Better striker for Real Madrid: Raul or Benzema?

[Bobski]

overrated how? he's been Champions League top scorer 3x, Scored 25+ goals 5 seasons straight (Thierry Henry did this 5 consecutive seasons also), Uefa forward of the year 3 times (Sheva, Henry, Shearer, Ronaldo, Batistuta, Crespo, Vieri, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Yorke, Cole, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Trezeguet were all active)

And those names are just a start of the depth of striking talent of that period.

Morientes, Tristan, Makaay, Forlan, Sonny Anderson, Gio Elber, Claudio Lopez, Signori, Di Natale, Fowler, Owen, Hasslebaink, Mario Gomez, Luca Toni, Bergkamp, Zola, Di Canio, Pauleta, Collymore, Baggio, Weah, Davor Suker, Bierhoff, Ian Wright, Anelka, Gudjohnsen, Jardel, Salas, Zamorano, Saviola, Mijatovic, Hakan Sukur, Henrik Larsson, Wiltord, Kanu, Montella, Delvecchio, Kezman, Alexander Frei, Di Vaio, Klose FFS, and probably many others that deserve a mention.

Weak era though, archaic footballers. Christ.

Just going to take a name from that list, Beppe Signori, 3 time top scorer in Serie A when it was the best and most defensively sound league in the world with massive competition and depth of quality across the league, not just in 2/3 teams. Look at the quality of goals he was scoring.

 

[Robertd0803]

Benzema had a 9 goal and 12 goal seasons too. Raul's bad run came after nearly a decade of excellence. Bit harsh that

Maybe so, Benzema couldnt score at all in 17/18 but his low scoring seasons are miles apart. (The other one I think was his first season at Madrid which he said was the worst of his career while he tried to settle in Spain). Rauls form fell off a cliff around the time Madrid signed Beckham.

You are right in saying theres a lot of recency bias towards Benzema because hes still playing now and getting better as his career continues. But that being said Raul at his peak was crazy good.

 

[Inter Yer Nan]

Hard to say. Both have different skill sets but absolutely phenomenal footballers. Raul was better younger, Benzema older. I don’t believe Raul would be able to lead Madrid the way Benzema has in recent years though. Both among the greatest of the last 30+ years for me, career-wise and talent-wise.

 

[Pronewbie]

And those names are just a start of the depth of striking talent of that period.

Morientes, Tristan, Makaay, Forlan, Sonny Anderson, Gio Elber, Claudio Lopez, Signori, Di Natale, Fowler, Owen, Hasslebaink, Mario Gomez, Luca Toni, Bergkamp, Zola, Di Canio, Pauleta, Collymore, Baggio, Weah, Davor Suker, Bierhoff, Ian Wright, Anelka, Gudjohnsen, Jardel, Salas, Zamorano, Saviola, and probably many others that deserve a mention.

Weak era though, archaic footballers. Christ.

That's a pretty good list. He's overrating Raul. Not sure why he says I've never watched Raul play. I've watched all those names you've mentioned when I was younger and had all the time in the world.

I personally preferred complete strikers such as Batistuta and Shevchenko at the time but can understand if someone prefers the likes of Raul, Zola, Baggio etc.

I wouldn't place Raul above these players.

 

[antohan]

I think it's a massive credit to Benzema that we are even having this discussion.

A couple of years ago it was a no contest. Raúl was talismanic and a symbol of an era despite having to compete with other Galácticos. Benzema was a great player who had been the perfect foil for Ronaldo to break all records and thus helping Madrid win everything.

Now suddenly you say Raúl was talismanic and your brain whispers "but then Benzema!", which is incredible.

Lucky fecks these Real fans are.

 

[Needham]

only just spotted this thread as I had a wee break but some of the takes are horrendous. As SAF said, Raul was the one striker from opposition that he wished he could sign every year.
‘Raul is so difficult to play against when he starts taking up the positions he did tonight,’ said Ferguson
" ‘Real Madrid have bought some great players over the last few years but, at the moment, Raul is the best in the world.


