Was Young Ronaldo ACTUALLY A MIDFIELDER?
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- Опубликовано: 1 окт 2023
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Was Young Cristiano Ronaldo ACTUALLY A MIDFIELDER?
When Cristiano Ronaldo exploded onto the scene in 2004, he was far from the player we know today. He was a scrawny 18 year old with blond highlights dancing around defenders at a superhuman level. He had a level of electricity that is maybe found once in a decade… but that was about all to this game. He was in no way the most complete player of all time that we saw a decade later, resulting in his goal tally being practically nonexistent… but there’s potentially another reason behind this. For the past couple of years the matter of whether young Cristiano Ronaldo was a midfielder has been a topic of debate. It’s been an excuse Ronaldo fans have pleaded whenever his goal ratio has been compared to Lionel Messi’s, but is there any actual truth to this?
Now Ronaldo broke into Sporting’s 1st team at 17 years of age 100% due to his dribbling. He contributed just a total of 5 goals in the entirety of the 02/03 season, but this version of him was not designed to be a goalscorer. In sporting’s tactics, he played either out left or out right, in a 4-2-3-1 where his job was to get to the byline and cross to Jardel who was the poacher. Of his 5 goals, one was a header off of a set piece, one was a solo-goal, one was from outside the box, and one was a cross that ended up finding the back of the net. Not goals we typically see from Cristiano Ronaldo. Now, unlike the modern day where everyone knows everything about wonderkids from all over the world in 2003, a young Portuguese winger who wasn’t even a full-time starter wasn’t going to be known by many players or fans. But that all changed when Manchester United agreed to a friendly against Sporting as part of their pursuit to sign Ronaldo. As Mikael Silvestre put it, “At the start, no one had even heard of Ronaldo, but by the end, everyone knew about him”. As a left winger, he would terrorize the entirety of Manchester United’s backline. “This kid had everything. He had speed. He had vision. He had unbelievable skill. He left our defenders in the dust. He tormented Fabien. He performed astonishing tricks with the ball, then shrugged, as if to say, ‘Oh, that’s nothing.’” Sporting would win 3-1, but that hardly mattered. The entirety of Manchester United was fixated on this kid… And just a week later, United would wrap up the transfer, beating out Barcelona and Arsenal agreeing with Sporting a record fee for the teenager.
Now Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United played either a traditional 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 with Van Nistelrooy as a lone striker, or van Nistlerooy and Solskjaer or Forlan in a strike partnership. In this tactical approach, Cristiano Ronaldo was signed to replace David Beckham as the right winger, but not quite the “winger” we think of today, such as Vinicius Jr. or Bukayo saka. To start, he was a right footed right winger, which in the modern era has gone borderline extinct because quite simply, deploying wingers on the opposite flank to their dominant foot is just more effective in 95% of modern tactics. Secondly, these wide players were classified and played much more in the midfield line rather than in the forward line. Think of Pavel Nedved, Luis Figo, or the player he replaced, David Beckham. They all won the ballon d’or, or in Beckham’s case finished second, despite scoring 14, 14, and 8 respectively. Ronaldo, who wouldn’t quite win the ballon d’or that year, would still make it into the UEFA TOTY, despite scoring 6 goals. All of them were so-called “traditional wingers” or “wide midfielders”, who played quite deep where their job was to move the ball from the midfield third into the final third… or, in the final third, beat their man to the byline and cross it in, rather than cutting in and taking a shot themselves. With that being said, don’t think that Ronaldo was Toni Kroos or Xavi. He was never that central midfielder who could orchestrate the game, he played out wide. What made Ronaldo so great, and the reason he was in TOTY was of course his electrifying dribbling… the reason he was signed. He averaged 4.41 dribbles per 90, which if we placed that season into the 22/23 Premier League, it would earn him a very comfortable #1 spot among qualified players.
So yes, Cristiano played as a wide right midfielder in his first 2 professional seasons, and he would continue to play there in 04/05 and 05/06, where his goal tally would slightly increase, but not too anywhere near elite levels. Well he was still an absolute show averaging 4.43 dribbles per game in those 2 seasons, almost as much as prime Messi (4.73), he would start receiving criticism for his lack of end product, and his lack of good decision making in and around the box. He would over dribble there, and when he didn’t do that, his shots went all over the place and his crosses were inaccurate. The media labeled him a “one trick pony” 
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Ofcourse he was a midfielder in the lineup and his job was to win, dribble and proceed with the ball. He has got such world class defending skills too and once had 80 defence rating in fifa. He was also a midfielder in his 1st season at Madrid
He never defended like a center mid. If Ronaldo was a midfielder so is saka, martinelli, Sancho, Antony, because they all play(ed) outside midfield
@@OnlyOneFootball-og9rc spot on about the defensive duties/ effort. he even ran the 10 a handful of times at united, and you could see his understanding of what the 10 does when defending was off by a lot. even as outside midfielder and winger both, he didnt defend how you would usually defend in those positions- but in to be fair that was most likely down to him just understanding his role.
even his attacking positioning as a 10 was shoddy, but i doubt it was something he gave a ton of thought; and it was CR so of course it was effective regardless. he played AM like a CF or SS; his movement and positioning/ involvement was not as deep/ fluid as F9 but obviously not as high/ strict as a target 9 either.
