England-2014 World Cup.

[Guppy 4 England]

Waffling Warren strikes again.

[Warren]

http://messivsronaldo.net/ a few stats on there would suggest you are wrong. I think messi is the better player but not for the reasoning you use

 

I can agree that Ronaldo did better in 2013/14, but Messi should have taken time off to recover from injury suffered against Paris in 2012/13 and affecting him for nearly a year with other problems. Remembering Messi is 3-4 years younger than Ronaldo his stats are better every year from 2008/9 onwards until 2013/14.

 

But I would say we are discussing two different types of player because Messi drops in to midfield and is key in bringing the ball forward whereas Ronaldo is an outright attacker. It is unfortunate that Rooney is being put under pressure to be like Messi because he simply does not have the talent or pace and he isn't Ronaldo either because he is much smaller. Him being compared with them may adversely affect his confidence or if it doesn't do that it can make him try too hard which is also a way to failure.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Or Rooney is simply nowhere near as good as either of them: first touch, dribbling, passing, pace, finishing, positional play, tricks, off the ball movement..maybe he's better in the air than Messi but then Messi is much smaller.

 

If being compared to those two adversely affects Rooney's performance than that again shows him as a much worse player cos one of the main things a top player has to have is absolute confidence in hs ability and if he's adversely affected then he patently does not have that confidence; I doubt Messi loses confidence in being compared to ronaldo and vice versa..they would rise to the challenge of proving themselves the better player

[Paul6754]

Ronaldo is the most overrated player ever, very good against ordinary sides/players but when the good teams/players appear he very rarely shows up and when he does it's when they're 3 or 4 up and he starts his twinkle toe moves.

 

Two recent examples, Champions Lge final and Portugal vs Germany where he was absolutely useless. Even in the Champ Lge semi-final RM were 2-0 up at Bayern before he showed up.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

. Remembering Messi is 3-4 years younger than Ronaldo his stats are better every year from 2008/9 onwards until 2013/14

 

Messi born Jun 24 87

 

Ronaldo born Feb 5 85

 

SO not much more than two years age diff..not enough to make a difference for me. Plus Messi is out and out striker whereas Ronaldo is a wide man. personally I reckon Messi is the more skilful so the better in that sense but Ronaldo has become the more effective in terns of his impact for his club.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Ronaldo is the most overrated player ever, very good against ordinary sides/players but when the good teams/players appear he very rarely shows up and when he does it's when they're 3 or 4 up and he starts his twinkle toe moves.

 

Two recent examples, Champions Lge final and Portugal vs Germany where he was absolutely useless. Even in the Champ Lge semi-final RM were 2-0 up at Bayern before he showed up.

 

He's not been fully fit for several weeks; he wasn't really fit for the later stages of the CL nor against Germany.

 

Last season he scored important goals against Juventus, Atl Madrid, Barcelona, Dortmund, Bayern, Schalke, Sweden, loads of other CL goals..55 was it in total for Real and Portugal?

 

Goals against the better oppositon is a stat I have long advocated looking at when evaluating a striker as opposed to simply looking at goals scored..but I'm not sure it shows Ronaldo as 'overrated'.Now Rooney......

[For Us All]

Completely disagree. Ronaldo is a far better player than messi and is a more complete player IMO. Look at the opposition, Portugal players Germany with 10 men and were 3-0 down by half time, where as Argentina played Bosnia and were already winning. Also that's only messis second World Cup goal, I think in 9 matches, that suggests he dosent turn up for the big games. Ronaldo has been far better all season.

 

Ronaldo spends far too much time looking at himself on the big screen.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Belgium playing well..even Fellaini has scored !!!!!

[For Us All]

Belgium playing well..even Fellaini has scored !!!!!

 

Good substitutions by the Belgium manager there.

[For Us All]

I see that Mexico have a Ponce on the bench?

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Brazil looking OKish..I know the Mexican keeper made a few decent saves but Brazil look vulnerable at the back and clealry don't have a real 'predator' in the team. They could pay a heavy price for not taking chances against teams with better attacks than Mexico.

[VantaaVale]

Brazil looking OKish..I know the Mexican keeper made a few decent saves but Brazil look vulnerable at the back and clealry don't have a real 'predator' in the team. They could pay a heavy price for not taking chances against teams with better attacks than Mexico.

 

Yes, David Luiz is the weak link there. Rile him and he's likely to do something stupid.

 

Also, while Neymar looks dangerous going forward, he has a tendency to be a bit over eager in challenges.

 

For me, this is one of the worst Brazil sides I've seen for quite some time. Nothing to be afraid of other than "home advantage".

[JOHNNYAITCH]

I read somewhere that Brazil haven't lost a competitive match at home since 1975 so it will be a tall order to knock them out once it gets to last 16

 

The whole defence looks dodgy to me..I remember against Italy in 82 and this looks similar defensively

 

Neymar holds onto the ball too much..trying to do the spectacular at the expense of the simple

 

I can see them being undone by a really well organised team defensively with quality strikers...I'm thinking Germany

[Guppy 4 England]

Russia look woeful under Capello, proving he is a toss manager, ruined AC milan, had a lucky season with superstars at real madrid and done nothing since. Most over rated manager in history

[Warren]

Messi born Jun 24 87

 

Ronaldo born Feb 5 85

 

SO not much more than two years age diff..not enough to make a difference for me. Plus Messi is out and out striker whereas Ronaldo is a wide man. personally I reckon Messi is the more skilful so the better in that sense but Ronaldo has become the more effective in terns of his impact for his club.

 

I watch Messi every week. He was moved from the wing to play a lot more down the centre of the pitch but that is never as a striker in the sense of say any of the Port Vale strikers. He is much more like Frank Lampard but with the ability to move anywhere across the pitch. He will take corners, cross from wide at free kicks (from which Argentina scored their first goal against BH) and drop in to midfield. He passes the ball supremely well in addition to dribbling. Ronaldo is not happy playing down the centre as a striker or just behind a striker. Hence he stays out wide.

 

With Portugal playing Nani on the other wing, two ineffectual wingers and the sacrifice that means in midfield together with a player who lost his head saw them easily defeated by a German team whose main strength is organisation even with Big M at centre half who Messi would have loved.