Messi vs. Ronaldo

[Ceremony]

This forum has been crying out for this thread for years.

Click to read more...

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

I hate this forum during the WC.

 

[Live in the Now]

All discussion in other threads will be deleted. All Messi vs. Ronaldo discussion can be had here and I don't have to read it.

 

[Halladay]

It had to happen.

 

[robertmac43]

I hate this forum during the WC.

I would tend to agree. At the same time I find national games is when it comes up the most because the two have had decently similar club experiences and it comes down to personal preference there. But they have had different experiences playing for country.

 

[Ceremony]

All discussion in other threads will be deleted. All Messi vs. Ronaldo discussion can be had here and I don't have to read it.

I'd like to pre-emptively request a threadban for anyone using the phrases "real Ronaldo" or "phenomeno" while we're at it, please.

 

[JWK]

Where's the option for Ryan Gauld @Ceremony ?

 

[Live in the Now]

I would tend to agree. At the same time I find national games is when it comes up the most because the two have had decently similar club experiences and it comes down to personal preference there. But they have had different experiences playing for country.

I only came back here because I got quoted, but I think Messi has actually had better experiences playing for his country. That's what makes some of the discussion about this so illogical. They haven't won finals but the team with a better midfield won every single one of those finals he played in. Everyone knows Ronaldo didn't play much in the Euro 2016 final either.

The good thing about football is that it comes down to a game where 11 men play 11 other men. A team can have the superior player or in some cases many superior players and still not succeed. I keep bringing up Ronaldo vs. USA as an example of that, and now Messi vs. Iceland goes into that category. Ideally a tournament winner has to work in full synchronization, with everyone pulling their weight, bringing no passengers along with them.

I said before this WC that playing the likes of Haiti and Israel (who they wound up not playing) was horrible preparation. Obviously that was correct and everyone should have taken that much more seriously, just like when Germany played like junk against Saudi Arabia. One of the US's best WC's featured them slaughtering Australia right before the tournament. That stuff definitely matters because these aren't really teams. They are selections made for a few games with no opportunity for them to create a team except for in the camp before the games start.

 

[koyvoo]

Honestly. Maradona, as jealous and dopey as he is maybe put it best a couple years back. He said - “Leo is the best footballer in the planet, but I’d pick Cris as my first choice in a game I must win”

 

[koyvoo]

This much is true. There are people walking around with clenched fists right now, raging by with anger.

 

[Live in the Now]

Honestly. Maradona, as jealous and dopey as he is maybe put it best a couple years back. He said - “Leo is the best footballer in the planet, but I’d pick Cris as my first choice in a game I must win”

If you let me decide whether to have Messi or Ronaldo in a game I had to win, I would rather ask if I could pick three or four other top players. Especially these days. In previous eras with less organization and video tape, it was easier for individuals to win games alone. Not so much now.

The WC winner will also inevitably be one of those teams with "three or four other top players."

 

[Gecklund]

Entirely different players. Messi is a much better creator while CR7 is a much better finisher.

 

[Havre]

Entirely different players. Messi is a much better creator while CR7 is a much better finisher.

Except when Messi finishes 91 times......

The only point this poll can get even remotely close to even is after that kind of performance by Messi.

I personally prefer players like Ronaldo over the ones that are a bit more like Messi. Obviously Ronaldo used to be someone with more flair and trickery as well, but he developed into something less “flashy”, but more effective. Messi is more flashy and not always as effective as he might have been. But even so he is and was the better player. I like to consider myself rather open minded, but I can’t help being almost confused when people actually think Ronaldo is/was the better player.

 

[IamNotADancer]

After being called a troll for not fawning over Messi, I'll just observe and smile from here on out.

 

[Ivan13]

There's people who think Leo is better, and those who are dead wrong. That doesn't mean Ronaldo isn't special, he is, but Leo is trully the GOAT.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Ronaldo has turned a lot of his flash from previous seasons into effectiveness the last couple seasons. It’s clear that Messi is the more naturally talented player and I don’t think anyone can argue that. But Ronaldo has gotten every single minuscule ounce of potential out of himself and become one of the best players of all time. I think Messi goes down the better player, but it’s ridiculous that we’ve gotten to see both these guys play at the same time.

 

[Elliman]

Cristiano

 

[Corto]

Messi GOAT.
Ronaldo #2 all-time.

And that's it for me in this thread.

 

[Luigi Habs]

Some People have selective and short memory.

Some others just don’t watch football.

Messi is the most talented football player the game has ever witnessed. I doubt we will ever see someone like him in our lifetime.

Ronaldo is a lethal goal scorer and makes the best if what is being served to him but not comparable to Messi.

 

[WillNy29]

Ronaldo has turned a lot of his flash from previous seasons into effectiveness the last couple seasons. It’s clear that Messi is the more naturally talented player and I don’t think anyone can argue that. But Ronaldo has gotten every single minuscule ounce of potential out of himself and become one of the best players of all time. I think Messi goes down the better player, but it’s ridiculous that we’ve gotten to see both these guys play at the same time.

I could get behind this....I think the fact that he literally pulled out every inch of potential he has out of him and become as good as he is is ridiculous. I kind of prefer Ronaldo but Messi is denfitely the most talented player of all time. It like watching Frazier vs. Ali in their prime we are luck to have watched both

 

[Suiteness]

Crazy irony that the two best teams these two have had in a WC were not built around them, back in 2006.

 

[Suiteness]

Messi is the most talented football player the game has ever witnessed. I doubt we will ever see someone like him in our lifetime.

What exactly makes Messi more talented than R9? Messi obviously had the better career but when talking about raw fotballing ability, what can Messi do out there that R9 could not?

 

[Stray Wasp]

What exactly makes Messi more talented than R9? Messi obviously had the better career but when talking about raw fotballing ability, what can Messi do out there that R9 could not?

The idea that there are things Messi and Ronaldo can do that no one else can is in itself dubious. The question is the consistency with which players can do the extraordinary.

I've always felt Messi was a better team player than Ronaldo. Whether that bears analysis or not is a moot point.

While I think Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in football history, he doesn't leave me awed as Messi did at his peak.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

-6/10 thread

And no, I'm not voting. I refuse to give this dumb question a response.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Should be Modric vs Messi tbh