“Ronaldo Best In World” - Is The English Media Naïve?

tobi

tobi

"Clear Eyes Full Hearts Can't Lose."
5 August 2005
Spurs, Suns and Cowboys
Below is a fantastic article,
The English press have made up their mind – Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world. Carlo Garganese asks if this proves just how naive the English media really is…

As a person who was born and educated in England, but has Italian parents and was largely brought up the ‘Italian way’, I am perhaps well placed to understand the difference between the English and Italian/continental way of thinking, not only in football, but in culture as a whole.

Now I don’t want to sit here and preach that Italian is better as every country and culture is different. I just want to demonstrate, in reference to the Cristiano Ronaldo issue, the general lack of understanding of European football in the English media (and by this I don’t mean Goal.com which is an international website!).

I was first bugged by this issue in about 1996/97. I was not even a teenager at the time but I was already stubborn enough to form my own opinions about football, and have scant regard for what much of the media said.

Alan Shearer was proclaimed in the press as the undisputed best forward in the world. This really irritated me. “Shearer couldn’t possibly be better that Ronaldo, Roberto Baggio, George Weah, Davor Suker, Gabriel Batistuta e.t.c,” I thought to myself.

Slowly but surely I formed an opinion that the English media really had a very poor, somewhat non-existent, understanding of the European or world game. If they did not then they would have known that the pragmatic Shearer didn’t deserve to be named in the same breath as these attackers.

As the years passed my view was slowly reinforced. England took an early 2-0 lead in their first group game at Euro 2000 over Portugal, and the commentators on television were already proclaiming them as champions of Europe. Portugal came back to win 3-2 and England were eliminated in the group stages after conceding another three goals to Romania.

Then of course you had the so-called ‘golden generation’ of English talent that went to Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. The English media boasted repeatedly that they had the best team in the world in their possession and that they would bring home the trophy.

After all they had the best left-back in the world Ashley Cole, the best centre-backs John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, the best centre midfielders in Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and the best support striker in Wayne Rooney.

Following a simply disastrous tournament when England displayed all of their innate technical deficiencies, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was slated for throwing away this golden generation of talent. It was all his fault.

Of course this was absolutely ridiculous. Steve McClaren’s subsequent stint as manager, coupled with Eriksson’s work at Manchester City, has proven that the Swede actually did an excellent job, and in reaching three quarter-finals he actually punched above England’s weight. In truth this has probably been accepted now by most people, although many of the lessons, as we will soon see, have still not been learned.

My point though is that the English media makes ridiculous statements, such as “Alan Shearer is the best striker in the world”, and that “England are going to win the World Cup”, and unfortunately the majority of the nation, as is the power of the press and broadcast, are brainwashed into believing it. You are what you are taught after all.

The most recent of these preposterous declarations is that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world.

Once again, referring back to first Shearer and then the World Cup, this belief is only present due to a complete lack of understanding of the European game.

Ronaldo may have smashed in 27 goals this season, however as Gil Gillespie correctly pointed out in his Who Is Better – Kaka Or Ronaldo article, how can a player who has almost always flopped whenever he has come up against a top team/defence/defender, or in a big match, possibly be regarded as the best player in the world.

It is ignorance such as this that is so frustrating.

Only on Sunday I was watching a programme called ‘Sunday Supplement’ on Sky Sports. For those of you who don’t know, this is a weekly show that includes the chief football writers from all of the top newspapers in England; The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Mail e.t.c.

These are the so-called experts of English footballing journalism, the people that the country ‘should’ look up to for their knowledge and understanding of the game.

One of the chief writers, whose name I will not disclose, incredibly claimed that Ashley Cole was the best left back in the world (ironically he used Cole's fine defensive record against Cristiano Ronaldo as a basis for his argument). The rest of the panel did not disagree.

My first reaction was shock, my second reaction was to switch off the television, then my third reaction was “actually I want to hear some more gems such as these.”

