Real Madrid fans have a reputation for being spoiled, let’s just get that out of the way. If you are a Real Madrid fan and you consider yourself not to be spoiled, chances are you are either lying or oblivious, because a massive, massive part Real Madrid’s fan base is known to boo Gareth Bale, the man that did this and this for the club, just like it booed Karim Benzema before him. It is known to wait for players after practices and games, and kick and scream at their cars as they leave.
A legend of the club, Iker Casillas, has even come out and said that he is sick of your s***, Real Madrid fans, and so is almost everyone else in the world. Or at least they will be when they hear that, according to a recent survey by the Spanish newspaper AS, half of you want to sell Cristiano Ronaldo.
That’s right. An online survey was conducted, and out of 31,474 participants, 15,725 — that’s 49.96% — want their club to sell the second best player in the world. They do not want him.
How a group of people could ever not want a player like Cristiano Ronaldo on their team is beyond me. Even if he is past his prime, Ronaldo is still one of the most electrifying players on the planet, a fact that was on full display as he scored a hat trick for Portugal against Armenia.
His first goal was a penalty. His second was a combination of will, hustle, and finesse. Look at the way he wraps his body around the defender to get to the ball.
And his third, well, his third was signature Ronaldo.
He even put on his dancing shoes like it was 2004.
THIS IS THE PLAYER THAT REAL MADRID FANS WANT TO SELL!!!
No other player on the planet, not even Messi, puts on a performance like that. That’s not to say Messi is worse than Ronaldo — Messi is clearly better — Ronaldo is just one of the most unique talents in the world. He is the kind of player that fans should cherish for as long as possible. Wanting to sell him just so he can be replaced with some shiny toy that is half as fun but twice as “new” is the definition of immature, and spoiled in nature.
As far as I can tell, Ronaldo loves playing in Madrid, even though its fans sometimes seem like they are doing their darnedest to make him hate it. Ronaldo loves playing at his best, and he strives to do it as often as possible. No fan should ever want to sell a player who has that combination going for him: a love for his craft and the stage he displays it one — especially when that player is the second most talented player in the world.
Business is one thing, player morale another, and the inevitable decline of age another still, but talent is why we watch the game. Half of Real Madrid fans want to sell the essence of what makes the beautiful game beautiful, and for what? Because it bores them? A good return on an investment? Shamefully short sighted, all of it.
The second half to Ronaldo’s 2014/15 campaign was poor by his standards, and that was a failure.
He will bounce back — he already has against Armenia.
Have patience, fans of Real Madrid, allow yourself some grace. Your club is one of the greatest in the world. It’s time that you started acting with a similar amount of class.
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