendent genius. We were not buying raul...we were buying a guy who was as clinical as Romario and Ruud, as fast as Henry or Eto, with the ball skills of a Figo rolled into one.
This may not be a player with a gtreat work rate who tracks back, but this is a player who (despite all the "El Gordo" jibes) scores more than 0.7 goals a game for Madrid in the league!!!!Who is Pichichi despite missing more than 5 games, a player who was almost pichici in his debut season when he missed some 30% of the games.
A player who gets a standing ovation from at the home stadium of your biggest rivals for the title of "biggest club in the world".
A player who was one of our two best players last year despite being worked to the ground. The player in whose absence our descent into chaos began, a player whose absence against Juventus saw us knocked out of the Champions League 2 seasons ago (and even then he came on half-fit and won us a penalty which Figo missed).
This is a player who before surgery deserved to be put on the same pedestal as Pele and Maradona, and who even after surgery still has a better goalscoring record against any other leading forward (Henry,Ruud, Trez, Vieri, Owen... even Sheva).
He may not have the party tricks of Zidane but I'm sure that any coach would rather face a team with Zidane than a team with Ronaldo, because Ronaldo is decisive.
Raul is a childhood favourite of mine. I am a fan who grew up with Quinta del Buetre (sp), on to Suker and Mijatovic, the emergence of raul and the buying of Moro. I will never forget Raul scoring at the Nou Camp and putting a finger to his lips silencing 100,000 cules. I felt pride when Moro scored against us last year at the Bernabeau. These guys are players that I would fight for in any argument.But to claim that any of them are better than the 2nd best pure goalscorer of all time is ridiculous.
So bench Ronaldo if he isn't playing well but let's not for a moment pretend that he is not a better footballer and forward than Raul and Ronaldo. And let's not pretend that raul on current form deserves to be on the pitch more than Ronaldo (or Moro).
posted by Anirban Blah at 2:26 am
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