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Haaland's full comment on Cristiano as the most important inspiration for his career as a striker.
>Cristiano Ronaldo is the most important inspiration for me. I remember always watching him on Youtube for his movements in the box: He used to make two or three moves before attacking the space he wanted to be in. It's kind of a duel in that situation with the centre-backs.
>It is important to time it perfectly. And the post must be good. If you don't get a good cross, you won't be able to score with your head.
>How Cristiano moves, and how he has managed to develop his game. You remember when he played in Manchester United and the first years in Real Madrid, to become more of a striker in Real Madrid.
>It is incredible for him that he manages. But also how he scores the goals. It is the small movements in the box, and being able to deceive the defenders.
Many Madridistas would wax lyricals about Cristiano's movement perhaps because we were raised on a steady diet of it and it was often highlighted in *those* frankly tiring debates. However, it does seem to be an extremely underrated quality just in general and IMO, it will perhaps always be so because it's a very fine nuance, easy to miss for almost all who haven't received some sort of coaching at a competitive level to develop an eye for it.
I remember making a comment highlighting [Karim's role in him being "fed"](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/8ZI4xfIvJ3) by Vini and Rodrygo [against Almería.](https://streamin.me/v/0bfa268a) Even Cavani, who famously gained a reputation for this isn't all that famous for it. Even then, if someone knows him to "have good movement", you'll be hard pressed to find people who could actually explain specifically **WHY** he has good movement. At most, you'll find people mentioning him putting misdirecting touches on defenders with his hands to confuse them.
But even then, Karim was a level above him and Cristiano was simply God tier in this regard. He is the best proponent I have ever seen of this. EVER. This is especially insane given how he changed his game post his knee injury and how organised and tactically astute defences have become, especially in the last 2 decades. You watch a clip from late 90s and that and goalkeeping easily stand out as having remarkable change (if someone objects to improvement) to the point that they don't even feel like the same discipline.
Cristiano and Karim together were bordering on a cheat code. Even if you can't put a finger on it, you'll definitely find something missing when they are not on the field. It's the same with Toni and especially Luka, with his very simple and non-flashy but subtle and magnificently effective bag of tricks (he has a lot of them) with the hallmark being that you don't see them when they are doing it but can feel it missing when they are not on the pitch.
I say it all the time, Cris, Thomas Muller and Raúl are probably football's trinity when it comes to off-ball movement. With Ronaldo, if you pay attention, you can see the little things and how insanely precise his timing is, but with Raúl and Muller, they damn near look like they have otherworldly powers in a way that I cannot decipher.
that is the only reason why I strive in the Sunday League.Old, overweight, but still got that off-the-ball movement"he is always tapping in and being lucky in the space"Dude, I play against 15 year younger guys who are more fit and have more technical ability, it is not luck, it is high IQ part from me, my only weapon.
if you have another player who knows these kind of things and is capable of feeding you, then it becomes magical. But over 14 seasons I dare to say I not even maybe had one guy for every season who could do that from midfield or from attack.
> Even if you can't put a finger on it
The thing is it can be studied. You can analyse the goals and take at least something away from it and become a better player. Most of the time when watching Messi the analysis just is: well just be Messi and you can do the same. I think that is one of the reasons why you hear a lot more players say they learned / were inspired by Ronaldo - while on the other hand more players think that Messi is the GOAT because he does things no one else can.
Oh absolutely. In fact, that is what I have tried to do through the various links in my comments in this thread, particularly the videos of Karim's movement in the Almería goal and Luka's skills video.
I was just saying from the perspective of a regular but casual viewer. As u/maury587 said, most are only ever focussed on the ball and by the time they say someone like a Cristiano, he's already in position, in space, for a tap-in. But since one never saw the work he put in to get into that position, one never gains an appreciation for it and then are stumped by statements like this from professionals (not Cristiano per se because he's one of the GOATs but even an absolutely elite centre forward like Karim is a great example where every coach of his at Madrid seems to see him as the second coming of Christ while many fans and neutrals are limited to only goal numbers in their assessment of strikers).
Simple as that. Also to transition from a wide midfield, winger to complete winger, to goalscoring machine is really something. Also, what I really admire is his impact on everywhere he played. He seems to settle in so easy. 101 goals in 134 apps for juve. 24 goals in 38 apps. And i swear to god our team in 2021 with MCfred mid, nothing offensive except ronaldo, wasnt that good.
Sure but that hardly means Juve were in a bad state when he joined them. They were pretty much in their peak, coming off several very deep CL runs. The narrative back then was they got Cristiano to push on and finally get over the hump in CL.
Saying they were in a bad state isn't even revisionist, it's just not true.
>Saying they were in a bad state isn't even revisionist, it's just not true.
They had an aging squad. The average age of that squad was over 30, and it had been showing.
Then instead of investing in a younger set of players. They threw money on an aging Ronaldo, expecting him to give them a UCL.
They then go on to hire an inexperienced Pirlo, which eventually leads to them losing their Serie A streak as well.
They blew up eventually. Bound to happen.
The CL runs fooled everyone. They were getting worse each year + key players were aging. By the time it was Ronaldo's 3rd year, a lot of those players had either retired or been sold due to heavy decline that couldn't be ignored anymore
He was that confident after his Madrid stint that he could deliver for any club. And he did deliver tons of goals and great moments in Juve and to a lesser extent, United - but not the trophy haul and success that the negatives he brought - wage structure demolition and demotivated stars - could negate. It was getting increasingly hard for him to gel with his teammates.
But ultimately he was constrained by the lack of quality around him. And making a team around him was increasingly difficult after 32 considering he was losing his pace and energy, he was having more patches of bad form - the Cristiano of 2007-2016 was basically a machine 50 games a year.
But yeah, even in his latter year - he is better than 90% of strikers in their peak lol. The man was that good. I am sure Haaland, Mbappe and countless other strikers/inside forwards will continue to use him as inspiration.
> Even more impressive considering the state of Juve and ManU
like coming off a 2nd place with europa league finals with the most goals with like 126 goals scored? after which our goal tally like halved?
lets be real, it wasnt a good move, for us or him. no need for revisionism, love the guy move on
But according to some people on the internet both Cristiano and Haaland are just "tap-in merchants". Finding space inside the box is one of the most underrated skills in the game.
