As a Man United fan, I felt the urge of sharing this with you guys:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=272368&cc=5739

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Ruud is 'complete striker' - Leo


Ruud van Nistelrooy is capable of becoming a better striker than legendary Dutch international Marco van Basten, acording to Club America coach Leo Beenhakker.

Currently in his second stint at the Mexico City club, Beenhakker is best known for his time in charge of the Dutch national side, Ajax and Real Madrid.

And having worked with legendary strikers such as van Basten and Hugo Sanchez, Beenhakker is well placed to assess the merits of fellow Dutchman van Nistelrooy, who added the opener in United's 3-1 win at the LA Coliseum yesterday to the brilliant goal he scored in the first game of his club's four-match US tour against Celtic in Seattle last Tuesday.

'Ruud and Marco are two different players from two different eras so it is difficult to compare,' said Beenhakker.

'But you have to remember the game is getting harder every year because there is less space and less time, so the standards of forward play have to improve as well.

'Van Basten was a brilliant player but you have to look at Ruud now and say he is the complete striker, for me the best in the world.

'He is doing a phenomenally difficult job and making it look easy. He seems to get better every week and every player in the world recognises his talent.'

With 80 goals in his first two seasons at the club, it is understandable why Sir Alex Ferguson shares Beenhakker's view.

United chief executive Peter Kenyon admitted yesterday that van Nistelrooy was a priceless asset, who could not be bought even for the £70million cash-rich Chelsea apparently have at their disposal to purchase a new striker.

By common consent, van Nistelrooy is actually improving, developing his link play and also adding a previously unseen turn of pace to his obvious strength and lethal finishing.

Considering he spent almost 12 months out of the game recovering from cruciate ligament surgery before his £18.5million switch from Eindhoven was confirmed, Beenhakker believes van Nistelrooy's form is nothing short of miraculous.

'When you consider the injury as well, his contribution to Manchester United has been amazing,' said Beenhakker.

'There are very few Dutch strikers who could be regarded as an unqualified success in England but he is one beyond doubt.

'I hadn't seen him for a few months before United played Celtic last week but the goal he got that night was unbelievable.

'He had a guy at his back and there appeared to be nothing on. But with one small movement, he created the smallest bit of space and that was it. It was almost too quick to see.

'And the goal he scored last night was so typical. Mentally he is up there with the very best. His mind is just so quick to spot an opportunity.

'I don't know the entire history of Manchester United but I have heard Sir Alex has said he could be the best striker the club has ever had. That statement alone tells you everything.'
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I like it when they say he's improving all the time. Seeing him getting better and better on TV is a blessing for Man United. We all remember that superb goal he scored at OT, skipping past 3-4 defenders before placing it coolly to the left of the keeper. His pace his mind-blowing.

Van Nistelrooy, possibly better than Ronaldo. People might say that after a few years.

If Zidane is the midfielder of this era, Ruud would be the striker.

i would say Ronaldo is the striker of this era if their is such a thing.....i just believe their are great players which they both are

i'll take ruud over ronaldo any day of the week

van nistelrooy with henry just behind him would make him even more lethal.

ronaldo has that unpredictabilty factor though. he can turn a game on its heels, van nistelrooy can't do it as well.

i'd have Raul and Vieri in my team over him.

i believe he might just be the best striker on the planet but its really hard for me to say b/c if their is a way to describe who is better between Ronaldo, RVN, Henry, Vieri, Raul, and a few others i havnt figured it out

Ruud was GREAT against Club America on Sunday in Los Angeles. His control of the ball and of the game was masterful. Not only that, he was constantly urging on the other MU players. He's the real deal.

Blanco remained the bum I've always thought he was.

I'd have Henry over him anyday. Give me a player that can score and knows when to pass, not a diving gravy train striker.

I'll name some better strikers. Henry, Ronaldo, Raul, Vieri, Shearer, Cisse, Larsson. There are more too

Ill habe Raúl and Ruud on my team anyday (H)

Van Nistelrooy is one of the best strikers in the world with no doubt, i think at this moment it would be very hard to make a choice between him and some others strikers, he's definitely on the TOP 5. ;)

i don't think Ruud could put on some of the moves Ronaldo did before his injuries. From clips i've seen, he was freakin amazing!

but i agree. Right now, i'd have to put Ruud at the top of the list.

