GWT: Champions League Round of 16 Part II

[Il Mediano]

Ronaldo's turned into the most lethal poacher of all-time , it is what it is.

I've certainly been a detractor of his , but last night was undeniable.

His ego isn't something I love (especially when it negatively effects his teammates) , but his will/confidence is something that has to be commended. Self-belief should never be looked down upon , even more so in this era of twitter bile and negativity on the internet.

 

[Evilo]

It's always hard to compare the two (and I certainly do not want to head down that path) because in many ways their roles are quite different. It is not that often you see CR creating a goal, making an impressive run, etc., but certainly he can be a great finisher. The point is more how much of a glory-hog he is. When there's glory to be had, he claims it all for himself (and the media are more than happy to serve that purpose as well), whereas Messi puts more emphasis on the team. Yes, he works hard and yes his accomplishments are impressive, but strong egos can also colour people's impressions, and I have to admit they have the exact opposite impact on me. If I see someone successful with an overinflated ego, their success ends up striking me as worthless. It's bias and I admit it, but in a way I justify it by the fact that many more people are affected the other way round - a confident ego inflates their opinion of someone. So it's almost impossible to be objective. For me I look at it more as - whatever this person has accomplished, is it someone I think should be a role model for my kids, or really anyone? When I look and see a smarmy rapist he could score a million goals and I would still consider him trash. Then when I see an amazing team effort and headlines saying CR7 does it again... well... it... peeves me.

Yup, yup and yup.

 

[maclean]

I loathed the guy for a long while and then I realized if I stopped myself from focusing on hating him, I might enjoy watching him play.

Since him and Real parted ways, I've been able to view both of them much more objectively. It was like his arrogance and the arrogance of that club compounded and now I'm better able to appreciate them for what they bring to the game. Noooot quite enough to make me actively like them though