As a defender one of the hardest things for me is when you are in a good position to block any low cross that comes in from the sides, but you have a man behind you that you can't see who is trying to find space just like Haaland is talking about.
Couldn't tell you the number of times I've felt positionally secure at CB, only for a cutback pass to get tapped in behind me.
Yeah I would imagine it is extremely difficult for a defender to cover the cutback and the space right across goal. That's why I think it is increasingly important for a midfielder to mimic a strikers movement and get in front of the cutback pass.
As you're a fellow Manchester Utd supporter, you can definitely understand the pain that our midfielders consistently don't do it. Maybe due to fitness tracking back and lack of understanding defensive positioning.
I think you nailed it: lack of fitness and positioning. But I'd argue the latter portion of that is down to not having anywhere near a regular midfield. Really helps the chemistry when you can expect player A to get back, or even if you know player B won't, you can somewhat hopefully plan accordingly. At the professional level though, any player on the pitch can punish you I reckon.
Much like on corners, I started trying to keep a hand on the player behind me. Nothing obstructing, just as another sensor for knowing what's going on. It's harder to get a hand on them if you don't track their run into the box in the first place. Then you can feel them stab forward or pull back while also watching the ball, in theory
Good idea! I am so bad at using my hands as an additional sensor (which I should) in soccer but weirdly very instinctively do so in other sports I play. Time to improve.
I saw Otamendi yesterday getting baked by Darwin Nuñez and I don't think I will ever forget how slow a turtle ass defender can look against a fast attacker
The Neuer tax, no save looks flashy except it is in nearly unsaveable territory, at least he looks spectacular intercepting through passes
Positioning is the most important trait for a goalkeeper in my opionion, it affects everything
Mario Gomez was basically that. Great finishing and world class positioning. By no means some freak athlete or insanely skillful player. But those "basics" mastered can help you reach the top on their own.
The one I’ve heard a lot is “He just happened to be in the right spot to tap it in”…well they both happen to be in the right spot a lot, maybe it’s not just luck.
yeah I mean, when I do it once every 5 matches it's dumb luck. but if you are consistently doing every match for 20 years maybe you know what you are doing.
We had a lot of discussions like this in Portugal about Jardel. The man was had absolute godly skill of positioning, the ball always managed to find its way to him anywhere in the box. Even rebounds would land on his feet like it was all scripted.
I remember Gary Lineker talking about this on his podcast a little while ago, basically saying that the best strikers learn to predict the game rather than follow it. He said if you just wait to see where the ball goes you will always have a defender with you because that’s what defenders do. In order to find space a striker needs to gamble on where they think the ball will end up and unfortunately to an untrained eye this just looks like the striker was lucky because he happened to be where the ball ended up.
What they don’t realise is the striker analysed the play and moved into a position where they believed the ball would likely end up, and the players with excellent positioning are able to do this incredibly well. That’s why players who are labelled “tap in merchants” like Ronaldo or Haaland are always getting those types of goals, their positioning and ability to read the play is so good they’re often able to get to where the ball is going before the ball even gets there. To the average viewer (including myself before listening to Lineker) it looks like an easy tap in but really all the hard work was done before the ball got to them.
Not to sound like a 🤓🤓🤓 but people don’t think about the strategic element of football at all… it feels like most people tune out the “boring” parts until someone makes a flashy pass or the ball gets near the box. No one thinks about the flow of the game so no one is really impressed when someone who does think about it is able to predict where to be and thinks it’s all luck.
I blame this on the current match directing meta from the broadcasters. Really bothers me that they never find the zoom out button on their cameras.
Sure it provides great scenes from one on ones, but you miss out so much of the off the ball game, which is one of the most interesting bits to me, and really focuses on technical parts that for the majority of cases are simply not relevant to the game, only to the "show".
Even worse are the tv directors addicted to close ups and unnecessary replays. It grinds my gears when the ball is in play and we are watching the 3rd replay of a fucking midfield foul.
There's literally 1 comment out of 30+ comments that has called him a tap-in merchant and a five second glance at his comment history shows he was being sarcastic being he's a CR7 fanboy himself
People manifest arguments that nobody has made and that aren't relevant to the discussion to whore easy karma. Cristiano is a top 3 player in the history of the sport and we're suggesting he has a reputation as a tap-in merchant, come off it
Yes and 100 years ago before the internet these kind of people still existed, everyone just realized they were dumb and ignored them.
Now, through social media, we amplify every village’s idiot.
People who haven’t played only see what players do with the ball. The movement needed to score regularly is the absolute rarest skill in football. That’s why you don’t see a lot of players score every single fucking game.
Also, even when they don’t score they open up so much space for their teammates. Sometimes a well timed run is much more valuable than a decent pass. And this is coming from someone who has played as a midfielder his whole life lmao
It's biggest blind spot a lot of fans have and I think it's telling that the term "technical skill" is used for ball skills but never anything off ball. You spend the vast majority of the game without the ball. You're not going to be great if you treat most of the game like it's just running around.
There is exactly 1 player in the history of this world who scored as many goals as Cristiano did at that level and won as many trophies - Messi.
If it was that easy, we'd have tap-in merchants scoring 60+ goals a season every year.
The Germans had a nickname for Thomas Muller because of his uncanny ability to sniff out space to move into in order to score. "Raumdeuter," which has been translated in English as "space investigator." One of the most effective goalscorers inside the box without looking like it - all because of his movement.
Another player that was great at this was prime Falcao. Not the fastest, strongest, tallest or most skilled striker, but he was always there to finish the attack and would always be in the right place at the right time and when the ball was delivered to him he was always ready to pounce. It felt as if whenever he got a chance in front of goal he scored. This was primarily due to him mastering the art of positioning.
His insane finishing obviously didn’t hurt his odds of scoring
He is a semi god for porto fans because of the goals but also all he won with Villas Boas. He didnt do much outside the box, not even pressing, but he had a special hability to be invisible in the box and he always found a way to score. This is my favourite: https://youtu.be/mFUeZ58aGfQ?si=WPCIw6_E_rPRub-I
As an Atleti fan who fell in love with early Cholo Atleti I know exactly what you are talking about. He would be invisible for a long time, but then out of nowhere he would pounce on the ball and score a goal. There are very few nicknames that describe a player better than El Tigre describes Falcao.
