Global Football Corner

[Lex Dance]

The idea behind this thread is the discussion of all things football-related (football as in soccer!) The idea has come from the UK Corner but is in no way intended to be restricted to UK football supporters. Please be aware however that this thread is not for the bashing of other teams - save that for the terraces. Mind you, what would a football debate be without a little bit of oneupmanship?
So here we go.......

Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world at £80M. Discuss.

[I_AM_LEX_LUTHOR]

I am a Rangers FC fan (or Glasgow Rangers FC to others)

Thanks LexDance for creating this thread, you are a legend

£80m pounds for any player is ridiculous, Ronaldo is a great player but no man is bigger than his club and i'm sure Man Utd will find someone equally great to replace him.

[Lex Dance]

Whoops - forgot to pledge my allegiance! I'm a Chelsea fan (and before anyone casts aspersions as to the validity of my claim, I'm talking about Chelsea in the days of Kerry Dixon and the dog track around the outside of the pitch!)

Good to have you along, Andy. My pleasure!

[obsessedwithsv]

Hehe, I like the "Global" addition, .

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Red Devils of Manchester .

Anyway, back to Ronnie. £80 million is obviously a huge amount of money but is it really excessive? Aside from the actual football aspect of things and the fact that he is currently the world #1, he will no doubt bring a huge amount of revenue to Real on his marketing ability. He'll make Real that back in no time .

Who does anyone rate as a good enough replacement?

[costas22]

Hello! Even though i am Greek, i support Man United. I lived in England for 3 years when i was a kid and the first football team i watched was United. So it's not a glory hunter type of thing. Besides, we lost the first game i ever saw!

Good idea to open this thread. I never though Smallville and football can go together! Since Ronaldo is our topic, i will throw my 2 cents. United have done what's best for business. You can only fight the devil for so long. Now Real have to deal with all the negative aspects of Ronaldo. United should not look to find the next Ronaldo. There is no one out there. We are talking about a player tall, well built, good in the air, with a poweful shot and with majestic skills. I say, we have to find 2-3 top level players to fill in out gaps. Instead of making a top class winger out top priority, maybe we should find a goalscoring midfielder like Iniesta. We haven't had one since Scholes.

[Lex Dance]

^^^^^ I wonder what it would do to his self-esteem if they replaced him with Lionel Messi for £80M+?
Not that I think for one second Messi is going anywhere for any amount of money.
Real will defintely recoup their outlay - I remember reading somewhere about the ridiculous amount of money shirts bearing the names Ronaldo, Figo and Beckham earned them in the previous Galacticos era.
Do you have him down as the World's No 1 then, Lauren? That was obviously the sub-plot of the CL final.
As much as players like Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi get that tag, my "best" players in the world are the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Essien (and Keane before them).

EDIT: Ey up Costas! Thought you might you show up sooner rather than later.

[costas22]

Yep. When there is football, i am always around! As i said above, i think Iniesta, Gerrard, Lampard and Essien are more important to a team than a world class dribbler. If it weren't for them, people like Ronaldo and Messi would have to go pick up the ball from the defenders themselves. Messi is the best out of the two, IMO.

[I_AM_LEX_LUTHOR]

Yep. When there is football, i am always around! As i said above, i think Iniesta, Gerrard, Lampard and Essien are more important to a team than a world class dribbler. If it weren't for them, people like Ronaldo and Messi would have to go pick up the ball from the defenders themselves. Messi is the best out of the two, IMO.

I would say that Messi is definetely the most skillfull player in the world (Ronaldo a close second) , but it all comes to nothing if you haven't got good players playing along side you.

We at Rangers have no real world class players but we do have a team spirit that is worth a lot more to me than £80m. The majority of the players play for the jersey and the rest don't deserve to pull on the blue shirt. That is worth alot more than any one player no matter how good he is

[costas22]

Players playing with their heart are priceless for me. They will never get the headlines, but they are the unsung heroes of football teams.

I must admit, that i loved the atmoshere that i heard from the television when we visited Ibox in 2003. It has to be the loudest stadium we have ever played in.

[I_AM_LEX_LUTHOR]

Players playing with their heart are priceless for me. They will never get the headlines, but they are the unsung heroes of football teams.

I must admit, that i loved the atmoshere that i heard from the television when we visited Ibox in 2003. It has to be the loudest stadium we have ever played in.

Yeah I would happily take 11 men wanting to play for the jersey over 11 superstars anyday even if it means we win nothing.

Anyone who ever visits Ibrox says it is one of the most atmospheric stadiums in the world We sing and chant no matter what the score!

I still believe their is no rivarly like the Old Firm (Rangers- Celtic)

[TMLS]

Shrewsbury Town fan here... live in Burton-on-Trent though so Burton Alibon hold a very special place too, interesting to see what happens now they're in the same league this year! Man U are my Premiership team.

[27CDruid]

Im a United fan myself. Lets be honest the Ronaldo deal was always going to happen. Might as well take the money and run. Maybe he will become fat, broken and useless like the other Ronaldo?

The best players in the world right now i would list as Essien, Vidic and Casillas. Frankly i think strikers in particular have been poor in the last 2 or 3 years. Midfielders have faired a bit better. Gerard and Xavi narrowly missed my cut for top 3. If the champions league final showed us anything its that Messi can be marked out of a game by Wayne Rooney and that Ronaldo can't get past a backup centre defence.

£80m is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Considering the value of winning the Champions League is over £100m then spending £80m on a young player who could help you achieve several along with some home trophies and add to that shirt sale income, it seems a sound financial investment.... As long as his legs don't break spectacularly.

I lived with both Rangers and Celtic fans in the past. Great banter!

[Lex Dance]

Yep - I have the Old Firm down as the best derby in the world alongside Boca Juniors vs River Plate. I heard the Norwich/Ipswich derby described as the Old Farm the other day!
TMLS - thought you might come out of UK Corner exile for this. Didn't realise you had a soft spot for Man U though!
27CDruid, the Ronaldo deal will definitely pay for itself. I wouldn't be surprised if Real actually make a profit even with the money spent on Kaka - those two shirt sales will raise the profile more than double the worth of each individual deal (if that makes sense!). All eyes are on Real.....
Real v Barca should be very interesting next season!

[TMLS]

Blame my mother - she was a George Best fan, and when I moved to Burton back in '84 I had to choose between them or Liverpool at school. As Liverpool were where the glory hunters were and United weren't very good (and my mother's advice), I went for United. Funny how things change.

[Lex Dance]

Yeah everyone was a Liverpool fan when I went to Primary school (in Twickenham). Man U really weren't very popular amongst the kids in the mid-80's - well not down there at least. I'm a Chelsea fan purely because my dad is (who ironically is from Essex and should by rights by a West Ham fan!) As a kid growing up I could really only name our holy trinity of Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin and David Speedie - I was so proud when I got the Pannini sticker of Dixon in the Mexico '86 World Cup squad (don't think he even made an appearance though!)
As much as I've always loved playing and watching football, it wasn't until I moved up to Newcastle to go to University that I became a hardcore fan. Living with Boro, Wednesday, Stoke and Leeds fans makes you pretty partisan!