also, i think people forget that real football is not like the games. positions on a teamsheet are far more loose on a real pitch, and it leans more towards a role rather than a position per-se. especially at the highest level, and even more so with a player like ronaldo, you're going to fine-tune positions towards the skills and strengths of the individuals instead of demanding your 433 lineup looks exactly like a 433 in possession and 451 when defending.
why i say he didnt defend like a LM/W or RM/W defends:
when the ball is on the opposite side, normally you would drift into the central to pick up the
backside/loose midfielder (or even an inverted fullback) farthest away from the ball in build up to prevent switches, and in the defensive 3rd just fall back on the inside of your full/wingback to help with potential overlapping and overloading from the opposing fullback or even challenge chances from the top of your box. 99/100 times, ronaldo either stayed in the high/wide position with tons of space. or if Benzema, for example, tracked back to mark the 6- he would move centrally to beat with pace and atleast pressure the CBs to prevent redistribution from clears.
@@OnlyOneFootball-og9rc all the others you mentioned played as inverted wide midfielders which is almost like winger position
are u mad young ronaldo was a side midfielder which is like a winger but in the midfield so yea he is midfield and saka,antony,sancho are winger in a 4-3-3 formation bruh ronaldo played in a 4-4-2 formation if you don't know ball pls don't comment @@OnlyOneFootball-og9rc
i swear these tiktok generation were bunch of dumbass
i would call him a midfielder up until the 06/07 season. using his pace to advance the ball into dangerous positions on the wing was his main objective
so a winger?
@@ofcet yep, wingers are midfielders
@@cadrollhunting3564 no they aren't
@@ofcet of course they are, a winger is an attacking midfielder by definition, what else are the supposed to be?
@@cadrollhunting3564 wingers are not attacking midfielders. they are wingers. if anything, they are forwards but sure as shit not attacking midfielders
Bro literally played on the right side touchline up until 06/07 he became more prolific. There’s a reason he didn’t score in his first 26 UCL games. In his late seasons in RMA he was still a winger on paper and constantly switched sides on the field with Benzema and Bale. Do people really think he was a striker all his career? He was never really a number 9 up until 20-21 season in Juventus. Just a couple years ago ffs. It’s so easy to forget when you have constant media bias and people telling you he was always a poacher.
Just 12-15 year old twitter stans who believe everything they see. And twitter is full of spreading lies.
He was always a Winger until real madrid days where he basically become a second Striker😊
@@snappyego908nope you’re saying rubbish
@@arafatsuleiman6608he’s saying the truth. After 2014, watch games and cr7 was the No.9
@@HB2008shlook at the heat map, was only really a striker in 2017 and 2018, went back to winger style at juventus and now st since 2021/22
3:50 Man, sometimes I forget how good a dribbler CR7 was before his knee injury
He was mostly a skiller
@@COTBBYTHEboyZ ya but I think best one
And also don't forget those years ronaldo completed only 132 and 139 dribbles while messi completed 265 and 220 dribbles
He was a bad dribbler. His speed was the only thing he could use for dribbling. Otherwise he isn't technical at all, those skills you would see in reels and highlights were plain stupid. He would ten skills just to barely pass one single player.
@@vaibhavsharma2700 Am Indian teaching me about football??!!! Shut it up. I've forgotten about football more than you know about it.
Just to show Ronaldo immense mental capability to take in the criticism despite being young and not knowing English. Never gave up. He was backed by a legendary coach. The senior man utd players at the time were great leaders too.
You forgot to mention that the reason he stopped dribbling was due to an injury he still carries today that almost cost him to be at 2014 WC because he did not want to have surgery. The same injury that cost him play the 2016 Euro final. When he came back from that WC he went to surgery but was never the same so Zidane in a brilliant advice told convinced him to be the center forward, wich Cristiano always hated, because he can score easily and he wouldnt have to make as much sprints. And Ronaldo knew scoring goals was the key as his game at United changed level when he started scoring goals. He understood in a Circus everybody likes the clouwns or jogglers but what they paid for is those 2 seconds of the Bullet Man. And if you think of someone who could perform at God level without running a lot, the name that comes to mind is...well... Zinedine. Who other than a 3 BO winner to convince Ronaldo to change position?
After that surgery, he quit doing step overs and those sprints you could still see him do 2 years before, under Mourinho (we all remember those amazing counters) ..
He became obsessed with goals.
Do you know what I like about CR7? He has all these issues but you never see him complain or make excuses. He always finds a way to deal with them. Be it injury or age.
Ronaldo R9 , Ronaldinho and their fans still use the injury card as an excuse.
@@RP-zl5ix facts. Ronaldo literally changed his entire play style after that injury. Not even to mention the mental effect that has coming off 4 60 goal seasons in a row then suffering a serious injury. Yet he somehow came back better
After that injury in 2014, he had his personal best season in terms of goals
@@HieuNguyen0611 yes, because Zidane convinced him to play Center forward which allowed him to make less sprints and less 1v1 situations so he would not get as much physical contact and not as much pressure on the knee with his step overs.
In a few words Zidane convinced him to change his position in order to last longer and score more goals. Other coaches tried to do so but failed. Who else than Zidane (3 ballon d or) could convince him?
