Ronaldinho Doesn't Do It In The Big Games

[Karlos]

Ronaldinho has to be the most disappointing performer at this World Cup. Never showed anything even resembling a hint of a World Player in The Year in 5 games for me. His performances on the really big stages this year (inc. the champions league final) were well below what the hype would have us believe.

He still beleive he's a great player, it's just I've never bought into the whole concept of show pony tricks equal greatness. Zidane's gracefullness, intelligence & elegance on the ball was there for all to see tonight. It's a level I believe Ronaldinho has a very long way to go to achieve. :)

[slow2anger]

Ronaldinho has to be the most disappointing performer at this World Cup. Never showed anything even resembling a hint of a World Player in The Year in 5 games for me. His performances on the really big stages this year (inc. the champions league final) were well below what the hype would have us believe.


He is just another (ugly) film star with too much money who cannot be ars#d to play well for his country.

However....he did put england out of the WC2002......so we thank him for that.

[adamcarr]

I was expecting something to do with carlsberg when I read the title!:o

[lim abroad]

have to agree,ronaldinho looked fairly average during all of brazils games,although lots of players have played crap eg..lampard,gerrard

[tricky_colour]

I have to say Zidane was immense, in a class of his own, even the Brazilians
were paying homage to him, I have to say he is the most comfortable player
on the ball I have ever seen, And I would include your Pele's and Maradona's
in that. On his day he is football.

[pete]

I think you are being harsh on Ronaldinho as too many Brazilian players out of position & no one could play well alongside chubby Ronaldo who makes no runs & basically just stands around waiting for the ball. Kaka wasn't great either as playing on the wing as unknown position for him. They should have swopped positions last night.

[Dodge]

Plus he was probably their best player 4 years ago and was MOTM in all of Barca's big gamse this season bar the CL final. Rubbish in this but no Brazilian was better (ps Henry was muck last night bar the goal)

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ronaldinho didn't do it in any of the World Cup games.. Absolutely agree

[Karlos]

Plus he was probably their best player 4 years ago and was MOTM in all of Barca's big gamse this season bar the CL final. Rubbish in this but no Brazilian was better (ps Henry was muck last night bar the goal)

I don't agree. I've watched a lot of Barca this year and I honestly feel other Baraca players where far more pivotal to their successes this year. Likewise with Brazil in 2002, I thought Ronaldo was awesome upfront from them, I've never been totally taken in by the few fancy flicks here and there on the highlight reel that seem to lend to the idea that Ronaldinho is streets better than everyone else. He's a great player no doubt but totally over-rated imo.

As for Henry which I purposely didn't mention in contrast to Ronaldinho. I'm not saying you are doing this but it's always interesting how when he performs great (i.e. Champions League Final on his own up front with 10 men) yet doesn't score he gets accused of bottling it and not doing it in the big games.

Yet when he plays ok and grabs a vital winner in a massive game (as big players are allegedly supposed to do in big games!), people change and suddenly want to question his overall performance.

For what it's worth I do agree with you, his performance wasn't great last night yet he still won a vital game for his team.....a mark of greatness perhaps?

Either way, Henry is off topic here. My point was in relation to Ronaldinho being a mere shadow to Zinidine Zidane.

[NeilMcD]

Real Madrid V Barcelona this year at the Bernabea for the opposite of Sat night. Ronaldinhio has had a poor tournament but so has most of the Brazilan team with the exception fo Ze Roberto. Zidane had a poor tournament up to the spain game and he was ok in that but top class against Brazil.

In my view Ronaldinhio,Henry, Zidane are all great players who should be praised when they play well.

[Poor Student]

I was hugely disappointed with Ronaldinho. Almost every time he never tried to take on his man, took a few steps inside and played the ball short inside. Could he just not be arsed? He's had a great season and has won the CL so he should be in full confidence. We've seen him glide past players with ease this season yet he just didn't seem to try in the WC.

[Risteard]

Desperate World Cup for him.
Very disappointing.

Still easily the best player in the world imo.

[NeilMcD]

He said sorry to all the Brazilian fans and in his home town they pulled down a statue to him that they had build a few years ago. I dont think the system that Brazil played suited him in the same way that the system that France are playing seems to be suiting Zidane however Zidane has done the business and Ronaldinho has not. 2 Great players one coming to the end of his career and the other at his prime.