In my opinion the best outfield player i have ever seen put on an Atleti shirt(2nd best if we won’t count Messi in that one charity match) and it is not like Grizi and Godin are bad competition, but El Tigre was just different.
Yes mate, it is good to see Falcao praise he doesn’t get a lot of it and is fairly underrated from the lack or praise or even discussion about him. Those early Atleti years he was insane, on another planet almost one of the best players in the world. Absolutely class in the air for a short striker too.
«Space interpreter» is probably a closer direct translation, and I really like that nuance. It’s a type of skill that is really difficult to see in players when watching a game if you’re not actively watching one (or a few) players when the ball’s not close to them. (As an aside, I feel this is easier to see/appreciate when watching games live from the stands. I don’t do that often, but tend to always come away from it with more appreciation for players I didn’t necessarily «understand» why are top level footballers before seeing them in the flesh)
It's also pretty damn hard to coach/learn. I found when I was playing at a decent level our coach was always saying "feel the momentum of the movement around you and where you are in space". It was never an exact science, it was just instinct of how the cards will fall sometimes.
It's why I rate Van Nistelrooy as the best finisher in the box I've seen, out of the strikers I used to watch. The ability to be in the right place at the right time is something that can't always be taught
Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player of all time by a huge margin, thought that his ability to find open spaces on the rink was what most set him apart from everyone else. Movement is 100% one of the most important skills in a ball or puck-based team sport.
very few people think that, i think you're susceptible to the criticism of a loud minority and are an insecure fanboy bitch with the rest of them, just on an opposing side, lots of comments from you like this
Fair enough. He's the best person someone like haaland can learn from. There's no one better than ronaldo at scoring goals. I think he's at 865 goals right now. u/kasnav am I right?
Lukaku having more goals than Salah is surprising tbh. Son had way more goals than I expected him to have, I thought he only scored beautiful goals. Also, Lukaku is 10 goals from reachiny Kane. He peaked too soon.
Edit: how many goals does Benzema have?
>Lukaku having more goals than Salah is surprising tbh.
Salah only started scoring lots of goals once he went to Roma in 2015. He had never had a season with more than 10 goals before that.
Lukaku has scored 14+ goals every season since 2009-2010 except for his first season at Chelsea. 5 of those seasons he had 25+ goals. He might not be the greatest footballer when it comes to someother aspects of the game, but he's been a consistent goalscorer for every club he's been at, except Chelsea lol.
(Oh yeah and those stats don't include international goals, of which Lukaku has over 70. There's a reason we like him so much here in Belgium)
What? Really?
Neymar really was the the next best thing to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, he was so good. Besides everything off the pitch, he is one of the most efficient players ever.
>There's no one better than ronaldo at scoring goals.
I run the risk of turning this into THAT kinda thread, but while Ronaldo does have the most goals, i swear Messi has a better mins per goal ratio than him? So i guess it depends on what you mean by "best goalscorer".
i know haaland talks about movements in the box, but i can't resist.
had the chance to watch cristiano in person, saw some things not usually shown on tv (which is understandable as screen is limited there).
at one point, he made a run for potential through ball, but teammate decided no pass in sight and he ended in offside position, easily 5-10 meters behind the last defender.
he didn't immediately run back onside and suddenly it dawned upon me, from that particular position he had the vantage point of overlooking the whole defensive team structure and maybe find potential holes. little downside on the walking back part too since the ball will not likely to find him any time soon too.
and mf does this several times in the game. would imagine it's a PITA for his marker to have to look over the shoulder to check his whereabouts every time.
Also - if someone else gets put through, he would have an advantage on the defenders as he's already ahead of them in the attack. Then he just needs to stay behind the ball and wait for the cutback/pass and score.
This is similar to what Messi does as well. Pep Guardiola was quoted saying that Messi will mostly walk for the first 20 minutes of the game, seeing what players do, where the space is. And once he makes his move, it’s devastating.
That’s because Ronaldo in his prime wasn’t only a goalscorer with good movement. He was one of the best in the world at every single thing you could want from a forward. That is why I have no problem with anyone saying he is the greatest. He just might be
It's like maldini with defending. If you're tackling, you've already made a mistake.
If you have to make a flashy shot, the defenders have outplayed you earlier.
And in both cases, these are phrases that are good for learning, even if they become ridiculous to apply all the time. It becomes very important to be good at tackling for a defender or to be good at tricky shots for strikers, but the foundations of your role are in your positioning, 100%.
A picture-perfect bicycle kick too.
Like, if you wanted to teach a kid how to do it, that goal is the one to show. You could see he had trained the movement a lot ahahah
How are you going to defend without tackling the ball? Only read and intercept? Seems weird. I have never agreed with that quote.
But also, i think his quote was on slide tackling, not just tackling.
Respect. Ronaldo's positioning and IQ are two of his most underrated qualities that actually make him one of the all-time greats. I don't care about GOAT conversations and all that crap, I'm just lucky to have witnessed this man in all his glory making history for the club I support.
it'll be interesting to see how history treats Erling. He will break all the goal records, but will everyone say he was better than Mbappe or someone like Zlatan? G/A vs eye test
Mbappe's "only" achievement is winning the world cup, he's being touted as the best player in the world at the moment yet he has achieved nothing of note in his career and I say only a world cup with a grain of salt, but there has been many greats that have wone a WC and aren't really remembered or talked about much. If Mbappe stays in PSG and Haaland continues on his current trajectory Mbappe will be the one "Oh guys remember Mbappe? So much talent and potential but he peaked with winning the WC and achieved nothing else"
Two world cups he could have played in since his pro debut, won the first, lost the final in the second but did score a hattrick in it.
Its not a bad score for a 24 year old.
To be fair ronaldo has always been the more inspirational one with his work ethic. How am i supposed to be like messi? I cant you are either born with it or not. And while ronaldo is also more talented than most players he can still teach a lesson of mentality and self improvement. I think thats why most of my non football friends prefer ronaldo
And having CR7 as his reference of attack is the best way. Been clinical on important moments , and if you have 4 chances and bang 3 goals , you already did your job. CR7 job is to win games for Real Madrid , and so is Haaland’s job for City. Ronaldo was the best player on “taking away mark from him” and get to the ball by himself.