@@1individeo zidane didnt coach Madrid till 2015 and he never won 3 ballon d'or
Look at the 2006 fifa team of the year. He was in fifa’s best 11 in a 4-4-2 on the right. That’s called “right midfielder” or even winger, but if a winger plays in a 4-4-2 they are a midfielder too
Bro football not play on paper💀 on field he a winger on line up he midfielder
No, thats a winger
Even tho he started it as a "right midfielder" his real rol was a winger
Just imagine how much young Messi and Ronaldo would be worth now? These two are true super stars. The last one was Neymar. A trickster capable of scoring goals. Very few players like that now.
Yeah also kids these days watch football on yt shorts and edits, they always bring down Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar. Especially, Ronaldo.
forget that RONALDO WAS ABTA BE IN BARCA IMAGINE MESSI CENTER FORWARD RONALDO LW NEYMAR RW
Salah and Mbappe is the example
Imagine saying Ronaldo has no talent? Or that he is pure hard work. He became the ultimate footballer. The most complete ever in my opinion. In 2014 he was in his prime but man utd Ronaldo was special
That hungry is rare
Are people still that clueless as to what the COMPLETE footballer is? Ronaldo has never been the complete footballer. He hasnt won any playmaker awards or been able to switch the play, play eye of the needle through balls or genuinely playmake so hes not the complete footballer. Hes a complete attacker and thats it. Hardly ever got a man of the match without scoring a goal which says he didnt affect the overall team when not scoring. Messi is the COMPLETE footballer.
Ronaldo is a complete goal scorer, sure, but he is not a complete Footballer.
@@DBoyJR187Can Messi defend ?
@@klif4755messi can defend lol
He played as a deep winger. Messi played as a center forward in the time that Ronaldo played as a “midfielder”. That is the only reason this topic is ever even brought up
messi played as a false 9.5 so messi fans could also say messi is a midfielder
@@alt-32 he played center foward in early Barca. Not no 9.5 lmao. He would just sit behind the build up so he can go in for the finish. That is nothing like dropping back with defensive responsibilities as an actual midfielder
Messi half of last season was a midfielder tho
@@afkrodri4858 last season? Who gives af about last season😂
@@ballsballsballs3617 well that’s my question who gives Af about 16 years ago
Ronaldo in 2007-2009 was still playing right midfielder. Also, I don’t think the midfielder thing can be used because when Messi played false 9 and inverted winger, he would drop deep, especially in his later years. Great video tho
Yeah Messi definitely dropped deep in his later years but I mean during his false 9 years he was the leading man, and during his iw years before 2008 he was just a typical iw. Appreciate the comment❤️
You do know, a wide midfielder in a 442 is considered a winger. Even cr7 admitted he was a winger at man United
@@HB2008sh fr
People bring it up cuz when Ronaldo was playing midfield Messi was running center forward.
@@ballsballsballs3617 yet he still was higher up on the pitch
Position wise, yes he was a midfielder, but his role was a traditional winger
yeah its like when your shown as a center mid on the starting xi but the coach actually wants you to play as a cam
Yeah but you do realize he was still not even close to goal at all so making him a midfielder who brought the ball up from midfield all the way to net to help his strikers or center forwards score goals.
@@pollos1
so what that means you’re CM AND CAM at the same time, just like Marcelo at Madrid LB/LM, or Messi RW/CAM in 2015
@@elbuki4006 yeah
EXACTLY
At United I believe he started out that way, he was the replacement for Beckham after all. I think SAF influenced by Carlos Queiroz realised he could better use his talents further forward and this when we played with a front three. Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez. His transformation was complete after bad injury and at Real he became the striker we know him to be today.
The excuse of ronaldo not scoring bc he was a ‘midfielder’ is only to hide that ronaldo needed quite a long time to learn to be more efficient. there’s plenty of interviews where former teammates explain ferguson had really drilled that he needed to stop showboating into him. One of the reasons he played in the midfield line, was so that he had the space to make his runs, bc the occasional time that ferguson did play him in 433, he kept losing possession in small spaces, while 50m sprint allowed him to use his speed in a 1v1.
Not to mention, messi’s entire career heatmap is that of a cam, regardless of his position on the line up sheet.
Imagine what he learned just to become the topscoarer of all Time 😂
You can make the excuse you want Messi but till 2012 had him great advantage of goals AND the difference still growing. No to mention Messi had greater aproch to the net since the beagining. Ronaldo didnt care about goals backthen he just enyoied the field, he was a showman
@@carlosdelgado6205 all he learned was to stop showboating and focus on finishing, what some rather degradingly call tapping in! It wasn’t some mega transformation, all he had to do was pass the ball or shoot on goal when in a good position, instead of 10 stepovers.
Meanwhile for the majority of his career, again, messi’s heatmap actually shows he operates in areas that we normally associate with a cam!
The point being, messi actually operated as both an attacking midfielder as well as winger and still produced the same amount of goals as ronaldo did, while also delivering assists and creating heaps of chances for others even though messi generally had to go through 4 or 5 opponents , while ronaldo generally only had to deal with 1 direct opponent in a 1v1 either on a counter attack sprint or in the box to tap in or cross/square it for benzema.
