Greatest European striker of the 21st Century - Cristiano Ronaldo

11101 · Jun 4, 2020

BBC running a poll on their website today - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52796655. It's a tournament format running towards a final round tonight.

The head to head is a nice idea but some of the matchups are daft - Van Nistelrooy out in the first round because he was matched against Ronaldo.

Final:

Cristiano Ronaldo v Thierry Henry - Ronaldo 54%

Semi-finals:

Match 1: Alessandro Del Piero v Thierry Henry – Henry 83%
Match 2: Cristiano Ronaldo v Robert Lewandowski - Ronaldo 78%

Quarter Finals:

Match 1: Alessandro Del Piero v David Villa – Del Piero 56%
Match 2: Thierry Henry v Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Henry 77%
Match 3: Wayne Rooney v Cristiano Ronaldo - Ronaldo 89%
Match 4: Robin van Persie v Robert Lewandowski - Lewandowski 70%

Last 16 results:

Match 1: Mbappe v Del Piero - Del Piero wins 65%
Match 2: Villa v Costa - Villa 83%
Match 3: Dzeko v Henry - Henry 97%
Match 4: Ibrahimovic v Shearer - Ibrahimovic 51%
Match 5: Rooney v Larsson - Rooney 70%
Match 6: Totti v Ronaldo - Ronaldo 89%
Match 7: Van Persie v Benzema - Van Persie 73%
Match 8: Lewandowski v Raul - Lewandowski 62%

Round of 32 results:

Match 1: Mbappe v Kane - Mbappe wins 58%
Match 2: Bale v Del Piero - Del Piero 72%
Match 3: Villa v Lukaku - Villa 90%
Match 4: Huntelaar v Costa - Costa 66%
Match 5: Di Natale v Dzeko - Dzeko 63%
Match 6: Henry v Trezeguet - Henry 97%
Match 7: Ibrahimovic v Shevchenko - Zlatan 76%
Match 8: Shearer v Muller - Shearer 77%
Mach 9: Rooney v Owen - Rooney 72%
Match 10: Larsson v Mandzukic - Larsson 77%
Match 11: Kluivert v Totti - Totti 71%
Match 12: Ronaldo v Van Nistelrooy - Ronaldo 90%
Match 13: Toni v Van Persie - Van persie 90%
Match 14: Benzema v Berbatov - Benzema 66%
Match 15: Klose v Lewandowski - Lewandowski 78%
Match 16: Raul v Torres - Raul 70%

hasanejaz88 · Jun 4, 2020

What so you have Larsson, Luca Toni, Diego Costa, Huntelaar, Di Natale and Berbatov but no Aguero, Eto'o, Milito, Tevez or Mario Gomez? :lol:

EDIT: Ah okay so it's only European nationalities. Mario Gomez should still be there ahead of many of them :rolleyes:

fps · Jun 4, 2020

hasanejaz88 said:
What so you have Larsson, Luca Toni, Diego Costa, Huntelaar, Di Natale and Berbatov but no Aguero, Eto'o, Milito, Tevez or Mario Gomez?

That's right, it's the greatest European striker so of those only Gomez would be eligible.

balaks · Jun 4, 2020

11101 said:
BBC running a poll on their website today - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52796655. It's a tournament format running towards a final round tonight.

The head to head is a nice idea but some of the matchups are daft - Van Nistelrooy out in the first round because he was matched against Ronaldo.

Round of 32 results:

Match 1: Mbappe v Kane - Mbappe wins 58%
Match 2: Bale v Del Piero - Del Piero 72%
Match 3: Villa v Lukaku - Villa 90%
Match 4: Huntelaar v Costa - Costa 66%
Match 5: Di Natale v Dzeko - Dzeko 63%
Match 6: Henry v Trezeguet - Henry 97%
Match 7: Ibrahimovic v Shevchenko - Zlatan 76%
Match 8: Shearer v Muller - Shearer 77%
Mach 9: Rooney v Owen - Rooney 72%
Match 10: Larsson v Mandzukic - Larsson 77%
Match 11: Kluivert v Totti - Totti 71%
Match 12: Ronaldo v Van Nistelrooy - Ronaldo 90%
Match 13: Toni v Van Persie - Van persie 90%
Match 14: Benzema v Berbatov - Benzema 66%
Match 15: Klose v Lewandowski - Lewandowski 78%
Match 16: Raul v Torres - Raul 70%

A few odd match-ups there to be sure - also Mbappe over Kane is a bit of a stretch! I know I'm biased but I am very surprised at that one - I get his has all the potential in the world but right now it's mostly still potential.