[Dodge]

In my view Ronaldinhio,Henry, Zidane are all great players who should be praised when they play well.
Agree with that. Why try and knock them?

[smellyfeet]

Agree with that. Why try and knock them?

I wouldn't knock them at all either..
Didn't Zidane have a shocker in the last World Cup.
Ronaldino has years of football ahead of him so i'd
say we will see his magic in World Cups in the future.:ball:

TBH only a hand full of players in the Word cup have played
really well.

[Karlos]

Agree with that. Why try and knock them?

I agree with what Neil said too 'when they play well they should be praised'. I'd be the first to praise Ronaldinho if he played well however I don't believe he should be immune to critisicm. Others have been quick to have a go off the likes of Lampard & Henry when they under perform so why not Ronaldinho.

I simply wanted to point out as the thread starter that for me, he doesn't live up to the hype and hasn't for a little while in games when it really matters. No fancy nike ad or 'youtube' clip reel will change my view on that. :)

[eirebhoy]

Ronaldinho is going through a bad patch. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he's just low in confidence atm.

[cullenswood]

I simply wanted to point out as the thread starter that for me, he doesn't live up to the hype and hasn't for a little while in games when it really matters. No fancy nike ad or 'youtube' clip reel will change my view on that. :)

Define "a while". He has been suberb all season in all the big games, bar the Champions League Final, and he didn't have a great world cup. Does this mean we forget about all the other big games that he put in match winning performances in?

[NeilMcD]

Also should it be held against him because he does a Nike ad or people make you tube videos of him.

Also Lampard has been limited for a long time and he should never have been in the top 3 players in the world. he is like David Platt, great to have when you are winning but no good when you wanna keep control of a game. A very limited player in my view and to be honest Eirebhoy said this even when he was grabbing all the headlines for his goals V Bolton and West Ham and Charlton.

[Karlos]

Also should it be held against him because he does a Nike ad or people make you tube videos of him.

Who said it should be held aganst him?

What I actually said was that, for me, a 30 second highlight of flicks and tricks doesn't make up for the other 89 minutes and 30 seconds of match action that he doesn't convince me that he's the greatest ever. That's just my view. I think he's a great talent but over hyped. :)


Also Lampard has been limited for a long time and he should never have been in the top 3 players in the world. he is like David Platt, great to have when you are winning but no good when you wanna keep control of a game. A very limited player in my view and to be honest Eirebhoy said this even when he was grabbing all the headlines for his goals V Bolton and West Ham and Charlton.

I'd like to keep the thread on topic if that's ok. I wasn't comparing Lampard with Ronaldinho or anything like that. All I was doing was saying that if we question one player's performance (i.e. Lampard or Henry) then I can question someone elses, in this case, Ronaldinho. I've had enough debate on the merits of Frank Lampard in the past. Incidently, I share a polar opposite opinion to Eirebhoy on that particular player. :)

[Karlos]

Define "a while". He has been suberb all season in all the big games, bar the Champions League Final, and he didn't have a great world cup. Does this mean we forget about all the other big games that he put in match winning performances in?

As i said earlier, I'm an avid watcher of spanish football and I don't subscribe to the view that Ronaldinho was man of the match in amny of the big games for Barca last season. There's often a touch of the Bryan Robson's with Ronaldinho in my opinion and other players role's as a result get understated.

In general my big problem with football these days is that I feel people (and I mean the powers that be such as UEFA & FIFA) are closing their eyes to the game itself and falling for celebrity.

It's like fast food football in some ways. Here's a big mac, it's ready in 2 mins but is the best food in the world. Here's a highlight reel of flicks, he's the best player in the world, ya know.

We desparetly need to see a defender named world player of the year sometime soon, in my opinion and there's plently of good candidates. :)

[eirebhoy]

Karlos - there's tons of players out there with skill and as fancy on the ball as Ronaldinho. Ronnie on form dominates games. He controls the tempo of games. He doesn't have to score, set up a goal or pull off 1 trick to get man of the match. He's a quality player who I love to watch and deservedly thought of as the best player in the world. It has absolutely nothing to do with his tricks, they just make it all the better as they always come off. He's the Maradona of his generation. Put him in a team full of players of a lot less quality, build the team around him and tell everyone to just pass to him and he'd look like Maradona. Put Maradona in a team full of superstars, stick him on the wing and tell him he's as important as the other 10 players and maybe he'd be the same player that Barca let go.