Diving is part of the game. Every GOOD striker does it every now and then. Get over it.

Ruud has to be in the top 3. Ronnie, Henry, and Ruud.

ruud is, if not the best striker in the world at the moment.. some ppl in this forum are too pussy to admit it, hah!

Originally posted by m3th0d
ruud is, if not the best striker in the world at the moment.. some ppl in this forum are too pussy to admit it, hah!

Too 'pussy' to admit it?

Nice choice of language there.

Ronaldo, Henry, Raul and Vieri are all superior strikers to RVN.

I think it's a joke to say anyone is better than Ronaldo at scoring goals.
RVN the complete striker?
Don't make me laugh. The guy's left foot is a joke, and don't even tell me about that Celtic goal, because anyone can generate power on a half-volley.
If you want to know about RVN's left foot, then recall his Fulham goal, when he completely forgot he had 'one' and used his right foot.
Ronaldo, Vieri, Henry, Raul, Elber, Owen, and Shevchenko are all better, and I listed them in order as I see it..........

hes more powerfull than everyone you listed their except Vieri....one part of his game which should be considered

what makes ruud great is that he has more to his game than just finishing the play

Like diving, elbowing and the like.

Originally posted by Ljungberg08
Like diving, elbowing and the like.

can you name a striker who doesnt dive?

we all know people hate ruud just because he plays for Man U..

Kanu

there is no such thing as a professional player from a top team that doesnt dive.

You can't dive if you don't play ;)

Originally posted by Ljungberg08
You can't dive if you don't play ;)

:rolleyes:

Like I said before. If I was a manager and I had the World Cup on the line or the Champions League or whatever big game......you name it.........

My starters would be

Ronaldo and Van Basten......otherwise Ronaldo.

RVN is a good player and admitedly I haven't seen enough of him to have a clear opinion. However I have seen Ronaldo turn games around in a matter of minutes, he is the striker by which this generation should be known. THE complete striker. Even when he is overweight, and having an off day, if you give Ronaldo two inches out on the pich he will sink you.......I have seen it happen time and again

Originally posted by RoyIsALegend
Too 'pussy' to admit it?

Nice choice of language there.

Ronaldo, Henry, Raul and Vieri are all superior strikers to RVN.

get with the ghetto slang or beat it.. ;) :rolleyes:

if your gonna bring up RVN's left foot you gotta bring up that Henry couldnt head a ball into the ocean....everyone has their faults....except raul lol ....i dunno the weakness of this guy ....someone let me know

Henry plays for Arsenal.

Heading is a $500 fine.

Raul is as persistent and consistent as you can get really. The man has a brilliant brilliant vision for the game, is not selfish with the ball, can head and break you hips dribbling and can pounce on lose balls just as well....

Originally posted by KingPaulV
Raul is as persisteny and consisteny as you can get really. The man has a brilliant brilliant vision for the game, is not selfish with the ball, can head and break you hips dribbling and can pounce on lose balls just as well....

thought u were talkin' about rvn for a second there.. :crazyboy:

the 'not selfish' give it away? :p

raul is not that good at any particular thing, he is not the best dribbler, or the fastest, or strongest or anything like that... but is good and makes up with winning spirits and guts and leadership and non stop running the 90 minutes of the match

not a chance it was about RVN ;)

RVN is still young, let he improve his skill

Originally posted by tottiiii
if your gonna bring up RVN's left foot you gotta bring up that Henry couldnt head a ball into the ocean....everyone has their faults....except raul lol ....i dunno the weakness of this guy ....someone let me know

the thing with raul, in my opinion, is that he isn't particularly great at anything. he's just really good at everything. he's doesn't have great pace like henry or even a ronaldo but he's a work horse and will run all day. he's not the greatest header like vieiri or as powerful as ruud, but he's probably got the best vision in the game. and he is a leader and leads by example.

with that said, i still think he is a top five forward. everyone pretty much has ronaldo, henry, ruud, raul, and vieiri in their top fives. the order is just a matter of preference.

