[scott 4 evra]

John Giles and Eamonn Dunphy were disgrace after the game last night. They are great to watch and are always controversial but they got under my skin last night.

Instead of analysing the game(their job) once again they went on a rant about how Ronaldo doesn't compare to great players like Messi, Rooney and Scholes. They slammed his attitude saying great players don't behave like he did(diving and throwing his arms everywhere. They said that Messi was far better than Ronaldo also.

However, they were at home and I'd like to see Messi play up front on his own and see how he does. They just have to criticise him all the time, while he's having the season of his life. They were bitter last night.

 

[marty davidson]

It was a disgrease he should be chuck of the panel

 

[Keano!]

Well, Ronaldo was simply shocking last night! He was a disgrace at times diving
and such.

Think they went way overboard on it especially after hed done so well in the
league

Messi was awesome yesterday! The Ronaldo bandwagon has to realise that he
simply HAS NOT performed on the European stage


Heres the video for you people who didn't see it.

He does go OTT, but he does talk some sense!

 

[Jazz 16]

Im with Keano, they were hard hitting but they made some valid points it has to be said.
All pundits should be like these boys and not the Redknapps etc.....on Sky and Bbc.

Listen to what they say about Scholes ;-) 100% spot on.

Keano-that video isnt workin, sort it out.
Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-09BAIS-e_s
worth a listen for sure.

 

[scott 4 evra]

Well, Ronaldo was simply shocking last night! He was a disgrace at times diving
and such.

Think they went way overboard on it especially after hed done so well in the
league

Messi was awesome yesterday! The Ronaldo bandwagon has to realise that he
simply HAS NOT performed on the European stage


Heres the video for you people who didn't see it.

He does go OTT, but he does talk some sense!

Sorry, who is the top scorer in the Champions League?

 

[Keano!]

^^^FFS.........thats not the point!

So hes scored against Sporting, Roma and a few other stikes.

When has he last dazzled us in Europe? Ever?

Come on mate, he was terrible last night! Shocking!

Don't tell me you think he played well!!

 

[Keano4taoiseach]

A lot of what they said was true but Dunphy has a tendancy to exaggerate matters a lot of the time, like last night when talking about Ronaldo.

I watched the game, that analysis etc. and I honestly believe that Ronaldo was actually more effective in the game than Messi.

3 Ronaldo Opportunities.

Ronaldo won a penalty for a header which was blocked by a Barca hand. That header could have gone in and 9/10 he would have made the penalty.

Ronaldo made a great run past Marquez and was cynically fouled which prevented a goal scoring opportunity.

Ronaldo made another great run into the penalty box and was denied a clear cut penalty.


Messi did not look like scoring in the game and although he had a few nice flicks and runs, he could not get a decent shot on target.

Barca only had one clear cut opportunity in the game, Eto'o's shot.


Sure, Barca dominated, having the huge crowd support and home advantage behind them, as well as dreadful tactics from Ferguson.

- Park should have been off at half time.

- Anderson should have been brought on at half time.

- Rooney should have been played up front or in mid-field where he could have seen the ball, made tackles and disrupt Barca's attackers, and play through balls.


Hopefuly, Fergie gets it right at OT, forgets the shirt sales, and gives Wayne Rooney a chance at performing to his capabilities.

 

[Jazz 16]

Messi was way better than Ronaldo last night. Messi was at the heart of all
Barca's attacking play. His first game in 6 weeks as well, shows he is a class act.

 

[Guest]

Messi was good, but he had his team helping him out,
Ronaldo had no support whatsoever, how can he play
well all by himself? Put messi up front on his own and
he'll just as ineffective!! I honestly can't believe some
of the comments in this thread!!

With regards to the video, I stopped watching when
that pratt said Ronaldo is a 'disgrace to the game'. What
a pleb!

 

[Jazz 16]

Messi was good, but he had his team helping him out,
Ronaldo had no support whatsoever, how can he play
well all by himself? Put messi up front on his own and
he'll just as ineffective!! I honestly can't believe some
of the comments in this thread!!

