Cristiano Ronaldo - Performances (wums will be thread banned)

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Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist hated each other off the pitch. It's one of the most successful wicket-keeper bowler partnerships in test cricket. It doesn't matter in a professional environment if people aren't good friends off the pitch.
 
Yeah, but who had the better grades in school?

Ronaldo loses again then :( Sporting had to discipline him a couple of times in his academy days because of bad grades.
 
Sheringham and Cole hated each other and were part of a treble winning team. If you're professional enough to put off field issues aside when you're on the pitch, then it doesn't matter at all.

I don't see how getting on off the pitch would help their understanding on the pitch, they're two totally different things. Plenty of brilliant on pitch partnerships didn't translate to great friendships off the pitch. Law, Best and Charlton didn't get on as well off the pitch as the Barca trio either, they were totally different characters and personalities. It made feck all difference to them on the field. Sheringham and Cole famously didn't get on. Ronaldo himself pointed out that he won a CL with plenty of players he wasn't best friends with either.

Why do people bring this Sheringham Cole thing up so much as if Sheringham was banging them in, in 99? Sheringham played less than half of our games and scored 5 goals in 99.


Who knows, he might have won more with Madrid than he has.

Look all I am saying is, if I had to choose to play with Messi or Ronaldo in my team id pick Messi. Becuase he is a great player but also a great team mate.
 
Sheringham and Cole hated each other and were part of a treble winning team. If you're professional enough to put off field issues aside when you're on the pitch, then it doesn't matter at all.

Last time I remembered, the bedrock of our success up front was primarily the telepathic relationship between Yorke and Cole. The friendships of guys like Gary Neville and David Beckham... Butt, Scholes and Giggs (friendships which last today).

"When Yorkie first joined the club the talk was all about him replacing me, but there's nothing wrong with trying to make someone feel comfortable. I went out of my way to show him the best places to live, invite him to dinner and the partnership grew from there," Cole said in an interview with bwin, the official betting partner of Manchester United.

images


Schmeichel on Steve Bruce


He was there when I arrived at Manchester United. He was a really good friend. I ended up living next door to him, so he looked after me and my family. I've never played with a player so brave. He was never quick. He was slow, but unbelievable. He could read the game. He was never, ever, ever scared to sacrifice himself in order to do one tiny little thing for the good of the team



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Given that United's three greatest sides all had players that were not close as friends playing major roles in their success sort of poo poos that theory @Raees

Ok. Lets take the 06-08 side and break it down into cliques.. or friendships.

Scholes/Giggs/Neville.. the C of 92, great friends off the pitch and the soul of the club on it. The godfathers of our team. Park/Evra/Tevez.. extremely close friends, all foreign players who used each other off the pitch to adapt to a foreign environment and make it feel like home. Then you have Nani/Anderson and Ronaldo, all portuguese speaking and their videos used to have us all in stitches whenever they were out and about. They developed a pretty good understanding on the pitch whenever they did play together. Ferdinand and Vidic (“As a friend he is made of the top stuff, always honest & thoughtful but also game for a laugh (when he is ready)!.. to naming him the best partner he ever had).. but Ferdinand was especially close with Wayne Rooney in their formative years at the club. No doubt someone like Carrick was close to this contingent as well.

Now.. Ronaldo and Rooney - didn't like each other I think it is fair to say and there are probably other examples from that side, where certain players didn't get on with each other. That is life, you'll find that in any organisation - not everyone gets on well together. What you won't find in a successful organisation though is the complete absence of off the field camaraderie throughout the entire firm/team. A team full of selfish egotists like a Ronaldo is never going to get anywhere. You need members within a team who really treasure that off the field stuff because their the players who give you that team spirit, that spine for when things are down.. their friendship stays strong even in moments of adversity. That one player on the pitch who you have a decent connection with, can be the one to keep you calm, give you words of encouragement and keep you feeling positive on the pitch. It is incredibly useful to have that within your side.. you can carry one or two Ronaldo's, but if your entire team is full of selfish players who care just for themselves and their own individual performances but do not mingle off the pitch - you're not going to get anywhere because most of the time you have is travelling between games/training etc. Games just last 90 minutes.

Take the Barcelona side.. one of the reasons why they have been so successful since 2006 is that the core culture of the side has remained intact, built on the relationships between Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique.. very similar to how Neville, Giggs and Scholes provided our side with that culture despite new players coming in. Liverpool in the 80's were built on the great friendships between men like Hansen and Dalglish.

Neymar says it best to be honest..

