I doubt an opposing view can even be formulated to C.Ronaldo being one of the best headers of a ball in the entire history of the game. If he connects cleanly with a cross, a goal or solid attempt at goal is guaranteed.
What I thought when watching his latest exploit is: who else out there could you say the same of? In that exact scenario, if you removed Ronaldo and put in other players, who else would you give high odds of scoring to?
Concerns over CTE and a general aversion from teams to cross high in general has lessened heading as an art, in my view; the days of star headers of a ball seem long gone. The likes of Oliver Bierhoff and Karlheinz Ridle, or even Miroslav Klose having no modern-day equivalence and Ronaldo himself being an anachronistic throwback by now kind of makes clear heading is nowhere near as important in a coaching curriculum as it used to be.
If I'm not wrong in my musing, the next rung down of good headers of the ball are all close to retirement themselves, with what they were coached not really being seen in the younger players coming up. Cavani, Lewandowski, Sergio Ramos are players who instantly come to mind as I'm typing this.
Is this assessment incorrect? Removing Ronaldo: If you construct a top 5 great goalscoring headers of the ball, does anyone under 29 or so make the cut? If not, why do you think that is? And additionally, is Ronaldo the last all-time level header(er?) of a ball we'll ever see (directly in relation to CTE concerns and the future marginalisation of the skill)?
What I thought when watching his latest exploit is: who else out there could you say the same of? In that exact scenario, if you removed Ronaldo and put in other players, who else would you give high odds of scoring to?
Concerns over CTE and a general aversion from teams to cross high in general has lessened heading as an art, in my view; the days of star headers of a ball seem long gone. The likes of Oliver Bierhoff and Karlheinz Ridle, or even Miroslav Klose having no modern-day equivalence and Ronaldo himself being an anachronistic throwback by now kind of makes clear heading is nowhere near as important in a coaching curriculum as it used to be.
If I'm not wrong in my musing, the next rung down of good headers of the ball are all close to retirement themselves, with what they were coached not really being seen in the younger players coming up. Cavani, Lewandowski, Sergio Ramos are players who instantly come to mind as I'm typing this.
Is this assessment incorrect? Removing Ronaldo: If you construct a top 5 great goalscoring headers of the ball, does anyone under 29 or so make the cut? If not, why do you think that is? And additionally, is Ronaldo the last all-time level header(er?) of a ball we'll ever see (directly in relation to CTE concerns and the future marginalisation of the skill)?