Premier League v the World Cup

[braineclipse]

i agree that ronaldo scored hatfuls, and that messi would too. as did bale and thierry henry. none of them would be able to get the "a goal a game" ratio that messi and ronaldo are getting basically year in year out in la liga. and i expect diego costa's goals ratio to drop in the premier league too, even though he is playing for the better team in chelsea now.

Ronaldo got 31 in 34 in 07/08 for United. I think he's improved as a player whilst at Real and I think Messi is better than him. I know you said year in year out, but it shows that it's possible and I don't think it's beyond belief that Ronaldo could have kept up a similar-ish scoring rate at United if he had stayed and had a team built around him the way he has at Madrid. Ronaldo was much more of a team player at United and had he been supported as the superstar the way he is at Madrid I think he would have scored more.

 

[Jurgen the German]

i agree that ronaldo scored hatfuls, and that messi would too. as did bale and thierry henry. none of them would be able to get the "a goal a game" ratio that messi and ronaldo are getting basically year in year out in la liga. and i expect diego costa's goals ratio to drop in the premier league too, even though he is playing for the better team in chelsea now.

Like I said before, they both score virtually a goal a game in the CL against Europe's elite so I'm sure they'd be fine against Southampton or West Ham.

As Brain pointed out, Ronaldo has actually improved since leaving United so I have no doubt his goals per game ratio would have increased had he stayed at United.

 

[jts1882]

It's a virtuous circle. At Real or Barca a player has better players helping create for them and more other dangerous players to distract attention from defenders. Add some personal improvement and a few more weak sides and its no surprise Ronaldo's numbers went up. Hiis willingness to work hard on his game also helps him continue to improve.

It will be interesting to see how Bale does next season now he is acclimatised. With Ronaldo and Benzema around he won't be seeing the double and treble teams he often saw when playing for us.