Not to mention manchester united, real madrid, as well as juve, had no issues with giving the ball to the opponent, to then hit them on the counter attack, by letting them have possession to try and make the game and figure out something, while barcelona and later on even psg both prioritized possession based football, meaning the majority of the time messi faced a parked bus he had to go through, yet his goal scoring efficiency and accuracy is higher than ronaldo, as he needs less shots on target to convert it to goal than ronaldo.
Even messi had to learn this as he did not start becoming a constant factor until 2008,
And the couple of years messi played as a false 9, and solely focused on the role of a finisher, mans showed up with 91 goals in a year.
In the end, ronaldo was never a midfielder and even when he played as a striker or finisher, he was never as clinical and efficient as messi even though ronaldo had more time and space 90% of the time.
I think you have to look at this case relative to other players because a lot of judgment is being done with a bias. Ronaldo in his first season was a wide midfielder, he was brought in to replace Beckham. Beckham played in the same position and he's called a midfielder. Ronaldo who also played in the same position and had the same role is considered a 'wide forward'. Mostly to discredit his performance in his early days as he didn't score many goals. But he was still one of the best players in the world during that time.
Not people, Ronaldo himself said that he was a pure winger.
Nicely done. He primarily played as a wide player for about 3 consecutive season before getting in to box more frequently but in couple season with Madrid played as a winger and the same for Portugal
Nope
@@arafatsuleiman6608 lol
Imagine despite all that and being far from the net and playing in the midfield at the wing for seasons, he become the top scorer of the game 🐐 something isn't talked about enough
I don't care what anyone says, those step overs are amazing! He was a joy to watch, what a great football player, it's still entertainment and nowadays no one can deliver like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, amongst others, could!
Ain’t no way Ronny considered playing at Valencia 💀
Ronaldo before that talk with Ferguson in 2006 is was a different player and a different person. His transformation is insane. If you love ronaldo. You know how much credit sir alex deserves
Banger im happy this is getting recommended
Appreciate that bro❤️
This just makes me appreciate both more, they have both set a new standard for others to reach.
His position was as a lm due to the 4-5-1 formation Ferguson used to play.. but he was never played a typical midfielder role.. he was a pure winger
missed those good old days when young cr7 played at man utd..... i still remember i was watching and crying when they lost , not on his fault....
😂
So what you're telling me is that Ronaldo and Messi are both gods in fútbol and it doesn't matter which one you like more since they were both pretty much equal? 😌😂
🔥🔥🔥
if you know ball, you know messi pretty much clears everyone
Yes in their absolute prime which lasted for 9-10 years they had a goal ratio of more than 1. We are talking about 500 or so games give or take 50 games.
That has never been done before for that long of time by anyone I doubt anyone will.
@@bonaventuretindin8494 That’s where we need to retrospect
Messi and Ronaldo go toe to toe in some aspects
In some aspects Messi’s better
In Some aspects Ronaldo’s better
But since Messi Won the World Cup he is now the better one
@@Thekingslayer-ig5seSo do trophies matter or skills?
Great video
The channel has great potential, keep it up I subbed brother
❤
Another thing about Messi is he in his early years also played as more of a pure winger. He was just more effective at cutting in. It wasn’t until 2008-09 when Pep came in when he was able to play freely. In fact Rio Ferdinand practically confirmed this when he said that containing Messi when they played in the 07-08 CL semis was difficult but possible since he was more pinned on the right side compared to the next season and 10-11 where he claims they simply couldn’t contain him. Also Messi has always played deeper if you look at his heat map compared to Ronny. Both had similar starts as more midfield wingers and developed into inverted wingers with Messi also playing as a false 9 and Ronny as a striker for some years. Both great players. But saying Ronny’s goal ratio is worse purely bc of his position is simply false.
Messi did not start as a pure winger. You can't be a player that primarily cuts in and be a pure winger. He was an inverted winger pre-Guardiola. Ronaldo really only played as a true #9 post 2021 at club level. He played in a 2 striker formation at Madrid (16/17 and 17/18), and he played as an IF during his Juve years and during 14/15 and 15/16 at Madrid.
@@JW.Football nah man Ronaldo played as a number 9 when Mandzukic freed up space in Ronaldo's 2nd season at Juventus 2020 and ever since then he played as a no.9 or poacher.
Going to Messi point the guy made. Messi has always played the way he is playing now but difference is before Guardiola era he had less freedom compared to when Guardiola took over which was understandable because there were established names like Eto, Ronaldinho who had their own space which Messi couldn't occupy. When Pep decided to make Messi THE main guy in 2007 everyone had to make room for Messi's movement which was all over the attacking third. So he isn't completely wrong.
You just can't accept that Messi started his carrer as a foward then being a main man in 07 as Ronaldinho left out but he kept being foward. He might be deep in games but never had defensive tasks or ball recovery. There Is a big difference of starts.
@@carlosdelgado6205 No Eto was in the middle. Messi played off the right. As for defensive duties. Messi literally has better defensive stats then Ronny all across the board. And regardless of defense my argument when saying he played deeper is that playing deeper means you'll have less opportunities to shoot. This is why Messi has less shots per game and a higher shot on target percentage. If Ronny playing as a midfielder affected how often he shot then maybe there would be an argument. But the fact is Ronny shot more than Messi regardless because he played more forward.
