Portugal v USA; (On Telly)

TimeToShine

Agree with the above but TBF Chile are a stroke above the other two and do have Sanchez + Vidal who is probably the best CM in the world right now.

Cienciano

rarnes1 wrote: »

I wouldn't mind a player throwing hissy fits if he was scoring 60 goals a season!

Fúck no, if he was playing for my team i'd love him.

Rayne Wooney

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pitchside-europe/messi-accused-bullying-insulting-team-mates-point-tears-143707071.html

That Ronaldo fella though, taking his top off and hitting free kicks off target... cheek...

Billy86

Idbatterim wrote: »

I think the one man team is a bit of an insult to his team mates, who can obviously play football and do so to a high standard. He cant achieve anything without them. Look at Chile, Costa Rica, even the United States, these teams are all playing far better than anyone could have possibly expected, without any "star" players... I think if I was in that team, I'd get sick of hearing nothing but Ronaldo Ronaldo Ronaldo, as if the rest of them cant play football and are there to make up the numbers. He takes endless free kicks that he misses, but his team mates probably wouldnt dare stand up and say, I reckon we could get a better result by crossing it etc...

Chile has a lot of talent in their team (why everyone is treating them as such a surprise after they were quality in the last WC also is beyond me), Costa Rica have been a revelation but are more on a hot run of form... and their success has had a lot to do with Joel Campbell, a very highly rated youngster at Arsenal. The USA played well against a Portuguese side that is quite awful outside of the one guy they depend on, and spent 80 minutes click going on in their own box against Ghana like a lower league side in the FA Cup (all credit to them for the result, mind).

I just cannot see how your argument holds weight. Nani is great when on form but is insanely inconsistent, and otherwise Portugal have more or less no attacking talent. Postiga is a journeyman at best, Almeida is scaring nobody, Varela offers very little and did you even see Eder play before? Last night was a typical day at the office for him. All of these guys would struggle to get in the US or Costa Rica teams, never mind Chile or Colombia.

I looked into it, and here is Portugal's record with and without Ronaldo since the last World Cup.

With... played 32, won 19, drawn 7, lost 6... 64 points total (exactly 2 per game)... scored 70 goals (2.19 per game), 26 of which were scored by Ronaldo.

Without... played 8, won 2, drawn 4, lost 2... 10 points total (1.25 per game)... scored 11 goals (1.37 per game).

It really is no exaggeration to say Portugal are half the team without Ronaldo, than they are with him. And we are seeing it in this tournament, with him only at about 70% or so.

Also kind of hilarious that after last night you ended your post with "but his team mates probably wouldnt dare stand up and say, I reckon we could get a better result by crossing it etc..." :pac:

Billy86

Cienciano wrote: »

You're missing the point still. Ronaldo doing it all himself isn't the worst part. It's the 14 year old girl hissy fits and strops he pulls.
And trying to do it all yourself is grand if it works, but if it doesn't, accept the criticism. It's a team game no matter what you think of the team mates.

Care to point out some of his "14 year old girl hissy fits" from the last few years? Because my point is that they are something he has very much grown out of.

As for the second part, not sure what sense that makes? He certainly looks doesn't for Madrid where he has 62 assists in 5 years. It is more so for Portugal because nobody else on that team can finish a chance (which is widely know, Portugal lacking a decent striker had been an issue Figo and Rui Costa were in their teens), but he still creates opportunities that often get wasted, and has set up a lot of crucial goals for them. Like literally just last night. I mean within the last 24 hours we have a perfect example of him doing anything but,"trying to do it all alone."

Trying to aimlessly do a superman on it is, again, a trait of the Ronaldo from half a decade ago.

Too Tough To Die

Billy86 wrote: »

Care to point out some of his "14 year old girl hissy fits" from the last few years? Because my point is that they are something he has very much grown out of.

Complaining to the bench when Bale blasted a free kick over the bar is a recent favourite of mine.

Billy86

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

Complaining to the bench when Bale blasted a free kick over the bar is a recent favourite of mine.

You mean this?

Yeah, that is not at all a classic example of people who hate Ronaldo desperately looking for any excuse they can find, no matter how pathetic. You do realise that every professional footballer to ever play the game as been unhappy wit a team mate screwing up before?

Calling that a "14 year old hissy fit" kind of says it all really. :pac:

Too Tough To Die

Billy86 wrote: »

You mean this?

Yeah, that is not at all a classic example of people who hate Ronaldo desperately looking for any excuse they can find, no matter how pathetic. You do realise that every professional footballer to ever play the game as been unhappy wit a team mate screwing up before?

Calling that a "14 year old hissy fit" kind of says it all really. :pac:

It was a subdued hissy fit. Or petulance if you prefer? He wasn't unhappy with a teammate screwing up - his teammate didn't screw up. He was stroppy because Bale got to take a freekick, and subsequently missed. That is petulance, plain and simple.

I've seen players unhappy with teammates, but to complain to the bench rather than the teammate? I don't recall ever seeing that before.

Billy86

So by hitting the free kick well over Bale didn't mess it up? Interesting.

Subdued hissy fit is a funny term by the way. It's kind of applicable to everyone someone doesn't look absolutely happy as Larry. By subduing (see: suppressing) an outburst, it by very definition is not an outburst.

Too Tough To Die

Billy86 wrote: »

So by hitting the free kick well over Bale didn't mess it up? Interesting.

Subdued hissy fit is a funny term by the way. It's kind of applicable to everyone someone doesn't look absolutely happy as Larry. By subduing (see: suppressing) an outburst, it by very definition is not an outburst.

Very harsh to consider a missed free kick as 'messing up'. If that was messing up then Ronaldo messes up more than just about any free kick 'specialist' i can recall.

It is a funny term. Let's settle on stroppy.