Thierry Henry doesnt dive also Ruud Van Noodle Pie is not a complete striker he is a very good finisher but doesnt have as much flair or creativty as Henry. But Henry couldnt hit the Broad side of a Barn note how he is more of a Forward than a striker

RVN is something dat i would like to become, Ruud and Ronaldo are absolutely da best strikers in da world, until they see me! :p

uh-huh :confused: :X

just to answer the question.
Raul's right foot is all but useless, and I don't have to debate Henry's ability in the air because the topic is RVN.
Nobody has any real argument to say RVN is a better player than any of the guys listed. Say what you will, he scored, unless I forgot, one more goal than Henry(and that's including penalties), and probably had twelve fewer assists.
Doesn't that say something to you lot?!

We all admire RVN, and any Arsenal fan would prefer he misses any game against AFC, but the guy just isn't THE top player at that position, and nobody, nobody is even close to Ronaldo.

RVN is 1 of the best striker at the moment,,there's no doubt about that.. Frankly asking urself, when ur team play against team with Ruud in the starting line-up, who's the player you feared most and wanted to get rid of? ,, You dun really know when he will have his day off..coz he can still poke in winner without touching the ball more than 10 times for full 90 minutes..of coz there's a lot of other great striker 2day,,and I m sure Ruud is 1 of them... But to compare him with the great Marco Van Basten is quite ironic... Marco is classic and there's only 1 Marco

Not Ruud because he is no good unless he has a top quality midfielder feeding him the ball

I'd play Martin Keown, and make him wear gloves

I'd load up the right one with some hard stuff.

Ruud wouldn't get a sniff.

I have a better idea tell ruud about the actors job and the threatre next door

or a better idea put Mel Gibson in goals and get him to talk to Ruud about Career paths

Really surprised Sheva has only been mentioned once..

Pace, power, good heading, good dribbling and acceptional heading..

Thats what a striker needs..

If you say I'm biased, then I'll say Raul and Henry as the best all-round striker.

p/s, Ronnie cant head.. and Raul's right foot is not useless.. he is surely better with his left but his right isnt all bad at all..

Henry cant finish well enough to be called a true striker

I think Van Nistelrooy has the potential to become a much better player, but his style is much more suited for EPL than La Liga or Serie A. He's a physical type of striker, and while I don't admire his lack of class(elbowing ALOT), he is very effective because of the type of style Man U plays. He simply needs to become a cleaner player, and develop some sort of left-foot ability.

Also, who cares if Ronaldo can't head a ball? The man is magnificent once the ball is on his foot. He can turn a defense inside out single handedly and has remarkable chemistry with Raul.

Anybody who is NOT biased and honestly watches all of these guys play(Ronnie, RVN, Henry, Shevchenko, Vieri, Raul, etc.) has to admit Ronaldo is the best striker of our current era. Easily.

for someone who has Henry in both his sig and avatar..

that was shocking

:rockman:

if a cross comes in, how is Ronnie gonna head it?

yes, I admit Ronnie is class

rather, WAS class..

Both him and Sheva have been on a slump..

"Ronnie? Slump?" You might ask..

But yes, he is no where near how good he was at Barca..

Yeah, he will become that good again..

Prolly this coming season..

Im just speaking the truth like i always do

good job (H)

I don't like van nistelrooys playing style, i like the playing style from players like Raul and Henry. Raul and van Nistelrooy would be a fantastic couple.

In terms pof a great striker (i.e. putting the ball in the back of the net) Ruud was top scorer in the premier league and the champions league that has to put him above any other striker in europe at least.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you
Alan Shearer. kthxgg

Yeah Ruud it a great striker one of the bets in the world, he makes it looks so easy. Leo Beenhaker is a great coach, very understanding and knows what he is doing, its a shame he didnt go to a bigger club though. Mido would have been back at Ajax a long time ago if he had not gotten injured.

Originally posted by Shevchenko-[7]
Really surprised Sheva has only been mentioned once..

Pace, power, good heading, good dribbling and acceptional heading..

Thats what a striker needs..

If you say I'm biased, then I'll say Raul and Henry as the best all-round striker.

p/s, Ronnie cant head.. and Raul's right foot is not useless.. he is surely better with his left but his right isnt all bad at all..
Copying my word

on the point of finishing, it may surprise some of you that excluding penalties, Henry, yes HENRY, has a better record of accuracy than RVN.
RVN's lethal finishing is another one of these football myths that aren't proven by data.
RVN misses a tonne of chances, in fact he misses as many as Andy Cole, believe it or not.What has happened is that he scores every penalty(and he takes many) so when they provide his shots to goals percentage it looks a lot better than it really is......

