Ronaldo vs Ronaldo

Gio

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The argument that defenses were better and more conservative back then is valid up to a certain point. What I don't understand is if defenses today are weaker which makes it easier to score to a certain degree, why hasn't anybody else put up close to the kind of numbers Messi and Ronaldo have in the same era. No other player has even come close to their peak numbers, shouldn't it be easier to score for everybody else too?
Well it is for the top strikers at the top clubs.
  • La Liga - 30 goals breached by the top scorer every year during the last decade by 4 players (Forlan, Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez). Only Sanchez and Ronaldo had done it previously in the last 70 years.
  • Serie A - single season record of 36 goals set in 2015/16 by Higuain. 7 times in the last 9 years the top scorer has netted 28 or more, and before Toni in 2005/06 nobody in Serie A had scored 28 or more in a season since the 1950s.
  • Ligue Un - Ibra's 38 goals in 2015/16 the highest in 45 years. Along with Cavani in 2016/17 the only men to break 30 goals in 40 years.
  • Bundesliga - Aubameyang's 31 goals in 2016/17 the highest in over 40 years. 29 goals has been broken in each of the last 3 years, yet has only been matched once since 1981 before that.
So we have trends of:
  • 2/70 going to 10/10
  • 0/50 going to 7/9
  • 0/38 going to 2/3
  • 0/36 going to 3/3
Statistically, it is compellingly clear that the top strikers in major European leagues have found it much easier to score goals in the last decade than in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
For various reasons such as the gulf between the best clubs and the rest being wider, the game becoming more friendly for attackers both through more favourable refereeing, rules and a more supportive environment (pitches, balls, boots).
 
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Christie

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The argument that defenses were better and more conservative back then is valid up to a certain point. What I don't understand is if defenses today are weaker which makes it easier to score to a certain degree, why hasn't anybody else put up close to the kind of numbers Messi and Ronaldo have in the same era. No other player has even come close to their peak numbers, shouldn't it be easier to score for everybody else too?
Suarez? Kane? Salah last season?

They are just behind Messi and Ronaldo like the other 90s strikers are from fat Ronnie.
 

RedRonaldo

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I will risk it now and say; for us who watched original Ronaldo through his whole career, there is only one Ronaldo. :cool:
I don't care here for stats, titles and everything. Ronaldo was better player than Cristiano. Cristiano of course had better career.
Are you sure you want to use the world "whole career"? Apparently the majority of his career (post injury, after 20-22 yrs old), he was kind of sub-par or below "world class" level, or even quite shite. Cristiano has at least 11 years of playing better football at worldclass level than Fat Ronaldo. L.Ronaldo may have 2 seasons of peak football matching or slightly better than Cristiano's average worldclass season.
 

RedRonaldo

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Well it is for the top strikers at the top clubs.
  • La Liga - 30 goals breached by the top scorer every year during the last decade by 4 players (Forlan, Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez). Only Sanchez and Ronaldo had done it previously in the last 70 years.
  • Serie A - single season record of 36 goals set in 2015/16 by Higuain. 7 times in the last 9 years the top scorer has netted 28 or more, and before Toni in 2005/06 nobody in Serie A had scored 28 or more in a season since the 1950s.
  • Ligue Un - Ibra's 38 goals in 2015/16 the highest in 45 years. Along with Cavani in 2016/17 the only men to break 30 goals in 40 years.
  • Bundesliga - Aubameyang's 31 goals in 2016/17 the highest in over 40 years. 29 goals has been broken in each of the last 3 years, yet has only been matched once since 1981 before that.
So we have trends of:
  • 2/70 going to 10/10
  • 0/50 going to 7/9
  • 0/38 going to 2/3
  • 0/36 going to 3/3
Statistically, it is compellingly clear that the top strikers in major European leagues have found it much easier to score goals in the last decade than in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
For various reasons such as the gulf between the best clubs and the rest being wider, the game becoming more friendly for attackers both through more favourable refereeing, rules and a more supportive environment (pitches, balls, boots).
Let's look at Premierleague too to compare top strikers in 80s, 90s, 2000's and this decade

