BBC Home

Explore the BBC

1037 comments

user rating: 4 star

Is Ronaldo destined for greatness?

Premier League Manchester United
comment on the article

To borrow a phrase from one of my colleagues, Cristiano Ronaldo is touched by the hand of genius.

As I sat high in the stands at Old Trafford on Saturday, it was impossible not to think you were in the presence of a man with an extraordinary gift.

If I was told there is a finer footballer in the world right at this moment, I would not believe it.

But just how good can Manchester United’s electric Portuguese winger be? Is he simply enjoying a hot streak, or is he destined to go down as one of the greats of the game?

On Saturday, Ronaldo – who is not a striker, lest we forget – struck the first hat-trick of his Old Trafford career with a display of football as beautiful as it was brutal in a 6-0 destruction of Newcastle.

He tormented his opponents from first whistle to last and the biggest cheer of the day from most of the 75,965 lucky enough to be present was reserved for the completion of his treble with two minutes to go.

"That boy Ronaldo, he might just go on to be the best player we've ever had," mused one seasoned United follower in the row behind me.

He copped a fair bit of stick for his comment, a remarkable one from the supporter of a club that has seen the likes of Duncan Edwards, George Best, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona pass through its doors.

But Ronaldo is pure box office. His every touch is greeted with a buzz of expectation - you genuinely start to believe he can score or create a goal whenever he picks the ball up.

The bare facts are stunning - he has three more goals than the Premier League's next best marksman, Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor and he has bagged a phenomenal 20 goals in his last 16 games.

He runs with the ball at such frightening pace defenders do not know how to stop him. As the song goes, he comes from the left, he comes from the right – and he has learned with devastating simplicity that it means little without an end product.

2008 could well be the year that the irresistible Ronaldo stamps his greatness on the sport


Throw in a furious, fist-thumped-on-turf response to a failed penalty appeal, 10 minutes of Ronaldo hobbling around injured looking like he was about to cry and a further two minutes off the pitch to change his illuminous orange boots (complete with speed plate technology) and you have a performance of pure theatre.

I know Cesc Fabregas has been in magical form for Arsenal, but forget anyone else for 2007/08 PFA Player of the Year. Ronaldo deservedly won it last year and he should deservedly win it this year too. He is head and shoulders above everyone else.

Indeed, 2008 could well be the year that the irresistible Ronaldo stamps his greatness on the sport.

With United still in the hunt for the treble and Portugal primed for another crack at winning a major tournament at Euro 2008, he will not be short of occasions on which to leave his mark.

His only two real competitors for the best player in the world title – Brazil's Kaka (the holder), who has not been at his best so far this season, and Argentina's Lionel Messi, who is currently injured – will obviously not be in Austria and Switzerland, so the stage is all set for Ronaldo.

One note of caution – if the Madeira-born forward really has designs on greatness, he must ensure a display like the one in last season's Champions League semi-final second leg away at AC Milan is a one-off.

Ronaldo may have been tired at the end of a long season following on from a heavy World Cup campaign, but his disappearing act in the San Siro cast an unfortunate shadow over the previous eight months of brilliance.

Having starred in the World Cup in Germany and shone at Euro 2004 at the tender age of 19, the pressure of the big occasion clearly does not faze this ultra-confident young man.

But he must make sure that, in the manner of Zinedine Zidane, he fulfils his enormous potential on the very biggest stages.

If he continues in the same rich vein of form he showed at Old Trafford on Saturday, prepare to make space in the history books for Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.

What do you think about United's latest special number seven? Let us know your thoughts...

comment on this article | send to a friend

Latest 10 comments

view all 1037 comments

Read members' comments or add your own
comment by darelk (U10845573)

posted Jan 22, 2008

Big stage you meant clubs like Wigan Derby or a hatrick against Newcastle..!!
Messi Hatrick against REAL MADRID

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by darelk (U10845573)

posted Jan 22, 2008

Ronaldo
One of the great player at the moment. Yes
Inspiring the English league. Yes no doubt
Can score goals - Yes
Best against- bottom ten
Can produce a hatrick - Yes
Can handle a top club - Not really
Play outside England-Except Portugal not really
Hatrick against a club like REAL MADRID, Milan, Arsenal- NOOO

P.S
He is one of the few players who you can hardly put a price tag but just because of that please dont under estimate players like Kaka or Messi. Both can produce goals against big clubs not only against poor teams ( Messi a hatrick against REAL ).
Some people compare him with cantona or Zidane I think its too early.

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by douala (U2108310)

posted Jan 27, 2008

Did not scored an hat trick against Arsenal Real Madrid etc but did scored a Barce agaisnt Arsenal one more goal this seaso scored on european championships semi-final against Holland.How many goals has Messi had this season?I think the games i mentioned are big stage or not??

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by sahahahahaha (U5924866)

posted Jan 27, 2008

Has it ever ocurred to all the ABU's that the 'big' teams have better players to mark him with?

Double up on him and keep him quite... The next question: Did United win the game anyway? More often than not the answer is yes.

Look at his goals return if you want the answer to the question posed by this thread. If that does not convince you, ask the Premier League players from who is currently recognised as the best in that league.

If that does not convince you, enjoy your bitterness and jealousy that he does not play for your team!

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by renoog (U13513755)

posted Jan 10, 2009

Is Ronaldo destined for greatness?
Premier League Manchester United
by Jonathan Stevenson - BBC Sport (U1987325)
---------------------------------------------
In my opinion, no. I think he's a great goalscorer, which is down to the fact that he times his runs well and is composed in front of goal, in addition to being an excellent header of the ball and penalty taker. But I don't think he's legend material. He doesn't have the same genius factor of Zidane, Maradona and co.
Also the likes of Zidane and Maradona were renowned for lifting their team to greatness. In my opinion Ronaldo is the opposite, he relies heavily on his teammates to score goals.

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by cheeky_nffc (U2677474)

posted Jan 11, 2009

Is Ronaldo destined for greatness?
Premier League Manchester United
by Jonathan Stevenson - BBC Sport

he should be destined for court,

you don't crash your car with no other veichle involved unless you're driving recklessly or dicking around with your phone.

i guess he's rich enough not to be investigated though erm

answering the questionhe probably is destined for greatness unless he messes it up himself. the skills he demonstrates and the speed he runs are a different level, the likes of maradona, pele or zidane never did those things because they didn't have ronaldos pace, ronado and messi are pioneers in that respect ok

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by messiisgod and ozil is a genius (U4618066)

posted Jan 11, 2009

answering the questionhe probably is destined for greatness unless he messes it up himself. the skills he demonstrates and the speed he runs are a different level, the likes of maradona, pele or zidane never did those things because they didn't have ronaldos pace, ronado and messi are pioneers in that respect
--------------
Ronaldo isn't an immensely skillful player, his skills are generally weaker imitations of Ronaldinho's tricks.

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by renoog (U13513755)

posted Jan 11, 2009

Ronaldo isn't an immensely skillful player, his skills are generally weaker imitations of Ronaldinho's tricks.
---------------------------------------------
Tricks and skills are different. Someone like Xavi for instance is an incredibly skillful player. The way he traps a ball in midfield with his first touch, and then creates space for himself simply by twisting away from his marker and using his body to shield the ball, is incredibly skillful. It's something all the great players have, that ability to create time and space for themselves and manipulate the ball in such a way that they turn seemingly dead-ends into large areas of open space to exploit. And it's far more effective than doing stepovers.

For instance, take a look at Milan's 3rd goal in the CL final. The way Kaka turns to shake off his marker is brilliant, not to mention the stunning long range throughball he plays to Crespo.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uUksQSAicrc

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by renoog (U13513755)

posted Jan 11, 2009

Look closely at the video and see if you can spot who Kaka's marker was winkeye

add comment | complain about this comment

comment by messiisgod and ozil is a genius (U4618066)

posted Jan 11, 2009

Tricks and skills are different. Someone like Xavi for instance is an incredibly skillful player.
----------
True, I suppose I meant both. Ronaldo's first touch isn't up there with the very best so he doesn't really do those kind of skills. But his tricks are also overrated and rarely effective against good defenders.

add comment | complain about this comment

view all 1037 comments | back to the top

Comment on this article

Sorry, you can only contribute to 606 during opening hours. These are 0900-2300 UK time, seven days a week, but may vary to accommodate sporting events and UK public holidays.

RATE THIS ARTICLE

Rate Breakdown

  • 5 65.37%
    134 votes
  • 4 5.37%
    11 votes
  • 3 3.90%
    8 votes
  • 2 1.95%
    4 votes
  • 1 23.41%
    48 votes

average rating:
3.87 from 205 votes

RELATED BBC LINKS

BBC Local
More on this team at the BBC website for Manchester