I immediately had flashbacks to 1997 and Alan Shearer. I mean Ashley Cole is so clearly better than the likes of Gianluca Zambrotta, Philipp Lahm, Maxwell, Eric Abidal and so on. For me personally, Ashley Cole is not even the best left-back at his own club, let alone the world.

Until the English media begins to grasp a better understanding of the European and World game I fear that the same age-old football problems that have plagued this country in recent years will always be present.

The top journalists may have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the domestic game, but their grasp of continental football (unlike the journalists in Italy and other European countries) is frankly embarrassing.

What are your views on this topic? Is the English Media naïve? Do they lack an understanding of the European game? Are the English people in general being brainwashed by statements such as “Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world”? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think?

Carlo Garganese
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Source

Thought provoking, simple, honest and true.

:applause:
 
Interesting article and I agree on most of it. However, other countries' press gets carried away at times too. He is great but not the best in the world. I suppose my point is that it's always down to opinion and personal preference.
 
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I think that, whilst the English press are indeed complete wankers, his article is actually very weak indeed.
 
There is only one Ronaldo, he's the guy in Milanista's avatar have you know!

And yes the Sais media are naïve, anything that happens outside the British Isles doesn't even register on their radar.
 
steevio_uk said:
I think that, whilst the English press are indeed complete wankers, his article is actually very weak indeed.
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I'm with this totally and the fact its personal opinion on who you think is the best in the world. But yeah, the article is quite weak and its just comes across to me as someone who is annoyed and bitter because he doesn't believe Ronaldo to be as good as everyone is making him out to be.
 
jonzi9 said:
There is only one Ronaldo, he's the guy in Milanista's avatar have you know!
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He's a fat piece of useless shite now though - he used to be good. The only Ronaldo worth money these days is our lad. ;)

Flawless is right - it's a case of bitter lemons. If ANY of the supporters on this forum had C.Ronaldo in their team they'd LOVE it.
 
He wasn't useless, and he is the only Ronaldo since the other is Cristiano Ronaldo ;) Thats kind of supporting his point as people don't watch or get as many leagues on tv here, so they make assumptions.

The journalist never says that Cristiano Ronaldo was bad, he just said that hes not the best in the world. He's just criticizing the labels given by the media in the UK. I completely agree about Ashley Cole, who imo lacked strong defensive abilities.
 
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Flawl3ssCowb0y said:
I'm with this totally and the fact its personal opinion on who you think is the best in the world. But yeah, the article is quite weak and its just comes across to me as someone who is annoyed and bitter because he doesn't believe Ronaldo to be as good as everyone is making him out to be.
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Spot on...

Also in regards to Shearer and Ashley Cole (and I know the whole point is about opinions..)

Each year there were great strikers in the world, Batigol, Weah, Suker etc etc...
Each playe (apart from Batistuta, who I think was better than Shearer) had peak years where they would be considered the greatest in the world.
Throughout this time, Shearer was banging goals in for club and country every single year.
The guy has 260-odd premiership goals for crying out loud and also came runner up in the European Player of the year one year sisn't he?
Is it really that bad a thing to consider him the best striker in the world at one point?!

Same with Cole... up until the last 18 months or so, he was indeed the best left back in the world in my opinion.
He has struggled badly in the last year, but again is it really that bad a thing to suggest he is the best left back in the world?

Ronaldo IS the best player in the world alongside Kaka in my opinion and I'm sure many others aswell, including all those that voted him in the World Player of the Year.

So a few opinions the writer does not agree with, gives him right to write such a piece with such generalisations?!

The English press ARE indeed clueless to anything outside England and so are most of the pundits... but this piece is more of an excuse to have a rant about someone else's opinions he doesn't agree with.
 
I have to say, I agree with almost everything this article says. English media and pundits are clearly deluded. I laugh every time some of them say "EPL is the best league in the world." Not even close IMO. Most popular league, yeh, maybe, richest league, yes definitely, but best league in terms of quality of football and entertainment. Sorry I don't think so.

