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Cristiano Ronaldo is more a midfielder than Messi. You've been living in a lie all these years. THREAD for the history books.
Messi has always been a CF, since his debut, and we all know it. Dropping 3 times a game to statpad comps won't change the reality.
Ronaldo started his career in a 442 system, playing in the right side, doing defensive work, far from the goal, with a lot of physical effort.
Ronaldo started his career in a 442 system, playing in the right side, doing defensive work, far from the goal, with a lot of physical effort.
So, in the time of Ronaldo at England, there's actually not a single possibility to believe that Ronaldo played closer to the goal than Messi. The track back he used to do in that Ferguson system is something that Messi never experienced.
Ronaldo arrives to Madrid, starts playing as a winger, the first year on the right, with Pellegrini, and the next 3 on the left, under Mourinho in a counter-attacking system.
Messi was under Guardiola in the CF/False 9, with the legendary midfield Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi behind.
Messi was under Guardiola in the CF/False 9, with the legendary midfield Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi behind.
Mourinho leaves, Ancelotti arrives. Ronaldo after 11 years of career, and at 28 years of age, finally doesn't need to help as much in defense. He became a pure winger. The starter of every attack in Madrid the 2 years under Carletto.
Messi, after a very difficult 2013/14, is back in form in 2015, with the famous trio Messi/Suarez/Neymar. 0 defensive duties, and the help of 2 amazing players to create, create and create.
Since the end of 14/15. Ronaldo has been playing as a winger, finishing the plays as a ST and moving all around the pitch, even more at Juve.
Messi has adopted a creator phase of his career, you can notice that, he scored in the 48% of games he has played this season (CR 68%)
Messi has adopted a creator phase of his career, you can notice that, he scored in the 48% of games he has played this season (CR 68%)
Messi has been playing in a stacked system since his debut, recieving a big amount of balls per game, exploding the space behind the rival midfielders. I think we all know that.
CR was part of some pragmatic teams, counter-attacking systems, working without the ball at times.
CR was part of some pragmatic teams, counter-attacking systems, working without the ball at times.
Now that we know the whole story, let's go to the interesting part, the numbers, the context is clarified.
WhoScored has data of Champions League, Top 5 Leagues and International Tournaments since 2009/10.
WhoScored has data of Champions League, Top 5 Leagues and International Tournaments since 2009/10.
There, I found this:
Games played as a striker:
Messi: 204
Ronaldo: 145
Games played in the midfield:
Messi: 19
Ronaldo: 86
You see? Messi has always been closer to the goal, and this isn't even counting Ronaldo's time at England.
Games played as a striker:
Messi: 204
Ronaldo: 145
Games played in the midfield:
Messi: 19
Ronaldo: 86
You see? Messi has always been closer to the goal, and this isn't even counting Ronaldo's time at England.
The amount of passes completed is in favor of Messi, like we already said, the system always provided him more balls per game than Ronaldo. But, what % of their passes are KEY passes?
Messi: 4%
Ronaldo: 5%
Assists?
Messi: 0.6%
Ronaldo: 0.8%
Messi: 4%
Ronaldo: 5%
Assists?
Messi: 0.6%
Ronaldo: 0.8%
- Out of 1000 passes, 40 are KEY for Messi.
- Out of 1000 passes, 50 are KEY for Ronaldo.
- Messi gives 1 assist every 167 passes.
- Ronaldo gives 1 assist every 125 passes.
Same method as conversion rate is used here.
- Out of 1000 passes, 50 are KEY for Ronaldo.
- Messi gives 1 assist every 167 passes.
- Ronaldo gives 1 assist every 125 passes.
Same method as conversion rate is used here.
If Ronaldo received the same amount of balls as Messi per game, he would have more assists, statistically speaking.
Let alone playing without defensive duties during a whole career or with a legendary midfield behind.
Let alone playing without defensive duties during a whole career or with a legendary midfield behind.
And despite of ALL these obstacles and changes he had during 10+ years, he's still the player with the best ratio in the history of La Liga, Serie A, better ratio than Messi when they shared league, more goals and assists than anyone in the Champions League. Unbelievable.
All these stats are collected from WhoScored. Sometimes you just have to do a research to wake up from the constant lies that are spreading all over the internet. END OF THREAD.
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