Originally posted by rusi_88
f*ck ruud
he dives all the time

j/p hes good

why those asterix * words.
dive yourself in a huge lake and think about it over again.
football players are to be praised ,not ................

ronaldo is fat....

Yet he cmae about 3 goals short of the Scoring Title in Spain after not even playing since day 1..........:| :rolleyes:

Originally posted by atsuneedssomehe
ronaldo is fat....
And fast

thats why its uesless to discuss these things....we are talking about the best strikers in the world and the most common word used for all of em is 'sucks' or something like that

Originally posted by Alex Knapp
and i know A LOT of ARSENAL supporters say that ruud is better:rolleyes:

Explain how RVN is better than Titi.

In the EPL Henry had 1 less goal then him (note, it was a PK that he simulated vs. Everton to get) Henry had over 20 assists on top of his goals, RVN had like 2.

Henry is better, there is no way around it, cry all you like, you're wrong.

seriuosly in my honest opinion, stats only mean so much. like sure, ruud scored a lot of goals but if you look at his totals, you see he's taken a lot of penalties, and being the lone forward, you expect him to get more goals. henry had a lot of assists and tells you he has that ability to create chances while scoring himself. but we all know he's not the greatest header. ronaldo got to score a lot of goals even while partnering with raul and playing with a lineup full of goal scorers. we all know vieiri's crazy goal/game ratio. every player has something different to bring to the table. we can go on and on and we won't get any closure.

i think the best stats to use are those like shots on goal %, etc.

but it all comes down to a matter of preference and how often you've seen certain players play, which leads to bias. i've seen henry, ruud, ronaldo, and raul play a lot more than others and i think they're all sick. it's all a matter of taste. like arguing who's better. kobe or t-mac? duncan or kg? ok i'll stop rambling.

there's a debate about Kobe or McGrady?
Mc Grady is as good a scorer as anyone who ever played but his defence is weak, and his mental strength is average.
Kobe is a beast.
And I ain't no Lakers fan. The Lakers and their fans can kiss my Arse.

Iverson is the man though...cant really **** with him ...i dont care if he cant dunk over yao

yea there's a debate about kobe and mcgrady. t-mac's defense isn't weak, man. it's not as strong as kobe's but he'll d up on you. but he does look lazy.

anyhow....

lol. @ the anyhow.

999th post..............the 1000th will be celebrating the 1st trophy of the season

congrats dude. i just got my 100th. haha.

Originally posted by antithesis
on the point of finishing, it may surprise some of you that excluding penalties, Henry, yes HENRY, has a better record of accuracy than RVN.
RVN's lethal finishing is another one of these football myths that aren't proven by data.
RVN misses a tonne of chances, in fact he misses as many as Andy Cole, believe it or not.What has happened is that he scores every penalty(and he takes many) so when they provide his shots to goals percentage it looks a lot better than it really is......

You could be right about that i dont watch United games so i only see the shots Henry misses

give rud his props, the kat is nice, and knows how to split defence, pass the ball and make other forwards better. he's also a playmaker and u can see that on the celtic game... hes developin into a phenom, and i hope he stays that way

but u don't f*ck with ronaldo, that kat is in another level, he will beat some senses into u and make things look easy. him and henry are too solid, and ruud is still gettin there

to be fair...... everybody dives and try to fake the referee....no argueing about that..... secondly..... each striker has his own weakness and capabilities..... raul..... he is suited to the la liga.... if you bring him to the premiership, he will be a forlan in disguise.... ruud.... he has a good right foot....can control ball well.... but he needs to improve left..... ronaldo...... the most lethal.... he can score goals... but he dun assist everytime...... henry..... pacey, but cant head..... he is also the engine....so if he is not on form....arsenal will be gunned... there is no such thing as a complete striker....

alex.....you're behaving like a child..... dun argue....it is their opinion.... one man u fan down the drain...

I think for Ruud to become " the complete striker" he will have to actually take part in a major tournament for Holland. When i see him perform well for Holland at Euro 2004 i think he will then be the complete striker.

He already is an awesome one but hasnt really achieved anything on the international scene.