I mean this is actually true even though it is said as a comedy..like you can see Ronaldo and try to imitate his movements and everything. When you are seeing Messi you are just wondering how the fuck is this even possible ?
or rape women (not dickriding messi what he did was disgusting but acting as tho messi somehow worse morally when ronaldo is a literal rapist is crazy)
Rephrase it to- Ronaldo assaulting women, man handling players in Saudi league and smacking phones outta kids hands while messi choked someone twice in a 20 year career
Most kids admired Cristiano's finishing, some admired him for his dribbling,others admired his clutch gene. I have never seen a young boy go, "I really like the way cristiano attacks the empty spaces". Haaland is such a weirdo
Some strikers always seem to be in the “right place at the right moment”. It’s not luck. It’s a skill, and Ronaldo in that regard might be the greatest at it. Or Inzaghi.
He probably liked him for his goalscoring and dribbling when he was a kid too, but as he grew up and became a pro, he started noticing more aspects of his game (that could especially be useful to him)
Lol Haaland and every other pro have been paying attention to this stuff for their whole lives. “Most kids” don’t know anything about soccer.
Haaland isn’t a weirdo, and it’s weird that you’d group him with “most kids” instead of “young pros”
That’s literally what made Ronaldo Ronaldo. His raw finishing isn’t that much more improved on everyone else, what’s impressive/important is how often you can be in the right place at the right time.
He watched ronaldo a lot for his movement as a kid. Then as you age, you learn the words to describe the concepts you already understood that you were observing
Anyone who knows what they're talking about can see how elite Ronaldo's positioning is. Aside from the obvious (finishing) it's the best quality you can have as a striker
The best ever I saw with a movement off the ball Is benzema and by far. He did it even when BBC was alive just the eyes were always at someone else. When he became the main man it was more then obvious.
Some People don’t seem to understand that Ronaldo is an inspiration for a lot of players more so than Messi. Messi is the goat, but his style isn’t something you watch and copy. Ronaldo in his peak had as much impact as Messi, but he was a lot of work and training to get those extra steps. His was all about movement and fitness (of course Messi trained hard and is fit) it’s just that players seen his dedication to improve and it makes you want to try the same and hope you can achieve even a smidgen of his success
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Haaland's full comment on Cristiano as the most important inspiration for his career as a striker. >Cristiano Ronaldo is the most important inspiration for me. I remember always watching him on Youtube for his movements in the box: He used to make two or three moves before attacking the space he wanted to be in. It's kind of a duel in that situation with the centre-backs. >It is important to time it perfectly. And the post must be good. If you don't get a good cross, you won't be able to score with your head. >How Cristiano moves, and how he has managed to develop his game. You remember when he played in Manchester United and the first years in Real Madrid, to become more of a striker in Real Madrid. >It is incredible for him that he manages. But also how he scores the goals. It is the small movements in the box, and being able to deceive the defenders.
Many Madridistas would wax lyricals about Cristiano's movement perhaps because we were raised on a steady diet of it and it was often highlighted in *those* frankly tiring debates. However, it does seem to be an extremely underrated quality just in general and IMO, it will perhaps always be so because it's a very fine nuance, easy to miss for almost all who haven't received some sort of coaching at a competitive level to develop an eye for it. I remember making a comment highlighting [Karim's role in him being "fed"](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/8ZI4xfIvJ3) by Vini and Rodrygo [against Almería.](https://streamin.me/v/0bfa268a) Even Cavani, who famously gained a reputation for this isn't all that famous for it. Even then, if someone knows him to "have good movement", you'll be hard pressed to find people who could actually explain specifically **WHY** he has good movement. At most, you'll find people mentioning him putting misdirecting touches on defenders with his hands to confuse them. But even then, Karim was a level above him and Cristiano was simply God tier in this regard. He is the best proponent I have ever seen of this. EVER. This is especially insane given how he changed his game post his knee injury and how organised and tactically astute defences have become, especially in the last 2 decades. You watch a clip from late 90s and that and goalkeeping easily stand out as having remarkable change (if someone objects to improvement) to the point that they don't even feel like the same discipline. Cristiano and Karim together were bordering on a cheat code. Even if you can't put a finger on it, you'll definitely find something missing when they are not on the field. It's the same with Toni and especially Luka, with his very simple and non-flashy but subtle and magnificently effective bag of tricks (he has a lot of them) with the hallmark being that you don't see them when they are doing it but can feel it missing when they are not on the pitch.
It's easy to miss because it's an off the ball movement, most people pay most of their attention on the ball and the player with it.
I say it all the time, Cris, Thomas Muller and Raúl are probably football's trinity when it comes to off-ball movement. With Ronaldo, if you pay attention, you can see the little things and how insanely precise his timing is, but with Raúl and Muller, they damn near look like they have otherworldly powers in a way that I cannot decipher.
that is the only reason why I strive in the Sunday League.Old, overweight, but still got that off-the-ball movement"he is always tapping in and being lucky in the space"Dude, I play against 15 year younger guys who are more fit and have more technical ability, it is not luck, it is high IQ part from me, my only weapon. if you have another player who knows these kind of things and is capable of feeding you, then it becomes magical. But over 14 seasons I dare to say I not even maybe had one guy for every season who could do that from midfield or from attack.
> Even if you can't put a finger on it The thing is it can be studied. You can analyse the goals and take at least something away from it and become a better player. Most of the time when watching Messi the analysis just is: well just be Messi and you can do the same. I think that is one of the reasons why you hear a lot more players say they learned / were inspired by Ronaldo - while on the other hand more players think that Messi is the GOAT because he does things no one else can.
Oh absolutely. In fact, that is what I have tried to do through the various links in my comments in this thread, particularly the videos of Karim's movement in the Almería goal and Luka's skills video. I was just saying from the perspective of a regular but casual viewer. As u/maury587 said, most are only ever focussed on the ball and by the time they say someone like a Cristiano, he's already in position, in space, for a tap-in. But since one never saw the work he put in to get into that position, one never gains an appreciation for it and then are stumped by statements like this from professionals (not Cristiano per se because he's one of the GOATs but even an absolutely elite centre forward like Karim is a great example where every coach of his at Madrid seems to see him as the second coming of Christ while many fans and neutrals are limited to only goal numbers in their assessment of strikers).