In the 80's

Ian Rush
83-84: 47 goals in 65 games
86-87: 40 goals in 57 games

Gary Lineker
85-86: 38 goals in 52 games
84-85: 29 goals in 48 games

In the 90's

Alan Shearer
94-95: 37 goals in 49 games
95-96: 37 goals in 48 games

Andy Cole
93-94: 41 goals in 46 games
97-98: 25 goals in 46 games

In 2000's

Ruud
02-03: 44 goals in 52 games
01-02: 36 goals in 49 games

Henry
03-04: 39 goals in 51 games
05-06: 33 goals in 45 games

In this decade 2010's

Kane
17-18: 41 goals in 48 games
16-17: 35 goals in 38 games

Aguero
16-17: 33 goals in 45 games
14-15: 32 goals in 42 games

Salah
17-18: 44 goals in 52 games
18-19: 20 goals in 34 games


Are you sure its "compellingly clear" top strikers this decade in top European league are much easier to score goals than in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s? They all look similar there.
 
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Andycoleno9

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Are you sure you want to use the world "whole career"? Apparently the majority of his career (post injury, after 20-22 yrs old), he was kind of sub-par or below "world class" level, or even quite shite. Cristiano has at least 11 years of playing better football at worldclass level than Fat Ronaldo. L.Ronaldo may have 2 seasons of peak football matching or slightly better than Cristiano's average worldclass season.
That is bs
 

RedRonaldo

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That is bs
Well why not just do a fair comparison?

Post injury L. Ronaldo (23-31)
10 goals in 17 games for Inter (age 23-25, hampered by injury) --> unlucky with injuries, therefore cannot not be counted as good or worldclass
104 goals in 177 games for Real (age 26-30) ---> 2 great season at worldclass level, winning Ballon D'or once, 1 good season, 2 poor subpar season, getting fat and worse in the end
9 goals in 20 games for Milan (age 30-31) ---> 2 poor season, getting fat, unlucky with injuries again in the end

Totals state post injury: 123 goals 214 games (age 23-31) --->2 worldclass season(Ballon D'or winner once), 1 good season, 4 poor season, 4 season hampered by injury

Cristiano at same age (23-33)
78 goals in 102 games for Man Utd (age 23-24) ---> 2 worldclass season, winning Ballon D'or once, 2nd place once
450 goals in 438 games for Real (age 25-33) ---> 9 worldclass season, winning Ballon D'or 4 times, 2nd place 4 times

Total stats: 528 goals in 540 games (age 23-33) ---> 11 worldclass season (Ballon D'or winner 5 times, 2nd place 5 times)
 
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Raees

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A debate which doesn’t really hve a right or wrong answer. One thing is for sure though and never gets talked about is how much of a talent the young Cristiano was and how ridiculous he was at running with the ball and his skill level. Now he didn’t quite have the unpredictability of R9 or the natural ability to know when to use skills at the right time but he was still a phenom in his own right and his range of skills and the consistency with how often he could pull them out - he was a genuine entertainer of the highest order.

I think with R9 there is a desire to underrate him by the modern fan - trust me when I say, probably the most gifted 9 of all time and the most electrifying attacker the game has ever seen. One of the few players that top defenders of any era would be scared to face up to and in the modern game he would eat people alive with the extra space afforded to attackers and the general lack of defensive IQ we see currently.

If he had survived injury and maintained pre injury projections of growth this wouldn’t be a discussion but even after injury he was a world class orthodox 9 with brilliant hold up play and goalscoring ability. His skills were also still evident but more in and around the box rather than rampaging around the pitch.

However his injuries and Cristiano sustained greatness and hardly subpar talent level means that based on the overall career - I would be inclined to give Cristiano the edge but only marginally so.