Originally posted by fifafanv1
to be fair...... everybody dives and try to fake the referee....no argueing about that..... secondly..... each striker has his own weakness and capabilities..... raul..... he is suited to the la liga.... if you bring him to the premiership, he will be a forlan in disguise.... ruud.... he has a good right foot....can control ball well.... but he needs to improve left..... ronaldo...... the most lethal.... he can score goals... but he dun assist everytime...... henry..... pacey, but cant head..... he is also the engine....so if he is not on form....arsenal will be gunned... there is no such thing as a complete striker....

Henry doesnt dive. Also why do you need to head when you can take it around the keeper and put it in the open net

henry gets a ghetto pass from everyone when they talk about his heading. he knows he's a poor header and everyone knows it. but everyone knows him for his flair so they kinda leave out the heading.

but i dunno if anyone else noticed this. i think it was the confederations cup against new zealand or something. henry took a cross and outjumped his defender to head the ball into the net. then when he lands, the defender falls flat on his back and henry just looks down and stares at the defender for like 5 seconds. haha. henry's gangsta.

Henry is good at heading (Nike cage advert!)

Originally posted by Jedi Mind Trick
henry gets a ghetto pass from everyone when they talk about his heading. he knows he's a poor header and everyone knows it. but everyone knows him for his flair so they kinda leave out the heading.

but i dunno if anyone else noticed this. i think it was the confederations cup against new zealand or something. henry took a cross and outjumped his defender to head the ball into the net. then when he lands, the defender falls flat on his back and henry just looks down and stares at the defender for like 5 seconds. haha. henry's gangsta.

yea i was dying when i saw that....also to demonstrate how bad he is at heading...the ball was perfect to rocket into the net and somehow he kinda fanned on it and it still went it luckily....he just looked at the guy like dont even jump with me...ill score you will like it

hahaha yea. that was some hilarious ish.

Originally posted by PaPaGeorGeo
Henry cant finish well enough to be called a true striker
shocker. that's why he finished second in goals scored by one goal last season.

Originally posted by mufc_daddy
I think for Ruud to become " the complete striker" he will have to actually take part in a major tournament for Holland. When i see him perform well for Holland at Euro 2004 i think he will then be the complete striker.

He already is an awesome one but hasnt really achieved anything on the international scene.

Holland hasn't achieved anything last couple of years, and we need an away win against Nedved and his boys(wich is gonna be tough)
But i have great faith in Ruud and i've been a Ruud fan since he started playing for Heerenveen (My favourite club)

Obviously none of you know ANYTHING at all.

The only, and best, striker, or whatever, in the world is none other than

HESKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

Just think about, i mean he can.........move....occasionally, and every now and then he trips over and he stands a chance of breaking his leg and retiring from football (H)

From a patriotic sense, i would say the complete striker would be Mark Viduka.

He has pace on him, he is a monster at either heading or finishing, and while he doesn't really play with flair, he still pulls off the crazy tricks and can dribble around players (Think of the thrashing against Charlton for some of his work). If he had managed some consistency over the whole season for the previous two, then he would have a much better rep, also if he performed on the international stage. But alas he proves inconsistent over the whole season as a general rule, and when you consider the quality he plays against usually, and he has something like 2 goals from 20 caps for Aus, it is blatant that Internationally he has so far failed to deliver.

Well the top 3 strikers in the planet are for sure, RVN, T-henry and R2D2.

The most Talented is definitly Henry. this guy is the fastest man on earth with a ball in his foot. hes a scoring machine and is the striker everyone wants in their team. But the problem is that he thinks hes the best of the best and doesnt think he needs to improve thats why i think he wont get better with the year.

The most lethal is RVN, he doesnt miss any scoring chances, he has everything to stay at the top the list but he is not as creative as Henry or Ronaldo.. ( he can get pass the defence with fundamentals, you havent seen him do a elatico or Bike moves to pass by defenders like ronaldo and henry do)

And Ronaldo is Champ Finishers, this guy is the one you want to have in your team for a qualifying, Eliminatories, Champions cup, Worlcups, this guy score in al important games( not saying that hes wack in others games) but his unstable and is FAT. lol J/k he was defenitly the best at Barca before that injure..... hes playing at 75% and hes in the Top 3 List.... What if he Was 100% Healthy?? Thats the million bucks Q.