Is Cristiano Ronaldo sad for want of more money or more affection?

If the Portuguese is simply after more cash, he should remember there are people in Spain with a real grievanc.

Sadness is no laughing matter but sympathy has nevertheless been in short supply since Cristiano Ronaldo revealed that he is unhappy at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese winger did, indeed, use the word 'sad' and that has not gone down well in Spain, especially outside Madrid, with the country in the midst of a recession with 4.6m people claiming unemployment benefits every month. The former Barcelona manager, Charly Rexach, did not hold back in his assessment of the Portuguese's comments, delivered on Sunday night, after he had scored twice in the win against Granada.

"If Cristiano is sad, people should go into the streets and cry," Rexach said. "Ronaldo can't ask for more from life. He's a top player, he has everything. He is physically fit, well-built, has money, success, is one of the best players in the world. I don't know what else he wants, so for him to be sad is sacrilege."

In Spain his comments have been scrutinised and analysed, as one would expect, and a few different theories have emerged.

1) Ronaldo does not think that he earns enough money and wants a pay rise.

2) He is unhappy that Andrés Iniesta was named Uefa's player of the year on Friday.

3) He feels undervalued at Real Madrid by the club and his team-mates.

Or perhaps he loves himself so much there is no room to feel it from anyone else.

Alvaro Arbeloa, meanwhile, has defended his Real team-mate, as he would, saying that the Portuguese is just in need of a little love. "He just needs more affection from everybody, I don't know, that's all we can give him," said the former Liverpool full-back, making it all seem so easy. "Everybody has the right to be sad, he's a person just like anyone else. He doesn't share the problems of most Spanish people but it's perfectly reasonable that he can be sad."

Arbeloa has a point, of course. Why shouldn't Cristiano Ronaldo be allowed to be sad? Anyone can be sad, rich or poor, famous or not. But when Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, then says that he knows the reasons CR7 is unhappy and that he is "perfectly comfortable" with them, then one starts to suspect that this is about money.

If Ronaldo really had wanted to leave Real Madrid, he would have expressed his "sadness" a few weeks earlier in order to be able to force a move somewhere else, although even Manchester City and Paris St-Germain are unlikely to be able to afford him if the reports of a £500m buy-out clause are true.

True, the French window does not shut until Wednesday night and the Turkish one not until Thursday night while the Russians and Zenit St Petersburg, in particular, seem to have spent all their money on Hulk and Axel Witsel, but why would the Portuguese want to leave for any of those leagues?

In addition he is unlikely to want to join PSG now – if it is unconditional love he is after –as on Tuesday the French club's sporting director, Leonardo, said: "Ibrahimovic is the best striker in the world. So why hire Ronaldo? Zlatan is unique. When we talk about the best players, there is Ronaldo and Messi – but they are not strikers. The best striker, that's Zlatan."

Messi, of course, was asked about it in Argentina before his country's game against Paraguay but he had no words of comfort, saying: "I don't have to answer this kind of questions. You shouldn't ask me about Cristiano. It has nothing to do with me and I shouldn't be answering questions about it."

Ronaldo, meanwhile, is now with the Portuguese squad for the games against Luxembourg on Friday and Azerbaijan next Tuesday. When he arrived at the team's training base at Obidos he muttered: "I am not going to say anything" but then a message filtered through to the media, saying: "Every problem has a solution."

So expect Cristiano Ronaldo to sort out his problems with Real Madrid and be happy again. The problem is that, if it turns out to have been a question of money, he will lose the respect of a significant portion of football fans around the world – and he was not exactly ahead of Messi anyway – because at the end of the day, if Ronaldo feels undervalued at Real, he may have a reason to be 'sad' but, if he is only after more money, then his comments are an insult to those who have a proper reason to be upset.

 

it's because he's got microdick

 

I´ve read something about Real Madrid did not let him go to a ceremony in honour of his dad, that passed in 2005, that was supposed to be in the last matchday, when he announced he was sad with some people inside Real Madrid. It´s true that he died in September 2005, and probably thats the reason.

 

I never had any respect for him when he played for manchester united and have even less now.There are few players in history who go down easier than him completely unnecessary for a player of his ability.

 

I dont think he feels fully appreciated by the fans or officials within the club despite carrying them for the past few years.

 

As much as he is a *, I find myself feeling sorry for him.

He is clearly a tortured genius and it is evident he just wants to be loved. Think he is haunted by the fact that is unlikely he will never be thought of as the best player of his generation.