BootsyCollins · Jun 4, 2020

So surley its Lewa or Shearer?
Edit : Maybe Zlatan also.

Ronaldo only played a striker last couple of years, so dont count imo.

Sayros · Jun 4, 2020

balaks said:
A few odd match-ups there to be sure - also Mbappe over Kane is a bit of a stretch! I know I'm biased but I am very surprised at that one - I get his has all the potential in the world but right now it's mostly still potential.

This isn't 2017 anymore, Mbappe is not mostly potential, he's already a top 5-10 player in the world. So some could say it's Ligue 1 vs PL, but in Europe he's only one goal behind Kane without even being an out and out striker or taking penalties. I think it's one of the few times on that poll where the percentages are fair, it's not overwhelming but for me and a lot of people I'm sure, I'd pick Mbappe over Kane all day.

Speaking of fair, I get Henry is a great player, I consider him the best striker of all-time in the PL era, but jesus 97% over Trezeguet, not even 90% but 97%.....that's insane, Trezeguet deserves at least a few more percentages just out of respect.

hasanejaz88 · Jun 4, 2020

Sayros said:
I get Henry is a great player, I consider him the best striker of all-time in the PL era, but jesus 97% over Trezeguet, not even 90% but 97%.....that's insane, Trezeguet deserves at least a few more percentages just out of respect.

Makes sense, essentially it's saying 97% of people rate Henry higher. You also said you consider him better so your vote is 100% to Henry (it doesn't say by how much percentage Henry is better, which would be lower obviously). I think if you have a general poll here you'l similar numbers favouring Henry (I would actually doubt someone who would vote for Trezeguet over Henry).

izec · Jun 4, 2020

I don't consider Ronaldo, Totti and Del Piero as strikers to be honest.

Ronaldo will win, but i don't think he belongs in the discussion. A striker is a real number 9, and/or someone that played there for large periods. Ronaldo is/did neither.

SilentWitness · Jun 4, 2020

Difficult when you have people like Mbappe, Ronaldo and Bale included when talking about 'strikers'. Even people like Henry it can be a bit loose.

People like Lewandowski, Shearer and Ibra were/are out and out strikers and I'd probably have Lewandowski top on that reckoning.

Ibi Dreams · Jun 4, 2020

RVN unlucky to come up against Ronaldo, he was better than some of those other players

Sayros · Jun 4, 2020

SilentWitness said:
Difficult when you have people like Mbappe, Ronaldo and Bale included when talking about 'strikers'. Even people like Henry it can be a bit loose.

People like Lewandowski, Shearer and Ibra were/are out and out strikers and I'd probably have Lewandowski top on that reckoning.

Yes, that's what makes it difficult. Some of those, I don't consider out-and-out strikers. Like the example of Henry, I feel Trezeguet was the better 'striker' for France than Henry, who was more of a inside forward, but some will say it's being too picky.

Kasper · Jun 4, 2020

Ronaldo will win it but it's a bit flawed to put him in there.
Don't get me wrong, he's clearly the best player as well as the best goalscorer of the listed players but he barely played as a striker.

Karel Podolsky · Jun 4, 2020

Sayros said:
Speaking of fair, I get Henry is a great player, I consider him the best striker of all-time in the PL era, but jesus 97% over Trezeguet, not even 90% but 97%.....that's insane, Trezeguet deserves at least a few more percentages just out of respect.

Glad I am not the only one who think same.
Maybe voters get the wrong Trezeguet.. :lol:

SilentStrike · Jun 4, 2020

Should be Henry, Lewandowski or Zlatan imo.

But Ronaldo will take it being the biggest name, though not actually a 9.

Web of Bissaka · Jun 4, 2020

"Forwards" of today should be regarded as "strikers".

Unless they play too deep so it's more of a winger or side-midfielder.

ThinkTank@Cafe · Jun 4, 2020

English is not my mother tongue, so enlighten me if I’m mistaken. Striker is pure #9, isn’t it? CR7, Bale, Henry are wingers and 10s.
Lewwndowski is the only answer I see.

Web of Bissaka · Jun 4, 2020

Currently Last 8

:nervous:

This is oddly thrilling, blaming on the lack of actual football.

Spaghetti · Jun 4, 2020

SilentStrike said:
Should be Henry, Lewandowski or Zlatan imo.

