GAME INFO:


TUESDAY

OCT 19, 2010

20:45 CET

SANTIAGO BERNABEU

I didn't know he was going to play the match.

WOW a bit early aiY?


They got injury problems we should be ok.

Jesus, is that Maldini or Sylvester Stallone?

I'm glad your all enjoying my pics

Don't we have a match against the Donkeys before this?

meh, no one likes the donkeys anyways.


I'd rather focus on the big boys.


why? because.....THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!!!!

He'll be there in spirit

lol the madrid thread is open but no Chievo thread?

@ blue, why not choose a funnier CR7 pic?

It looks like Abbiati has made it it time and should be playing.

Link

Damn, I really wanted to see Amelia getting a chance. At least against Chievo, maybe he'd pull off a great game and push Abbiati out

It's called disturbing, not funny, han. (that picture)

So Abbiati will be back? What about Antonini? Will he be available for the Real Madrid match? I have no difficulties with Zambrotta and Abate playing against Chievo, but against Real Madrid I prefer someone like Bonera or Papastathopoulos over Abate as rightback.

Özil was injured for Real Madrid so they don't have any attacking midfielder cuase they sold Van Der Vaart and Kakà is injured but some news says he will be back and some says he is gone for 4-3 weeks But Im glad Abbiati is recovering but I really wanted to see Amelia play, He impressed against Barcelona so why not Real Madrid or atleast Chievo.

They actually have Granero and Canales for that role.

Granero is a CM more then anything, and still neither of them is at the same level as Ozil or Kaka. Ozil not being available is a big plus for us

I always wanted Dinho to show Cristiano how real football is played... Ronaldo was injured last year, then Dinho was rejected for Brasil, but now it's the time... Frankly, I believe we can win, I really do. We did it last year so we just need to repeat it.

Maybe it's the other way around.

i read on milannews that ramos could miss the game as well

Sometimes X-Off, I think you don't want Milan to win.

I'm sorry, but Ronaldo is more a football player than Ronaldinho ever was. Dinho is just a joggler (well, was) with a good field of vision and some nice passes. Ronaldo is that and much more. Just because Dinho plays for Milan doesn't mean I should turn a blind eye to reality.

Yeh i reckon they'll push Khedira up and play Granero behind.

Hopefully the players aren't thinking the same thing.

Hmm, I'd say Ronaldinho is leagues ahead of Ronaldo for precisely the same reasons, to be honest.

Only you X-Off.

Ronaldo is just someone who can run really fast and hit a ball with power. His one trick poney act with the constant stepover just nauseates me.

Yes Dinho is a trickster. But he's a footballer before that, simply for the reasons you yourself mentioned above. At their best I'd pick Dinho over the fake Ronaldo anyday of the weak.

Maybe he's comparing the Ronaldo of the present to the Ronaldinho of the present. That's still an unfair comparison. You'd have to compare two players at their peak.

He doesn't even compare to messi and your comparing him to ronaldinho?

Your statement is so redicilous that i'm in a state of shock right now. I'm going to let the others rip into you on this topic as i'm sure there are a few who feel your absoloutly crazy so All i'm going to say is If I were to say that to the people I'm currently mentoring under; they would straight out just laugh at me and think i've gone mad.


Ronaldinho in his prime vs Ronaldo in his prime?




PS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AHaGIzZ1MA

First player ever to get a standing ovation in bernabeu. I'd love to see cry baby get the same treatment in camp nou.

no worries man, chievo are garbage. We'll win 9-0.


ibra 3x hattrick.

And Ronaldo with his silly, unnecessary, show-off tricks and stepovers isn't?! LMAO

IMO, Ronaldinho at his very best (while wasn't better than the likes of Maradona, Zidane, etc) was second to none. certainly not to Ronaldo

??

You really think that?

Obv i'm joking but I think we'll win it.

Allegri has had some time to work with the squad and especially ronaldinho who didn't travel. Our build up should be smoother and if Pato/ibra/binho can finish, we'll easily be able to hit at least 3 on them.


But we'll see. Its all theoretical. Allegri could sh*t the bed and were just as bad as before.

Nag nag nag...

