Scoring rate does not mean you are a better goalscorer. You can score less and be better. He became a better player the more team oriented he became. Letting go and trusting his teammates meant he could focus purely on goals, and in doing so, could provide them in the toughest of circumstances
07/08 is his perfect season Stats: Premier League: 34 games, 31 goals and 6 assists Champions League: 11 games, 8 goals and 1 assist FA Cup: 3 games, 3 goals Overall: 49 games, 42 goals and 8 assists With Manchester United, Cristiano won: Premier League Champions League FA Community Shield FIFA Club World Cup Individually, he claimed: UEFA Best Player in Europe award European Golden Shoe as top scorer with 31 goals Ballon d'Or FIFA Best Men's Player award Champions League top scorer Some plays of that season: Arguably the greatest peak in history
Was the 2013/14 version of Ronaldo the one who scored the most solo goals after the 2009/10 season? I couldn’t find the number of goals he scored after dribbling past players per season, but I think 2009/10 was his best. What about 2013/14? Was it his second best ? If his final seasons at Man United were the best after 09/10, then maybe 2013/14 was his best at Madrid ?
Actually and maybe surprisingly I agree with you on this It is stupid skills like this that have massively contributed to the impression that he was nothing but a showboat dribbler at Manchester United These are the types of skills that have made it into his YouTube highlight reels Often repeated and even slowed down by comp makers as if they were even amazing to begin with When I use to make seasonal comps of Cristiano years ago I would never include his showboat skills and only keep the functional ones In reality he top scored in the 2007/08 premier league with 31 goals and he lead in dribbles completed 90 - Most dribbles completed in the 2007-08 Premier League season:90 - Cristiano Ronaldo88 - Aliaksandr Hleb75 - David Bentley69 - Joe Cole62 - Charles N'ZogbiaMemories. #OptaJoe15 https://t.co/q1xMfvcxec— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 4, 2024
@Isaías Silva Serafim His real masterclass season is this though I choose this as a fan of Cristiano above any single version of his Regardless of the number of goals scored,assists provided,individual accolades,trophies won or anything else
If I were to just say in terms of individual quality 1)2011-12 2)2007-08 3)2013-14 Ronaldo 2012 is the only version that can claim to be more perfect than all other versions of footballers in at least the last 30 years Goalscoring, playmaking, chance creation, dribbling, technique, passing, penalties, heading, weak foot, playing with the ball, playing without the ball, etc. Even in defense he won most duels
Throwing everything outside of window except pure athleticism, his peak might be 2009/10. Yes he was a terminator before his injuries, was running 96 meters in 10 seconds in 2012/13 But I think Ronaldo resembled prime Gareth Bale more in the 2009/10 season than in his other seasons. He only needed the blink of an eye to accelerate, reaching very high speeds over a very short distance. Due to this explosiveness and pace he was able to pass many defenders in single sprints very quickly
Carlito, the more I watch the more it seems clear to me that he was severely underrated in those years - and was playing in a way that was completely unprecedented. Yes, completely. Firstly, the sheer quality, totality, and comprehensiveness of his finishing is absurd. He has insane range - in fact, I can confidently the best long shot in football history. With respect to out of the box, he is capable with his weak foot. He is a reliable/elite header of the ball. One time finishes at great speed in the box. Finishes from every angle of attack, narrow angles on the left and narrow angles on the right. Running toward near post on the right, running toward near post on the left. It doesn't matter. Beyond that - he doesn't drift in and out of games. I was watching a La Liga 17-18 clasico and it is insane how often MEssi is derelict of his duties - he decides if he wants to move into space to collect the ball, decised to kill counters with inactvity, decides to not press - and this is the case for many players. Take Ronaldo - and he is always hyperfocused, always playing with intent and does not shirk offensive nor defensive responsabilities. He is also way less wasteful than his rival. It is crazy how much he gets done on the pitch while playing with less touches. Simply more effective. I genuinely have renewed interest and respect for this player in a way I did not before. The more I study him, the more I realize that history will hopefully be a lot more favorable in its appreciation than the current climate. My eye test now firmly tells me he is better than Messi. Not greater, not this or that. Simply a better, more capable performer.
One of the most physically dominant players of all time talking about the fear he had of Cristianos playing style https://m.youtube.com/shorts/foZBKiJrwk8 @SayWhatIWant @Isaías Silva Serafim
I think one of the most obvious aspects Cristiano should be praised for is his work ethic, as he managed to maintain his condition and endurance longer than Messi did. The 2017/18 season is quite a good example of this, because despite the fact that Messi performed excellently in La Liga and contributed to Barça's 25th title, the distance he covered per game was closer to that of an average goalkeeper than any other outfield player. That's why one can say Ronaldo was the better and more capable performer in 2017/18, as SayWhatIWant said. Especially in the high tempo games. Messi had heavier legs in 2011/12 than in his previous seasons, and injuries caused his physical abilities to decline even more in 2012/13 and 2013/14. He returned to his best in 2014/15 and got progressively better throughout the season, which gave us the most complete version of Messi ever in 2015. But, even though he was almost one footed (compared to his much later seasons) in 2009/10 and in 2010/11 and lacked many forms of threats like many free kicks, that messi had as much as endurance and physical condition as peak ronaldo, If not even more. So, in a hypothetical scenario that would push both of them to their absolute limits—let's say they appear in El Clásico and then play in a UCL semi-final just four days later, just like in 2011/12, but they face the 2012/13 Bayern team— I can confidently say I would pick the 2017/18 Ronaldo over the 2017/18 Messi. However, I wouldn’t say I would certainly pick the 2011/12 Ronaldo over the 2010/11 Messi, because that version of Messi was pressing like a dog as well, and he was an absolute menace.
Great post... I too was favored Messi circa 2010 when I was watching live - but the caveat being, that Messi was operating on an extremely dominant squad in relative terms. My issue I think also comes from how hyper-specialized Messi was. He is no Diego, though he was often compared to his Argentine predecessor. For Diego, it didn't matter where the ball arrived near his body - behind him, at his thigh, his neck, shoulder. For Diego, it didn't matter where the ball was when he shot - far edge of the pitch, knee height, waist high. He could fiddle with the ball in the air. With Messi - you felt he was a threat, but he was a threat if he had the conditions to impose his exact preferred plays. When you watch his second leg performance vs a 10man inter, or 10man chelsea, you just get the feeling the guy is completely out of ideas and wants to brute force the same 1-2 shot combos to no avail. Ronaldo is a diff story. He lacked the aesthetic fluidity of Messi especially as time went on, but you could get a sense that he would try every angle of attack to produce a shot/header and therefore goal.
Evaluation Cristiano Ronaldo's carrer: 2003/2004 - 2005/2006: 7.42 2006/2007 - 2008/2009: 8,5 2009/2010 - 2011/2012: 9 2012/2013 - 2014/2015: 8,83 2015/2016 - 2017/2018: 8,42 2018/2019 - 2020/2021: 8,17 After the evaluation, the difference betwwen 2006/2009 period to 2015/2018 became much smaller than I initally thought! Ronaldo's best rated versions are his initial three seasons for Madrid and his 2014/2015, with 2012/13, 2013/2014 and his 2007/2008 just a fraction behind! The evaluation is a mixed conclusion from media ratings, analysis from key metrics, analysis from outcome team results, big game performances and general performances with his NT/club, skill scalability and eye test!
Pelé, Messi and Cruyff clearly better! I have Maradona's both carrer, prime and peak higher too. Di Stefano might be a closer dispute imho (going for the high up ones...). If you are going to other positions (that isn't mostly offensive oriented players), I think Beckenbauer has the edge as well! I have Cristiano Ronaldo number 7, but with no chance to be the GOAT or the BOAT or whatever! Still a elite player with a lot of history!
I found his initial three seasons at Madrid better as well his 2014/2015, of course not close to being the GOAT, but at all-timer level, surely. 2007/2008, 2009/2010, 2010/2011, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 are all at all-timer level, but not GOAT level per se. I identified 12 worthy GOAT seasons, none of them came from Cristiano Ronaldo.
And of course People are evolving yet the DBS calcio ratings remain exactly the same The completely irrelevant performances in the Argentine primera division remain exactly the same The champions league performances remain exactly the same(Maradona has not added to his CL tally since 2020 as far as I know) So the facts remain exactly the same yet Cristiano’s career has gone from being superior to Diego ‘al qaeda’ Maradona by “some margins” to being definitely inferior The tropeiro rollercoaster ride And the book with his big soccer quotes still hasn’t been published Some things have actually changed Nobody in the history of football has systematically cheated as much as the Argentine fraud No one in any league or continent If Cristiano had done even half of this, his legacy would’ve been blacklisted and cast into the outer reaches of the universe.
At this point I am convinced that Diego Maradona being a great is a religious belief and he can’t be allowed to fall under any circumstances I’m not old enough to remember clearly but I remember vaguely enough that Rivaldo the Brazilian entered the 2002 World Cup as one of the biggest stars in the world. Only one incident of diving on the ‘world stage’ was enough to irreparably damage his legacy to the point that today it isn’t strange to see a player like Ricardo Kaka or Vinicius Junior ranked above him. And to me this is the real blasphemy Or how about Deco? Nobody talks about him anymore even though he was considered to be one of the best players in the first half of the 2000s One incident of doping that he was later cleared of was enough to tarnish his legacy in the minds of many Former Chelsea star Deco cleared of alleged doping offence - BBC Sport Or how about Dani alves? The same Dani alves who’s name is so tarnished that Raphinha couldn’t even mention his name when asked to list Brazilian footballers to have played for FC Barcelona. The same Dani alves who was cleared of all charges by the highest court in Barcelona Dani Alves: Spanish court quashes former Barcelona and Brazil defender's sexual assault conviction - BBC Sport Or how about Michel Platini? Granted it is true that older fans and those who know about football history respect his work on the field but i guarantee you that for fans below the age of 30 that his name is more associated with corruption than it is with anything else A 3 time consecutive ballon d’or winner FFS Or how about Paolo Rossi? His name was so tarnished going into World Cup 1982 that if he didn’t produce the miracles that he did in the KO stages nobody today would even know that he existed. 1980 Totonero - Wikipedia And this is despite the fact that between 1974/75 and 1990/91 nobody in Serie A scored more than the 24 goals Paolo Rossi scored in Serie A 1977/78. Still match fixing charges was enough to destroy his legacy and only a miracle in the WC KO stages against the best international teams in the world could repair it. Again I repeat none of those players were accused of doing even 10% of what Diego Maradona did yet there is a rule for him and a totally different set of rules for everyone else And the irony here is that Maradona didn’t just disrespect rules He in fact broke every single rule I can possibly think of. Every single one of his major achievements is directly or indirectly linked to cheating Every single one without exception
Concerning Paolo Rossi: he was 100% a victim of the match fixing affair. During the process that followed the discover of the fraud, one of the criminals that had managed to put in place the whole thing claimed that one of his cronies told him Rossi had been approached. So Rossi got to be accused. But later on it emerged that actually he had not been not involved at all: the scammer that mentioned his name to the court recognized that there had been no factual follow-up to a very short conversation with Rossi (who never denied it took place, though he alwais maintaned that they exchanged only regards and a few irrelevant words, and that he put an end at it as soon as possible since he had had an intuition on the "quality"of the characters he had in front of him). So he ended up being discharged by the ordinary justice administration. But despite this strong stance, sport justice bureau still retained him guilty of having had a part in the fixing of a Perugia-Avellino match during 1979-80 season. They only agreed to reduce the disqualification period fron three to two years. But that was clearly mis-justice.
You know, AI is still nowhere near human intelligence but their capacity for data analysis, especially given they have less bias than the average human, is impressive and would rival most people and they're all unanimous that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best European player of all time - and it's because, well, it makes clear sense to anyone who cares to listen and use the brain God gifted them. The mention of AI isn't a claim to authority, as I clearly posit the extent of their intelligence but it was more to lay grounds to the fact that even machines with limited reasoning put more thought into what they say than what your comment implies. He is considered universally as the best player of all time in the Champions League - Europe's and the world's premier club competition in history - and has won the European Championship with Portugal. He has literally conquered Europe in every single way and in so many times throughout his career that to claim another European not only supersedes him, but "clearly" so, is truly beyond laughable and shows even the most basic artificial intelligence put more thought an effort into their analysis than you do. Ronaldo wins nearly twice the amount of European Cups as Cruyff, all as the main player, by far. Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer and assister in the European Cup with a record particularly in the knockout stage that embarrasses the likes of Messi. Ronaldo led Real Madrid to arguably the most impressive team feat in the competition's history - winning not just an unprecedented back-to-back titles in the Champions League era but a three-peat. Literally setting a standard that hadn't been set and then setting another. Ronaldo has won and dominated in the three major European leagues - Spain, Italy and England. Ronaldo captained Portugal to their first major trophy in a European Championship, with some Nations League titles against in a time that the Nations League has only been won by the best teams in Europe (France and Spain). Tell me again what Cruyff won with the Netherlands besides some silver medals? Ronaldo's unprecedented dominance across decades only further cements his abilities transcends even time, which is to be expected - he's the best player the continent ever produced. You place him in any where, in any time and he'll do what he always does - score, win and lift trophies. Literally his whole career proves this. Nobody here, not even you, would, in good faith, choose Cruyff over Ronaldo if given the choice in a game of football - especially one where a game-changing dynamic like a goal was required. Either your 'clearly' is doing work that even comprehensive data analysis can't support or you're weighing subjective factors (aesthetics, influence, football philosophy, etc.) so heavily that you should acknowledge, instead, that it's a preference, not a clear-cut case.