But Ronaldo will take it being the biggest name, though not actually a 9.

He‘s still the best whether he’s always played there or not.

Pass and Move · Jun 4, 2020

balaks said:
A few odd match-ups there to be sure - also Mbappe over Kane is a bit of a stretch! I know I'm biased but I am very surprised at that one - I get his has all the potential in the world but right now it's mostly still potential.

It's not potential when one of them has won the World Cup and a number of domestic trophies, and the other, um....

Web of Bissaka · Jun 4, 2020

ThinkTank@Cafe said:
English is not my mother tongue, so enlighten me if I’m mistaken. Striker is pure #9, isn’t it? CR7, Bale, Henry are wingers and 10s.
Lewwndowski is the only answer I see.

True, if we only consider Pure 9 that is the Purest of the purest 9.. then only Lewadownski, RVN, etc.

That's the thing, the traditional 2 strikers role before, they don't actually play like pure 9, as you've said, they tend to to drift to the wing or deep becoming 10s, sort of like hybrids, and yet they still are regarded as strikers. More modern football merely "adjust" it but for me, they're still strikers despite popularly known as forwards. Just what the heck is the difference anyway -- just "convenient namings". Strikers for me are the most furthest positions (can be more than one), closest to the goal post at the opposite end, and generally they contribute the least defensively.

If the contest is "Greatest European Pure #9 Striker" then it'll be better because it's more specific, but the contest now is somewhat general.

mshnsh · Jun 4, 2020

BootsyCollins said:
So surley its Lewa or Shearer?
Edit : Maybe Zlatan also.

Ronaldo only played a striker last couple of years, so dont count imo.

He has been a striker since moving to madrid. Never really stays on the wing and always the furthest forward.

lex talionis · Jun 4, 2020

Ronaldo is a pure goal scoring machine, which is as good a definition of "striker" as any other.

Some forwards are more mobile and have greater technical abilities than others. Ruud, goal machine he, was a pure poacher and short range scorer and thus, presumably a "pure striker". Thierry Henry, could beat a defender on the dribble from wide positions as well as poach, but there's no obvious reason why his additional tools as a forward should place him in a different category than Ruud. Both did what they did brilliantly as goal scoring machines, but you'd have to say that Henry was the greater striker.

But beyond those two is Ronaldo, who's simply in a different class at his peak and now his longevity at the elite level is legend in its own right.

balaks · Jun 4, 2020

Pass and Move said:
It's not potential when one of them has won the World Cup and a number of domestic trophies, and the other, um....

Ehh.. so did Lloris so I guess he is the best GK in the world? Or perhaps we could acknowledge that football is a team game and just because a player got a medal doesn't mean he is necessarily any better than a player who didn't - or acknowledge that he is playing in a one team league and that all domestic trophies won by his club are virtually worthless due to lack of proper competition? Or we could just ignore all that and do what you did.

marukomu · Jun 4, 2020

Whoever played for Liverpool in the list will win it.

Paul_Scholes18 · Jun 4, 2020

marukomu said:
Whoever played for Liverpool in the list will win it.

Torres is already out. No vote titles for Liverpool

.

11101 · Jun 4, 2020

I wish they'd defined Ronaldo as something else. With his legions of fans he will win even if he wasn't the best (clearly he is).

Out of what i consider pure strikers, it's probably Van Nistelrooy or Shearer.

Pass and Move · Jun 4, 2020

balaks said:
Ehh.. so did Lloris so I guess he is the best GK in the world? Or perhaps we could acknowledge that football is a team game and just because a player got a medal doesn't mean he is necessarily any better than a player who didn't - or acknowledge that he is playing in a one team league and that all domestic trophies won by his club are virtually worthless due to lack of proper competition? Or we could just ignore all that and do what you did.

Yes yes, team game etc. But when a player has already won the biggest prize there is to win, whilst being instrumental to the way that team plays, it's not potential. It's delivering.

balaks · Jun 4, 2020

Pass and Move said:
Yes yes, team game etc. But when a player has already won the biggest prize there is to win, whilst being instrumental to the way that team plays, it's not potential. It's delivering.

Well Kane is a golden boot winner so you could equally argue that England not progressing further was in spite of his efforts and he was at least as influential for his country as M'Bappe was. My point though is that you have chosen to decide on who the better player is in probably the worst possible way I can think of - if you had said 'I think M'Bappe is a more talented player than Kane' then I'd have said fair enough that's your call but instead you pinned your argument on team achievements rather than individual ability.

fps · Jun 4, 2020

SilentStrike said:
Should be Henry, Lewandowski or Zlatan imo.