@@phistoltv5196cr7 played on the wings in juve you can literally check his heat map online
His ability to score has increased but his dribbling ability decrease age and injury factor.
still, he average around 1.5 successful dribbles as a striker at 39 nearly. yet he has 48 g/a in 2023.
@@Darko_Boibut he not performing well with international team. I want him to perform like old times
@@Darko_Boimate he is playing in saudi league and he is playing in Euro qualifiers against Luxumbourg and San marino😅
@@Username-mn7pcCristiano fans. 😂😂😂
If we’re putting this like this, anybody responsible for middle third ball carrying and progression is a midfielder. Hazard, Messi, Neymar, Benzema can all be classed as midfielders by this metric
I don't you understand a wide midfielder is different
Wide midfielder is different
Your channel is going to blow up soon
❤️
From 2003-2008 Man Utd played 4-4-2 formation:
4 defenders
4 midfielders
2 attackers
Beckham, Giggs, Nani and Ronaldo played the same position in a 4-4-2 formation which is a wide midfielder (right/left).
Bro very less fans use the thing about midfielder but the actual reason is messi has done things only in one club the gameplay has been always same team remains same but ronaldo played in three different clubs where he has to change his gameplay lot... simply if Ronaldo has played for real like messi in barca then the debate wouldn't even exist
Never in his whole career , was Ronaldo ever a better player than Messi . 2022 world cup finished the debate once and for all. Thanks Perez and Uefa for giving Ronaldo a career😂
U talk like ronaldo even had to adjust. Every team he went to,he was the main guy and the team was built around him. So dont speak nonsense here.
There is a HUGE difference between a winger in a 4-3-3 formation like Messi and Salah and between a midfielder in a 4-4-2 formation like Ronaldo and Beckham
Winger in 4-4-2 system until 2006 until Ruud was at Utd. Left inside forward between 2007-14, Centre forward with some involvement on wings since 2014 (only started at left on paper but drifted centrally just 15-20 min into the match). This is only club level. He has been playing center striker for Portugal ever since Euro 2008 or WC 2010 if memory serves right.
Yes, he was primarily a wide midfielder up until around the 06/07 season - 07/08 season (around 4-5 years)
We signed him as a direct replacement for Beckham who left for Madrid that same year.
Fergie literally had him taking corners and shit 😂🤦♂️
Fergie's bread and butter was the 4-4-2 formation (that was just the English football standard at the time tbh, the classic 4-4-2, or some variation of it) and it was wasn't until Van Nistelrooy left for Madrid that he started exploring new formations.
With Van Nistelrooy now out of the picture, it left room for Ronaldo to take a more involved role in attack, and he shined in that 06/07 season.
Then in the 07/08 season, Fergie fully adopt3 a more modernised style of play (4-3-3) and that was the first year we saw Ronaldo play as a forward winger, or what is now know simply as a "winger".
Rest is history...
All facts
U forgot to add Ronaldo Goal keeping part
He was a wide winger traditional winger from 03/04-05/06 after the 2006 World Cup he became more attacking as his role changed and he added some much needed mass 06/07 was a transitioning period in his style of play he played a bit deeper but was still apart of the attack much more than prior seasons 07/08-08/09 he could play in either wing positions or striker and would switch in any attack role could play in any position in the attack having positional freedom primarily stayed as a RW having insane end-product 06/07-08/09 united won 3 league titles big reason for that was adjustment to Ronaldo’s play-style becoming a statistical machine
He was much more into freestyling on the pitch and enjoyed it more so he didn’t really fulfill the RM duties to its fullest and showboated around the midfeild area this gave him the reputation of a guy with no end product from 02/03-05/06
I think Ronaldo's skills in his younger years and playing for ManU at that time was a gradual transition where we see him evolve from a MF/Winger into an attacking winger/forward. Ronaldo's greatness is based around his adaptability where he was asked to play and grow in one way at ManU and another while at Madrid, and that is often overlooked. Mourinho laid it out perfectly when he discussed the difference between Ronaldo and Messi, and why things were harder for Ronaldo. I keep telling people that Messi is definitely a GOAT level player and I place him right alongside Ronaldo, but Ronaldo is more unique based around his career ascension. Ronaldo took huge risks having to go to other top leagues and repeating the same individual and team successes. It is all the more impressive when you see how he started at United as more of a winger playing wide in the midfield and turning into a striker/forward at Madrid (his late years there) and Juve.
Ronaldo was a unicorn.
Ronaldo appearing on uefa team of the year as a midfielder proofs how he was a midfielder
but he won UEFA best forward in 2008
Even ronaldo said in old utd days he played more as a winger
Rm are mixture of winger and midfielder I can give you heat map of Ronaldo in 2007 he was clearly a midfielder
@@gamingoffice8847 syfu,Don't act like you know more than ronaldo
@@gamingoffice8847 Show the heat map of his stint at United. If Ronaldo was a midfielder at United, then Messi has been an attacking midfielder his entire career.
