Vinny Green Balls

Not bad points, HTT. However Ronaldo's link up play was phenomenal, a class above Shearer's. Some of the passes he pulled off were absolutely ridiculous. This often gets overlooked, but his ability to deceive everybody with a clever pass would certainly put him at home with the '70 Brazil team.

It is "YOUR all time XI", not "THE all time XI" - let the guy have an opinion ffs but this goes against the very core of the god of objectivity, who has cast his ruthless judgment on QBG. FFS, if the guy wanted Jason Lee in his first XI, it does belong to him and him alone. That said, I have never seen a player who could so accurately hit the corner flag from 3 yards out like Jason Lee. Even Ronaldo would always fuck that up, and shamefully find the back of the net.

I liked Dalglish as a player, but the more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I feel putting him in the same sentence with the likes of Rivelino. Great player, but not quite in the same league.

Dalglish was good enough to be in the second tier imo. I might consider your Garrincha or Puskas for the very top, but I still firmly believe that Maradona, Pele and Cruyff are significantly ahead of everyone else. That said, I can see the reasoning in putting Beckenbauer and Eusebio in the very top tier. None of you must have seen Cubillas. The motherfucker was incredible, and made Peru a very dangerous side, albeit briefly. Some of his free kicks were the most ridiculous you could imagine. He would bend the ball around the wall with the outside of his foot, making him absolutely lethal with his right foot form the left side. He has 3 or 4 goals which are considered in the top 50 greatest in World Cup history.

Ronaldo will be considered a legend, even with his injuries. He still managed to score 15 goals at the World Cup.

Read my post again. I put Ronaldo in the second tier. Garrincha, yes. I haven't forgotten him. One of the craziest styles we will ever see. Used his own slight deformities to his own advantage. I would serioulsy consider throwing him in there with Pele, Maradona and Cruyff. Di Stefano was ridiculously good, but I would still class him with the Platinis. Check out footage from Puskas. He was so far ahead of everyone in the early 50's, it was ridiculous. The 54 Hungarian team was unbefuckinglievable. It's a shame that Puskas wasn't healthy in the final against West Germany. Batistuta was a fantastic player. I would put him on the level with Shearer. Shearer's finishing was on such a ridiculous level, particularly how he could blast the ball with such accuracy. Few players will ever match his finishing ability and his poise.

Maybe it's because you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but the top tier is reserved for 3 players. I have seen no player that can oust Cruyff from the third spot. Over 10 yards, I have never seen a quicker player.

fucking hell. How could I miss George Best? He scored the best individual goal I have ever seen when he was playing with the Earthquakes.

Eusebio Cubillas Michael Laudrup Bobby Moore Puskas Fontaine Matthaeus Maier all absolute legends. The best player I saw live was Cruyff, back when he played with the Diplomats. I was 5, but I could see how great he still was. And when Beckenbauer and the Cosmos were in town... But nobody compares to Salenko.

Tooj, I wasn't comparing the two. I was comparing the difference in their overall status in the game. I would not put Ronaldo up there with Maradona. Nor would I put Shearer up there with Platini. Both sets completely different players. I was making the point that Ronaldo is one step above Shearer, as Maradona is one step above Platini. Having been fortunate to see Platini play, I even have trouble saying Zidane was superior to him. I still regard Platini as the best player France has ever produced. Ronaldo falls into the second tier legends category for me. 1st tier would be Pele, Maradona, and distantly Cruyff. Then you have the Beckenbauer's, Platini's Ronaldo's, van Basten's, Zidane's, Rivelino's, Zico's...and I'd even throw in Cubillas here Shearer is in the 3rd tier with the Laudrup's, Neeskens, Tigana's, Klinsmann's...

People are saying that he was the greatest striker in the last 20 odd years. And I think it's safe to say that he was. See what people say about him in 20 years time.

Ronaldo overrated? That is absurd. van Basten was absolutely unplayable in his prime. But so was Ronaldo.

and no, I am not likening them to those two. Wildly different players. Just between abilities. Platini is an absolute legend, but Maradona was clearly better. In the end, I agree with TRon. The comparisons will never favor Shearer. But who gives a shit? I wish I had a quarter of the ability of either. There's clearly room for both players. And I consider myself immensely fortunate to have seen Ronaldo and Shearer live.

as a footballer, yes, Ronaldo was levels above. But Shearer had a quality that separated him from everybody else. It was that immense force of will. Reminded me of watching Michael Jordan play in his heyday. This is what makes Shearer one of the best strikers I have seen in my 35 years. There were certainly players with more physical ability. But they ended up paling in comparison to his iron resolve. That said, in his prime, Ronaldo had it all. And as legendary as Shearer is, and legendary he is, Ronaldo always was a step up. To say he was levels above Shearer, however, is a bit of hyperbole. The difference is more between Maradona and Platini.

His goal scoring levels harken back to another time when the best were so much better than the shittier teams they played. What is extraordinary is that Ronaldo did it in the modern era. Fucking unbelievable. And as much as I like Messi, he will never be such a physical force of nature like Ronaldo. A fucking battering ram who also had the intelligence to outwit the best defenders. Outmuscle or outwit, he could kill you with both.

Ronaldo was on a different level to anybody. Super strength, pace, skill, trickery, he had absolutely everything. We will not see anyone like him (who isn't a cheap imitation) for awhile. Those of us who have seen him play should count ourselves extremely lucky. I'm a lot sadder than I expected to be.

Didn't say they got everything right. And in truth, they probably stumbled on the truth more than anything else. It gets on my nerves when people think that one's opinion cannot be malleable at all. Over time, one collects data. And the reasonable man will base his opinion on this. If the opinion in the past was incorrect, then so be it. Too many true believers as it is.

Well done to howaythelads. Say what you will about NE5 and him for being perpetually obnoxious with the same old hackneyed arguments ad nauseum, but they certainly got a few things right in hindsight.

Jesus Christ, Goering wouldn't have had to swallow the capsule if he had one or two of you representing him.

Hate these hearsay weekends. Sucks living in California (for this reason at least).

yes, successful. We got relegated two years ago.

http://vladsprincipality.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cinderella.jpg edited for accuracy.

http://img.youtube.com/vi/i28UEoLXVFQ/0.jpg I suppose you don't know what you got...

It is impossible to get rid of Ameobi. We might send him out on loan, but he will return. He's the proverbial case of herpes, festering on the genitals of NUFC. That said, I wish he was back for the Blackburn match.

From what I have seen, Ireland is a significantly better player than Gosling. I am getting really excited about seeing him play.