Final point - remember Cristiano vs Milan in 2005? He gave likes of Cafu and Maldini a run for their money - now they overall handled him but he was such a young kid then .. but to me he proved he too had that fear factor to keep the very best defenders on their toes. Now in 2006-08 he for me reached his peak in terms of hitting the right notes in terms of creativity and driving a team forward off his own back as well as end product - that level of Cristiano wasn’t really that far off peak R9 imo and any top defender would struggle to keep that version of Ronaldo quiet (but admittedly I think peak R9 slightly edges that version).

If you had to pick a team tomorrow and you had hindsight of knowing their injury record and career - I think if you were thinking with your head .. you’d go with Cristiano and your heart - R9.. nothing wrong with either choice but this is an inherently flawed discussion because in effect we are comparing two players where one of them effectively spent most of his career with one of his legs tied around his back.
 

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Well why not just do a fair comparison?

Post injury L. Ronaldo (23-31)
10 goals in 17 games for Inter (age 23-25, hampered by injury) --> unlucky with injuries, therefore cannot not be counted as good or worldclass
104 goals in 177 games for Real (age 26-30) ---> 2 great season at worldclass level, winning Ballon D'or once, 1 good season, 2 poor subpar season, getting fat and worse in the end
9 goals in 20 games for Milan (age 30-31) ---> 2 poor season, getting fat, unlucky with injuries again in the end

Totals state post injury: 123 goals 214 games (age 23-31) --->2 worldclass season(Ballon D'or winner once), 1 good season, 4 poor season, 4 season hampered by injury

Cristiano at same age (23-33)
78 goals in 102 games for Man Utd (age 23-24) ---> 2 worldclass season, winning Ballon D'or once, 2nd place once
450 goals in 438 games for Real (age 25-33) ---> 9 worldclass season, winning Ballon D'or 4 times, 2nd place 4 times

Total stats: 528 goals in 540 games (age 23-33) ---> 11 worldclass season (Ballon D'or winner 5 times, 2nd place 5 times)
Man, you can post stats after stats, but that will not be enough to counter nostalgia and romanticism. Some posters here are literally closing their eyes , ignoring all the evidence , and keeping on saying R9 was head and shoulders above his peers. You are fighting for a lost cause.
 

Andycoleno9

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Man, you can post stats after stats, but that will not be enough to counter nostalgia and romanticism. Some posters here are literally closing their eyes , ignoring all the evidence , and keeping on saying R9 was head and shoulders above his peers. You are fighting for a lost cause.
In my first post i admit it that. For some of us, Ronaldo was something special. Unique player. Nobody couldn't do things which he did on the pitch. Well, except Messi. I am not his fanboy but he is only player who was also literally unstoppable at his peak.
 

Gio

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Are you sure its "compellingly clear" top strikers this decade in top European league are much easier to score goals than in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s? They all look similar there.
Yes. The Premier League figures don’t overrule the huge shifts seen in the 4 biggest leagues on the continent.
 

JPRouve

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Could Ronaldo score a free kick like CR7 did. Could Ronaldo even go for a Bicycle kick like CR7. Was Ronaldo a better header than CR7 at his peak? Did Ronalod have better long shots than CR7 at his peak? Did he even ever show the same level of consistency?
This questions are interesting because Ronaldo was pretty good in the air particularly as a passer and he was good at free kicks too.


 

Andycoleno9

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Could Ronaldo score a free kick like CR7 did. Could Ronaldo even go for a Bicycle kick like CR7. Was Ronaldo a better header than CR7 at his peak? Did Ronalod have better long shots than CR7 at his peak? Did he even ever show the same level of consistency?
Ronaldo could 2 things which only Maradona and Messi did it at that level. Ronaldo could get a ball and beat complete defence with dribble moves and pace. Some best defenders from that era looked ridiculous when they played against him. He literally put defenders on the floor with dribble moves. Yes, Cristiano also has excellent technique but it is far from what Ronaldo did with the ball. Second thing is beating goalkeeper. He is the GOAT in that move.
And btw, Ronaldo had excellent long shot. With left and right foot.
 
