Which footballer peaked the highest?

[alquemyst]

G. Best - anytime - in terms of ability I'd say he had the highest skill ceiling
Ronaldo 99 - Perfect football player, nobody comes even close in my opinion, shame consistency wasn't there afterwards
C.Ronaldo in his last year for us and anytime during Madrid years - I'd say this was the best level of a player in the modern era in terms of pure ability to change a game and to me this is the most important, not scoring 600 goals a year or anything like that. When shit stinks, in my opinion, he's the only one that constantly turns up.

So my leaderboard would be:
Ronaldo - Perfect, no doubt
Best - highest potential but he still seemed to leave a lot on the table like going to the gym and not going for those extra 2-3 reps
C.Ronaldo - Nothing to say, as a complete package he's the best in the modern era, would fit any team, etc
Messi - In terms of pure numbers the 91 goals season easily wins, but numbers are not everything for me

 

[diarm]

I didn't see Maradona in 86 so for me, it was Baggio at USA 94 or Ronaldo in 98. Not much to pick between the two of them and similar in how they absolutely dominated a tournament only to fall sick or injured in the final.

 

[Bogdannn]

G. Best - anytime - in terms of ability I'd say he had the highest skill ceiling
Ronaldo 99 - Perfect football player, nobody comes even close in my opinion, shame consistency wasn't there afterwards
C.Ronaldo in his last year for us and anytime during Madrid years - I'd say this was the best level of a player in the modern era in terms of pure ability to change a game and to me this is the most important, not scoring 600 goals a year or anything like that. When shit stinks, in my opinion, he's the only one that constantly turns up.

So my leaderboard would be:
Ronaldo - Perfect, no doubt
Best - highest potential but he still seemed to leave a lot on the table like going to the gym and not going for those extra 2-3 reps
C.Ronaldo - Nothing to say, as a complete package he's the best in the modern era, would fit any team, etc
Messi - In terms of pure numbers the 91 goals season easily wins, but numbers are not everything for me

Well said. Ronaldo from 96 to 99 was absolutely incredible.

 

[tjb]

I think, again, when people talk peak, they tend to disregard Messi, CR7 and Pele simply as a result of how long their peaks lasted. I don't think a world cup in which a few games are played can be called someone's peak. If that's the case, the month periods in which Messi and Ronaldo were getting hat-tricks and doubles ( which they have had a million of) would be superior to any World Cup. I honestly believe, outside of one or two R9/Maradona seasons ( which still fall to the bottom of that list) Messi and Ronaldo from 07/08 till 2018's seasons are far better than anyone else's. It just happened for so long and the gap between them an others was so wide, that people started diminishing their returns and glorifying past seasons that wouldn't have even been comparable if looked at objectively. We've reached the stage where people purposely try to downplay the current era in order to diminish what they did.

 

[KD6-3.7]

I’d obviously say Messi because I was alive in his prime so I can’t comment on others like Maradona, R9, Best ect.

But Messi was an absolute freak and especially because his prime lasted so long. His numbers as expected were only rivaled by Ronaldo but Messi’s overall game was so much more superior.

 

[Bogdannn]

I think, again, when people talk peak, they tend to disregard Messi, CR7 and Pele simply as a result of how long their peaks lasted. I don't think a world cup in which a few games are played can be called someone's peak. If that's the case, the month periods in which Messi and Ronaldo were getting hat-tricks and doubles ( which they have had a million of) would be superior to any World Cup. I honestly believe, outside of one or two R9/Maradona seasons ( which still fall to the bottom of that list) Messi and Ronaldo from 07/08 till 2018's seasons are far better than anyone else's. It just happened for so long and the gap between them an others was so wide, that people started diminishing their returns and glorifying past seasons that wouldn't have even been comparable if looked at objectively. We've reached the stage where people purposely try to downplay the current era in order to diminish what they did.

R9 and Maradona played for far weaker teams against better opposition.
In Messi and CR7's case, they scored against shit teams in La Liga, while playing for uber teams, filled with world class players.
Put a peak R9 in 2009-2012 Barca and he'd score 100 goals a season.

 

[Tallis]

You could make a strong case for R9, R7, Messi, and others but I would pick Ronaldinho. His peak was more dramatic because he kickstarted Barca’s turnaround. They went from being Madrid’s whipping boys to the best club in the world.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Based on the footballers I've seen

Messi
(Some distance)
Ronaldhinio
Ronaldo 7

 

[Champ]

Ravel Morrison...

Peaked at every senior club he went to...

 

[JBD-dane]

Some mention Ronaldinho.
In many years I would also include Ronaldinho but then I realized he "only" scored 26 goals in his prime season. Sure it was done by style but compared to Messi and Ronaldo it is nothing.
That said Ronaldinho is the most entertaining football player I ever have seen.

 

[Revan]

World Cup is Maradona 1986. In my lifetime, Zidane 2006.