But Ronaldo will take it being the biggest name, though not actually a 9.

He'll take it because he's the best striker on the list.

Pass and Move · Jun 4, 2020

balaks said:
Well Kane is a golden boot winner so you could equally argue that England not progressing further was in spite of his efforts and he was at least as influential for his country as M'Bappe was. My point though is that you have chosen to decide on who the better player is in probably the worst possible way I can think of - if you had said 'I think M'Bappe is a more talented player than Kane' then I'd have said fair enough that's your call but instead you pinned your argument on team achievements rather than individual ability.

No, that's not quite right now, is it?

You said he was mostly just potential. I named a few of the things he's won, including the biggest prize of them all, to highlight the fact that he isn't mostly potential. He's quite clearly delivering on any 'potential' he had in the preceding years.

balaks · Jun 4, 2020

Pass and Move said:
No, that's not quite right now, is it?

You said he was mostly just potential. I named a few of the things he's won, including the biggest prize of them all, to highlight the fact that he isn't mostly potential. He's quite clearly delivering on any 'potential' he had in the preceding years.

You are still inflating the importance of a team he happened to play for winning something rather than focus on him as an individual - I think he is a fantastic talent but he is playing in a duff league unlike Kane who is delivering similar (if not slightly better) stats in a much stronger league (and also not in the best team) year after year. Him winning league titles and cups with PSG is essentially like being a Celtic player and claiming to be a top class player because you have a league winners medal every year.

flappyjay · Jun 4, 2020

I guess Neymar was right. Play alongside Messi for too long your impact is forgotten. How is Suarez omitted from that shortlist

Gio · Jun 4, 2020

Nice idea. Who's your biggest miss from the list? It's hard to understand how Christian Vieri and Roy Makaay haven't made it, whereas the likes of Huntelaar and Lukaku have.

And Shearer, Kluivert and Del Piero all peaked in the 1990s: their post-2000 records are pretty underwhelming.

Lennon · Jun 4, 2020

Huntelaar? Mbappe? Lukaku?

Wat ze feck?

Paul_Scholes18 · Jun 4, 2020

flappyjay said:
I guess Neymar was right. Play alongside Messi for too long your impact is forgotten. How is Suarez omitted from that shortlist

It is only european players. Otherwise Messi would be on the list.

Vardy might deserve a spot for the title win with Leicester.

Riz · Jun 4, 2020

Sayros said:
Speaking of fair, I get Henry is a great player, I consider him the best striker of all-time in the PL era, but jesus 97% over Trezeguet, not even 90% but 97%.....that's insane, Trezeguet deserves at least a few more percentages just out of respect.

Karel Podolsky said:
Glad I am not the only one who think same.
Maybe voters get the wrong Trezeguet..

Well it’s a percentage vote? Would either of you say Trezeguet was better than Henry? 97/100 people sided with Henry and that makes pretty clear sense to me considering Henry is the better player and I don’t think there’s much debate there.

Who would the 2 of you voted for?

11101 · Jun 4, 2020

Gio said:
Nice idea. Who's your biggest miss from the list? It's hard to understand how Christian Vieri and Roy Makaay haven't made it, whereas the likes of Huntelaar and Lukaku have.

And Shearer, Kluivert and Del Piero all peaked in the 1990s: their post-2000 records are pretty underwhelming.

I wondered about Vieri. He was dynamite at Inter.

There is always going to be local and recency bias though, it's a UK poll and most people have long forgotten him.

11101 · Jun 4, 2020

The final is predictably Ronaldo v Henry. The correct answer is obvious but there are a lot of ABUs and Arsenal fans out there that could swing it the other way.

Pass and Move · Jun 4, 2020

balaks said:
You are still inflating the importance of a team he happened to play for winning something rather than focus on him as an individual - I think he is a fantastic talent but he is playing in a duff league unlike Kane who is delivering similar (if not slightly better) stats in a much stronger league (and also not in the best team) year after year. Him winning league titles and cups with PSG is essentially like being a Celtic player and claiming to be a top class player because you have a league winners medal every year.

No. He won the World Cup whilst being absolutely integral to the team's performance. Swap him for any other striker in the world and there's a great chance France would not have won.

SilentWitness · Jun 4, 2020

The final for the greatest european striker is two players that er......weren't strikers.

Greatest European striker of the 21st Century - Cristiano Ronaldo

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