Swango1980
Well-known member
Big night for San Marino. Got their 1st win in 20 years, and their second victory in their history
Cristiano Ronaldo hit his 900th goal last night playing for Portugal, absolutely phenomenal stat.
Goodness knows what the effort would be to keep yourself at that level for so long.
Goodness knows what the effort would be to keep yourself at that level for so long.
Neilds
Assistant Pro
Just think how many he could have got if he learnt to take free kicks properly
He recently scored his 64th free kick but is widely touted as a free kick specialist. He has played over 850 games and, with a (conservative) average of 1.5 free kicks a match (1275 attempts) this means a conversion rate of around 5% - hardly a specialist in my eyes
Pin-seeker
Well-known member
Wonder what Beckhams wasJust think how many he could have got if he learnt to take free kicks properly
He recently scored his 64th free kick but is widely touted as a free kick specialist. He has played over 850 games and, with a (conservative) average of 1.5 free kicks a match (1275 attempts) this means a conversion rate of around 5% - hardly a specialist in my eyes
Swango1980
Well-known member
9.3% in Premier League apparently, 4th best (this survey was done in 2015). Mata was top at 17.9%, albeit a smaller sample size of 25 free kick shots.Wonder what Beckhams was
Lauren Robert just made the Top 10, with 6.5%.
As regards to Ronaldo, not sure anyone claims he is one of the greatest free kick takers of all time? But, if you take the complete package, free kicks, penalties, headers, right foot, left foot, power shots, goal poacher instinct, and any other way you can think a player can score a goal, he is pretty decent
Beezerk
Money List Winner
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
A manager that picks you even when you’re waaaay past your best helps quite a bit
The last manager that had the guts to drop him ( and improve the team ) - didn’t last long
He is holding the team back
Beezerk
Money List Winner
I agree 100%, he’s been an absolute legend but he does need to step back now. Reminds me of England playing Jimmy Anderson a lot last year just so he could get the milestone wicket.
I suspect that dropped significantly over the course of his career.
For most of these players, they score some iconic free kicks and then no one dare question to take them going forward. It's ego and selfish. Ronaldo is an obvious one, Roberto Carlos probably the outstanding example of waste. A proper team player shares them around, they take the one that suits them, let another player take them on other occasions. Frustrating to watch if you are a fan of the team they are playing in. If you are the opposition, you must just grin as they push their team mates away.
Pin-seeker
Well-known member
Juninho got to be up there with best conversion rate.
Swango1980
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure ego, selfishness, confidence, or whatever other word you wish to use often plays a big part at the top of elite sport. I'm reckon many of the top goalscorers of all time could be accused of that trait every now and then. I'm sure there are plenty who have taken free kicks or penalties when someone in the team is better at that time, or shot on goal when they've seen a team mate next to them who could tap it in if they played the simple pass. So, personally I wouldn't use any of those words to diminish a top player, if they've achieved incredible things by being that type of person in the first place. Maybe if Ronaldo's scoring stats were 2% of free kicks, and other players were up around 10-20%, then maybe I'd question it more. But, the odds of any player scoring a free kick are relatively low anyway, and Ronaldo is only marginally lower than that.
Personally, I was disappointed when Bale went to Madrid. Not just because there was talk Utd wanted him. I don't know his stats, but I thought he was an incredible free kick taker, better than Ronaldo. But, it was blindingly obvious that when he went to Madrid, Ronaldo was always going to be the main man, the talisman of Madrid He'd take free kicks, and even in open play, the team would mainly work around getting Ronaldo in on goal. Bale obviously won a good few trophies and made a few quid, but I felt he could have thrived more elsewhere. He could have been the talisman of another club, got to take all the free kicks and have the team play around him.
Pin-seeker
Well-known member
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Ronaldo will go down at prob the best goalscorer
But I will always think he will never been seen in the same light as Messi because of his ego and selfishness
watching him struggle in the Euros was sort of satisfying because his ego was the reason why better players were sat on the bench whilst his country flopped
clubchamp98
Journeyman Pro
Wasn’t his egos fault!