I hope he sorts himself out as it isn't nice to see anyone wrestling with demons.

 

Well boo-*-hoo......

My heart bleeds for him.




[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons&feature=relmfu"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons&feature=relmfu[/ame]

 

It's for a mixture of reasons, doesn't always need to be so cut and dry.

 

He is well paid for this. Does he appreciate how much of fans hard earned cash is used to fund his extravagant lifestyle.

 

Has Ronaldo told anyone that is going to mouth off to the media?

Probably not, so nobody really knows and these daft articles that could well be bang on the money, are never going to convince me otherwise. It's all rumours until the truth comes out really.

 

Doesn't matter how much he is paid. He can be paid the same amount anywhere, he doesn't really get treated with any respect by the Madristas. Which I've always found odd; since he is far and away there best player and the only reason they are anywhere near close to Barcelona. Without Cristiano Ronaldo there would be no La Liga title last year.

He has every right to demand respect within that club.

 

So you're saying that Ronaldo has next to NO respect from the Madrid support?

I find that highly unlikely.

 

The man himself has stated it is not about money, so I see no reason not to believe him.

 

That's true, with the Spaniards anyway. He has been booed a few times in the Bernabeu and every failure of the team as a collective unit always falls squarely on his shoulders; which it shouldn't.

Add into the fact that reportadly last year, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso and Iker Casillas were at "war" with the Portuguese within the club then I can see why that can happen. Mourinho managed to bring the situation under control by having words with Casillas who is kingpin in the Madrid dressing room, both to the players and to the Madrid support... well it's an uneasy situation.

The amount of egos at Real is unreal, it's always been that way though. Mourinho's a clever enough manager to keep it under control but it does spill out into the support.

 

Can't stand it when people say they're highly paid so shouldn't have feelings. Its just buying into the tabloid paper *.

"Their highly paid so can't have personalities - but we get to look at every detail of their private life, examine it and make them look bad. They can't complain though because they're highly paid. We can also rip into them for how much they earn - they can't complain though cos they're highly paid."

People who genuinely believe this are just arrogant * but I think the majority of people have just been conend by the tabloid media/celebrity gossip mags into thinking this way. 99% of footballers aren't fame-hungry whores and shouldn't be treated like that. They have ridiculously difficult jobs compared to the average celebrity and are incredibly skilled athletes.

 

Mate, as soon as I heard Ronaldo was going to Real Madrid, I knew instantly there would be some scenario where this ego-clash between the "galactico" stars and "el" galactico i.e. Ronaldo would boil over.

I genuinely find it hard to have any sympathy whatsoever for Ronaldo - he obviously feels he should be adored more than Iker Casillas - who just happens to be the clubs longest-servant and Club captain .

I'll take your word about the support blaming him for failure.

 

I don't give a * about players' private lives. My favourite players have always been Larsson, Scholes and Xavi and part of that is because they keep themselves to themselves and genuinely come across as people just doing a job and playing the game they love. Ronaldo on the other hand is completely out of touch as he has proven on several occasions. The real tabloid spin is that people believe he isn't and should somehow get sympathy for situations like this.

You're absolutely right, someone paid as much as Ronaldo has no right to complain that they want to be paid more, I don't care how you try and justify this petulant child's actions.

Except the player we're talking about, Cristiano Ronaldo, unquestionably is.

 

Has the first thread for this been closed? On my phone

 

The tabloid's never spin a story to put Ronaldo in a positive light, he's always put in a negative light. He himself has literally stated it is not about money, yet people are still trying to say it is.

He's an easy-target for criticism and people will look for any excuse to throw insults at him.

 

Actually I was making the opposite point to that. Ronaldo isn't complaining that he wants more money anyway. Its not about that.

I don't think for a second that Ronaldo is like that anyway. From some of the stuff I've heard about him he sounds like an incredibly nice and charitable guy. He's very loyal to the people who helped him before he was famous. The media are just all over him because he's good looking. I don't think for a second he goes out of his way to look for all the attention. Yes he may be an arrogant *, and I don't particularly like him, but I don't think for a second he is similar to the Geordie Shore people or anyone like that. He's one of the best footballers in the world - possibly in history - and he deserves every penny he earns.

And also I'm pretty certain 99% of people with that mentality felt the same way about Ryan Giggs as they did Scholes, Larsson etc a few yers ago because he was a "good role model".