Something wrong with Ronaldinho? *spoilers*

[bobkat]

So I thought it was a fluke.

During the valencia game, I thought ronaldinho was quite shutdown. I attributed this to the excellent speed which 2-3 defenders closed in on him and the constant pressure he had the whole match. It was a difficult place to be in, but it is one ronaldinho is used to. He coughed up the ball more than i've seen him all last year, passes were inacurate, really wasn't involved for a lot of the match. I credited Valencia.

During the w. bremen game, i saw the same sorts of things. But now one defender was sufficient to make him loose in the 1 on 1 situations. His passing was still poor under pressure, and seemingly he made poor decisions making passes to other players where 3 werder players were waiting.

Then today I caught the game against atletico bilbao, and it was even worse. one on one was almost always surely a lost ball (2 times i counted he beat defenders 1v1). His passes under pressure were poor, though he had some nice field changes. He wasn't involved though he had opportunities.

Something going on with him that I don't know about? He's not perfect, of course. But it's been a downhill road since santander. Something feels out of place. Messi had a couple unsure games, but now looks crisp, confident, and focused.

[west501]

I think it's largely a problem of visibility
he was quiet in the latter stages of the champions league last year, but barça won because they are a team that does not depend solely on his brilliance
he was quiet in the world cup too and brazil lost because the rest of the team also lacked brilliance
but with great players like him you need to look at the subtlety of his brilliance, and that is not gone
if you take a look at the game against bremen, and my memory fails me as to the exact moment, but I think it's before one of messi's big plays in the game (he had two, the one that should have been a goal and the goal) where iniesta starts by dribbling by two and changes side to dinho..his upfield throughball was sublime and created the chaos in the defence that they needed to create the chance

if there is something wrong with ronaldinho, I just think he needs to be rested..which will be tough with eto'o out, but needs to be done

[R9magia]

Ronaldinho is tired. His senses are dulled, his reflexes are slower, his legs are worn out.

He needs a break. But he won't get one.

Don't be surprised if you see him pick up an injury this season :(

[west501]

r9 mate, don't do it!
I called eto'o's injury (http://www.fbtz.com/forum/showthread.php?p=540609#post540609) and it ruined my weekend!
we must beware of our supernatural abilities, particularly when they have a negative effect on our mental health

[PortugalOle7]

He looks very tired.
Think about how much football he has played in the last season. La Liga, Champions League, Brazil(qualifiers and WC06).
It's to be excepted.

[malicia]

Ronaldinho is tired. His senses are dulled, his reflexes are slower, his legs are worn out.

He needs a break. But he won't get one.

Don't be surprised if you see him pick up an injury this season :(

I think you're right. He's not playing horribly, but he's definitely not himself. He's one of the players Frank never seems to rotate. And Barca had the US tour. Now with Eto'o out, not a chance he'll get a break. :(

I wonder if it's mental as well? He's not smiling much these days and he always smiled on the pitch before even when things weren't going well. Seems like it all started around the WC. The pressure? of course, this is all pure speculation.

[PortugalOle7]

http://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=1054&b=true&pn=Ronaldo_Assis_de_Moreira
Check out how many minutes he has played in the last couple of years:
603 mins in the 04-05 Champions League
430 mins in the 05 Confederations Cup for Brazil
1079 mins in the 05-06 Champions League
430 mins in the 06 World Cup in Germany
64 games played for Barca 04-05 + 05-06 La Liga

thats a ton of minutes

[FireHand]

While I do agree Ronaldinho plays a lot of Barca games, I think that can't be an excuse. Deco, Eto'o and Puyol get just as much if not more playing time and they haven't shown as much or in the case of Puyol and Eto'o any signs of fatigue prior to his awful injury).
I have seen every single match of Barca in the last couple of seasons and I've noticed a huge drop in Ronaldinho's form since late march and its only gotten worse since the WC and the start of the new seasons. Now before you read on, I'm a big Ronnie fan, I've watched him even in his PSG days and was thrilled to see him join my favourite club, Barca.