Ronaldo won Manchester United the Champions League all by himself. Ronaldinho wasn't that impressive during Barça's victory in 2006, which would be his last successful year. His years at PSG were anonymous, and after the 2006 WC he went AWOL. So tell me, how could someone be considered a football legend if he managed to outshine the rest of his peers for only about 3-4 years? Ronaldo has been playing at high levels for a very long time, and he's still got his future ahead of him. He's an exemplary athlete, and without him Real would have flopped big time last season. OK, I admit that during his prime Dinho did some amazing stuff that maybe Ronaldo isn't capable of, but what about consistency? Zidane isn't considered a football legend because he shined during France 98. He played at high standards for his entire career. Dinho has called it quits from a while now. And he's "only" 30!

Yeah, but the only thing is that he didn't. He was a flop at the World Cup of France 98! People only seem to remember him because of his goals in the final match, and people think he was the main player of the team. For my money he was a much better club player than NT.

Clicky

Maybe you're right. But then again, he was great in 2006, headbutt aside.

Yeah, I'll give you that. He wasn't too hot in the first half of the campaign, the group stages. But he stepped up in the business end of the tournament, up till the final. I'd go as far as to say that France wouldn't have made it to the final if Zidane wasn't in the squad - he was that important to the team.

Overall, I rate his performances better in the club teams - in Juventus and Madrid, he was immense!

You were talking about them as footballers, not their consistancy or longevity

Dinho wins hands down as a footballer. Longevity? Obviosuly CR has the upper hand, Dinho lost his way, as we see happen with most Brazilians, maybe it's their mentality. But he's managed to work his way back, maybe not to the standards he set out, but that's because those standards were so rediculously high that no matter what he does now will pale in comparison.

C.Ron didn't win Man U the title by himself, don't build him up to be something he's not, Man U had a great all round squad when they won the CL, now if you want to talk about players winning their team the title talk about Kaka in 07, or Maradona leading Argentina to that WC practically single handedly. Not C.Ron with Man U

Ooooh, I love this little fan talk before big matches! Carry on sons, it gives the match up weight, and makes the occasion even more special. The thing with Ronaldinho is that even though his spark was too bright, it was too short lived. Few people can match his peak of 2002-2006, talent, creativity, and game reading skills. That and the fact that the Portuguese is physically well built, taller, and has a bigger, stronger frame which means he can make faster runs, dodge defenders, get up quickly when he falls down and still keep control on the ball, not to mention faster reflexes. But when it comes to pure talent, Ronaldinho wins it all. Then again, pure, unadulterated talent gets you this far in professional football. He's 29 for Pete's sake, and looks, feels and moves 39.

Now if we compare Cristiano to the Real Ronaldo, then there isn't even much to write about between the two. That Brazilian wins hands down. In case of R80, Cristiano has enough time to catch up with him, and part of that is because of Ronaldinho's own doing. He let himself down, flabby tummy, partying and all.

Consistency is part of being a great footballer, han. I explicitly stressed it in my previous post. Ronaldinho lost his will (along with everything else) when he flopped big time in the 2006 WC, and he's never been the same ever since.



Exactly. Being talented means nothing if you can't live up to it. Look at Cassano, or Reccoba. Big talents but huge flops. Dinho wasn't a flop, he had his moments of huge glory, but it was short-lived.

By the way, Dinho made 30 in March, so don't say 29.

What you were talking about in that first post was about their pure footballing talent. That imo has nothing to do with consistancy. And that is where Ronaldo doesn't even come close to Dinho.

Dinho had nearly more then 7 years of playing consistanly great football, the PSG years where still great years, maybe not at a top club but as a footballer he was still consistant. But for whatever reason Dinho did what we see most Brazialian doing these days, he got to the absolute top and decided that he didn't need to work at staying on the top. Those were the times I really couldn't stand him or the hype around him.But the reason I respect him now is that he's worked himself back into shape and is still delivering the goods at a top European club. Like I said no one will be satisfied because we all know what he did during his best years, that imo is a testament to how really good he was.

As for C.Ron, imo he's the better athlete of the 2 no question about it. Whether he'll be able to sustain such physical shape still remains to be seen. he's still young so we'll see.