With regards to the video, I stopped watching when
that pratt said Ronaldo is a 'disgrace to the game'. What
a pleb!

regarding yesterdays game, I thought Messi was better than Ronnie.
Regarding the video, yes its hard hitting and they love giving Ronnie a hard time
but some of their points hit home, his petulance and diving needs to stop,
and his reactions towards his own team mates.....thats all Z.
We arent Ronnie haters as it may appear but there are aspects in his
game that need to be addressed.

 

[Fergaiste]

John Giles and Eamonn Dunphy were disgrace after the game last night. They are great to watch and are always controversial but they got under my skin last night.

Instead of analysing the game(their job) once again they went on a rant about how Ronaldo doesn't compare to great players like Messi, Rooney and Scholes. They slammed his attitude saying great players don't behave like he did(diving and throwing his arms everywhere. They said that Messi was far better than Ronaldo also.

However, they were at home and I'd like to see Messi play up front on his own and see how he does. They just have to criticise him all the time, while he's having the season of his life. They were bitter last night.

Howya Scott !! first of all I can see where you are coming from in terms of not agreeing with johnny & Eamo. However i would not agree they are bitter, they are expressing the views of a lot of frustrated fans who want to see players express their talent in a mature way with respect to their team. boy is it so refreshing to hear pundits actually make objective comments rather than sucking p with the same old drivel that passes for expertise from the likes of Redknapp (him calling Ronny the Tiger woods of football made me want to puke).Now whatever about Dunphy who can bear grudges and be ott Gilesy i belive is always fair and judges players by three criteria of 1. industry for the team 2. honest application of skill as opposed to showboating by the corner flag3. talent. He has been around too long and is too knowledgable for him not to be respected for his views

Like it or like it not he has yet to convince me and others in his general performances on the big occasion. Look at the Arsenal game for example clichy had him in his pocket. Please don't be blinded byt the odd flash of genius or goal he scores- it is what he brings to the team in general play that counts if he wants to be considered the best player in the world. Otherwise how come Van nistelrooy was never considered the no. 1 player in the universe. okay Ronaldo is a winger but we all know he plays more as a striker in Fergie's unconventional formula of roving forwards.

again i would hope to be proven wrong on Saturday and tuesday as the boy is still young but learning fast

 

[Guest]

regarding yesterdays game, I thought Messi was better than Ronnie.
Regarding the video, yes its hard hitting and they love giving Ronnie a hard time
but some of their points hit home, his petulance and diving needs to stop,
and his reactions towards his own team mates.....thats all Z.
We arent Ronnie haters as it may appear but there are aspects in his
game that need to be addressed.

I agree, he isn't perfect he does have his faults, but you can't possibly judge his 'big game'
play on that one game. He was stuck up front out of position on his own. What was he
expected to do? When he has his best games it's because he has support around him in
Rooney, Tevez etc, just like Messi had Deco, Eto'o, Iniesta etc last night. At least wait for
the second leg before passing judgement, it isn't fair otherwise. Messi was playing at home
and his team were dominating, Ronaldo was feeding off scraps.

 

[Jazz 16]

I agree, he isn't perfect he does have his faults, but you can't possibly judge his 'big game'
play on that one game. He was stuck up front out of position on his own. What was he
expected to do? When he has his best games it's because he has support around him in
Rooney, Tevez etc, just like Messi had Deco, Eto'o, Iniests etc last night. At least wait for
the second leg before passing judgement, it isn't fair otherwise. Messi was playing at home
and his team were dominating, Ronaldo was feeding off scraps.

I see the point you are making. I was just saying to K4T that I thought Messi had
a better game (which I believe). Ron has been ok in some big games but I
wasnt assessing his game last night, but merely his antics......
I know he was isolated.....and we know he will get more support at OT.
I just wish he would cut the BS out of his game.

 

[Forever_United]

he wasnt shocking at all ! yes he missed a pen but at least he was heard of ! where was rooney all match? yet i hear no one slating him whatsoever. i agree he needs to improve on his attitude to the match and stop sulking but to call him not a great player from one game, one game at the Nou Camp infront of 98,000 people in a semi final tie, is ridiculous.

 

[Keano!]

Rooney never got into the game because he was out of position and wasn't
capable of dealing with what a winger has to do!