Bro dd side quests gave everyone their chances to score more goals than him...bro now worked on his game to beat everyone.....this guy is the goat nothing or nobody can convince me otherwise.....if he wasn’t the best he had no reason being World top goal scorer.....while having the most assists in the UCL Nd Euros....that’s mental....
Ronaldo's career is so diverse that's why he is my favourite player.
He knows how to adapt...
These numbers are just unreal .🔥
These two are like literal Gods of football.
Diego is god of football. Messi,CR are modern greats
07/08 Ronaldo was so much fun to watch. Complete in every aspect and infinite pace.
Man forget about ronaldo vs messi but just seeing what they did and did it for such a long time consistently makes them the greatest idk if anyone can come close to them ever
The fact that since 2008 when after he actually started playing in the forward or attacking half more practically he has the best goal ratio than anyone else.
One cant deny the fact that he is the greatest goal scorer of all time.
actually messi has a better goal ratio, he just has less matches played
all nice but he is not
@@maxwellnails so whooo
Messi is better goal scorer@@vm17.7
messi lol@@vm17.7
An offensive winger is still a midfielder mate, as well as a false 9 is still a striker, he was no Xavi for the simple fact his characteristics and duties in the pitch were different. Ronaldo was the same cut as Eden Hazard, Leroy Sanne, William, Bale, Lennon, etc etc etc all fast attacking MIDS. In England midfielders are not strictly labeled as passing maestros playing at the back. Since it is a much more physical and fast paced game they need pacey box to box good crossers, Ronaldo added goals to the mix and had free roam because he was an all round beast. That's all there is to it.
So True sir
He was what call ALA here in Brazil. basically an very offensive fullback.
The Mike korzemba music 😂
CR7 is a winger who became a goal-scorer
He was just an immature ineffective midfielder until in season 06/07 he suddenly became a great goal scorer and he started to realize that all his showboat skills were ineffective and started reducing them.
After turning into a great goal scorer, he wasn't really a midfielder, because at that time every ball in the final third he always ran off the wing, and was even in a "more striker" position than Rooney or Tevez.
Ronaldo was just a rotation player back then until 2005 , also you are wrong Rooney , tevez and cr7 rotated their positions continuously so as to provide a unpredictable attack , which was further precedented by cr7's own unpredictable factor of play.
He played in midfield but not center but he is the only player who can attack and defend in the situation
My guy no
Ronaldo said he played as a pure winger not a midfielder
@@BiggestBirdonMarsdon’t you understand he was both?
developing wingers' ability to cross the ball, whilst promoting relationships and understanding with strikers and other attack-minded team mates
@@BiggestBirdonMarsthat what a more of a midfielder or Rm do
imagine barcelona signed him, ronaldo and messi on the same team would have been crazy, you end up with best goal scorer itw and best creator itw on the same team.
Imagine the msn but its ronaldo over neymar!
he played as a RM but played much forward than any usual midfielder so basicially a RW
Still a Midfielder even in 2008, still helped in defensive duties
Nope
Won uefa best forward in 2008…
@@rgg_5645 would you give that award to a forward who scored less goals than a midfielder? No, exactly
@@nicholaslopez2156 he wasnt a midfielder. common knowledge. referred to as a forward, played as a forward, manager and teammates saw him as the forward. I mean bro, even watch some of his matches
If u said that u probably not even born yet in 2008💀 Ronaldo is a winger that time
messi has always dropped way back to control the match
Another banger can’t wait to see more
Weo
I believe we should check the assists and total score, not just goals
Well check header goals, weakfoot goals, long range goals too
Great video and truly the only way you can compare the two players
Played wide dropped deep first season there
Well wingers were consider midfielders back in the day…
I disagree. Ronaldo was still a midfielder at Man UTD, what primarily changed was his role and partner. With Ruud he was playing with someone who stayed up top which restricted some of his qualities as a scorer and his main job was to cross, with Rooney he played with someone who can play up top or drop to combine with Ronaldo thus opening up the spaces. He also got the freedom to roam and change flanks but his main role was as a midfielder and United primary offensive player as he was their most gifted. Even in his first 4 seasons at Madrid it was the same but in 4-2-3-1, so now he was more closer to the goals and he still was Real's primary offensive player. Ronaldo mainly moved to a front 3 when Bale arrived and Ozil left and was more of a striker from the 2015/16 season.
This is why his goal tallies in the late 2000s and early 10s are absurd because we had never seen a winger do this on this level maybe since George Best in the 60s and usually your best offensive players are players who mainly operate in the middle and sometime move wide and drop deep to start plays. There we times between 2004-2014 where he did play as a striker but that was not what he did as his main position, even for Portugal.
that is called a inverted winger... messi never played as a striker with your logic lol.... a bit beside a cf doesnt mean you are a midfielder
@johnwickgaming1823 it is not my logic and in a 4-4-2 there are 4 midfielders. Ronaldo was listed as one and he was allowed to roam after Ruud left instead of being a wide playmaker like Beckham. He became more inverted at Real Madrid.
Messi on the other hand is a striker, always has been. Just like The Fenomeno, he starts up top and is allowed to roam and create overloads in midfield and start attacks because of his individual ability. Their skillset might differ but they were essentially fulfilling the same role. At Argentina, because of the plethora of offensive talent, they tried him as a 10 after Riquelme left and he struggled because of the limits of the role and the spaces in that area, which is why he works best as a 9 or 9.5 as some people might say.