True, that. If we had the technology to make perfect (and similar) clones of both players, but give their respective talents to each players, Ronaldinho will take it quite easily. Give him physique, physical strength and will (let's admit it, Cristiano has more of it now), make them the same age, say 25, and pitch them against each other, bucktooth will have his number.

But what X-Off is on here is that this isn't the case. Ronaldinho has fallen from the high branch and frankly that's the reason he is here, even Ibra, Milan likes to get players that are off their peak form and fitness, and we get them cheap, try and recondition them and hope the gamble pays off. I'm sure everyone knows and understand this, but see this Football-Italia piece on Top Foreign Plays to Play In Seria A:



In essence, he is a discarded player, and if he wasn't I doubt we'd have been able to get his signature this easily. This also means that if my life depended on it, I'd put my money on Cristiano (even though I don't like that fella that much) than Ronaldinho to give a good performance over a stretch of matches. And this is precisely the reason why I am keenly anticipating this match to see which player leads his side through. The WC match of Brazil against Portugal was another one that had the potential of a lifetime (Kaka vs Cristiano in national colors), but that was a dab downer.

As of this writing, I still consider Ronaldinho the better player overall (looking at their career) than Cristiano, but the Portuguese is closing the gap. And fast. He isn't there yet, surely, but another four years at the top flight, with a CL win at the Real Madrid, and they'll be even. Cristiano is immense, guys, love him or hate him, he just lacks the patience and experience, which Ronaldinho got at a young age. The only edge R80 will have now is if we were playing park futsal with 6 players a side. A slow tempo game, with not much of a pressure situation.


Oh jolly good then, I'm not too big a fan of his (though appreciate the fact that he is playing for our club, and gives good performance more often than not), been years since I've visited his wiki page, never paid attention to his date of birth, so thanks for clearing that up. 30 he is, then!

Granero is more CM i guess and Canales is away for loan

Kaka at his peak was better than the pair of them! He didn't need silly party pieces or 100 stepovers a minute to beat players but he could influence a game by sheer brilliance. His goal against Manu when he left the 2 Utd players on their a55es and made them look like amateurs proved that. Sheer genius.

Comparing his last three years to his prime Barça years will always be a topic of debate. It's like, he was this great footballer that hooked the whole world, but then the next day he just disappeared. Dinho might be playing for a top European club right now, but how many people from the other European leagues know what he's up to? He's failed to impress, and he's become just a normal player. If you ask me, that's got "fail" written all over it. Even the original Ronaldo, despite his struggles with injuries and his current conditions, managed to perform for about 8-9 years at high levels.



Dude, what? Canales is not away for loan.

Word. Kaka was a cut above both these fellows. He had class written over his runs, and did not need fancy tricks to get past defenders. Then again, his recent bad luck with injuries means there is yet a mark in his negative column. In a perfect world, though, Kaka would be owning both these players over and over again.

Isn't he on loan for Racing Santander

Nope. He played for Racing until Real signed him this summer. He's never been on loan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMVT189Sg0

To this day, that's the best goal I have ever witnessed.

For once X-Off, I agree with you 100%

I think that's stilla debatable issue, all 3 have their respective strengths. At their peaks, I'd still go for Kaka, because h's the type of player i like, direct. Personally I think both Kaka and Dinho are better footballers then C.Ron who depends on his physique a lot, rather then using his brain.



The downfall of Ronaldinho can only be attributed to Ronaldinho himself, that is something we both agree with. And yes he's not what he used to be and never will be, he's 30 now, so no matter how hard he works, he will never regain his speed and agility, imo that's not because he's not trying now, but because he wasted those years,doing god knows what.

Having said that, I think some of the blame as to why he's not mentioned that much is because he's in the Serie A and not in the EPL. Last season in terms of stats he was second to none.

The original Ronaldo had those 8 years halved out by being injured for half of them, then came the weight gain, etc, etc. Imo he's another player that could have achieved a lot more had he worked at it rather then let the Burger King wave take him to where it pleased. This is why I respect Dinho now, because even though he and all the fans know that he won't be regaining what he had in the past he still has a lot to offer, so he's working hard to remain in shape.

Personally I used to hate that old magical, explosive Dinho, but I admire the slower one we have now