Should he have been up front, we could have seen a very different Wayne
Rooney!

 

[Fergaiste]

he wasnt shocking at all ! yes he missed a pen but at least he was heard of ! where was rooney all match? yet i hear no one slating him whatsoever. i agree he needs to improve on his attitude to the match and stop sulking but to call him not a great player from one game, one game at the Nou Camp infront of 98,000 people in a semi final tie, is ridiculous.

they werent just slamming him on the basis of one game-its in all the games against the other big four teams over the years and the really siginifcant games in Europe ( with the exception of the roma game at home last year) where he has been anonymous or ineffective, the odd flash of genius aside, and certainly not worthy of the title best footballer on earth.

 

[scott 4 evra]

Howya Scott !! first of all I can see where you are coming from in terms of not agreeing with johnny & Eamo. However i would not agree they are bitter, they are expressing the views of a lot of frustrated fans who want to see players express their talent in a mature way with respect to their team. boy is it so refreshing to hear pundits actually make objective comments rather than sucking p with the same old drivel that passes for expertise from the likes of Redknapp (him calling Ronny the Tiger woods of football made me want to puke).Now whatever about Dunphy who can bear grudges and be ott Gilesy i belive is always fair and judges players by three criteria of 1. industry for the team 2. honest application of skill as opposed to showboating by the corner flag3. talent. He has been around too long and is too knowledgable for him not to be respected for his views

Like it or like it not he has yet to convince me and others in his general performances on the big occasion. Look at the Arsenal game for example clichy had him in his pocket. Please don't be blinded byt the odd flash of genius or goal he scores- it is what he brings to the team in general play that counts if he wants to be considered the best player in the world. Otherwise how come Van nistelrooy was never considered the no. 1 player in the universe. okay Ronaldo is a winger but we all know he plays more as a striker in Fergie's unconventional formula of roving forwards.

again i would hope to be proven wrong on Saturday and tuesday as the boy is still young but learning fast

Thats fair enough. But tell me who you think is better in the world at the moment. And with regards to Dunphy and Giles, they are legends. When they are on, it is the best TV around. However, instead of analysing the game they went on a personal onslaught of Ronaldo. Maradona took drugs blatantly cheated and dived a lot. Does that not mean he was a great player? People said Ronaldo was awful but try putting Messi up front in OT on his own. Plus he got no support and had about 4 or 5 men marking him. He will silence the doubters next Tuesday.

 

[United_OG]

I did not see the comments made by these ppl but they seem biased against ronaldo from the comments...he is not a true great in comparison to messi...SCHOLES AND ROONEY?...

LMAO....


ppl keep berating ronaldo...but he is the leading goal scorer in europe, against huge teams its moment of magic that count rather than dominating a game from start to end because that simply will happen very few times ever in a persons career against top teams and it is only the best that can do that.

Now to messi's performance...the way you lot are going on abot his performance..."simply awesome"???....not even close imo!! He was good at best, he was the link to their play along with deco no doubt but if that is the best he can do with all the possession they had as a team and with them being in uniteds half for most of the game...than ronaldo is at the moment a much better payer than messi. Ofcourse the truth is messi has just come back form an injury and it will take him time but he was nowhere near amazing yesterday. Evra kept him quiet on the wing and just trying a few through balls now n again which is normal considering the amount of possession they had.

Now ronaldo was played out of position, had no support at all from the other offensive players....so tevez and rooney work harder in terms of tracking back...what about offering us something going forward in the game? Rooney was invisible and tevez looked out of his depth. Rooney on the right, i dunno what was going on with that anyway....well i do...he tracks back more but he needs to offer something going forward aswell. Tevez needs another season before he is ready for this type of game away from home.

Now for the comment about scholes and rooney being true great players unlike ronaldo...are they having a laugh?...if you're trying to tell me that aint going OTT....i need to know what is....Scholes is a united legend no doubt and has done it all...but he is known to be a really poor tackler and has missed games because of this...big big games which i dont really need to mention. Also scholes can score goals from outside the box and cut defenses up with great vision...so can ronaldo...infact ronaldo can score just as many goals, has great vision, can take players on aswell....scholes himself said that ronaldo is the best player he has played with at united. That is saying something in itself with all the players he has played with. I am not taking anything away from scholes because he is a true great player BUT i think in terms of who the better footballer is. Ronaldo is and i think he will achieve more in his career by the time he is 25 in terms of an individual than scholes will have.

