Before I begin this article, I am going to preface it with a brief statement on my soccer history.
Soccer has and will always retain a special place in my heart.
My love for soccer transcends that of an average fan and has developed into something akin to an obsession. Rationality, for me, triumphs over emotions and that is why I have found it difficult to support the same team for a long time.
In the past nine years, I have supported Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona FC, AC Milan and currently Bayern Munich.
Trophies are also immaterial to me and only a good display of soccer artistry quenches my thirst. This in turn helps me to make rational decisions on most footballing matters, since I am not bogged down by any form of fanaticism.
Case in point—ask any Arsenal supporter who the best midfielder in the world is and the reply would probably be Samir Nasri or Cesc Fàbregas. This is an article for another day, but I highly doubt that Nasri is better than someone like Nuri Şahin (who is one of the most technically gifted players I have ever seen).
In order to further ensure my neutrality, I attempt every Saturday and Sunday to watch every single game involving players I deem to be world class.
For example, last season I watched almost every single Bayern, AC Milan and Inter Milan game after the January break. I also watched a decent amount of Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid games. In the Champions League, I watched every significant matchup.
It is fair to say that if you name any great player, I can tell you somewhat accurately his abilities without “guessing” or making a biased statement.
So please bear with me through this article as I state my case.
Sorry for boring you with my banter. I will now discuss what brought you all here—Cristiano Ronaldo. Often described by some as the “golden” boy of soccer. FIFA World Player of the year in 2008. Ballon D’or recipient in 2008. Fif Pro winner.
Most expensive player in history, valued at $100 million dollars by Real Madrid when they bought him in 2009.
Quickly though, who exactly is Cristiano Ronaldo?
A player who, at 18, cemented his place in Manchester United, taking over from the equally overrated David Beckham. Check.
A player who can probably boast of having the largest fan base, which spans your average soccer joe, all the way to your typical fawning female. Check.
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A player who has won his fair share of trophies. Check.
A very handsome player. Check.
A player privileged to play under the likes of Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Check.
The most overrated player in history.
Double check.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the adjective overrated as—to have a higher opinion of (someone or something) than is deserved.
This is exactly everything Cristiano embodies.
He is talented, no doubt. However, due to some superficial factors and an abundance of people I fondly describe as "nut huggers," his abilities have been grossly overstated.
To begin my analysis of him, I will begin by first of all refuting the so called cons of Cristiano, i.e. everything a typical die hard fan of his would tell you in order to convince you of his god-like abilities.
Case One: Cristiano has won the FIFA World Player of the Year award, which is the most prestigious award any footballer could win.
This is something I hear almost every time I deign it fit to argue about Cristiano.
First off, the FIFA World Player of the Year is as prestigious as the Golden Bin award. No self respecting soccer fan can actually tell me that the award is a just representation of soccer skills.
An award voted for by captains and coaches of National teams simply cannot be taken seriously.
Basically, FIFA is telling me that the coach of a country like Nigeria, who probably only watches matches involving Nigerian soccer prospects, is fit to tell me who the best player in the world is.
I highly doubt so.
In order to increase the validity of the award, FIFA should select a broader sample of individuals to choose the best player.
This year’s award finally exposed the numerous errors evident in the selection process for this award. If you honestly believe that Andrés Iniesta deserved a place in the final three ahead of Wesley Sneijder, please do me a favor and stop reading this article.
Case Two: In 2008, Cristiano scored 31 goals in the best league in the world—the Premier League.
Another often heard statement. I personally find this statement almost as laughable as the U.S. soccer team, especially because I find the “best league in the world” tag that has been attached to the Premier League highly intriguing.
107745071_crop_340x234 Denis Doyle/Getty Images
This tag is a by-product of the influential English media, who somehow manage to control majority of the news materials we get. The same English media that touted a team consisting of the likes of Heskey, Ledley King, Gareth Barry, Crouch and Milner as possible challengers for the World Cup.
The same media that constantly calls any English player who can kick the ball more than two yards a world class player, i.e. David Beckham, Peter Crouch, Frank Lampard, etc.
Well, comparing the Premier League to the La Liga and Serie A is once again an article for another day.
All I can say for now is that of the top 10 most prolific scorers in Champions League history, only three plied their trade in England. Out of the 40 teams that have contested the last 20 Champions League Finals, only seven have been English teams.
The German league, which has fewer representatives, has only two less than that.
Also, the English league's sole period of dominance in the Champions league—‘07 to ‘08—came after a turbulent period for the Serie A—the Calciopoli scandal.
The oft-disregarded UEFA Cup also has similar statistics. Out of the last 26 finalists, only four were English teams.
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Cristiano scored 31 goals in the league, which I confess is a fantastic tally. However, the manner in which he did it is something I will discuss later on.
Furthermore, Wayne Rooney did the exact same thing two seasons later. This reduces how much weight I place on this particular achievement of Cristiano.
Case Three: Cristiano is the most expensive player ever.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is the second most expensive player ever. I am not knocking Zlatan, but the fact that he is second shows how irrelevant transfer fees are when it comes to judging a player’s ability.
This is coming from a fan of AC Milan.
Case Four: Cristiano is the most skillful player alive.
Another statement I have heard on numerous occasions. If you count jumping over the ball 10 times with no end product skillful, then maybe he is. Robinho does the exact same thing and I don’t see him getting accolades for his stupidity like Cristiano does.
The day I see Cristiano score an individually brilliant goal, like Robben’s at Fiorentina or Messi’s at Getafe, is the day I will accept that he is even remotely skillful.
With that being said and done, I will now attempt to explain why I personally think Cristiano is overrated.
Reason One: Cristiano lacks the ability to change a game.
This, in my own opinion, is Ronaldo’s biggest problem. He lacks the most important skill any world-class player should have and that is the ability to turn things around when the going gets tough.
How many games has Ronaldo disappeared in when the going gets tough? In fact, the more important question should be: how many games against world-class defenders has Ronaldo excelled in?
Well, to the best of my knowledge, none.
I can, however, state games against such defenses that Ronaldo has failed to excel in.
Every single Portugal game in a major competition immediately springs to mind, especially Portugal vs. Spain (2010 World Cup) and Portugal vs. Germany (Euro 2008). The El Clasico (’09 and ’10). Manchester United vs. Barcelona(Champions League Final). Real Madrid vs. Valencia and Sevilla.
In the Champions League, only 10 of his 27 goals have come during the competitive knockout stages.
Yet, he has no qualms with scoring hat-tricks against the likes of Athletic Bilbao, Mallorca, Newcastle and co. There’s a word for that: bully.
Reason Two: Cristiano scores way too many simple goals and can’t assist one to save his life.
This in itself is tied to reason one. In the ‘07-‘08 season, Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions. This seems impressive, until you breakdown the type of goals that constituted his tally.
Nine were simple tap-ins, six of them were penalties, five were free kicks and eight were headers that arose due to defensive frailties. The rest were against teams of no consequence.
Coincidence, right?
Last season, Ronaldo scored 33 goals in all competitions. Four were penalties, nine were simple tap-ins and six were free kicks. The rest, as usual, came against teams of no consequence.
Also, he has managed only 25 assists in the past three and a half seasons. Comparatively, Messi managed 25 assists in one and a half seasons.
In my own opinion, a “complete” player like Ronaldo should be able to help the same teammates who assisted him in getting nine simple tap-ins.
P.S. This article was initially meant to be about Cristiano Ronaldo and why he can’t be compared to Messi or Robben, but I decided otherwise because I knew that an all out three-way battle between Bayern, Real Madrid and Barcelona fanatics would ensue.
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