Ronaldo Thread

This is nice to hear from il phenomeno:

(from theguardian.com)

"At Milan I've felt a fantastic atmosphere between players and coaches," he said. "It's been a long time since I've seen such a human rapport, such a rapport of friendship. Incredible."

let's hope Kaka is paying extra attention to this

I've been in two minds about this signing, never could figure out whether it's a stroke of genius or just insanity. However, we've got Il fenomeno and we'll see which of these it is in the coming months.

Firstly, if I was to say I wasn't pleased about this transfer, I would be lying. Ronaldo is a player I've admired, loved to watch and quite honestly supported since I first saw him as a 17 year old. His goalscoring record is second to no one, especially if you tally up his simply unbelievable record before the 1998 world cup final, when he simply looked untouchable.

His ability is unquestionable, as he has strength, pace, incredible technical ability and finishing which when on form (probably even when not at his best), he is by far the best finisher in the game. His movement and instinct as a forward is astounding, where defenders have found it near impossible to read. He's notorious when it comes to attacking, as he doesn't try to be overly fancy (though never seems to fail to have a trick up his sleeve), but has an incredible drive and is a keeper's worst nightmare (never have I seen a player round so many goalies before scoring).

Every generation or so, there are what I consider geniuses who appear in the footballing world. Over the last few years, I would say I've witnessed 3 players of what I consider to be the truly highest level of footballing greats. These include Zidane, Maldini and Ronaldo. I'd say that for me personally, I class players who have managed inspire and capture my admiration, no matter who they play for, to be true greats. Ronaldo happens to be one of these players, when no matter who he played for, he always had my support, even at Inter, who I still wanted to lose, but always wanted Ronie to score. A player who managed to secure my support despite playing for one of my greatest rival's for me is a legend. I'd say now the two most likely players to reach such a high plateau in my eyes are Buffon and Kaka.

Ronaldo is flawed, with an arrogance to him that's clear as day and a fitness issue that has become a joke in the football world. The first isn't an issue should Ronaldo maintain the level of professionalism he has showed throughout his career and shows the motivation he has been lacking (his words are nice, but actions are genuine truth). The latter is a potentially huge problem, but in modern football, if there is one place where he can sort this out, it's Milan Lab.

Should we get Ronaldo to fitness and mentally ready for top level competitive football, Gila, Pippo, Oliveira and Borriello may all just be watching from the bench on a regular basis.

I'm not ready to say I think this signing is outstanding, but I will say the potential we have to get back from this signing is worth the risk we have taken, and that alone has me excited.

Originally Posted by drucurl

Its not Real Madrid that don't want him....its Capello! Capello isn't appreciative of artistic players like ronaldo.......Just look at the way he keeps poor Robinho on the bench all the time!! Cassano as well was outraged by Capello's treatment of him...that's why he's also going to be shipped out.

Capello only likes physical strikers who put in workmanlike performances.

Here is a list of players booted out in one way or another by Capello:
Ronaldo (3 time world player of the year)
Robinho
Cicchino (even before his injury Capello was planning on selling him)
Julio Baptista (currently scoring for fun in England)

Here are some players Capello plays all the time:
Raul (who has gone nealry three years withoug breaking the 15 goal/ season limit)
RVN (who does NOTHING but finish off very basic assists)

Franckly speaking I d also play Raul and RVN rather then Ronaldo and the Co. on Capello's place. Capello is a very good coach, very professional. You say he doesnt like artistic players (like Ronaldo and Gila)...and who likes them? If they cant be stable in their performance. Artistic type players play good when they are in the good mood, and play very badly if they are down. Artistic = Melancholic. I in general dont like those who are melancholic, because they are unreliable; what they say and what they do depends on what they feel at the moment. Good place for such people is in art, music, acting etc.
Football is not an art - it is sport. If you cannot be tough mentally and phisically - then you should not become a professional football player. But that is just my opinion.

"like Ronaldo and Gila" ??? He didn't say Gila...

Capello a good coach , he just go to a club to destroy some players career i think . And here are some other players he playes all the time Helguera all games i saw Madrid playing this season he made some stupid mistakes that cost them the game another player Salgado his time is over I was so surprissed when i read somewhere that we were rejected from him ( Galliani , Braida young players is what we need )
And other fact that tells how good is Capello is current ranking of Real Madrid in LaLiga.

Originally Posted by Egoistka

Franckly speaking I d also play Raul and RVN rather then Ronaldo and the Co. on Capello's place. Capello is a very good coach, very professional. You say he doesnt like artistic players (like Ronaldo and Gila)...and who likes them? If they cant be stable in their performance. Artistic type players play good when they are in the good mood, and play very badly if they are down. Artistic = Melancholic. I in general dont like those who are melancholic, because they are unreliable; what they say and what they do depends on what they feel at the moment. Good place for such people is in art, music, acting etc.
Football is not an art - it is sport. If you cannot be tough mentally and phisically - then you should not become a professional football player. But that is just my opinion.