Now Rooney....when has Rooney been such a big difference in europe when it mattered? He scored a goal against milan and roma but did he dominate these games like everyone expects ronaldo to? I do not remember him ever dominating a big game in europe at all...he does not take his chances and in my opinion he seems to struggle in europe...usually seems very subdued apart from this season where he seems to have come more of age. Okay against barcelona he was out on the right but he could have still played a little better to say the least. You could put ronaldo on the right, left or up front, second striker and know he will look more the part in terms of offensive football because he is a better FOOTBALLER than rooney...im not talking about tracking back here....as in football...nobody in england is better than ronaldo. In my opinion Rooney has a long way to go before he can be considered a "true great player"....he needs to dominate games more with his football abilities for more games, take more of his chances and then i will agree happily he is a true great. But while he has the potential, he still has a long way to go yet.

I am sorry but the comments made were a joke and if you found redknapps comments a joke, this constitutes the same respect only on the opposite end of opinions...

Ronaldo was our only threat going forward yesterday, he should have had a pen...possibly two...and should have scored one...went passed players...

Messi was good AT BEST...nowhere near his best, i am sorry but he is still only 20, can improve alot yet. I do not think messi is a better player than ronaldo...yet anyway. He needs to find a right foot, stay fit and abit more pace. Everything else he already has.

Ronaldo needs to improve on his attitude more than anything...he gets fouled all the time but shows his anger is much too visual fashion but i think that is something hopefully he can slowly get rid of. In terms of footballing ability, i think he is up there with the best. The chelsea game will be his toughest of the season, so i doubt he will do much but it wont change my opinion of him.


Ferg i have no problem with you and i respect your opinion like everyone elses but in another thread you say about these individual awards being ovverrated....well i strongly disagree...they usually get them spot on about who is the best player at the moment, they have been good at it for about the last decade. They recognize great players and how they have performed over the course of a season and how they have been the difference. Such as last year kaka deserved his prize and the year before barcas brazilian. This year neither of them deserve to win so who has been the best player in the world this season? I cannot think of anyone but ronaldo...if messi dominates us at OT and barcelona win in the CL final then i have no problem with him gettin the award but right now i dont think anyone but ronaldo can take away the award for footballer of the year awards....and rightly so imo. If rooney had the season ronaldo is having i cannot even think of the speeches the british media would be saying of rooney and at the same time he would be nominated for these awards ronaldo is getting and rightly so. But "if" is a hypothetical word.

pz ;-)

 

[Fergaiste]

Thats fair enough. But tell me who you think is better in the world at the moment. And with regards to Dunphy and Giles, they are legends. When they are on, it is the best TV around. However, instead of analysing the game they went on a personal onslaught of Ronaldo. Maradona took drugs blatantly cheated and dived a lot. Does that not mean he was a great player? People said Ronaldo was awful but try putting Messi up front in OT on his own. Plus he got no support and had about 4 or 5 men marking him. He will silence the doubters next Tuesday.

I wouldnt say there is a best player in the world at the moment. It certainly not as clear cut as say zidane in 98 or romario in 94. Hence why I said in a diffferent post to reserve judgement until after the european championship . These individial awards are not important anyway imo as its the team that wins that people generally remember.

As for Maradona I wouldnt agree that he was a blatant cheat. Okay he conned Shilton in 86 but the English media are the only ones that keep bringing that one up as if that he was the only reason they lost when they would have beaten anyway. It was only towards the end of his career when his powers had waned did he resort to the compusive cynical diving etc so symbolic of argentina in 1990. Of course I cant condone his drug taking but lets just stick with football.

Messi really did impress me and yes he had more support up front but a more balanced assessment will come on tuesdy for both players I agree. Lets hope aswell that Fergie abandons this overly cautious appoach so evident in Europe for too long!!!

 

[Guest]

Great post United OG, couldn't have said it better myself, although I did try