You never saw him play.


overrated how? he's been Champions League top scorer 3x, Scored 25+ goals 5 seasons straight (Thierry Henry did this 5 consecutive seasons also), Uefa forward of the year 3 times (Sheva, Henry, Shearer, Ronaldo, Batistuta, Crespo, Vieri, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Yorke, Cole, Rivaldo, Kluivert, Trezeguet were all active)


neither does Eto'o

Raul was deployed as an AM, Winger for a portion of his games. Benzema always played forward.


from 1999-2003 he was top 5 forward in the world, runners up balon d'or, 3rd world player of the year, multiple times CL top scorer, made Euro team of the tournament, scored 25+ for 5 straight seasons playing partly as a support striker.

you never saw him play. He was a skilful forward who could play in the hole, attacking midfield and the wing. thanks for confirming what I suspected.

again, clearly never saw him play.

Finally a good analysis

For a 9 season stretch Raul scored more than 20 goals in 8 of them, Benzema managed this for 7 seasons out of a 9 stretch. Why is Ronaldo a factor and Morientes/Ruud not factors in Raul's scoring accomplishments?

Benzema had a 9 goal and 12 goal seasons too. Raul's bad run came after nearly a decade of excellence. Bit harsh that.



what was that one trick? Asking for a friend


its insane in here. I am surprised by the opinions.




FACTS

The sheer arrogance with which you tag me in to a multiple response and just expect me to fecking drop whatever I'm doing and respond but ok, I'll bite. The only trick Raul ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist.

 

[Stacks]

The sheer arrogance with which you tag me in to a multiple response and just expect me to fecking drop whatever I'm doing and respond but ok, I'll bite. The only trick Raul ever pulled was to convince the world he didn't exist.

 

[tenpoless]

If you combine the face and figure of Figo with Mata you get Raul.

 

[Bobski]

That's a pretty good list. He's overrating Raul. Not sure why he says I've never watched Raul play. I've watched all those names you've mentioned when I was younger and had all the time in the world.

I personally preferred complete strikers such as Batistuta and Shevchenko at the time but can understand if someone prefers the likes of Raul, Zola, Baggio etc.

I wouldn't place Raul above these players.

That is perfectly fine.Calling him average or dismissing his ability is not. One of the reasons I love football's history and despise the obsessive need to rank is the monstrous depth of talent of the sport. Football pisses all over the likes of NBA and NFL in that regard, as of course it should, it is the world game after all. I have read too many discussions on basketball( love the sport, hate the fandom) forums where they try to make the history of the sport about a very limited number of players, where every discussion is Lebron v Jordan or Wilt v KAJ. So boring, and the glee with which football fans have taken to it with their Messi/Ronaldo inanity is depressing.

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Anyone suggesting Raul isn’t Benzema’s equal or better, doesn’t know football.

You can’t give Maradona and Pele an automatic pass and ignore all in between.

Grow up

 

[Stacks]

That's a pretty good list. He's overrating Raul. Not sure why he says I've never watched Raul play. I've watched all those names you've mentioned when I was younger and had all the time in the world.

I personally preferred complete strikers such as Batistuta and Shevchenko at the time but can understand if someone prefers the likes of Raul, Zola, Baggio etc.

I wouldn't place Raul above these players.

"If he weren't Real Madrid through and through he may not have even be bought, let alone kept at the club for such a long time."

 

[Acheron]

I think Benzema is better striker, or at least more complete, but there's definitely a recency bias in favor of Benzema as he also had some long dry spells so overall there isn't as much difference between the two. Anyway for our current team Benzema is the better striker, he's aging better than Raul so he not onlyu brings talent to our forward line but also expierence for a team that is in the middle of a generational change.

 

[BalanceUnAutreJoint]

Anyone suggesting Raul isn’t Benzema’s equal or better, doesn’t know football.

You can’t give Maradona and Pele an automatic pass and ignore all in between.

Grow up

If you had worded it the other way around I would fully agree

 

[tentan]

I think Benzema is better striker, or at least more complete, but there's definitely a recency bias in favor of Benzema as he also had some long dry spells so overall there isn't as much difference between the two. Anyway for our current team Benzema is the better striker, he's aging better than Raul so he not onlyu brings talent to our forward line but also expierence for a team that is in the middle of a generational change.