And after sharing 120 goals between them, Brazilian Neymar believes Barcelona's incredible season owes most to the way the Nou Camp's Three Amigos have bonded.

“Leo and Luis are two players of the highest level. They have such great quality. But the principal thing for us is our friendship on and off the pitch.

“That’s why things are going so well. I hope to finish the season together with them coming off the pitch happy with the rest of the team and be the winners.

Compare that to some of the very talented dutch national teams of the 00's.. full of technically gifted individuals but disastrous in terms of team spirit. You can argue that as long as people are civil and professional that this is enough for a team to stay at the top for a very high level.. for me in any type of business this is misguided because people are not cyborgs, they need things like friendship to thrive professionally but especially in sport where it is such an emotional profession and due to the physical exertion you have to give week in week out, your mental strength is constantly being tested. Friendship helps ease the mental strain it takes to perform at the highest level.
 
Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist hated each other off the pitch. It's one of the most successful wicket-keeper bowler partnerships in test cricket. It doesn't matter in a professional environment if people aren't good friends off the pitch.

When the quality of opponents is so evenly matched as it is (supposedly) with Madrid and Barcelona, people will always look for ways to understand why one might be doing better than the other.
 
According to the book "the Jordan Rules" and numerous teammates, Michael Jordan was the biggest jerk you could find. Didn't seem to be a big deal to the Chicago Bulls.

On the other side of the coin, the NBA's latest and greatest bestest team of all time ever, ever, ever in the universe, the Golden State Warriors get on tremendously.

I love the Dubs btw.
 
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Wait are you serious? Poor baby Bale can´t handle moving to a foreign country and needs some pampering from teammates. Ronaldo sulks with plenty of players and they can handle it. Perhaps sometimes it's just bad decision making by Bale? I've seen him being as selfish as Ronaldo and well his status in the team is infinite lower compared to Ronaldo's. Perhaps he should just deal with it and man up? You have to be professional above all and do your work. You are getting paid millions for that. Sorry for not showing any simpathy but this type of whining just annoys me. Didn't Ronaldo move to England with 18 years of age and was able to adapt to a very harsh enviroment? What about what happened after the WC2006 where everyone in England was against him bar United fans? Just recently he claimed he didn't have any close relationships at United during one of your club's most succesfull eras. Not to mention the examples other users gave with Cole and Sheringham. Address those. And Ibrahimovic's major problem was with Guardiola. I´ve played plenty of football with ppl i didn't like (at an amateur level in my Law School team for 5 years) and it didn't matter that much. That is my perspective.

I'm sorry but if you're the type of guy who played in your law school team for 5 years and was unable to make a single friend that probably explains your perspective. That isn't normal - I hate to break it to you. Cristiano Ronaldo isn't normal either in any sense of the word.. he probably thinks being that selfish can lead to trophies, yes it can for him individually but if everyone on the teams he featured for were like him, he'd win jackshit.

He was fortunate that he featured in teams with players of different personalities, other players who could keep the side together in terms of team spirit and allow him to go and do his thing. He is probably too self obsessed to realise the importance of team bonding and what it has given him in his career.. he thinks he's made it on the back of his own work. Incredibly small minded, egotistical and plain wrong.
 
According to the book "the Jordan Rules" and numerous teammates, Michael Jordan was the biggest jerk you could find. Didn't seem to be a big deal to the Chicago Bulls.

Yes, but did the team have 5 Michael Jordans in it... you can afford to have maybe 2 or three jerks (who you allow to be that way because of their absolute individual brilliance).. but an entire team of selfish jerks? and sustainable success? no way. Imagine 5 or 6 Kevin Pietesens in a side..You can carry a few egos, not an entire team of them. I cannot believe for the life of me some of you can't see that.

Warne might not have liked Steve Waugh.. but I am sure he had other friendships in the side to make up for it.
 
When the quality of opponents is so evenly matched as it is (supposedly) with Madrid and Barcelona, people will always look for ways to understand why one might be doing better than the other.

What's to understand? The Barcelona three are better than their Madrid counterparts. That's the reality now and it would still be the reality even if they got on less well off the pitch.
 
I'm sorry but if you're the type of guy who played in your law school team for 5 years and was unable to make a single friend that probably explains your perspective. That isn't normal - I hate to break it to you. Cristiano Ronaldo isn't normal either in any sense of the word.. he probably thinks being that selfish can lead to trophies, yes it can for him individually but if everyone on the teams he featured for were like him, he'd win jackshit.