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Matt007a

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C Ronaldo has a poor record from free kicks. There seems to be some sort of myth there, perhaps from his early years.

He had a great run for us from 2007-2009 where he seemed to score quite a few but his record for Real Madrid is pretty poor. His overall free kick goal count is good, but I imagine he's probably had more shots from dead balls than any player in history due to who he plays for, the softness of the game now and his longevity. I wouldn't consider either to be experts in the same mould as Beckham or Juninho.

He is clearly better than R9 in the air though. Not that R9 was bad as you can see from the above video, but that is one of Cristiano's greatest strengths.
 

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Regardless of who you think is better, I urge the younger ones to go on footballia.net or some other site with full match replays to find R9 matches at PSV, Barça or his first year at Inter and just watch.

It’s likely we’ll have seen most if not all of Cristiano’s best performances so far because of the ease of access and through being massive fans whereas it wasn’t/isn’t as easy to watch R9 at his best.

It’s probably good for those of us suffering from rose tinted glasses and nostalgia to reasssess R9 too.
 

JPRouve

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C Ronaldo has a poor record from free kicks. There seems to be some sort of myth there, perhaps from his early years.

He had a great run for us from 2007-2009 where he seemed to score quite a few but his record for Real Madrid is pretty poor. His overall free kick goal count is good, but I imagine he's probably had more shots from dead balls than any player in history due to who he plays for, the softness of the game now and his longevity. I wouldn't consider either to be experts in the same mould as Beckham or Juninho.

He is clearly better than R9 in the air though. Not that R9 was bad as you can see from the above video, but that is one of Cristiano's greatest strengths.
How is Cristiano Ronaldo clearly better in the air, I personally don't have a clue but how did you determine it?
 

11101

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Let's look at Premierleague too to compare top strikers in 80s, 90s, 2000's and this decade

In the 80's

Ian Rush
83-84: 47 goals in 65 games - 72%
86-87: 40 goals in 57 games - 70%

Gary Lineker
85-86: 38 goals in 52 games - 73%
84-85: 29 goals in 48 games - 60%

In the 90's

Alan Shearer
94-95: 37 goals in 49 games - 75%
95-96: 37 goals in 48 games - 77%

Andy Cole
93-94: 41 goals in 46 games - 89%
97-98: 25 goals in 46 games - 54%

In 2000's

Ruud
02-03: 44 goals in 52 games - 85%
01-02: 36 goals in 49 games - 73%

Henry
03-04: 39 goals in 51 games - 76%
05-06: 33 goals in 45 games - 73%

In this decade 2010's

Kane
17-18: 41 goals in 48 games - 85%
16-17: 35 goals in 38 games - 92%

Aguero
16-17: 33 goals in 45 games - 73%
14-15: 32 goals in 42 games - 76%

Salah
17-18: 44 goals in 52 games - 85%
18-19: 20 goals in 34 games - incomplete season


Are you sure its "compellingly clear" top strikers this decade in top European league are much easier to score goals than in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s? They all look similar there.
If you draw a line on a graph of those figures there is a clear upward trend, offset only really by an incredible 1994 season from Andy Cole.
 

RedRonaldo

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Yes. The Premier League figures don’t overrule the huge shifts seen in the 4 biggest leagues on the continent.
There's no such thing as "huge shift", apart from the tougher defence of Italy football in early to mid 80's which makes it harder for top striker to score, and as compared to decade of freakish scoring stats of Messi/Ronaldo in 2010's.

For a start, Premier league has always been among the top 2 or 3 biggest league on the continent during 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's. So it proves your statement wrong.