And I agree, England reaching the quarter final was a GOOD achievement. I can honestly name around 8-10 nations who have better players than England.
 
this guy is a bitter tool, he makes valid points, then really stupid ones when he claims ronaldo isnt that good despite 27 goals... fucking stupid. Where is Milan in the table right now? With all of kaka's brilliance? Where would united be without ronaldos brilliance?
 
Abhishek said:
I laugh every time some of them say "EPL is the best league in the world." Not even close IMO.
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Exactly... 'in your opinion'
It would be many people's opinions that consider the premier league the most entertaining with the best quality... not just the English press.
But this guy decides to publish a rant disguise as a well thought out 'article' on it! :lol:

Abhishek said:
And I agree, England reaching the quarter final was a GOOD achievement. I can honestly name around 8-10 nations who have better players than England.
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Bet you couldn't.
 
Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Czech Republic :mrgreen:

It would also be many people's opinions that EPL is NOT the best league in the world. Most games in the EPL are ridiculously boring (including Liverpool's) mainly based around HOOOF!

An Athletic Bilbao vs Real Betis or a St Etienne vs RC Lens match would be much more exciting and entertaining than a Bolton vs Wigan. Obviously, IN MY OPINION ;)
 
steevio_uk said:
Bet you couldn't.
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I could:

Brazil, Argentina, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Portugal & Czech Republic.

;)

Abishek: I get piss bored with other leagues too though. I think the Premiership is the best league in the world AT THE MOMENT. It used to be La Liga and before that Serie A. All my opinion of course.
 
France? ;)

Plan M said:
Abishek: I get piss bored with other leagues too though. I think the Premiership is the best league in the world AT THE MOMENT. It used to be La Liga and before that Serie A. All my opinion of course.
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You obviously have a probably reading names, as it's quite clear you have missed an H, the 8th letter of the alphabet, after B, the 2nd letter of the alphabet.

Honestly, I tried watching Everton vs Reading the other day, and it was PAINFUL. And so was Liverpool vs Chelsea, but made a little better with the result :)
 
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I agree that the english media talk rubbish at times but for me Ronaldo is the best in the world right know, that can oviously change but right now no one is playing as well as him
 
I agree with the dude but he is a hypocrite. He does exactly what he criticizes, therefore supports his own point. So basically theres no point on debating whats good and whats bad.
 
I agree with Argentina, Brazil, Italy are definitely better... Spain and France are on a par with us and I believe we have better players than the Czechs, Portugal, Holland and Germany.
It is about how good the players are remember and not necassarily who beat who and who done what.

Sven and McClaren ARE massively to blame for the shocking tactical and managerial decisions in their tenure, but the players are too for being too arrogant and up their own arses!

(...and beieve me before anyone says it.. I am NOT biased towards England as you could easily tell from my past posts that I know exactly where England fall short!)

'HOOOOF' made me laugh :lol:
 
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I think apart from Czech, all those teams have better players than England.

Torres=Rooney
Villa is infinitely times better than any other England forward
Fabregas > Gerrard
Puyol > Ferdinand
Joaquin > Bentley

And I could on and on with other players and other national teams

Anyways, the writer does contradict himself doesn't he. Calling anyone THE BEST is a bit over the top IMO. Ronaldo IS one of the best in the world ATM, but again, calling him THE BEST is a bit OTT.
 
Apart from Bundi I watch the Premier League and the Spanish league most regularly, and I gotta say: Cristiano Ronaldo (right now) is the best dang player in the whole wide world. Not by miles, but a few steps. (for me, that is)
 
tuta77 said:
We'll see next month ;). We'll you be able to win ? Last time was in 1997 (Shearer goal).
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Could be an interesting game!
Of course we can win.
We can easily beat you 3-0 the same as you can easily beat us 3-0... that's why I mean it isn't that much of a difference between the sides when the players are all on form.