He was fortunate that he featured in teams with players of different personalities, other players who could keep the side together in terms of team spirit and allow him to go and do his thing. He is probably too self obsessed to realise the importance of team bonding and what it has given him in his career.. he thinks he's made it on the back of his own work. Incredibly small minded, egotistical and plain wrong.

Errm perhaps read things properly? I said i played plenty of football with ppl i didn't like not that i was unable to make friends. You see if you really played 11 side football at any level you know it is pratically impossible to get along with everyone. Even so i did pass the ball or recieved passes from them because everyone realized it was more important to beat Med School rather than liking and drinking beers with Marty the douche from third year.

I´ve always heard Ronaldo praising his teammates and even saying that he won certain awards thanks to their contribution. But no one can deny his wortk ethic, dedication to the sport and professionalism, even if i agree that he is indeed selfish. But i don't go into extremism like yourself. Perhaps Real would win more if other players showed the same dedication rather than putting up shows to the media.
 
Why do people bring this Sheringham Cole thing up so much as if Sheringham was banging them in, in 99? Sheringham played less than half of our games and scored 5 goals in 99.



Who knows, he might have won more with Madrid than he has.

Look all I am saying is, if I had to choose to play with Messi or Ronaldo in my team id pick Messi. Becuase he is a great player but also a great team mate.
What's scoring goals got to do with it? He was still a big part of our successful team and he hated another player who he played in tandem with. Not just didn't get on with or wasn't friends with, he hated him.
 
@Raees I take your point but they were still a part of a successful team together and they hated each other. They weren't the primary reason we won that treble but they each played a big part.

I agree that it would be more ideal if your team all got on with each other but it doesn't have to be counterproductive if you're not best friends.
 
Ronaldo was right in the press conference. The fact that the Barca three get on better than the Real three is irrelevant, all that matters is what they do on the pitch.

Criticising any aspect of his goalscoring is pretty ridiculous too given he's possibly the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game.

It's just too easy (and fun) to take jabs at him because of his rather petulant nature.

I suspect Messi, Suarez and Neymar aren't that close off the pitch. In fact I'm fairly certain they're not. Ronaldo's just being deliberately obtuse. It's undeniable that they're a better trio than Benzema and Bale on the pitch because they are more selfless and have a better understanding on the pitch.

Friendships off the pitch are useful but largely irrelevant. He doesn't have a point at all.
 
I'm sorry but if you're the type of guy who played in your law school team for 5 years and was unable to make a single friend that probably explains your perspective. That isn't normal - I hate to break it to you. Cristiano Ronaldo isn't normal either in any sense of the word.. he probably thinks being that selfish can lead to trophies, yes it can for him individually but if everyone on the teams he featured for were like him, he'd win jackshit.

He was fortunate that he featured in teams with players of different personalities, other players who could keep the side together in terms of team spirit and allow him to go and do his thing. He is probably too self obsessed to realise the importance of team bonding and what it has given him in his career.. he thinks he's made it on the back of his own work. Incredibly small minded, egotistical and plain wrong.

You need a team to win trophies and if Barcelona had Florentino as the president I can tell you they wouldn't win as many trophies they are wining now, even the fat waiter said about florentino's influence in the team, they had Ancelotti and was fired (which was their best coach in years), that team is not going to win jack shit until they kick florentino out from Real.
 
Being friends can certainly help. In fact, I would say being friends makes it much easier when your back is against the wall and getting the W is going to be an uphill struggle. When you're playing with friends, you're more likely to play for your friends. When everyone is being selfless, playing for their teammates, but still playing at the highest level, that's when magical shit happens.

Very very good teams playing less good teams, that friendship is less important.

Despite Michael Jordan being an intolerably competitive asshole, he was still a win at any costs guy. If that meant taking the final shot, he took the final shot, if it meant he played a dummy and dished the ball to someone else for the final shot, he did that too. He cared more about winning than his personal stats. Kobe on the other hand I think at times cared more about his stats than winning.
 
I suspect Messi, Suarez and Neymar aren't that close off the pitch. In fact I'm fairly certain they're not. Ronaldo's just being deliberately obtuse. It's undeniable that they're a better trio than Benzema and Bale on the pitch because they are more selfless and have a better understanding on the pitch.

Friendships off the pitch are useful but largely irrelevant. He doesn't have a point at all.

I'm confused. Ronaldo said it doesn't matter that he isn't great friends with Benzema/Bale as it's what happens on the pitch that counts. You say that friendships off the pitch are largely irrelevant as it's the understanding on the pitch that counts. That's the exact same point, isn't it?
 