Euros I guess Platini, but have watched only the highlights. In my lifetime, not sure, nothing comes to my mind as truly exceptional. Figo 2000, Xavi 2008, Iniesta 2012, Griezmann 2016 were all great, but not historical performances.

UCL is easily Ronaldo. 17 goals and a bunch of assists, but most importantly in the last 5 games (2x Bayern, 2x Atletico and Juve), he scored 10 goals averaging 2 per games. He put 5 past Neuer including a hat-trick in the second match, to then score a hat trick against Simeone’s Atletico. And then scored a brace in the final. This is gonna be one of those records that won’t be broken for decades, if ever.

 

[Paxi]

Adrian Mutu.

He definitely had some gear.

 

[Revan]

R9 and Maradona played for far weaker teams against better opposition.
In Messi and CR7's case, they scored against shit teams in La Liga, while playing for uber teams, filled with world class players.
Put a peak R9 in 2009-2012 Barca and he'd score 100 goals a season.

Dude, he was playing for PSV, Barca, Inter, Real and Milan in Europe, not for peasant clubs. Managing to win a single league title and not getting close to UCL.

He was playing for Inter when got out scored from Oliver Birhoff from all people (who was playing for the giants of Udinese).

 

[dinostar77]

Platini 84, 9 goals in 5 games from a midfielder.

Zidane 00 just majestic to watch.

 

[dal]

I keep wanting to say Messi for his ridiculous season.

However I actually think Ronaldo’s 06/07 season was his best in terms of just taking a team to the title, he was just taking the piss and was unstoppable.

It was the premier league it was still notoriously difficult but he was just breathtaking for me that season, dribbling, assisting, goal scoring in a team that wasn’t particularly functional or great.

 

[mshnsh]

I dont think there's any other possible answer than Maradona in 86.

Second place then, for me probably fat Ronaldo in 98 (he was unplayable all the way to the final) or Zidane in the same year.

The fat Ronaldo thing in 1998 being unplayable is an exaggeration to say the least. If anything, early in the tournament prior to the semi vs Netherlands, commentators were saying he had not really started playing to his expected level and infact it was Rivaldo who was shining brightly for Brazil.

Infact, if you watch the individual Ronaldo's individual highlights from that tournament, you will realise it is the truth.

Maradona 86 on the other hand was the highest peak by far in a short tournament.

However, if you talk highest level of football, Messi 2010, 2011, 2012 2015 is the same level as Maradona in 86 but over entire seasons and many of his other seasons aren't far behind.

 

[dinostar77]

If we arent talking international football, then Ronaldinhos peak 2/3 years at Barcelona. Did stuff with the ball that I've still yet to see CR7 or Messi do. Ronaldinho was a magician.

Brasilian Ronaldo's single season at Barcelona, utterly stunning.

 

[harms]

Dude, he was playing for PSV, Barca, Inter, Real and Milan in Europe, not for peasant clubs. Managing to win a single league title and not getting close to UCL.

He was playing for Inter when got out scored from Oliver Birhoff from all people (who was playing for the giants of Udinese).

His club trophy count is certainly underwhelming for a player of his calibre, but the second part is simply a lazy argument. Ronaldo was double marked in all games, usually even triple marked — literally no other player in the league, including Bierhoff, got that kind of a treatment. And I mean proper man-marking that we almost never see today.

 

[Revan]

His club trophy count is certainly underwhelming for a player of his calibre, but the second part is simply a lazy argument. Ronaldo was double marked in all games, usually even triple marked — literally no other player in the league, including Bierhoff, got that kind of a treatment. And I mean proper man-marking that we almost never see today.

Messi and Cristiano got consistently marked in their career and did just fine. Luis Ronaldo was never the monster in front of goal (bar perhaps the Barca season) that Messi and Cristiano were/are. To claim that he would have scored 100 goals per season playing for Barca/Madrid is beyond absurd. He was hardly doing better than other top strikers of his time when it came to putting the ball past the net. He was playing for really great teams and wasn’t winning trophies. Heck, he won a single league title with the best team of his time, and it took Madrid replacing him with RvN to start winning again.

His club trophy is not underwhelming when considered the team he played for. It is utter shit. Put a random player instead of him in those teams for a decade and you end with the same record (one league title, no UCL).

I admit that he was incredible with Brazil, and had one of the greatest potential a player ever had (from those I watched a lot, I would put only Messi ahead when it comes to it), but his club career was quite underwhelming and massively overrated.

 

[Pocho]

Maradona ,86
Messi 2011/2012

 

[harms]

Messi and Cristiano got consistently marked in their career and did just fine.

No, none of them were marked like Ronaldo was when he came to Serie A. It also wouldn't be possible as their markers would've been sent off after the first 15 minutes if they would play like they did against the Brazilian.

He was hardly doing better than other top strikers of his time when it came to putting the ball past the net. He was playing for really great teams and wasn’t winning trophies. Heck, he won a single league title with the best team of his time, and it took Madrid replacing him with RvN to start winning again.