I hope we do ourselves justice in that game as it's not often we play big nations away from home!

But even still, it doesn't really matter if we beat you 5-0 or you beat us 5-0 or whether so and so beat us... it's about how good a group of players we have at the moment.

I believe we are probably joined 4th-5th best nation in the world for players, which just proves how much we have been underachieving.
Some may think that I have too high expectations, but I am not your average 'naive' journalist as I know how we compare to other nations and believe we have the players to make stuff happen!:)
 
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Abhishek said:
I think apart from Czech, all those teams have better players than England.

Torres=Rooney
Villa is infinitely times better than any other England forward
Fabregas > Gerrard
Puyol > Ferdinand
Joaquin > Bentley

And I could on and on with other players and other national teams

Anyways, the writer does contradict himself doesn't he. Calling anyone THE BEST is a bit over the top IMO. Ronaldo IS one of the best in the world ATM, but again, calling him THE BEST is a bit OTT.
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But this is the entire point...

I would rather have Rooney.
I would rather have Gerrard
Bentley is unfair to compare as you could then say Lampard is better than Joaquin etc
..and for me, Puyol and Ferdinand are currently the 2 best CB in the world.

I think Ronaldo and Kaka are the 2 best in the world.

But all of this is not the point...

That's what I mean, it's about opinions and the opinions that this writer is moaning about aren't really that sensational for him to make such a generalised rant.
 
England have very good players but they haven't a TEAM!!!! It reminds me the Galáticos of Real Madrid. For example, in Portugal Luiz Felipe Scolari made an excelent work by making what he called a Family. That Family, that spirit of group made us finalists of Euro2004 and semi-finalists of World Cup 2006. In England squad I really don't see that kind of group.

About Cristiano Ronaldo (I said the entire name because "There is only one Ronaldo" and he plays in Milan) I think he isn't the best. The difference between Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká is quite simple. Cristiano Ronaldo plays beautiful against middle table teams making some triks and Kaká appears in key moments. Do you remember Champions League last year? And Cristiano against Italy few weeks ago? Thats the difference.
 
steevio_uk said:
But this is the entire point...

I would rather have Rooney.
I would rather have Gerrard
Bentley is unfair to compare as you could then say Lampard is better than Joaquin etc
..and for me, Puyol and Ferdinand are currently the 2 best CB in the world.

I think Ronaldo and Kaka are the 2 best in the world.

But all of this is not the point...

That's what I mean, it's about opinions and the opinions that this writer is moaning about aren't really that sensational for him to make such a generalised rant.
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Well, you are right. It is a matter of opinion. In the end, it does end up being about personal preference and opinion. But there is one fact, and that is the English media tend to hype up their own league and players, while completely ignoring other leages/players which are IMO at LEAST as good.
 
We are NEVER on-par with France. They are a much better side and have a much deeper squad. How can we compete with the likes of Henry, Anelka, Ribery & Tresemme?

tresemme06_bg.gif

I'll get my coat.
 
We do hype ours up of course.
But don't every country?!
I think the Italian press can be very bad at hyping up their own teams too.

The thing I am getting at is that it's not just the press that do it as I reckon you will find millions and millions around the world that think we have brilliant underachieving players and also the 'best' league in the world.
(Whatever 'best' means)

Either way, our press are a complete bunch of fucking dimwits.
As a note to a few of you folk from overseas, if you want a good journo, then read some of Martin Samuel's pieces. :)



(Ps Plan M.... that was shocking mate!!! hahah... if you want to use a french woman then please make it Annelise Hesme or Noemie Lenoir mmmmmmmm)
 
I dont think its a personal attack on Ronaldo, the guy is simply stating some facts with some of his opinions.
 
He certainly right when he says many Brittish journalists no very little about European football, you just have to read what they I write to know that its true.
 
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