For La Liga, apart from freakish all-scoring decades from Messi/Ronaldo on 2010's, plus only one freakish season from Suarez, the stats are more or less comparable to other decades.

Let's take a look at Serie A.

In all competitions:

Serie A in late 80's (top 1 in world)
Van Baston 88-89: 33 goals in 47 games
Vialli 88-89: 33 goals in 52 games

Serie A in 90's (top 1 or 2 in world)
Bierhoff 97-98: 31 goals in 39 games
Signori 92-93: 32 goals in 38 games
L.Ronaldo 97-98: 34 goals in 47 games
Vialli 88-89: 33 golas in 52 games
Baggio 92-93: 30 goals in 43 games
De Piero 97-98: 32 goals in 47 games

Serie A in 2000's (top 3 in world)
Shevchenko 00-01: 34 goals in 51 games
Trezeguet 01-02: 32 goals in 46 games
Toni 07-08: 39 goals in 46 games
Toni 05-06: 33 goals in 42 games
Totti 06-07: 32 goals in 52 games
Inzaghi 02-03: 30 goals in 49 games

Serie A in 2010's (top 4 in world)
Ibra 11-12: 35 goals in 44 games
Immobile 17-18: 41 goals in 47 games
Dzeko 16-17: 39 goals in 51 games
Higuain 15-16: 38 goals in 42 games
Cavani 12-13: 38 goals in 43 games
Icardi 17-18: 29 goals in 36 games

In Serie A, there's a slight shift upwards (3 or 4 goals more in general) in the current decade when compare to the previous ones, which is not "huge shift" btw. But bear in mind the quality of Serie A nowadays also are clearly lower than the old days too, so it sort of balance out.
 
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Gio

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There's no such thing as "huge shift", apart from the tougher defence of Italy football in early to mid 80's which makes it harder for top striker to score, and as compared to decade of freakish scoring stats of Messi/Ronaldo in 2010's.

For a start, Premier league has always been among the top 2 or 3 biggest league on the continent during 80's, 90's, 2000's, 2010's. So it proves your statement wrong.

For La Liga, apart from freakish all-scoring decades from Messi/Ronaldo on 2010's, plus one freakish season from Suarez, the stats are more or less similar when compare to other decades.

Examples are:

Let's take a look at Serie A.

In all competitions:

Serie A in late 80's (top 1 in world)
Van Baston 88-89: 33 goals in 47 games
Vialli 88-89: 33 goals in 52 games

Serie A in 90's (top 1 or 2 in world)
Bierhoff 97-98: 31 goals in 39 games
Signori 92-93: 32 goals in 38 games
L.Ronaldo 97-98: 34 goals in 47 games
Vialli 88-89: 33 golas in 52 games
Baggio 92-93: 30 goals in 43 games
De Piero 97-98: 32 goals in 47 games

Serie A in 2000's (top 3 in world)
Shevchenko 00-01: 34 goals in 51 games
Trezeguet 01-02: 32 goals in 46 games
Toni 07-08: 39 goals in 46 games
Toni 05-06: 33 goals in 42 games
Totti 06-07: 32 goals in 52 games
Inzaghi 02-03: 30 goals in 49 games

Serie A in 2010's (top 4 in world)
Ibra 11-12: 35 goals in 44 games
Immobile 17-18: 41 goals in 47 games
Dzeko 16-17: 39 goals in 51 games
Higuain 15-16: 38 goals in 42 games
Cavani 12-13: 38 goals in 43 games
Icardi 17-18: 29 goals in 36 games
These are the trends:
  • 2/70 going to 10/10
  • 0/50 going to 7/9
  • 0/38 going to 2/3
  • 0/36 going to 3/3
I don't know how you can argue against those frankly - 'huge shift' is probably underplaying it.
 

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Fact is that C.Ronaldo has never ever been able to capture the imagination of the football audience in the same manner as Ronaldo. He was as his nickname suggest, a phenomenon. C.Ronaldo is Seiko Quartz, Ronaldo is Patek Philippe Calibre 240 automatic movement.
 

Matt007a

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How is Cristiano Ronaldo clearly better in the air, I personally don't have a clue but how did you determine it?
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored around 100 headed goals in his career. Stats vary slightly from source to source. There is less data on Ronaldo but from what is available it would seem he scored around 15-20 in his career. C Ronaldo also has an unbelievable leap off the ground, meaning he can win headers against even the biggest CBs.
 

RedRonaldo

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If you draw a line on a graph of those figures there is a clear upward trend, offset only really by an incredible 1994 season from Andy Cole.
You mean the 90's? I just took 2 players I am more familiar with there, and miss out some other notable names like:

Robbie Fowler
95-96: 36 goals in 53 games
96-97: 31 goals in 44 games

Ian Wright
93-94: 35 goals in 53 games
96-97: 30 goals in 41 games

So take in these 2 players, with larger sample size, the numbers are still about the same.

Also, in 2000s, there is Ronaldo who scored 42 goals in 49 games (86%) in 07-08 which I didn't count, there is also Dogba who scored 37 goals in 44 games too (84%). Suddenly 2000's looks better if you view it this way, if % matter so much.

Augero is the best striker in Premier League this decade, his numbers and % are similar to those best striker in 80s, 90s, 2000's. Kana and Salah has 1 or 2 freakish seasons, but beyond that if we look further, say look at 3 or 4 seasons instead of 1 or 2, and take average, its not much differences to top strikers in their peak 4 season in previous decades too.
 
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11101

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Regardless of who you think is better, I urge the younger ones to go on footballia.net or some other site with full match replays to find R9 matches at PSV, Barça or his first year at Inter and just watch.

It’s likely we’ll have seen most if not all of Cristiano’s best performances so far because of the ease of access and through being massive fans whereas it wasn’t/isn’t as easy to watch R9 at his best.

It’s probably good for those of us suffering from rose tinted glasses and nostalgia to reasssess R9 too.
Really anybody living in the UK would have struggled to watch anything of early R9. If you had Sky, which not many people did back then, you could just about get his games at Barcelona and Inter on a show i forget the name of now, otherwise it was Saturday morning Serie A highlights on Channel 4 and a handful of televised Italian league games.

I watched as much as i could of Barcelona and Inter but i never saw him at PSV.
 

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Cristiano Ronaldo is clearly better than Ronaldo in all ramifications, except in dribbling in which they are pretty much equal but execute their abilities differently.
CR7 had more headed goals, more left footed goals, more right footed goals, his dribbling in his prime was exactly what loved and wanted...only Neymar does that today.
De Lima's peak is just like one of Ronaldo's incredible seasons.
The only problem is that some people still allow nostalgia cloud their judgment; in the next 10 years, people would laugh at this thread and wonder how De Lima could ever be compared to Ronaldo.
People forget that Ronaldo also had injuries (especially that career threatening knee injury), but he had the mental fortitude to overcome it and he's still going strong at 34; De Lima got his injury before 24, that's young enough to have a speedy recovery with some discipline too...Ronaldo De Lima has no excuse, enough of the woulda's and shoulda's, let's focus on what's in front of us.
 

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Really anybody living in the UK would have struggled to watch anything of early R9. If you had Sky, which not many people did back then, you could just about get his games at Barcelona and Inter on a show i forget the name of now, otherwise it was Saturday morning Serie A highlights on Channel 4 and a handful of televised Italian league games.

I watched as much as i could of Barcelona and Inter but i never saw him at PSV.
Yeah I can vaguely remember watching maybe three or four Barça game of his and then it was Le Tournoi in 1997 plus any time Inter were on Gazzetta and World Cup '98 and I'd imagine most memories for the general public will be tainted by the final and the whole palava over that. I'm seem to remember all the discussion of him before he scored the hat-trick against us at Old Trafford in 2002 saying that he wasn't that good anymore and that was after his comeback at the 2002 WC and most of the La Liga season for Madrid when he'd been scoring for fun.

It's only been the Galactico-era Ronaldo that was really available to people on Sky and he wasn't the same player he was. I've made sure that I've watched as much as possible of the old games when it comes to him so I know I'm not just remembering Youtube compilations. Early him and 2003-2006 Ronaldinho are just worth watching for the sheer spectacle, regardless of whether Cristiano and Messi are 'better' or not. Entertainment in spades. I think it's why I still love 2006-07 Cristiano the most out of all of his seasons because he was great to watch even if not as ultimately effective.
 

11101

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You mean the 90's? I just took 2 players I am more familiar with there, and miss out some other notable names like:

Robbie Fowler
95-96: 36 goals in 53 games
96-97: 31 goals in 44 games

Ian Wright
93-94: 35 goals in 53 games
96-97: 30 goals in 41 games

So take in these 2 players, with larger sample size, the numbers are still about the same.

Also, in 2000s, there is Ronaldo who scored 42 goals in 49 games (86%) in 07-08 which I didn't count, there is also Dogba who scored 37 goals in 44 games too (84%). Suddenly 2000's looks better if you view it this way, if % matter so much.
I mean over the whole time series. With those extra data points it pushes the trend even further upwards. As time goes on the best players are scoring more.

Interestingly, the league total has stayed consistent or even declined, suggesting less players are scoring more goals. Teams are focusing their goalscoring more and more through their forward players, instead of expecting defenders and midfielders to chip in with goals through the season.
 

RedRonaldo

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I mean over the whole time series. With those extra data points it pushes the trend even further upwards. As time goes on the best players are scoring more.

Interestingly, the league total has stayed consistent or even declined, suggesting less players are scoring more goals. Teams are focusing their goalscoring more and more through their forward players, instead of expecting defenders and midfielders to chip in with goals through the season.
It depends how you see it. Let's say if a team are focusing their top striker more to get their goals, it may be easier for opponents team to defend against too. and eventually got marked out in every games and scored less goals.

Let's take a look of top 2 strikers across different decades, over period of 3 peak season to give us a better picture:

1990s

Alan Shearer
94-95: 37 goals in 49 games
95-96: 37 goals in 48 games
93-94: 34 golas in 48 games

Robbie Fowler
95-96: 36 goals in 53 games
96-97: 31 goals in 44 games
94-95: 31 goals in 57 games

2000s

Ruud
02-03: 44 goals in 52 games
01-02: 36 goals in 49 games
03-04: 30 goals in 44 games

Henry
03-04: 39 goals in 51 games
05-06: 33 goals in 45 games
01-02: 32 goals in 49 games

2010s

Kane
17-18: 41 goals in 48 games
16-17: 35 goals in 38 games
14-15: 31 goals in 51 games

Aguero
16-17: 33 goals in 45 games
14-15: 32 goals in 42 games
11-12: 30 goals in 48 games


I wouldn't say there's any big difference there for top strikers across different decades.
 

11101

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It depends how you see it. Let's say if a team are focusing their top striker more to get their goals, it may be easier for opponents team to defend against too. and eventually got marked out in every games and scored less goals.

Let's take a look of top 2 strikers across different decades, over period of 3 peak season to give us a better picture:

1990s

Alan Shearer
94-95: 37 goals in 49 games
95-96: 37 goals in 48 games
93-94: 34 golas in 48 games

Robbie Fowler
95-96: 36 goals in 53 games
96-97: 31 goals in 44 games
94-95: 31 goals in 57 games

2000s

Ruud
02-03: 44 goals in 52 games
01-02: 36 goals in 49 games
03-04: 30 goals in 44 games

Henry
03-04: 39 goals in 51 games
05-06: 33 goals in 45 games
01-02: 32 goals in 49 games