It was a piss weak manager .
Swango1980
Well-known member
I thought his manager picked the team.
And regardless of our own expertise on football tactics and what the Portuguese team needs, I'm sure the Portguese manager is better placed than us to decide what they think is best?
Probably not as clear cut as some of us armchair experts think?
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
I know it’s very hard for you to see criticism of Ronaldo but there is no doubt that the manager is under pressure to include him in the team
We all know how he reacted when he was dumped to the bench - Santos dropped him and Portugal improved
Cristiano Ronaldo's actions against Portugal boss who dropped him | Football | Sport | Express.co.uk
Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Portugal at the 2022 World Cup - and his relationship with head coach Fernando Santos has never been the same since
Martinez has zero backbone - had the perfect chance after the Euros to say - time to end
Cristiano Ronaldo is threatening to hold Portugal hostage until 2026 - Roberto Martinez needs to grow a backbone if he wants World Cup success | Goal.com UK
Roberto Martinez needs to drop Cristiano Ronaldo if Portugal are to have any chance of winning the 2026 World Cup
www.goal.com
Ronaldo is no longer their best striker , there are players playing in a high level
Swango1980
Well-known member
I've been critical of Ronaldo many times before, especially his behaviour when he left Utd. Conversely, I could say you struggle to see anything but negatives around Ronaldo.
I know it’s very hard for you to see criticism of Ronaldo but there is no doubt that the manager is under pressure to include him in the team
We all know how he reacted when he was dumped to the bench - Santos dropped him and Portugal improved
Cristiano Ronaldo's actions against Portugal boss who dropped him | Football | Sport | Express.co.uk
Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Portugal at the 2022 World Cup - and his relationship with head coach Fernando Santos has never been the same sincewww.express.co.uk
Martinez has zero backbone - had the perfect chance after the Euros to say - time to end
Cristiano Ronaldo is threatening to hold Portugal hostage until 2026 - Roberto Martinez needs to grow a backbone if he wants World Cup success | Goal.com UK
Roberto Martinez needs to drop Cristiano Ronaldo if Portugal are to have any chance of winning the 2026 World Cupwww.goal.com
Ronaldo is no longer their best striker , there are players playing in a high level
In relation to him being dropped by Santos, how many games was this? From what I understand he dropped him from a Last 16 game against Switzerland, and Portugal won 6-1. He did the same for the QF against Morocco, and Portugal lost 1-0. Santos was then sacked. I'm not sure this is a great sample size to try and prove any point?
If there is clearly such a better player to play up top for Ronaldo at this time, I'm surprised the Portuguese people are not as adamant as you to demand he is dropped, and booing Martinez every game until he gets sacked for making a decision that nobody else wants? I obviously don't watch Ronaldo much at all now, and he didn't score at Euros. Yet, I though he was involved in a lot of good play, and things just didn't go for him. I was amazed at how athletic he still was at his age. He'll be nowhere what he was at 26, but he is probably a lot fitter than many top strikers in their prime across Europe. If Portugal had Haaland, then I think it would be fairly certain Haaland needs to start. But they don't
Jota is the obvious one, re Portugal. There may be others, I don't follow them that closely. It's pretty evident to most that Ronaldo hamstrings Portugal now. Their choice.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Jota should be starting for them or Ramos ,
A front three of
Leao
Jota
Neto
Would scare many teams
Then take your pick from
Silva , Vitinha , Bruno , Neves , Paulinha behind them is a hell of a team
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Jota has 14 goals in 43 caps. Not exactly overwhelming. I'm still not sure if he's a striker or a winger. Goncalo Ramos looks a great prospect though, 8 goals in 14. I suspect he'll be the one to take over. As long as he can keep himself in the side at PSG, which I've no idea about.
