It's easy to see why Sir Robert William Robson and Ronaldo Luiz Nazário de Lima got on famously when they worked together at Barcelona. They arrived at the Nou Camp ahead of the 1996-97 season as hugely successful figures in their respective fields (they wouldn't have been chosen to manage or to play for a club as esteemed as Barcelona had they not been), yet humility had remained a conspicuous characteristic in both.
The veteran Englishman is renowned for insisting 'just call me Bobby', while the striker he had under his wing during his short and sweet tenure in Catalonia had, at the time, commented; 'I'm just another player here to do my share of the work'. They came from different worlds, from continents separated by vast waters and even vaster standards of comfort, but Robson and Ronaldo shared a similar sense of humour, an unpretentious demeanour, and an absolute devotion to their profession. Both possessed that likeability factor.
It was, in fact, Robson who had been behind Barcelona smashing their transfer record to sign Ronaldo. Convinced that the boy wonder was set for superstardom, the former England coach squeezed president Nuñez into raising his initial $10 million bid a staggering six times!
The eventual fee it took to prise him from PSV Eindhoven was $20 million, exactly double the starting offer. Critics dubbed the figure 'ridiculously exorbitant', but it took just a couple of games for them to witness Ronaldo's extraordinary talent and duly gobble their words.
Despite Ronaldo's sublimity, the Spanish hulks failed in their attempts to capture the La Liga crown that campaign (although they did claim three titles), and at the end of the season both the jet-heeled goal machine and the wily trainer made one-way journeys from the Barcelona departure lounge.
Nevertheless, the short period that they worked together was sufficient for pupil to make a lasting impression upon master. In his 1998 autobiography, An Englishman Abroad, Bobby Robson spoke passionately about his time in command of a player he rated as 'as good as Pelé':
"One of the great joys of my year coaching Barcelona to three trophies was having the world's best player Ronaldo in my team. There is no doubt about the part he played in our success: in forty-eight starts he scored an incredible forty-five goals. He was portrayed as a greedy young man but I never had a problem with him or his attitude; in fact the biggest problem I had with the lad was getting him off the training pitch because he would always say, 'Please Meester, just a leetle longer, just a few more shots.'
"He was a great player and a brilliant boy to work with. He liked a joke in the dressing room but he respected the senior players. He was a fine boy who trained well and, as far as I concerned, he wanted to stay with Barcelona a lot longer. It was other people who decided his fate and his future.
I have worked with some outstanding players during my life, players from every corner of the globe, but he was in a different class and when you consider that he was only twenty when he came to Barcelona it made him very special indeed. He is strong and quick over fifty metres, has a side-step that is lightening-quick with the ball at his feet, and he can shield the ball, turn and beat defenders in the twinkle of an eye. He has the ability, the talent and the temperament to be not just the best in the world but maybe even the best ever. As good as Pelé and I cannot go any higher than that. I believe only injury will stop him developing into one of the all-time greats, possibly the greatest of them all. In terms of potential he is a cut above anything else I have seen.
In his short stay he had left an indelible impression on myself and the people of Barcelona. He reminded me of Diego Maradona the way he went past defenders. He was one of the quickest players I ever saw with the ball at his feet, strong enough to take a buffeting and a whacking. He can play with his back to goal or drive forward, stay on his feet or go past people. I have seen tough defenders bounce off him. Where Romário was lightening-quick over ten metres, this boy could sustain his pace over fifty, accelerating past his marker never to be caught. It means he can come deep to pick up the ball and see what is in front of him; then he can use his pace or his dribbling skills to take on defenders. Ronaldo can beat opponents just like George Best used to do in his great years. He was as good a buy as I ever bought in my career."
11 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete