Ronaldo says that Real Madrid were wrong to sack Vicente del Bosque in 2003, and that competition to be the world’s best player is now scarcer.
The Brazilian’s first season with Los Blancos was his only one with current Spain Coach Del Bosque, but it was enough to leave the now retired star settled on the 62-year-old’s influence.
“Who best understood me as a Coach? Vicente del Bosque,” stated Ronaldo in conversation today with AS.
“Because he was very simple. All the players liked him a lot because he did things the way they had to be done, without creating many problems.
“The training sessions, the talks… With him there was no concentration on the home games and this for me was important, because it killed the players. It overwhelmed me and Vicente got that.
“And his talks were three or four minutes. I imagine that in the national team they are very happy with him.
“The time of dictators has been over for many years. Coaches have to earn trust and be more of a leader.
“They have to get into the player’s head and make them understand what they think and make it more technical and fight for you.
“Was it a mistake for Madrid to sack Del Bosque? Yes, sure it was. And most of us know it was. Today I do not understand what happened.
“Then, we were celebrating the League and suddenly he was gone.”
Ronaldo was asked of comparisons that continue with his namesake Cristiano.
“We don’t even play alike. I was a centre-forward and he, you could say, is a second striker. What I do say is that Cristiano, in recent years, in his time with Madrid, has learned to score goals.
“And scoring goals is the best thing in the world. And if you score many goals then it is because you are very good. There is no luck in scoring regularly.”
The 37-year-old, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1997 and 2002, was asked who he considers to be the best player in the world at the moment.
“For me, the competition is scarcer now. I am not saying that the level was greater in my day, but I look now and only see two. Neymar is coming up, but he still has a while to go.
“But in my time there were many great players. I competed with Zidane, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Owen, Figo, Batistuta…
“There were many great players who made their teams. Now there is only Messi and Cristiano, the truth is that they are very, very good.
“The best between Ronaldo and Messi? I’ll stick with Messi. It’s hard, it’s like in buying a house and there are two very good offers, you have to stick with one.
“I find him more complete, or at least more decisive. He appears in the important moments and scores goals.”