 

[Ali Dia]

Think of how good Benzema looked for Lyon and we were trying to get him. He would have become a legend here. Why don’t we sign players that have the potential to be generational within a season or two anymore? Fergie and his team absolutely whip most other managers when it comes to talent identification. We should try to get back to what made us what we are.

 

[SportingCP96]

Benzema by some miles.

Raul’s goal scoring numbers are not as impressive as he took 700 odd games to reach them.

 

[ilrm]

Overall: Benzema
5 year physical peak: Both are equal in terms of importance to the team. Raul as a goal scorer and culture enforcer, Benzema as a foil to Ronaldo.

 

[MexicanCowboy]

I watched Raul's whole carrer and he was just a decent finisher. Benzema is not only a better striker but has other qualities that Raúl didn’t even know.
Benzema has really been underrated while Raúl really overrated. I wish Barcelona would have signed Benzema but Raúl is/was not better than Villa or Etto.

 

[B20]

Anyone suggesting Raul isn’t Benzema’s equal or better, doesn’t know football.

You can’t give Maradona and Pele an automatic pass and ignore all in between.

Grow up

I know you are, but what am I?

 

[troylocker]

Overall: Benzema
5 year physical peak: Both are equal in terms of importance to the team. Raul as a goal scorer and culture enforcer, Benzema as a foil to Ronaldo.

As if Raul didn't spend 5 years as a foil to the other Ronaldo. Before that he played behind Morientes. Raul played most his game as a second striker or hybrid a 9/10 and was just as much or more involved in buildup and playmaking as the frenchman who's played 90% of his games for RM as a striker. I think it's hard to choose between them. They are/were both very good footballers and equally important to Real in their eras.

Fun fact: Benzema would be above C. Ronaldo by a safe margin in the all time goalscorer list for Real Madrid if he took the 92 penalties Cristiano took for them while they played together there (scored 79 of them)

 

[Steve Bruce]

When Raul played, the game was more physical in the sense that in comparison to today defenders could tackle and leave a bit on them. Yellow cards weren't dished out so easily as they are today and imo the players that where in world football back then where better.

This is why I personally don't like comparing generations because there are far too many differences.

It's like the Pele thread, how can you possibly compare Pele with any player today. It's apples and oranges

 

[GatoLoco]

Words were employed but maybe some pics will help too

Two Champions League final lineups where we can see Raul was not employed as one of the strikers even if he had the intuition and freedom to get to attacking positions.

 

[tentan]

Overall: Benzema
5 year physical peak: Both are equal in terms of importance to the team. Raul as a goal scorer and culture enforcer, Benzema as a foil to Ronaldo.

 

[NoPace]

Yeah, Raul would probably play as a #10 now, or Madrid would have sold him for huge money to an Italian team that would play 2 up front to accommodate him. Would be a great false 9 at Liverpool or City this past era, though. Very clever.

 

[NoPace]

And those names are just a start of the depth of striking talent of that period.

Morientes, Tristan, Makaay, Forlan, Sonny Anderson, Gio Elber, Claudio Lopez, Signori, Di Natale, Fowler, Owen, Hasslebaink, Mario Gomez, Luca Toni, Bergkamp, Zola, Di Canio, Pauleta, Collymore, Baggio, Weah, Davor Suker, Bierhoff, Ian Wright, Anelka, Gudjohnsen, Jardel, Salas, Zamorano, Saviola, Mijatovic, Hakan Sukur, Henrik Larsson, Wiltord, Kanu, Montella, Delvecchio, Kezman, Alexander Frei, Di Vaio, Klose FFS, and probably many others that deserve a mention.

Real lack of dudes like this out there right now for us to sign this summer who would see a move here as their big one (like the 3 Bayern guys did) or were available post-Madrid (Zamorano, Morientes) or playing in a lesser league.

It doesn't even seem like there's a bunch of Kezmans and Hakan Sukurs running around scoring 25 goals in meh leagues and flattering to deceive they could be our #9s. Weghorst seems to have been arguably the best striker in Turkey for exampel. Game's gone because of capitalism I guess and we can't capitalistically vulture up Mitrovic from say Fenerbahce or Toney from Celtic or whatever.