2010s

Kane
17-18: 41 goals in 48 games
16-17: 35 goals in 38 games
14-15: 31 goals in 51 games

Aguero
16-17: 33 goals in 45 games
14-15: 32 goals in 42 games
11-12: 30 goals in 48 games


I wouldn't say there's any big difference there for top strikers across different decades.
If you plot all the top scorers on a single chart there is a clear increase over time. There is roughly a 76% chance of the top strikers scoring in a game now, compared to around 70% at the end of the 80s. There is a dip at the end of the 90s and a small one around 2013, but otherwise its a consistent increase. It ties in with all the other leagues in that top strikers are scoring more goals than ever before.
 

Peyroteo

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I don't know if anyone that have watched both play could say that Cristiano is better.
It's not all about stats or breaking records. It's what Ronaldo could do and the way he did it and the way it made you feel watching him do it.

It was beautiful and unmatched by any other footballer.
Turns out being better at the sport is more important than making you feel tingly inside while watching it.

What a joke of a thread, it’s an insult to Cristiano. Should have been born in a different country and played a different and worse style of football to get the romantics kissing his ass.

If he had kept his 2006/07 level for 15 years he’d have been a clearly worse player... but at least he’d have gotten the love from this crowd.
 

Peyroteo

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The Champions League knockouts in modern football are the absolute pinnacle, it's the highest level this sport has ever seen and Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated ahead of everyone else. Why does that never count for anything?





"Who cares about how good a player is if my private parts aren't tingling when I watch their highlights?"
 

shamans

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Turns out being better at the sport is more important than making you feel tingly inside while watching it.

What a joke of a thread, it’s an insult to Cristiano. Should have been born in a different country and played a different and worse style of football to get the romantics kissing his ass.

If he had kept his 2006/07 level for 15 years he’d have been a clearly worse player... but at least he’d have gotten the love from this crowd.
It's just how football goes. 15 years from now when CR7 is retired and if there's another player who will be better than him, everyone will be talking about how CR7 was untouchable and completely flawless. We only appreciate players once they go then elevate them to another world.
 

Peyroteo

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It's just how football goes. 15 years from now when CR7 is retired and if there's another player who will be better than him, everyone will be talking about how CR7 was untouchable and completely flawless. We only appreciate players once they go then elevate them to another world.
It's partly that but not only that. He's the sort of player that doesn't attract the romantics and then he's been a bit of a cnut at times which means plenty of people dislike him (unlike R9, Ronaldinho, etc. who are pretty much universally loved). Physicality, aerial game, etc. become irrelevant and only the talent a player has on the ball becomes relevant to the discussion to those people.

It's why every single year at some point in the season we get a couple of people arguing Hazard is a better player than him.
 

shamans

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It's partly that but not only that. He's the sort of player that doesn't attract the romantics and then he's been a bit of a cnut at times which means plenty of people dislike him (unlike R9, Ronaldinho, etc. who are pretty much universally loved). Physicality, aerial game, etc. become irrelevant and only the talent a player has on the ball becomes relevant to the discussion to those people.

It's why every single year at some point in the season we get a couple of people arguing Hazard is a better player than him.
I also think just because CR7 is a monster physically people forget just how good he is naturally on the ball.
 

Righteous Steps

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:lol:
Turns out being better at the sport is more important than making you feel tingly inside while watching it.

What a joke of a thread, it’s an insult to Cristiano. Should have been born in a different country and played a different and worse style of football to get the romantics kissing his ass.

If he had kept his 2006/07 level for 15 years he’d have been a clearly worse player... but at least he’d have gotten the love from this crowd.
It’s an insult to be compared to R9..
 

Tommy

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Who's career would you rather have had?

The answer is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Depends how much value you place on the world cup. He was their talisman, & was the all time world cup finals record goalscorer.

But for me, yeah, Cristiano's career is the one I'd pick without much hesitation.