@@sskmanentsa5326Do u even understand the formation?? The wide midfielders have the same role as wingers. I can rename their position as wide demons,it doesnt change the roles. He said it himself in an interview. Understand how formations and player roles work first before blabbering shit.
Ronaldo already a wide forward/winger after nisterooy left, because during nisterooy the team job is to assist nisterooy, after he left the team move from one player to 3 player who score goal, rooney Ronaldo tevez, Ronaldo should not become top scorer if he was a midfielder, Rooney who not considered midfielders do more midfielders job than the "midfielders" ronaldo
@@kamui4708 your output does not dictate your position. Pasarella scored like a midfielder but he was a centre back. United always had two up top, in 06-07 it was Rooney and Saha/Solskjær. In 08 Tevez arrived. By late 08 he was extremely versatile that he could be deployed anywhere in the attacking set but he was always a midfielder first. Even when you watch the games, the commentators are marvelling at his output because he is not a striker/forward. He primarily received the ball on the wing and he hugged the line.
In 4-4-2 formation the wingers go deep and they are called right and left midfielders , their role is almost a winger but deep, don't misunderstand by its name
You said it correct but the admin is a ronaldo fan😂 he admits ronaldo is a winger but also want to add the midfield to it😅 actually it is RMF or LMF which is deep lying wingers based on different formations mostly seen in 442
@@lucid.6610 yeah theirs "mid" in their names for a reason but not in 442 formation , midfielders are those who control tempo not wingers who make runs ,these kids nowadays thinks rm or lm is actual midfielder who controls play but it is not it is
@@charan3925 Thats why Messi is an alien like he can be a CMF,LMF,AMF,LWF,SS,CF....
Messi can control the game like other deep midfielders and also master in every passing
@@lucid.6610 the god of the game🐐
Did you… watch the video? He explained how he wasn’t a midfielder in 2006/2007 2007/2008, and that he was a midfielder before. Do you think it just happened for him to go from an average goal scorer to the best of all time?
Perisic is a definition of left/right midfielder. Ronaldo was definitely a winger after van left.
Lets not forget Ronaldo only started to hit freekicks and penalties for his team consistently in 2007/8 season when Messi at his tender age of 19 was already designated player thats a ton of goals Ronaldo could have imput!
Jude Bellingham going through the same route
He was like if Ronaldinho and Messi had a baby until 2006
Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Michael Carrick were midfielders. Ronaldo, Giggs, Beckham were wingers. End of
Why these idiots only think that a midfield means central midfielders
Here is something new idiot there are rm and lm central mid defensive mid and attacking mid not only so when you hear someone say midfield it's not only central mid okay cause it looks like u are new to football
Are you aware of the term wide midfielders Johnny boy?
@@granger005obviously you know more than Ronaldo bro . Ronaldo said he was a winger at united but an African expert knows more😂😂
@@Username-mn7pc I'd like you to cite the source from which CR7 claimed he was a winger btw,you seem to know too much about the guy even for a passionate hater 😂
How is this a question ?? That was what he played as in man united
He never was. Where would a winger play in a 4-4-2 formation. He was just a winger.
what if barcelona had won the bid and taken ronaldo, damm messi and ronaldo at the same team
15 cls in a row haha
Ronaldo was a winger in a 4-4-2
He had Rooney and Tevez up top. Carrick and scholes in the double pivot and Giggs/Nani on the other wing. So he was a midfielder
But not a defensive midfielder... He was z midfielder mile Giggs/Beckham before je exploded
I mean technically thats correct but thats not exactly how it played out. Giggs and Ronaldo were both wingers in a 4-4-2, but Giggs dropped a lot deeper and Ronaldo played more forward.
@@JW.Football sure but still a midfielder in a 4-4-2 Maradona was a midfielder and he never defended anyone. Zizou can't defend but was still a midfielder... gatusso on the other hand can't dribble or shoot but he is also a midfielder.
this very well done, thank you
Messi was the center of the team from day 1. He had the best midfielders in history passing to him. Ronaldo had to carry the team. Let s be real, united without him was an average the team. They had aging scholes and giggs, and many average players like fletcher o shea anderson and honestly nani ( he was never half the player ronaldo was). Then he came at a pretty bad Madrid which exited UCL 5 years in a row. In the last 16!
Messi benefited from the 87 generation favourite. The moment Pep left Barcelona Ronaldo outshined Messi for 5 years. Then Ronaldo and Messi got outshined by Mbappe who outscored them in that period, and now Haaland outscores them as well. Messi dominated football 2009 2012. Ronaldo 2013 2018. We have 2008 for Robaldo and 2019 for Messi. Except these years it doesn t matter that much both of them got kicked out very fast in UCL and decreased their level.
insane glazing bro, when pep left Messi was obviously injured and can't play the same until 2014 and outshine ronaldo in 2015. Rest is history why people called Messi the goat
Messi wasnt the main man until pep arrived. Guy forgets team was about ronaldinho till 2008. That false 9 position u talk was tried first time in 10/11 season,before that he was rw
You should lay off the rag weed bro. Man United was the dominant team and the best english team by a good margin when Ronaldo join them.
