Ronaldinho

[Dublinred4ever]

This is a big shout and I'm sure many will disagree strongly, but I've come to the conclusion that Ronaldinho is the best footballer of all time.

 

And by the time he retires he'll have no equal.

 

The guy is sensatonal.

 

Watcing the game now versus Deportivo, 2 mins gone, he's pulled off a fantastic back heel to send Silvinho clear. Foul conceded. He sticks it in the top corner, and if I was betting on it I'd have put my house on him scoring it.

 

Genius of a footballer.

 

Opinions ......

[Snookie]

An exceptional player but wouldnt get in my best 11 let alone challenge Maradona as the best player ever. He is blessed with genius though and has that air of 'fantasia' about him that truly great players possess.

[Dublinred4ever]

An exceptional player but wouldnt get in my best 11 let alone challenge Maradona as the best player ever. He is blessed with genius though and has that air of 'fantasia' about him that truly great players possess.

 

I'd love to see your best 11 then

[Falconhoof]

He plays alongside sensational players who give him room to play in. maradonna had to carry Argentina and napoli to titles almost single handedly.

 

Think about who Ronaldinho has with him in the Barca team and Brazil team. Its Barca's best team for well over a decade, Brazil's best, arguably since 74.

 

Not denying Ronaldinho as an all time great but John Barnes used to do what you have described on a regular basis, it doesn't make a footballer the best ever.

 

Still Maradona for me.

[Snookie]

I just think its too early to make those kind of judgements. He's not driven a basically crap team to a world cup as Maradona did, nor won the World Cup 3 times like Pele.

Actually thinking about it, I'm not certain he can be meaningfully compared with Cryuff yet who would be in my top 3 or Romario who is only striker I would rate in the same class as Van Basten.

Edited March 4, 2006 by snookiejane

[Dublinred4ever]

He plays alongside sensational players who give him room to play in. maradonna had to carry Argentina and napoli to titles almost single handedly.

 

Think about who Ronaldinho has with him in the Barca team and Brazil team. Its Barca's best team for well over a decade, Brazil's best, arguably since 74.

 

Not denying Ronaldinho as an all time great but John Barnes used to do what you have described on a regular basis, it doesn't make a footballer the best ever.

 

Still Maradona for me.

 

 

I take your point on that in fairness.

 

Few people could name too many other players from the Napoli or Argentina sides that Maradona led.

 

And there's also the fact that every single Ronaldinho moment is covered on TV and replayed constantly as well as being downloadable from the net.

 

It was something I noticed when Best died, the footage of him was pretty limited and I'm sure some of his best moments were never televised.

 

But still, Ronaldinho for me has everything all the greats had and something extra, an incredible ability to amaze.

 

The time to judge of course is when he retires but the arguement that he's playing for a great team also applies to greats like Pele, Best, Platini etc.

 

Apart from Liverpool, barca are the only team I change plans to see and its all because of Ronaldinho.

 

Genius

[Falconhoof]

 

 

Apart from Liverpool, barca are the only team I change plans to see and its all because of Ronaldinho.

 

Genius

 

 

Agree with that, he's one of the all time greats. Has something that no other footballer in the world has and he seems to do these bits of magic every week.

[Guest Anders Honoré]

He plays alongside sensational players who give him room to play in. maradonna had to carry Argentina and napoli to titles almost single handedly.

 

Think about who Ronaldinho has with him in the Barca team and Brazil team. Its Barca's best team for well over a decade, Brazil's best, arguably since 74.

 

Not denying Ronaldinho as an all time great but John Barnes used to do what you have described on a regular basis, it doesn't make a footballer the best ever.

 

Still Maradona for me.

 

doesn't quite hold up when you consider how he carried Barca in his first season, when he was very much a solitary star shining until davids arrived.

[Romario]

Maradona and Ronaldinho are both obviously exceptional players. There was a 10 minute vid doing the rounds a while ago comparing them (both playing for Barca and all) and the major difference for me having watched the clips was, one, the balls are lighter now hense all the swerve etc. But the main difference for me was the physical aspect of the game in the 80's when Maradona played. He was never given a second on the ball and the tackles which were coming in on him were outragious! Especially from behind yet he managed time and time again to ride them without losing the ball. He got zero time on the ball and could not afford to stand with his back to defenders flicking the ball up like Ronaldinho does as he'd have a leg breaking challenge from behind.

I still think Ronaldinho is one of the most exciting players in the modern game but I think Maradona edges it still.

[madaboutlfc]

to be honest Zidane was as good as Ronaldinho in his pomp but hes not the flavour of the month at the moment

[Guest Ant]

You Have a Point but I believe Zidane was a better player

[StevieC]

Ronny just told Chelsea to get f*cked simultaneously implying that they are a classless club.

 

He's gone right up in my estimation now...

[Gunga Din]

he is up there with Maradona, IMO, certainly the best footballer in the world at the minute

[galés rojo]

You Have a Point but I believe Zidane was a better player

 

Agreed, also don't think Ronaldinho is even the best Brazilian in recent years. Both Ronaldo and Rivaldo at their peak were better than Ronaldinho is now.

[CaptainXabi]

Agreed, also don't think Ronaldinho is even the best Brazilian in recent years. Both Ronaldo and Rivaldo at their peak were better than Ronaldinho is now.

