He really shouldn't be taking them...just awful almost every time.

 

It doesn't matter to him if the team wins, only his stat sheet matters.

 

If I recall correctly the only one that went in was awful goal keeping, went straight through the guy.

 

I have been saying it for ages even without knowing the numbers. It is sufficient to see the way he takes them to realize it. That dumb fake way to approach the ball before kicking is maybe choreographic but absolutely useless if not harmful and someone who likes him should tell him.

 

Underrated

 

Endo was a fantastic free kick taker in his prime but nowadays he is too old to still be considered underrated, in my opinion.

 

He is the Roberto Carlos of the 2010s, every now and then he might score a spectacular free kick but it's mostly garbage. Yet the commentators will always hype him up as some Zico type expert while he lines up his shot.

 

His stance before he takes them is so annoying!!

 

I literally laugh out loud everytime he has his elaborate set up to take one which takes a couple minutes only for the shot to hit the wall and him ask for a handball :howler:

 

so true!! builds the suspense. just get on with it and put it in the back net.

 

Not his forte, but his ego propels him forward. Bale is quite good at fks or was??

 

That guy looks a bit like Bale though

 

The fact that he doesn't take free kicks as well as he did back in 2010 or in 2013.

 

Then your comment should be that he isn't as good as he used to be, not that he's too old.

 

You seen the only one he scored too? I couldnt believe it, Eibar's goalie was a total amatateur with that buffooonic blunder.

 

It's a combination of both, I think. He was very underrated in his prime but today that doesn't really apply anymore. Still a top player, no doubt.

 

Ronaldo and Messi for all their qualities are not the best FK takers. Both teams have superior takers in Bale and Neymar to be honest. But it is not such a big deal as they are not outright terrible like a Xavi for example, who will score a freekick every century.

 

Ronaldo and Messi for all their qualities are not the best FK takers. Both teams have superior takers in Bale and Neymar to be honest. But it is not such a big deal as they are not outright terrible like a Xavi for example, who will score a freekick every century.

:howler::howler::howler: that's why I have never seen him score 1.

 

Didn't Juninho took all the free-kicks close to goal for his team aswell?

 

he took them all from everywhere, many long ones he scored too

 

Well then his ratio shouldn't be far from CR's. Maybe it's just that CR is the most famous athlete on the planet and everybody is expecting the world from him. Taking them all decreases ur ratio but increases your numbers , +both have scored amazing freekicks that are always ranked amogst the most beautiful takes ever. If I'm not mistaken Juninho scored in the 70+ range while CR has over 50 fks till now and can still score a bunch. It's just that he had a tough year but I'd say that since the Juninho,RC,Beckham days only Pirlo is on par with CR in this department.

 

Only Messi has scored a lot of very good goals from free kicks in recent years, unlike Ronaldo.

 

In my time, Juninho was just the god of Freekicks,

I still remember a game in which he was a substitute in CL for Lyon, and quiet literally, he put his socks on, came on the field, at the exact moment the foul occurred, and just made the unthinkable look absurdly easily, and scored the freekick

If anyone, with more brain cells than i am able to locate in my own scalp, can perhaps name that match would be appreciated

 

In my time this guy was pretty good.Sinisa Mihajlovic

Rivaldo was also good

 

Riquelme was always great with free kicks.

 

CR really is a crap free kick taker these days. Bale is far better, but he is no allowed to take any.

 

Best freekick takers I have seen in my life time (I didnt see freaks like Zico, Platini etc) are Juninho (this is not in order, except Juninho the best BY FAR), Pirlo, Sinisa, Beckham, Del Piero, Zola, Baggio, Marcos Assuncao, Ronaldinho.


Honourable mentions to Van Hoijdonk, Marcelinho Carioca, Hagi, Zidane etc.

Cristiano has no chance in hell to any of them.

 

What about Nakamura. Awesome FK taker.

Quite a few Japanese have good free-kick technique - Endo, Honda, Nakamura, Kiyotake etc.

 

I forgot Shunsuke! I would have him just shy off my top 5, below Junhinho, Sinisa, Beckham, Del Piero and Pirlo.

 

Riquelme was the best dead ball especialist in these last years ....Sinisa transformed direct free kickss in almost penalties.

 

No one could take a free kick like Inigo Idiakez could :stuckup:

 

The thing with CR is not that he is good, bad or awful, is that it's mentioned as one of his trademarks, when the only trademark is the way he shoots them...but as it was one of the pillars of the "complete player" thing, I guess it remained there.

 

Yes there are a few names
Beckham (often rated in TOP5 best or sometimes the best? ) He made 56 FK career with so many attempts ...

Roberto Carlos is another who just banged in a few hard shots LOL

and lately ... Cristiano like Andy pointed out