I'm confused. Ronaldo said it doesn't matter that he isn't great friends with Benzema/Bale as it's what happens on the pitch that counts. You say that friendships off the pitch are largely irrelevant as it's the understanding on the pitch that counts. That's the exact same point, isn't it?
Yes.
 
It's bad but it can get worse...

Who will be better: Messi Jr or Ronaldo Jr? :lol:

Aguero Jr will shit on both.

Sign up all three of them. Now! Before Barca or Real get their greasy hands on them. Doesn't even matter if they play football, just the image rights for those three will make us billions. Woody, get it done.
 
Love how Ronaldo makes a valid point about not having to be best mates to be a successful football team....And then the media turn it into, "Ronaldo hates ex United team mates, including Giggs and Scholes........United supporter Devlish says class of 92 members are a disgrace" :D

But seriously, they don't have twist things. I'd feel sorry for him if I wasn't jealous of him
 
id say their friendship is definetely world class. Rooney's leadership qualities and party organisation a tier below
 
Last time I remembered, the bedrock of our success up front was primarily the telepathic relationship between Yorke and Cole. The friendships of guys like Gary Neville and David Beckham... Butt, Scholes and Giggs (friendships which last today).

"When Yorkie first joined the club the talk was all about him replacing me, but there's nothing wrong with trying to make someone feel comfortable. I went out of my way to show him the best places to live, invite him to dinner and the partnership grew from there," Cole said in an interview with bwin, the official betting partner of Manchester United.

images


Schmeichel on Steve Bruce


He was there when I arrived at Manchester United. He was a really good friend. I ended up living next door to him, so he looked after me and my family. I've never played with a player so brave. He was never quick. He was slow, but unbelievable. He could read the game. He was never, ever, ever scared to sacrifice himself in order to do one tiny little thing for the good of the team



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...eckham-Fantasy-Football-XI.html#ixzz40TQOTwbd
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook



Ok. Lets take the 06-08 side and break it down into cliques.. or friendships.

Scholes/Giggs/Neville.. the C of 92, great friends off the pitch and the soul of the club on it. The godfathers of our team. Park/Evra/Tevez.. extremely close friends, all foreign players who used each other off the pitch to adapt to a foreign environment and make it feel like home. Then you have Nani/Anderson and Ronaldo, all portuguese speaking and their videos used to have us all in stitches whenever they were out and about. They developed a pretty good understanding on the pitch whenever they did play together. Ferdinand and Vidic (“As a friend he is made of the top stuff, always honest & thoughtful but also game for a laugh (when he is ready)!.. to naming him the best partner he ever had).. but Ferdinand was especially close with Wayne Rooney in their formative years at the club. No doubt someone like Carrick was close to this contingent as well.

Now.. Ronaldo and Rooney - didn't like each other I think it is fair to say and there are probably other examples from that side, where certain players didn't get on with each other. That is life, you'll find that in any organisation - not everyone gets on well together. What you won't find in a successful organisation though is the complete absence of off the field camaraderie throughout the entire firm/team. A team full of selfish egotists like a Ronaldo is never going to get anywhere. You need members within a team who really treasure that off the field stuff because their the players who give you that team spirit, that spine for when things are down.. their friendship stays strong even in moments of adversity. That one player on the pitch who you have a decent connection with, can be the one to keep you calm, give you words of encouragement and keep you feeling positive on the pitch. It is incredibly useful to have that within your side.. you can carry one or two Ronaldo's, but if your entire team is full of selfish players who care just for themselves and their own individual performances but do not mingle off the pitch - you're not going to get anywhere because most of the time you have is travelling between games/training etc. Games just last 90 minutes.

Take the Barcelona side.. one of the reasons why they have been so successful since 2006 is that the core culture of the side has remained intact, built on the relationships between Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique.. very similar to how Neville, Giggs and Scholes provided our side with that culture despite new players coming in. Liverpool in the 80's were built on the great friendships between men like Hansen and Dalglish.

Neymar says it best to be honest..



Compare that to some of the very talented dutch national teams of the 00's.. full of technically gifted individuals but disastrous in terms of team spirit. You can argue that as long as people are civil and professional that this is enough for a team to stay at the top for a very high level.. for me in any type of business this is misguided because people are not cyborgs, they need things like friendship to thrive professionally but especially in sport where it is such an emotional profession and due to the physical exertion you have to give week in week out, your mental strength is constantly being tested. Friendship helps ease the mental strain it takes to perform at the highest level.
I feel if you have a great relationship with your teammates you are more likely to sacrifice yourself for them and do selfless things e.g. Suarez providing many assists when he first joined, despite being desperate to score himself, as he really didn't hit the ground running scoring wise. These neat goals they score where they tee each other up could be down their bromance and understanding. It is as if they REALLY want each other to score lots of goals. I know for a fact Ronaldo has to be top scorer or he is "SAD". Also you may not get so angry when your teammate opts for a shot over a square pass, a reaction Ronaldo expresses regularly. It depends how much impetus you place on selfishness vs selflessness.
 
Ronaldo can break his own record for most goals in one CL season. He's now on 12. If Real reach the final, he'll do it.
 
@Raees

You are all over the place here. You use Ronaldo's friendship with Anderson and Nani seemingly in favour of your argument but then dismiss @Skills argument by saying that those cricketers had other friends in the team.

How am I all over the place. Have made it distinctly clear that in a team you can have personalities which clash but as long as these individuals who clash have other people within the team that they're friendly with or if the team dynamic in general off the pitch is very healthy.. i.e. there are others in the side who keep the team ticking over as a group, you can still have a very successful side.

That said in cricket, it is a sport more geared towards the individual.. you can bowl and bat with little intereference from how your team mate performs but even so, the great sides and great bowling pairings for example would work in tandem. When you're on the field all day, team spirit comes to the fore to keep you guys focused.

In one of Mourinho's books.. he spoke about how after making several changes to the make up of Porto's squad, he gave them a night off... all the players got together themselves, arranged a bite out to eat and all came back together within the curfew set by Mourinho. He spoke to his coaching staff and they all agreed.. this is a group which has the mentality, solidarity and brotherhood needed to win trophies.

Ancellotti coming to Madrid was also a big factor in the hostilities within the squad becoming thawed and the players seemed to get on better with each other.. no doubt that too had a huge impact in them winning the CL. Under Mourinho it looked like a bunch of selfish ego's whose hatred of Barcelona was keeping them going but that is not a sustainable way of running a team.. in the short term it can still yield results but over a 5-6 year period, if you're trying to build a side which can dominate an era.. you can't have such rampant discord running throughout the side.

No side/organisation will have everyone singing off the same hymn sheet.. nor should you want that - a bit of discord, a bit of edge within a team is healthy. It keeps everyone on their toes, keeps training competitive etc but if there is mass hatred and no friendships whatsoever running throughout a team.. that is not going to be a successful team. I have coached sides and there is no doubt in my mind that the better the relationship between my players, the better they play on the pitch.. and not everyone would get on, but the friendships or the cliques they could rely on were incredibly important to making them feel good on the pitch and help them perform.
 
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I feel if you have a great relationship with your teammates you are more likely to sacrifice yourself for them and do selfless things e.g. Suarez providing many assists when he first joined, despite being desperate to score himself, as he really didn't hit the ground running scoring wise. These neat goals they score where they tee each other up could be down their bromance and understanding. It is as if they REALLY want each other to score lots of goals. I know for a fact Ronaldo has to be top scorer or he is "SAD". Also you may not get so angry when your teammate opts for a shot over a square pass, a reaction Ronaldo expresses regularly. It depends how much impetus you place on selfishness vs selflessness.

Agreed. On the other hand, if you are overly friendly and always looking to pass around.. lack selfishness, then you will not always seek the most efficient way to attack.

It is a fine balance. At the moment, Barca have the intelligence and individuals who have abit of ego.. (they all want to score goals and do their own individual moments now and then) but they also have the awareness and selflessness to put in a team mate if he is free. However where their friendship really does help is being able to produce football which brings a smile to everyone's face.. intricate link up play, ridiculous skills and they all seem intent on producing beautiful moments of football together. Compare that to Messi and Zlatan.. two outrageously gifted footballers who just could not get on.. now you can argue tactically they were a poor match (which they were) but there just wasn't any joy in their interplay. You could sense the resentment.

Now there is a reason why Yorke and Cole were able to produce beautiful moments time and time again.. together they were better than as individuals. It really can lift your performance.
 
I also heard that Messi brushes his teeth three times a day and flosses while Ronaldo only brushes twice.
 
I've always wondered who is likely to be Ronaldo's best friend at Madrid? and I am not too sure Messi best friend at Barca is Neymar though. Any ideas?
 
I've always wondered who is likely to be Ronaldo's best friend at Madrid? and I am not too sure Messi best friend at Barca is Neymar though. Any ideas?

Perhaps Pepe or Marcelo
 
@Raees has done some explaining here and I give him credit for that however as acknowledged in this thread, there are counterexamples that show that camaraderie off the pitch is being overrated as a factor into success on the pitch.
 
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