Ronaldinho is not at his peak though...

[stressederic]

Don't think you can compare Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

 

They're very different players, obviously Ronaldo was at his peak a goal scoring machine (as opposed to now also being a remorseless eating machine) but if you're going to compare technical skill and ability, I think Ronaldinho far out strips him.

[_00_deathscar]

Ronaldo's peak came early though - some of the goals he scored for Barca...

[4411]

As one said, Ronaldinho is just flavor of the month at the mo. If you follow Barca and watch every game you can clearly see he goes missing so often during a match and he, along with Deco and Messi, is very poor defensively. His attacking play is brilliant when on form although his set pieces are often average but he has some way to go before being hailed as the best footballer in the world IMO. I still think Kaka is better then him, he doesnt have Ronaldinhos oversteps but his vision and brain are second to none.

[Ombudsam]

As one said, Ronaldinho is just flavor of the month at the mo. If you follow Barca and watch every game you can clearly see he goes missing so often during a match and he, along with Deco and Messi, is very poor defensively. His attacking play is brilliant when on form although his set pieces are often average but he has some way to go before being hailed as the best footballer in the world IMO. I still think Kaka is better then him, he doesnt have Ronaldinhos oversteps but his vision and brain are second to none.

 

He really isn't

 

Henry is the best in the world for my money.

[stressederic]

Ronaldo's peak came early though - some of the goals he scored for Barca...

 

Oh definitely, at Barcelona some of his goals were out of this world.

[lawrie]

Certainly Ronaldinho can be brilliant in flashes but I've seen quite a lot of him this season (admittedly from my sofa) and turned the telly off feeling, well, underwhelmed. Although not comparing like for like, if given the choice, I'd take Henry every time (and even after seeing him at Anfield the other week)

[Earl Hafler]

He plays alongside sensational players who give him room to play in. maradonna had to carry Argentina and napoli to titles almost single handedly.

 

Think about who Ronaldinho has with him in the Barca team and Brazil team. Its Barca's best team for well over a decade, Brazil's best, arguably since 74.

 

Not denying Ronaldinho as an all time great but John Barnes used to do what you have described on a regular basis, it doesn't make a footballer the best ever.

 

Still Maradona for me.

 

I think you do a disservice to some of the players Maradona played alongside. And did Maradona play in Argentina's and Napoli's defence and goal ?

 

With all the football televised these days, we see every good and bad moment. Maradona had his poor games aswell.

[Swipe]

M

A

R

A

D

O

N

A

 

 

Without equal.

[growler]

players like roddy are why football is a beautiful games, despite how many try to corrupt it.

 

at the end of the day, thats what it boils down to. what he does with the ball on the pitch, is picasso to painting etc etc.

 

For entertainment value, I hope we see Messi, Eto'o, Roddy, Henry and Xavi in the same team. Forget the geriatrico's. THIS is true art.

[Spanish_fan]

Maradona and Ronaldinho are both obviously exceptional players. There was a 10 minute vid doing the rounds a while ago comparing them (both playing for Barca and all) and the major difference for me having watched the clips was, one, the balls are lighter now hense all the swerve etc. But the main difference for me was the physical aspect of the game in the 80's when Maradona played. He was never given a second on the ball and the tackles which were coming in on him were outragious! Especially from behind yet he managed time and time again to ride them without losing the ball. He got zero time on the ball and could not afford to stand with his back to defenders flicking the ball up like Ronaldinho does as he'd have a leg breaking challenge from behind.

I still think Ronaldinho is one of the most exciting players in the modern game but I think Maradona edges it still.

 

That's completely wrong. Maradona played at a time when the pace of the game was much slower than today. I watched the other night Barcelona play Real Madrid in 1982 and compared to today's standards the amount of time and space players got was ridiculous. Easy to explain that: fitness levels and zonal marking. In the past many teams would man mark players (like Gentile did against Maradona in 1982 WC). if you got past your marker you would be in a very good position to create danger. Nowadays teams hunt in packs and move toghether far more armonically. If you watch that video I am talking about (or any from that period) you'll see defenders inside the box when the ball is further up the pitch. That means that there were far more gapsto play the ball to a team mate. Teams were not half as compact as they are now. You see today a player waste a second on the ball (thing that Ronaldinho does very often BTW) and suddenly 3 opposing players are surrounding him. The poor defensive organisation meant players running from midfield completely unchallenged. Today there may not be as many nasty challenges as in the eighties, but there is far more fouling in every game as the players are all the time close to each other, and there is a lot of tactical fooling too. To shine in todays' game is far more difficult than to do so in the eighties.

 

And having watched both live I have to say that Ronaldinho can do more unbelieveble things than Maradona but Maradona was the more clever player. Maradona perfomance at Barcelona was not as good as Ronaldinho's.

 

And the ones who say that Maradona won medals with nobodies don't know much about the game in the eighties:

Cirro Ferrara, Alemao, and Careca also played for Napoli, and even a young Zola.

Argentina didn't have outstanding talents but they had a very solid team, and being a country that produces the best players in the world after Brazil even their lesser talents are good players. But people love to increase someone's reputation by bringing down other's.

 

Finally, does anyone think that Maradona woulds have scored that wondergoal against the current England side? He would have beeen fouled or dispossesed.

Edited March 6, 2006 by Spanish_fan