As a Real Madrid fan,I can only thank God he stayed till we picked him up at Man utd.
MU young Cristiano is Insane 🐐
8 minutes to tell you while I can do that in 1 second--yes
messi and ronaldo could've been A duo?!?!
Food for thought..... Why Hollywood hasn't made a movie on cristiano and messi's life... It will be more entertaining than the whole MCU
Cristiano is the GOAT FOR EVER ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
nuh uh
Ronaldo played as an attacking midfielder under Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics
Bro please upload a new video
My sources say he was a goalkeeper for 5,000 years.
He was a defender too bro😂😂
See the video lol
I usaully don't suggest becuase i dislike it, but i would love for you to do Endrick, Rasmus Hojlund, arda Gular and Garnacho for the next up coming videos. Not because I've fallen in love with their skill, or I've been following them for long, but because I want to know how good the competition is for sure.
People when someone say Zlatan is a great dribbler: 🤓👏👏🥳
Same people when they are shown Ronaldo being literally a midfielder: 👺😡🤬❌
He started out as "CR7".
Fair!
His job is like giggs not like bekham in united
A player having defensive duties dont score goals that much except Ronaldo
You can also see how Mourinho make Ronaldo do defensive duties or ozil..etc
Messi is already a wc winner
No need to completely different guys
But one thing i can 100% tell you don't follow messi footsteps because only maradona like player can do like that
Follow Ronaldo good examples
Pretty sure most Messi fans who started watching football during Covid would riot if they got to the end of the video where you mentioned Messi's false 9 position in his best seasons.
what?
Whaaa ? U brain dead ? The period where he won 4 balon dor in a row ? Ofc that’s his prime lol. While I find 14/15 Messi to the most complete. 09/12 was where he reached the status of best in the world.
Rooney sacrificed his game and would move to the wing for cr7 could move central. Rio Ferdinand talks about this.
Beznema would do the same .
The Benzema case is a pretty intriguing case. Contrary to popular belief, he was in the same amount of goal-scoring positions during the last 2 seasons with Ronaldo, and in the next 2 seasons without Ronaldo. In 16/17, his xG/90 was 0.63, in 17/18 it was 0.58, in 18/19 it was 0.57, and in 19/20 it was 0.60. It was just that during his time with Ronaldo, he underperformed his xG (-12), and when he wasn't with Ronaldo he over-performed (+2). It was only during his last 2 seasons with Madrid that his numbers really went up (0.85 and 1.05).
Can't dribble they say.
As a Messi 🐐 Fan, I really hope both Messi & Cristiano get to 1000+ goals before full retirement & Cristiano would get more goals than Messi by some margin but in every other aspect like G+A, playmaking, dribbling, free kicks Messi stays ahead and win the biggest individual award The Super Ballan d’or.
Nah
You mean the trophy that he robbed from lewa..
@@panda1412. change your name from panda to Penaldog. Why are you here in the internet kid when you can’t even read.
@@slaybial1 what nah? State your own facts elsewhere crying penaldog🐶
Biggest Robbery individual Trophy
if he did ST position from the start, he'd have score more than +150
He was never really a true #9 till very late in his career
So you are also saying nedved wasn't a midfielder
did u just say the most complete player😕
Simple answer, no he was not. How do i know? He said it himself
why is no one ever talking about what would of happen if barca actauly signd ronaldo
they would have won every single trophy available from the late 2000s to the early 2020s lol
who would in the balon dor messi or ronaldo ?
@@JW.Footballwhat about making a video on this topic😊
Why talk about something that never happened? Nor is it an interesting enough topic.
I'm a Ronaldo fan and Ronaldo fans always embarrass us when they bring up the midfield thing. Yes, him being a midfielder is an OK point to bring up when comparing their goals to game ratio but you guys never bring up the MAIN point. RONALDO PLAYED IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE, THAT POINT ALONE is enough! He played there for not just 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years and as a youngster and if you think playing in the premier league doesn't affect goal ratio then or even now, you're a moron. It's no coincidence that when he was done at Real madrid, having more goals than appearances, the 150 goals difference between he and Messi came from Sporting and Man Utd.
That said, thank you for this video, it makes me appreciate Ronaldo even more, remembering that he went from that to become the greatest goalscorer of all time.
I know the Premier League is different now (practically a super league), but back in the late 2000s and all of the 2010s, La Liga vs PL was super close and for most of the 2010s La Liga was the best league itw. GPG shows that scoring in the Prem isn't any harder than La Liga or Serie A.
@@JW.Football No PL was even tougher back then too
@@Thekingslayer-ig5se that is correct. Scoring a hat trick in the PL was not something you saw often.
@@JW.Football La Liga and PL were both good in terms of pull. But as far as goal scoring, in the PL, scoring was far more difficult.
@@Gray_xo Defence was so strong in PL
And the thing with Pl is so so many teams are competing for the top 4 compared to other leagues
I see here only Pessidogs are denying that he was a midfielder and I can see why. These dogs are special they can change the definition of a certain position, truly astonishing 🤯
I am struggling to see the point of this video, i mean obviously ronaldo was a winger before Real, which makes him a midfielder.
😮I more love YOUNG RONALDO🎉