The things that I see lacking in his game and that weren't there before are:
-He doesn't look fit at all, he runs very little even in the offensive department and we all know he has absolutely no defensive responsibilities. He doesn't even run after the ball after he has lost it, he gives up way to quickly in my opinion just waiting for a foul to be called or for someone else on the team to run the opposition down. He was always poor defensively but atleast he'd try to win the ball back more.
-His speed and acceleration have dropped. Those of you who have seen any Barca games this season have regularly seen how Sylvinho was quicker on and of the ball then Ronaldinho in offensive runs which is shocking to me.
Not to even mention the opposing defenders, who stop him quite easily most of the time.
-His vision and decisionmaking have been very poor. Trying too many tricks, which don't seem to work anymore when a simple pass would have done wonders.
-His finishing from free-kicks and in general has been poor this season as well.
Most of his free-kicks (I'd say about 75%) end up in the wall. And when attempting to score lately he wants to add that final trick and look to the side before he shots. Just in the past 5 games he's missed atleast 3 shots inside the box doing that.
-and worse of all, like someone mentioned above, his passion for the game has decreased if not gone. Very few indications of him having fun on the pitch as opposed to the past.

What I think should be done on the matter.
Let Ronaldinho out of the squad every 2 or 3 games for a while. Let his hunger for the game return by having to fight for a spot again. Last season he didn't start to bright either, Frank let him sit out a single game against Betis and the next game Ronnie was on fire.
I think that in Ronnie's current form we'd have a stronger attack with Guddy, Giuly and Messi. Or I'd even try Iniesta or Saviola in Ronnie's place.
Iniesta especially would do great in my opinion, his vision, dribbling and passing are brilliant and he isn't to bad in the defensive end either.
Also let someone else take the freekicks, Deco was awesome at Porto, and we know Marquez and Motta can hit them atleast as good as Ronnie at the moment.

[cartbran]

While I do agree Ronaldinho plays a lot of Barca games, I think that can't be an excuse.
I agree. No one has played more for Arsenal the past 3 seasons than Kolo Toure, plus he played in the African Cup of Nations to the final earlier this summer, CL to the final, EPL and WC. And he doesn't look tired at all. But okay, he is not a good comparison because he is not a creative offensive player. But anyway, I think Ronnie is sort of slacking off a bit. Anyone else notice that he has a spare tire growing?

[chauchey]

Ronaldinho is tired. His senses are dulled, his reflexes are slower, his legs are worn out.

He needs a break. But he won't get one.

Don't be surprised if you see him pick up an injury this season :(
i've been worried about this for some time now...and i couldnt help but feel the same way you do. If Barca where smart, they would play him half games untill December, and then give him an extra 2 or 3 weeks completely off.
While you dont here much about it, do you think it could be because he parties alot? I hear from an announcer that he liked his disco's back in his playing days in France. Although you never hear of him getting into trouble, do you think it might be him staying out late nights having a good time?

[Whoah10115]

I don't think he stays out long enough or often enough that he'd really be whacked by it. He may not be in the very best shape of his life. Between that and all the minutes he's played...


He's looked fabulous as always so far this season. I've seen every game. But he looks slower, less creative one on one, and much less explosive.


I think a lot of this is due to the freedom he has on the field for Barcelona. He can move around as much as he likes, but only on the offensive side. He doesn't come back and play defense or bring the ball up as much as he's done in the past. He starts off from a stationary position pretty much every possession now. He receives the ball and goes forward and he has all the coverage in the world so he doesn't need to track back too much.

And we see it on Brasil. He's really a hybrid player, both a midfielder and a forward at once. On Brasil he plays that way too, but with more defensive responsibility. Maybe that's why Brasil's midfield is sometimes out of whack when he's there. But at Barca he has all this freedom and I think it takes a toll on his conditioning and fitness because he has the freedom to be lazy. I don't know if how I'm saying this is making much sense, but it's true to an extent. I think he needs to be on the ball more. Maybe give him a game off and have him focused more on his conditioning. Eto'o is out now, but even with him out they have enough to get by a game or two without him. He's been great, but he hasn't even been their best player yet. Sit him out here or there.

