People who are talking about Ronaldo being a player who's just a supreme goalscorer and not much else is insane. The guy has 81 assists in 411 games over his club career, while Messi has 73 assists in 268 games. It's better, but hardly dwarfs Ronaldo's record?
Most of those assists are probably at the start of his career when he was primarily on the wing and wasnt nearly as lethal a goalscorer as now.
Just 8 more assists in over 130 games? Yeah, no difference at all. Just watching them play you can see Messi is always looking to set up his mate. You can't say that about Ronaldo. Not a criticism, instead of laying someone in, he'll just beat another 2 players and score himself.
Can't believe some of the shite I'm reading here. To suggest Ronaldo doesn't do anything other than score goals is retarded. I wouldn't mind, but I admitted Messi was the better goalscorer...but now that Ronaldo is on a purple patch, the Messi fanboys are saying Cristiano is an RVN or Torres type player; what a load of shit.
It's not what I was suggesting. My suggestion is Ronaldo is the more greedy/selfish of the two. I've seen numerous times where instead of setting someone up, he'll take what could be the harder option at the time and score himself. Proves what people have been saying for years, Ronaldo plays for Ronaldo, Messi plays for Barcelona, hence the difference in assists.
It's not ridiculous to say that Ronaldo is limited when he's not scoring, especially the way he plays at Madrid. Look at the biggest games he's been involved in and when he's not scoring he doesn't do that much. That's not much of a criticism because he scores so often and at such a high ratio it pales in significance, however when trying to compare him to Messi in terms of all round quality I think it's fair to say Messi contributes more when he's not scoring. You would never see Ronaldo spraying the passes Messi did against Madrid at the Camp Nou in the 5-0 drubbing. Messi is far more adept at playing deeper, more creatively and has more strings to his bow than Ronaldo.
Having seen him play for many years I can safely say it is a very ridiculous thing to say. Also is it true that Messi has never scored a goal in England ?
Ronaldo hasn't scored at the Nou Camp has he? Must have played almost as many games there as Messi has in England. See we can all pull out meaningless stats if we want, I think it's obvious Messi can produce against the best on the highest stage. I've also watched Ronaldo over the years and he is limited in terms of his overall teamplay, certainly in comparison to Messi. Messi can run games, like he did in the game at the Emirates last season and he can destory teams like he did at the Camp Nou last season. I think Ronaldo can only do the latter, don't get me wrong he's awesome at it, probably the best there is when he's on full form but I think Messi can perform different roles to a higher standard.
Ronaldo broke the record last night for all time highest number of goals in a season. Absolutely sensational. I have watched Madrid play this season quite a bit and have to say that people underestimate them too much. If it wasn't for Barca's quite stupendous superiority, Madrid would've won everything this season - including the CL. That squad leaves every team in Europe in it's shadow at the moment, but so it should considering it's the most expensive ever. Great football, good defending and finally some character as well. What happens next season remains to be seen, the second season will have Mourinho establishing the team as his own. Then again at Chelsea Mourinho had them playing the best football under Ranieri's signings. Once Jose had the team set up as his own image, they became the most boring football team in the history of the game. Madrid though will be hungrier than ever whilst for a lot of Barca players winning la liga won't be that special as it was before. A lot will depend on Barca strenghtening their squad during the summer - their first team is too thin even if they do have some special players coming through the academy again. Oh, and one more thing about Ronaldo and Messi. The age difference between the two is often overlooked when comparing them. It could be argued that Ronaldo is at the peak age of any footballer and will have 2-3 years to improve/remain at this level, after which the players usually have to change the way they play. Especially the ones who've relied on their physique so much. Messi on the other hand is still 3-4 years away from those peak years if he stays injury free.
Good post and I agree with you completely Jari, the age factor is a biggie in the Ronaldo Messi debate. As for this as a standalone season though, I'm getting rather sick of saying Messi is lightyears ahead of everyone, Ronaldo is probably a hairs width away from Messi and if looked at objectively, probably is a stronger player (headers+FK+dominating the 2 best leagues) and unlike others have stated, has much more to his bow. Messi is all about the quick touch one two moves and almost exclusively cuts in to the box playing short balls or dribbling it. Watched him 20+ times this season and its all he does, brilliantly all be it. He cant really cross, isnt known for FK's or long shots and is a relatively poor header of the ball but his dribbling ability and short ball play is so sensational everyone overlooks his limitations as a player. Ronaldo has NO limitation, none at all. He is good at literally everything. Messi simply cant do some of the stuff Ronaldo can; and vice versa.
That's complete rubbish though, Messi can pass almost as well as Xavi and Iniesta, which is far better than Ronaldo can do. Messi is much more versatile and has more to his bow, Ronaldo has the limitation that when he isn't scoring he doesn't do much for the team. Messi is far ahead of him not because of his attacking ability, which I'd say there about on a par, but because of his team play and his creative side. Look at the assist difference for proof of that, Ronaldo has 10 Messi has 24. You say he can't really cross but how many times a game do Barcelona ever get the ball down the wing and cross? That's not how they play so your point is moot. I don't know where this myth that Messi can't shoot from outside of the box has sprung from he's scored several goals like that, off the top of my head Copenhagen, Almeria and Betis all stand out this year alone.
You make very good points albionfagan. Messi is generally more of a team player, he tracks backs, tackles, defenders and gets involved in as much as possible. Ronaldo plays for himself he wants to score and wants his team mates to do the work for him. Messi could go the whole season and score one goal, but if he had 50 assists and his team won, he'd be happy. Would the same be true of Ronaldo? I don't think so.