 

[That_Bloke]

I thought Raul flattered to deceive a lot. A player with his talent should have stepped up at some point as a genuine balon d'or contender. I don't think he ever looked like that for anything more than short bursts in the first half of his career. He rode a lot on being good enough to play for real Madrid as a local lad.

He was never as good as the likes of villa and Torres at their peaks.

 

[That_Bloke]

My friend Raul did not play in the 50's. You can say this about Di Stefano or Pele not Raul.
Raul is as modern day player as Benzema.
L
If I have to give an opinion on Raul vs Benzema it's very difficult. Before 2018 I would have taken Raul any day of the week. After Ronaldo left Benzema has singlehandedly managed the RM offense. This is very impressive. It's difficult to chose now.

It will always boil down to personal preference now.

I watched both in their prime and they're equally versatile. Both also knew to sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. I absolutely loved Raúl as a teenager and for me he was the face of a star studded Real Madrid at the time. Somehow his sublime volley against Nigeria in WC 1998 is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about him. Benzema's football IQ is often underrated but I remember him tearing up the Ligue Un when he still was at Lyon, you knew then that he was a very, very special player. He spent a good chunk of his career in the shadow of C.Ronaldo and stepped up when the latter left. I thought at the time that it was bit too late for him to shine, but boy was I wrong.

Will Real Madrid consider him a legend when he retires?

 

[Suedesi]

Benzema by a country mile

 

[Shakesy]

Benzema by a country mile

Raul by a nautical mile

 

[Suedesi]

Based on what exactly? Can't be trophies or technical ability or goals...

 

[Idxomer]

Will Real Madrid consider him a legend when he retires?

Of course.

He has been the main striker during their most successful era since the 50s. He has also scored the 2nd most goals in their history.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Raul. Defending is worse now, and the tactical side of defending has weakened.

Most teams are more attack minded, with worse defenders, which means goal records are constantly being broken. Top teams are usually scoring more than they ever did. Which doesn't meant attackers are better though.

 

[Bastian]

You could ask yourself, if you had the choice of signing either now and they'd be 23, who'd you go for? Seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Raul. Defending is worse now, and the tactical side of defending has weakened.

Most teams are more attack minded, with worse defenders, which means goal records are constantly being broken. Top teams are usually scoring more than they ever did. Which doesn't meant attackers are better though.

This is completely untrue, the tactical side of defending has never been stronger. Teams press and defend more cohesively than every before, there's very little space in the modern game compared to just 15 years ago. More goals are scored mainly because A. it's clearly become harsher on defenders regarding fouling/penalties along with VAR being introduced and B. teams have boiled down chance creation to an exact science (Pep's teams being the pinnacle of this with the amount of cutbacks from inside runs they produce).

Now if you want to argue there aren't as many individually great defenders, then that I would agree with. The modern game has seen individual 1v1 defending sacrificed more for technical ability on the ball and passing ability as many managers seek to combat the pressing game the majority of teams play now.

 

[RoyKeaneReborn]

Different styles, but Raul for me. Just felt he had more tricks & flicks in his bag and more skilful. Technique, versatility, dribbling & flair. Only thing Benzema is much better is obviously in heading.

 

[tjb]

Benzema

Raul could never lead Real Madrid like this. People need to be honest with themselves.
Yes, Benzema is doing this at a late age and as a result the hype around him is not as great despite the Ballon D'or.
However, Benzema in the last 5 years has been more influential on the pitch than Raul ever was for Madrid.
And as a player, Benzema is a better player. I don't think people realize how good Benzema has been since 2018.
I also don't think people are truly recognizing how long a period 2018 to 2023 really is. It's 5 seasons.
When you take into account the fact that he was a really good player prior to these 5 years, one of the better strikers in world football, I think as a whole he tops Raul, but not by a country mile.

 

[KeanoMagicHat]

Would have been Raul up to a few years ago, but Benzema’s last CL campaign was another level on anything Raul did. And he had a great body of work before that anyway.

 

[tentan]

Has to be Benzema now

 

[TheLord]

Raul was just an above-average player, who was lucky to play for Madrid for an incredibly long time.

 

[That_Bloke]

Raul was just an above-average player, who was lucky to play for Madrid for an incredibly long time.