[d'artagnan7]

The boy has everything a little too easy. He wins the FIFA player of the year award in every close contest...he wins the CL player of the tournament award...again with lack lustre displays. Some of us at Arsenal feel aggrieved at the fact that Henry isn't recognised for his achievements. But we can say the same about Kolo Toure & Senderos who set the record for most minutes in the CL without conceeding and yet UEFA nominated Eboue(WTF?!) and handed the award to Puyol. Ridiculous.

It might seem like a rant but my point is unless you're taught to fight for something...you begin to lose your drive. Its the same with Barca...he is the fulcrum of that side and people expect miracles from him. That is why he is an automatic starter.

He doesn't seem to have a point to prove anymore. Whereas, those you're considered second best will give their all to dethrone the king. Its that simple.

[R9magia]

The boy has everything a little too easy. He wins the FIFA player of the year award in every close contest...
He was the best player in the world in those two years that he won it. This is something the majority of football 'experts' and fans (and obviously the captains of most of the national teams that voted for it) agree upon. Ballon D'or same thing. He earned those based on his performances, if you think he another player should have won last year or both years that's fine (although you would clearly be in the minority), but he wasn't given anything, he earned those awards because he showed a level of football and the ability to take over games (consistently) that is rarely seen. Oh, and btw, he's also the main reason for Barcelona's turn around. When he got there Barcelona was struggling to make the Champions League (should I even mention that he almost single-handedly took Barcelona to the La Liga title in 03/04?), today, Barcelona is the best team in the world.
wins the CL player of the tournament award...again with lack lustre displays.

One of the most absurd things I've ever heard on these forums. I could just give you his outrageous statistics and mention every single big game he's made the difference in for Barcelona but I won't. If you really feel this way you simply haven't watched any of the games.

[phenomenom]

err i thought valencia won the la liga title in 03/04? :confused: :confused: barcelona finished 2nd right? i remember barcelona had a good season, with an outstanding winning streak at a certain period, maybe 10 consecutive wins or more?? ronaldinho really made the difference though and i think he deserved the world player of the year award in 2004. well, in my opinion if, a powerhouse team won the EURO 2004, the winner will come from that team. anyway ronaldinho didn't win anything in his first season but i agree his performance deserved the world player of the year award. i dont remember how close was thierry henry behind him because arsenal had an unbeaten season and he scored 30 goals :eek:

[R9magia]

err i thought valencia won the la liga title in 03/04? :confused: :confused: barcelona finished 2nd right?
Yeah, they came in second which is why I said:
(should I even mention that he almost single-handedly took Barcelona to the La Liga title in 03/04?)
And Thierry Henry is great so although I thought R10 was clearly better, I would've had no big problem if the award had gone to Henry. Still think it's a crime he hasn't won FIFA Player of the Year or the Ballon D'or yet. One of the best ever.

[deviant]

Rafa blames the pre-season for Barca's lack of form, it makess sense.
MADRID, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez on Wednesday blamed too many matches in the pre-season including the Tour of Mexico and the U.S. for their below-par performances since the season began.

"We haven't had an adequate pre-season. We played too many games, had little rest and have not done enough work," the Mexican international told a news conference.

"Now we are having to work very hard to recover our form."

The European and Spanish champions went on a two-week promotional tour of North America at the beginning of August, playing four games along the way, and then returned to play five high-profile games in 12 days.

They played two legs of the Spanish Super Cup against Espanyol, the European Super Cup against Sevilla, and the traditional Hans Gamper trophy against Bayern Munich, before their league opener away to Celta Vigo.

Although Barcelona are top of the Primera Liga after five games, they have lacked some of the spark of last season and struggled to play their trademark high tempo, attacking football.

In particular, Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho has not been as influential as usual.

Now, with a flurry of tough games approaching in October including league clashes with Sevilla and Real Madrid and a Champions League double-header against Chelsea, Marquez hopes the club can hit top form.

"Ronaldinho seems fine to us though we haven't seen that much of him in recent matches," Marquez said. "He is still capable of turning a game at any moment with a pass or a goal.

"We have some difficult games approaching, starting with Sevilla and we need to work extra hard to get rid of these doubts that are being generated about our form."