I'm sorry Ego, but If you can say that then you don't understand football or wh it is called the beautiful game. Artistic players will always have their role and their place both on the field and in the halls of fame of the game.

Additionally being an efficient performer is not mutually exclusive with being artistic, nor is it synonymous with being melancholy. Look at Baggio, Van Basten, Maldini, Zidane ...even Ronaldinho they do the buisness, but they always do it with style.

As for your admitting that you would select Raul and RVN over Ronaldo and Robinho......well if Real's recent goal drought hasn't said it all....or has Raul's more than three year inability to surpass 15 goals.......at least Ruud's inability to score a goal from a ball that wasn't already headding goalwards should say something.......Lack of striking creativity is also a problem at Milan...hence the reason for a goal drought of our own

I'm happy we got Ronaldo, he will assure us a champions league place either 4th or 3rd, then in the summer we reinforce more with Ronaldinho Heinze and Pato.

Originally Posted by drucurl

I'm sorry Ego, but If you can say that then you don't understand football or wh it is called the beautiful game. Artistic players will always have their role and their place both on the field and in the halls of fame of the game.

Additionally being an efficient performer is not mutually exclusive with being artistic, nor is it synonymous with being melancholy. Look at Baggio, Van Basten, Maldini, Zidane ...even Ronaldinho they do the buisness, but they always do it with style.

As for your admitting that you would select Raul and RVN over Ronaldo and Robinho......well if Real's recent goal drought hasn't said it all....or has Raul's more than three year inability to surpass 15 goals.......at least Ruud's inability to score a goal from a ball that wasn't already headding goalwards should say something.......Lack of striking creativity is also a problem at Milan...hence the reason for a goal drought of our own

Oh I m sorry if I dont understand anything about football. I guess you do. Let it be...I dont care, that was just my opinion and I still have it, and will have.

Important thing is: how long should we wait before we can see Ronaldo play? Honestly, if we can get 70% of his shape back, we will have no problem at all getting the 4th spot.

It would be nice if someone has an information about Ronaldo's personal training regime and is he doing some hard and serious work or not...

Well I'd think so...considering he's always closely monitored by Carlo & his fitness experts.

Yeah, now that we have signed him, let's all hope he returns to the player he was some ten years ago. I dont know about you guys, but despite scoring goals in the 2002 WC, I never thought Ronaldo was at his best. Even after signing for Real, I never could say that he was absolutely at 100% at any time. He always looked overweight, unfit, and generally off the pace, but was capable of that one moment of brilliance that would win games. For someone not playing at capacity, his goal record is simply amazing.

But for the sake of our club, I hope we can get him in tip top shape, motivated, and playing consistently. If we can get even a glimpse of his days at Barca and INter, then we've got a great player in our squad.

As for Crapello, I think he's a great coach, but with the exception of Lippi, I've always felt that there is some jinx when returning to a club for a second time. Remember when Capello returned to us in 1995 from RM? He just couldnt turn things around and we landed up finishing midtable. Seems to me like the same thing might be happening at Madrid. I think Capello ought to bail out at the end of this season, and coach the national team (if donadoni flops that is)....BUt wait a minute, if he does that, then Emerson would have to change nationalities and become Italian!!

I don't think it's possible for Ronaldo to get to his form of 10 years ago at Barca simply because no matter how good Milan may be, the physicians and conditioners working there cannot reverse time and make Ronie 20 yo again.
Age might not play much of a role for defenders, who actually play better at 30 yo than at 20 yo but there aren't many forwards who became better with age and managed to maintain their form into their 30s.
Also, let's not forget that Ronaldo's great form of 10 years ago ended not so much because of his age but also because of that notorious knee injury that almost finished his career ... since then, whether in form or not, he's never managed to get back to those days before the injury.

I think that, with the combined effort of Milan Lab and Ronaldo's will to show he's still got it, the most we could hope for is see the Ronaldo from the 2002 WC and his first 2 years at Real M ... and while that was far from the 20 yo guy who used to dazzle the fans with his brisk sprints and unparalleled balance, I think that, bar any serious injuries, it would be enough to keep him among the top 5 strikers in Europe and make this an excellent transfer for Milan.

zlatanov, you're right in saying that one cannot reverse time. Of course, Ronaldo will not be the same youngster who burst onto the scene some 10 years ago. But, IMO the Ronaldo we have seen over the last five years has been sub-par, in the sense that he has not reached his full potential, even considering his knee injury.

WC 2002 was a Ronaldo having just recovered from injury, and the Ronaldo at Real Madrid was a striker scoring goals for fun while overweight and playing at around 70% of his capacity.

I think we have a right to expect more from him. If he gives his all, trains hard, parties less, loses weight and plays at 90-100% of his present potential (taking into account his age, knee injury), then we have truly found a replacement for Shevchenko.