That's a very poor argument. Basically you like the way Cristiano looks playing so you don't look at what he actually does on the field. Going by your "eye test", you'd select Oguchi Onyewu ahead of Cesar Azpilicueta.

Much better than "advanced metrics" (lol. For soccer?).

This shouldn't be a new concept. Goals expected per shot, value over replacement, shooting percentage assisted/unassisted, value added when player is involved, etc.

Messi has benefited from the warm consistent cocoon of Barcelona and the strength of that overall team during Messi's time there.

You probably don't watch Barcelona a whole lot. This would have debatable when Messi was starting his career. Now, not so much. Given the sheer incompetence from the Barcelona board, it's a testament to Messi's ability that the team hasn't imploded (yet). And again, what Messi does on the field nobody else does.

Here's a challenge for you. From the last few games, I selected four passes from Messi. Let's see similar ones from Ronaldo. They can be from whatever year you'd like.

Match #25 Barcelona v Girona

Watch this video on YouTube

0:15 to Luis Suarez, 0:50 to Coutinho

Match #24 Eibar v Barcelona

Watch this video on YouTube

0:11 to Luis Suarez

Match #20 Betis v Barcelona

Watch this video on YouTube

1:19 to Luis Suarez