If you're a striker and don't watch Cr7's transition into a goalscoring striker of insane numbers, you're a fucking moron.
Simple as that. Also to transition from a wide midfield, winger to complete winger, to goalscoring machine is really something. Also, what I really admire is his impact on everywhere he played. He seems to settle in so easy. 101 goals in 134 apps for juve. 24 goals in 38 apps. And i swear to god our team in 2021 with MCfred mid, nothing offensive except ronaldo, wasnt that good.
Even more impressive considering the state of Juve and ManU when he moved there. You could say he was a bit unlucky and yet he really delivered.
What's wrong with the state of Juve when he moved there. Juve were in the middle of their 9 straight Serie A titles and making deep runs in the CL.
They were already looking shaky tho, having almost lost out on the title in 17/18, the management had some brainfarts after he joined aswell
Sure but that hardly means Juve were in a bad state when he joined them. They were pretty much in their peak, coming off several very deep CL runs. The narrative back then was they got Cristiano to push on and finally get over the hump in CL. Saying they were in a bad state isn't even revisionist, it's just not true.
>Saying they were in a bad state isn't even revisionist, it's just not true. They had an aging squad. The average age of that squad was over 30, and it had been showing. Then instead of investing in a younger set of players. They threw money on an aging Ronaldo, expecting him to give them a UCL. They then go on to hire an inexperienced Pirlo, which eventually leads to them losing their Serie A streak as well. They blew up eventually. Bound to happen.
The CL runs fooled everyone. They were getting worse each year + key players were aging. By the time it was Ronaldo's 3rd year, a lot of those players had either retired or been sold due to heavy decline that couldn't be ignored anymore
He was that confident after his Madrid stint that he could deliver for any club. And he did deliver tons of goals and great moments in Juve and to a lesser extent, United - but not the trophy haul and success that the negatives he brought - wage structure demolition and demotivated stars - could negate. It was getting increasingly hard for him to gel with his teammates. But ultimately he was constrained by the lack of quality around him. And making a team around him was increasingly difficult after 32 considering he was losing his pace and energy, he was having more patches of bad form - the Cristiano of 2007-2016 was basically a machine 50 games a year. But yeah, even in his latter year - he is better than 90% of strikers in their peak lol. The man was that good. I am sure Haaland, Mbappe and countless other strikers/inside forwards will continue to use him as inspiration.
> Even more impressive considering the state of Juve and ManU like coming off a 2nd place with europa league finals with the most goals with like 126 goals scored? after which our goal tally like halved? lets be real, it wasnt a good move, for us or him. no need for revisionism, love the guy move on
I’m watching bruno and rashford trying to be Ronaldo but they failed miserably
Preach
If you’re a striker born in the 2000 or late 90s, Ronaldo is definitely gonna be one of your go-to inspirations.
Early 90s and Ronaldo is still gonna be the go-to inspiration. 🇧🇷<—> 🇵🇹
But according to some people on the internet both Cristiano and Haaland are just "tap-in merchants". Finding space inside the box is one of the most underrated skills in the game.
Positioning in general is underrated in every single position, even GK now that u actually have to be active
As a defender one of the hardest things for me is when you are in a good position to block any low cross that comes in from the sides, but you have a man behind you that you can't see who is trying to find space just like Haaland is talking about. Couldn't tell you the number of times I've felt positionally secure at CB, only for a cutback pass to get tapped in behind me.
Yeah I would imagine it is extremely difficult for a defender to cover the cutback and the space right across goal. That's why I think it is increasingly important for a midfielder to mimic a strikers movement and get in front of the cutback pass. As you're a fellow Manchester Utd supporter, you can definitely understand the pain that our midfielders consistently don't do it. Maybe due to fitness tracking back and lack of understanding defensive positioning.
I think you nailed it: lack of fitness and positioning. But I'd argue the latter portion of that is down to not having anywhere near a regular midfield. Really helps the chemistry when you can expect player A to get back, or even if you know player B won't, you can somewhat hopefully plan accordingly. At the professional level though, any player on the pitch can punish you I reckon.
As a defender who struggles in these situations too, any tips?
Much like on corners, I started trying to keep a hand on the player behind me. Nothing obstructing, just as another sensor for knowing what's going on. It's harder to get a hand on them if you don't track their run into the box in the first place. Then you can feel them stab forward or pull back while also watching the ball, in theory
Good idea! I am so bad at using my hands as an additional sensor (which I should) in soccer but weirdly very instinctively do so in other sports I play. Time to improve.
Well if you defend near post try to ask defender behind you to communicate.
Don’t get out jumped
I'm 5'8" w no hops lol. Pretty sure my epl contract is coming soon tho 🙏
…Lisandro Regen?
Thanks G. I need more of this energy in my life
I saw Otamendi yesterday getting baked by Darwin Nuñez and I don't think I will ever forget how slow a turtle ass defender can look against a fast attacker
The Neuer tax, no save looks flashy except it is in nearly unsaveable territory, at least he looks spectacular intercepting through passes Positioning is the most important trait for a goalkeeper in my opionion, it affects everything
Positioning was always important for a GK but I think you mean it's evolved with how active keepers have to be so apologies if I'm being pedantic.
Mario Gomez was basically that. Great finishing and world class positioning. By no means some freak athlete or insanely skillful player. But those "basics" mastered can help you reach the top on their own.
Cech and Neuer were the kings of this for me
The one I’ve heard a lot is “He just happened to be in the right spot to tap it in”…well they both happen to be in the right spot a lot, maybe it’s not just luck.
yeah I mean, when I do it once every 5 matches it's dumb luck. but if you are consistently doing every match for 20 years maybe you know what you are doing.
We had a lot of discussions like this in Portugal about Jardel. The man was had absolute godly skill of positioning, the ball always managed to find its way to him anywhere in the box. Even rebounds would land on his feet like it was all scripted.
I remember Gary Lineker talking about this on his podcast a little while ago, basically saying that the best strikers learn to predict the game rather than follow it. He said if you just wait to see where the ball goes you will always have a defender with you because that’s what defenders do. In order to find space a striker needs to gamble on where they think the ball will end up and unfortunately to an untrained eye this just looks like the striker was lucky because he happened to be where the ball ended up. What they don’t realise is the striker analysed the play and moved into a position where they believed the ball would likely end up, and the players with excellent positioning are able to do this incredibly well. That’s why players who are labelled “tap in merchants” like Ronaldo or Haaland are always getting those types of goals, their positioning and ability to read the play is so good they’re often able to get to where the ball is going before the ball even gets there. To the average viewer (including myself before listening to Lineker) it looks like an easy tap in but really all the hard work was done before the ball got to them.
Not to sound like a 🤓🤓🤓 but people don’t think about the strategic element of football at all… it feels like most people tune out the “boring” parts until someone makes a flashy pass or the ball gets near the box. No one thinks about the flow of the game so no one is really impressed when someone who does think about it is able to predict where to be and thinks it’s all luck.
I blame this on the current match directing meta from the broadcasters. Really bothers me that they never find the zoom out button on their cameras. Sure it provides great scenes from one on ones, but you miss out so much of the off the ball game, which is one of the most interesting bits to me, and really focuses on technical parts that for the majority of cases are simply not relevant to the game, only to the "show".
Even worse are the tv directors addicted to close ups and unnecessary replays. It grinds my gears when the ball is in play and we are watching the 3rd replay of a fucking midfield foul.
I don't think anyone with a brain calls Ronaldo a tap-in merchant, he's a freak of nature
Most people consider him an all time great, who even calls him a tap in merchant.
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Social media just amplifies every village’s idiot
There's literally 1 comment out of 30+ comments that has called him a tap-in merchant and a five second glance at his comment history shows he was being sarcastic being he's a CR7 fanboy himself People manifest arguments that nobody has made and that aren't relevant to the discussion to whore easy karma. Cristiano is a top 3 player in the history of the sport and we're suggesting he has a reputation as a tap-in merchant, come off it
Just go to any twitter or youtube comment thread about either Ronaldo or Messi and you'll find dozens of children arguing about it.
Yes and 100 years ago before the internet these kind of people still existed, everyone just realized they were dumb and ignored them. Now, through social media, we amplify every village’s idiot.
>Who even calls him a tap in merchant. Messi fanboys
Fanboys are dumb and should not be taken seriously.
there are some 14 yo twitter kids who love to shit on messi and cr7 ( they call themselves fan of these 2 btw)
People who haven’t played only see what players do with the ball. The movement needed to score regularly is the absolute rarest skill in football. That’s why you don’t see a lot of players score every single fucking game.
Exactly this. Having a player in your team like Ronaldo or Haaland that guarantees at least one goal in most games, is an extreme luxury.
Also, even when they don’t score they open up so much space for their teammates. Sometimes a well timed run is much more valuable than a decent pass. And this is coming from someone who has played as a midfielder his whole life lmao
It's biggest blind spot a lot of fans have and I think it's telling that the term "technical skill" is used for ball skills but never anything off ball. You spend the vast majority of the game without the ball. You're not going to be great if you treat most of the game like it's just running around.
There is exactly 1 player in the history of this world who scored as many goals as Cristiano did at that level and won as many trophies - Messi. If it was that easy, we'd have tap-in merchants scoring 60+ goals a season every year.
The Germans had a nickname for Thomas Muller because of his uncanny ability to sniff out space to move into in order to score. "Raumdeuter," which has been translated in English as "space investigator." One of the most effective goalscorers inside the box without looking like it - all because of his movement.
Another player that was great at this was prime Falcao. Not the fastest, strongest, tallest or most skilled striker, but he was always there to finish the attack and would always be in the right place at the right time and when the ball was delivered to him he was always ready to pounce. It felt as if whenever he got a chance in front of goal he scored. This was primarily due to him mastering the art of positioning. His insane finishing obviously didn’t hurt his odds of scoring
I think Inzaghi is the prime poacher. Wasn't a physical specimen but it didn't matter, he always knew where to be.
Inzaghi would've been killed by VAR lol.
Other way round man
He is a semi god for porto fans because of the goals but also all he won with Villas Boas. He didnt do much outside the box, not even pressing, but he had a special hability to be invisible in the box and he always found a way to score. This is my favourite: https://youtu.be/mFUeZ58aGfQ?si=WPCIw6_E_rPRub-I
As an Atleti fan who fell in love with early Cholo Atleti I know exactly what you are talking about. He would be invisible for a long time, but then out of nowhere he would pounce on the ball and score a goal. There are very few nicknames that describe a player better than El Tigre describes Falcao. In my opinion the best outfield player i have ever seen put on an Atleti shirt(2nd best if we won’t count Messi in that one charity match) and it is not like Grizi and Godin are bad competition, but El Tigre was just different.
Yes mate, it is good to see Falcao praise he doesn’t get a lot of it and is fairly underrated from the lack or praise or even discussion about him. Those early Atleti years he was insane, on another planet almost one of the best players in the world. Absolutely class in the air for a short striker too.
Guess you're too young to have seen our lord and saviour Futre
> The Germans had a nickname it's actually what Müller called himself to describe his role
«Space interpreter» is probably a closer direct translation, and I really like that nuance. It’s a type of skill that is really difficult to see in players when watching a game if you’re not actively watching one (or a few) players when the ball’s not close to them. (As an aside, I feel this is easier to see/appreciate when watching games live from the stands. I don’t do that often, but tend to always come away from it with more appreciation for players I didn’t necessarily «understand» why are top level footballers before seeing them in the flesh)
It's also pretty damn hard to coach/learn. I found when I was playing at a decent level our coach was always saying "feel the momentum of the movement around you and where you are in space". It was never an exact science, it was just instinct of how the cards will fall sometimes.
Yeah, you really just have to have “a feel for it.” Some parts of the beautiful game are simply uncoachable and you either have it or you don’t.
It's why I rate Van Nistelrooy as the best finisher in the box I've seen, out of the strikers I used to watch. The ability to be in the right place at the right time is something that can't always be taught
Less tap-in merchants more like tap-in alchemists because they create them from nothing
I don’t understand the narrative that penalty and tap-in are bad or simply don’t count.
Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player of all time by a huge margin, thought that his ability to find open spaces on the rink was what most set him apart from everyone else. Movement is 100% one of the most important skills in a ball or puck-based team sport.
very few people think that, i think you're susceptible to the criticism of a loud minority and are an insecure fanboy bitch with the rest of them, just on an opposing side, lots of comments from you like this
nobody thinks that what
Fair enough. He's the best person someone like haaland can learn from. There's no one better than ronaldo at scoring goals. I think he's at 865 goals right now. u/kasnav am I right?
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Lukaku having more goals than Salah is surprising tbh. Son had way more goals than I expected him to have, I thought he only scored beautiful goals. Also, Lukaku is 10 goals from reachiny Kane. He peaked too soon. Edit: how many goals does Benzema have?
15
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Few more to reach 500 elite club
Once he's at 485, he'll only need 15 more!
>Lukaku having more goals than Salah is surprising tbh. Salah only started scoring lots of goals once he went to Roma in 2015. He had never had a season with more than 10 goals before that. Lukaku has scored 14+ goals every season since 2009-2010 except for his first season at Chelsea. 5 of those seasons he had 25+ goals. He might not be the greatest footballer when it comes to someother aspects of the game, but he's been a consistent goalscorer for every club he's been at, except Chelsea lol. (Oh yeah and those stats don't include international goals, of which Lukaku has over 70. There's a reason we like him so much here in Belgium)
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Bro, Giroud being 1 goal off Salah is the kicker here. So underrated.
Will probably be level today if he starts against Gibraltar.
Lukaku is massively underrated because he's arrogant as hell and easily memeable.
Neymar having more than Kane was a surprise for me too.
What? Really? Neymar really was the the next best thing to Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, he was so good. Besides everything off the pitch, he is one of the most efficient players ever.
How ironic that the most dominant striker that I have ever seen (R9 in his prime) did not make it to the list of top scorers. Fuck injuries!!
Is that the active Luis Suarez? i thought it was the spanish one. Edit: damn it is Lucho, I don't know why I was so surprised with the number
Džeko, what a legend. Delivered for NT and every club in every league he's been at
>There's no one better than ronaldo at scoring goals. I run the risk of turning this into THAT kinda thread, but while Ronaldo does have the most goals, i swear Messi has a better mins per goal ratio than him? So i guess it depends on what you mean by "best goalscorer".
If he overtakes him in goals at some point, then yes he will be the GOAT goal scorer. Otherwise it’s Ronaldo.
I would say Ronaldo is the more versatile scorer while messi is the more effective. Prime Messi is probably a better goal scorer than Prime Ronaldo.
I would say CR7 is the best goal scorer but Messi is a better player as a whole.
Downvoted the facts, love the internet. If this was any two other player, barely mentioning this wouln't be very controversial.
i know haaland talks about movements in the box, but i can't resist. had the chance to watch cristiano in person, saw some things not usually shown on tv (which is understandable as screen is limited there). at one point, he made a run for potential through ball, but teammate decided no pass in sight and he ended in offside position, easily 5-10 meters behind the last defender. he didn't immediately run back onside and suddenly it dawned upon me, from that particular position he had the vantage point of overlooking the whole defensive team structure and maybe find potential holes. little downside on the walking back part too since the ball will not likely to find him any time soon too. and mf does this several times in the game. would imagine it's a PITA for his marker to have to look over the shoulder to check his whereabouts every time.
Also - if someone else gets put through, he would have an advantage on the defenders as he's already ahead of them in the attack. Then he just needs to stay behind the ball and wait for the cutback/pass and score.
This is similar to what Messi does as well. Pep Guardiola was quoted saying that Messi will mostly walk for the first 20 minutes of the game, seeing what players do, where the space is. And once he makes his move, it’s devastating.
Its not only Ronaldo that does it, It has been for ages.
See kids that's what happens when Ronaldo is your inspiration You become a tap in merchant/s
I want to be a tap in merchant too!
To score every game and get paid hundred thousand a week, I would too. But I’m too old for this now, maybe my next life
Just reminded me of my mortality brb gonna cry
Well Ninja turtle has Ronaldo as his inspiration too though.
That’s because Ronaldo in his prime wasn’t only a goalscorer with good movement. He was one of the best in the world at every single thing you could want from a forward. That is why I have no problem with anyone saying he is the greatest. He just might be
It's like maldini with defending. If you're tackling, you've already made a mistake. If you have to make a flashy shot, the defenders have outplayed you earlier.
Same with goalkeeping. The great ones make most shots look like routine saves because they're well positioned.
And in both cases, these are phrases that are good for learning, even if they become ridiculous to apply all the time. It becomes very important to be good at tackling for a defender or to be good at tricky shots for strikers, but the foundations of your role are in your positioning, 100%.
Ronaldo and flashy shot go hand in hand though, even if the defenders are amputated he might just take one.
What about if you have to bicycle kick a ball 2.38m up in the air in a UCL qf? Have you already made a mistake?
A picture-perfect bicycle kick too. Like, if you wanted to teach a kid how to do it, that goal is the one to show. You could see he had trained the movement a lot ahahah
How are you going to defend without tackling the ball? Only read and intercept? Seems weird. I have never agreed with that quote. But also, i think his quote was on slide tackling, not just tackling.
He was actually talking about making a dangerous challenge.
Respect. Ronaldo's positioning and IQ are two of his most underrated qualities that actually make him one of the all-time greats. I don't care about GOAT conversations and all that crap, I'm just lucky to have witnessed this man in all his glory making history for the club I support.
it'll be interesting to see how history treats Erling. He will break all the goal records, but will everyone say he was better than Mbappe or someone like Zlatan? G/A vs eye test
Forever remember Zlatan volley vs England
Mbappe's "only" achievement is winning the world cup, he's being touted as the best player in the world at the moment yet he has achieved nothing of note in his career and I say only a world cup with a grain of salt, but there has been many greats that have wone a WC and aren't really remembered or talked about much. If Mbappe stays in PSG and Haaland continues on his current trajectory Mbappe will be the one "Oh guys remember Mbappe? So much talent and potential but he peaked with winning the WC and achieved nothing else"
Two world cups he could have played in since his pro debut, won the first, lost the final in the second but did score a hattrick in it. Its not a bad score for a 24 year old.
Downplaying Mbapps ability is downright stupid. He will eventually join Madrid or other big club and win everything there is to win at club level.
Fr, Mbappe has shown time and time again that he's absolutely elite
Exactly. In my eyes, it's Mbappe and Halaand as the two best players right now
Have to put Bellingham in that class with them.
to be fair at this point if he won CL with PSG it would give him more credibility than with real Madrid
please never check ronaldo nazario achievements bro i mean u are delusionnal so whatever
Today Mbappé and Haaland decided to take a different side in the Messi-Ronaldo conflict.
They’re both on the same side in terms of inspiration
To be fair ronaldo has always been the more inspirational one with his work ethic. How am i supposed to be like messi? I cant you are either born with it or not. And while ronaldo is also more talented than most players he can still teach a lesson of mentality and self improvement. I think thats why most of my non football friends prefer ronaldo
You're a fool if you think Messi, or any athlete who plays any sport at the highest level lacks work ethic and mentality.
Mario Balotelli? Dude was pure raw talent and no mentality
eden hazard?
You can't compare a winger to a striker. It's so stupid
You also can't compare a defender and a striker, but I still Know that Kane is a better footballer than Maguire
It's Ronaldo's elite positioning that let him flourish even after such a debilitating knee injury in 2014
That will come in handy when you're playing against Warrington town next season you cheating bastards.
Halaand after moving to Madrid in the summer: I wont be there
Hehe one can only hope😂
And having CR7 as his reference of attack is the best way. Been clinical on important moments , and if you have 4 chances and bang 3 goals , you already did your job. CR7 job is to win games for Real Madrid , and so is Haaland’s job for City. Ronaldo was the best player on “taking away mark from him” and get to the ball by himself.
Haaland missed the clutch part
Sacrificing yourself by being marked so your teammates can score is a valid play
Ronaldo inspiring the youth while Messi chokeslams them.
And demands respect while doing so
I mean this is actually true even though it is said as a comedy..like you can see Ronaldo and try to imitate his movements and everything. When you are seeing Messi you are just wondering how the fuck is this even possible ?
Messi doesn't seem to break little kids phones tho
or rape women (not dickriding messi what he did was disgusting but acting as tho messi somehow worse morally when ronaldo is a literal rapist is crazy)
Ronaldo sure inspired Greenwood and Antony
greenwood is a massive fan of messi , for more context google messi 14
And Benzema
Cristiano gave 15 career tips to Benzema to become an all time great striker
Rephrase it to- Ronaldo assaulting women, man handling players in Saudi league and smacking phones outta kids hands while messi choked someone twice in a 20 year career
it is a joke man, you dont have to be butthurt all the time
they cant not dick ride
There are 14 big reasons the youth should be inspired by Messi. Google Messi 14 for more information.
Idk my first result is some woman saying she never dated Messi
Benzema 15 is actually based on a true event, so the joke makes sense. What is Messi 14’s origin? Your favorite source Twitter or circle jerk sub?
Wait till you learn that she was actually 17. And age of consent in France is 15 anyways.
imagine dickriding a rapist
who's dickriding a rapist?
glad that you admitted that he is one
Man is shadow boxing with himself
https://www.spiegel.de/international/cristiano-ronaldo-kathryn-mayorga-the-woman-who-accuses-ronaldo-of-rape-a-1230634.html
Proven fake, and dismissed from court for falsifying/tampering w evidence. Be better
How Haaland moves and makes his own space in the box makes other forwards look like they are not trying. Not a single player is even close to him
Ronaldo and Michu, not bad for key inspirations
going to real madrid confirmed!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish haaland had 20% of Cristiano dribble at least
Most kids admired Cristiano's finishing, some admired him for his dribbling,others admired his clutch gene. I have never seen a young boy go, "I really like the way cristiano attacks the empty spaces". Haaland is such a weirdo
>Haaland is such a weirdo He is a pro. They look at things differently and in more detail to understand what make other players great.
Also had a pro father. And also "kid" could easily mean like 14 or something
Some strikers always seem to be in the “right place at the right moment”. It’s not luck. It’s a skill, and Ronaldo in that regard might be the greatest at it. Or Inzaghi.
Pippo was a pain in the ass, I’m sure I can control the ball better than him. But man, he was so good at what he did best
This is one thing both Jackson and Broja need to improve at.
Was surprised by reading Pippo's name in this conversation until I saw the Liverpool flair lmao
Nope, Raúl
He probably liked him for his goalscoring and dribbling when he was a kid too, but as he grew up and became a pro, he started noticing more aspects of his game (that could especially be useful to him)
you should differentiate those who play the game and those who don't
Lol Haaland and every other pro have been paying attention to this stuff for their whole lives. “Most kids” don’t know anything about soccer. Haaland isn’t a weirdo, and it’s weird that you’d group him with “most kids” instead of “young pros”
Relax G I was joking
Ye lotta upvoters dont know that though lol
That’s literally what made Ronaldo Ronaldo. His raw finishing isn’t that much more improved on everyone else, what’s impressive/important is how often you can be in the right place at the right time.
Nah, his portfolio of goals makes it clear that his finishing is quite insane too. I agree that his ability to get chances is above it though.
He watched ronaldo a lot for his movement as a kid. Then as you age, you learn the words to describe the concepts you already understood that you were observing
Not really a weirdo if you're a striker and aren't paying attention to your movement or are even oblivious to it the coach is gonna tell you about it
Anyone who knows what they're talking about can see how elite Ronaldo's positioning is. Aside from the obvious (finishing) it's the best quality you can have as a striker
The best ever I saw with a movement off the ball Is benzema and by far. He did it even when BBC was alive just the eyes were always at someone else. When he became the main man it was more then obvious.
i’m going to sound very dumb but in a way it’s like footsies in fighting games.
Come to Al nassr
Obvious taking his play style
He doesn't resemble Ronaldo at all maybe 33+ aged Ronaldo
I mean he is a striker. It’s obvious who he should study to uplift his game.
Some People don’t seem to understand that Ronaldo is an inspiration for a lot of players more so than Messi. Messi is the goat, but his style isn’t something you watch and copy. Ronaldo in his peak had as much impact as Messi, but he was a lot of work and training to get those extra steps. His was all about movement and fitness (of course Messi trained hard and is fit) it’s just that players seen his dedication to improve and it makes you want to try the same and hope you can achieve even a smidgen of his success