His club trophy is not underwhelming when considered the team he played for. It is utter shit. Put a random player instead of him in those teams for a decade and you end with the same record (one league title, no UCL).

I admit that he was incredible with Brazil, and had one of the greatest potential a player ever had (from those I watched a lot, I would put only Messi ahead when it comes to it), but his club career was quite underwhelming and massively overrated.

For whatever reason you keep mixing Ronaldo at his peak and Ronaldo after the knee injuries in 1999/2000. No one argues that he was even close to the level of Cristiano or Messi after those, but you still include his time at Madrid as a way to judge his peak ability.

Ronaldo had scored 200 goals by the age of 23, when his career as a GOAT-level candidate stopped. I'm not sure who can match him on that? Not Cristiano and not Messi by the way.

 

[villain]

R9, Zidane & Ronaldinho just made football look silly. Ridiculous players at their peak, and R9 especially for me was something else.

 

[Josh 76]

We

Ok here's a thought out detailed response. Please don’t TL;DR.

The legend of Zidane is that he was the mythical Maghreb who frequently dragged his team through tournaments and seasons sparkling goldust on the pitch every time he entered it. But the aura comes from a handful of CL games and the Leverkusen goal, the goals in Paris, the near perfect game against Brazil in 06 and Euro 2000. He was in fact very patchy and ornery for large portions of his career.


1. He was never ever ever the best player in the world over a full season the way Ronaldinho or Kaka or Figo were. Just simply never. Zidane could be incredible but he was never incredibly consistent by even the standards of say Figo or Kaka let alone Messi or Ronaldo. Did he have the talent? Of course! Did he step up in big games? Yes. Was he glorious to watch? You can't imagine!

To give an example of Zidane tasked with leading in a season – look no further than In 98-99. Del Piero had his big knee injury and spent months out. That ended phase one of his career. He was never the same again.

Zidane became main man and Juve finished 7th. 16 points off Milan. Juve were reigning champs and finished 20 points behind their 97-98 total. Zidane was consistently underwhelming that year. He scored 2 goals in 40 and (I think he got either 2 or no assists). Actually one of his better games was the Roy Keane game in Turin which of course they lost.

Assuming we think numbers are somewhat significant for attackers let alone such talents like Zizou those numbers are shocking. Those are Lingard numbers. He played that year with a young pre-Arsenal Thierry Henry and Pippo Inzaghi. Now Inzaghi still scored goals that year but no one could make up for Del Piero's and part of that was on Zidane's form. Juve actually scored some 25 goals less than the previous year even if their defence only conceded as many as AC Milan's (who won serie A that season).



2. A great peak means the someone who is always the best game in game out for a few seasons. Zidane had some great seasons but they were spread out over a decade not bunched up.

The other thing is Zidane dragging teams through tournaments:

1998: The fact is that Zidane did nothing in 1998 till the final. He was sent off in their second game against the mighty Saudi Arabia. Then he missed the final group game. Missed the 1-0 win over Paraguay. Did nought in a goalless draw v Italy that went to pens where he scored his and Albertini missed.
In the semi vs Croatia it was Thuram (of all people) who scored and Djorkaeff who set up one of the goals up for Thuram.
In the final of course we know what he did.

To compare: Pogba had a far superior world cup in 2018 where he legitimately probably was France's best midfielder and creative outlet while playing severely within himself in a deeper lying position and still contributing defensively.

Euro 2000: He was fantastic in Euro 2000. He had a good season building up to it also.

World Cup 2002: Missed the first two games through injury. Had a fairly good game v Denmark but France lost 2-0.

Euro 2004: Was decent. Scored two vs. England which always helps improve a player’s perception in the anglocentric media. Had a pretty underwhelming season coming into
it.

World Cup 2006: Was very good. The game vs Brazil was near perfection. A pretty rank season coming into it.

Zidane left Juve and he was seamlessly replaced by Pavel Nedved (who is genuinely underrated). Zidane at Madrid in the insane teams he played in finished:

1. A distant third behind Valencia and Deportivo la Coruna
2. Champion
3. A distant fourth
4. Second to Ronaldinho's Barca
5. Comprehensively outdone by Ronaldinho's Barca (He retired after this season and the world cup)

You can say a lot for Zidane's lack of league titles at Real. Makelele leaving for instance or mediocre managers like Camacho and Queiroz. But the fact is also that Zidane can and would go months without doing anything much. Plus he was a massive defensive liability which didn't matter when Jacquet got Karembu, Petit and Deschamps behind him in a short tournament but over a season it is much harder to justify.


Conclusion:

I am NOT saying Zidane was overrated. In fact his talent and technique cannot be rated highly enough. I loved him. He was a fantastic moments player. But he was not one you could lean on for a whole season. There were times where he simply COULD NOT BE arsed. In a sense he was the opposite of Thierry Henry who never a great player in big games but season in-season out he was far better than Zidane ever was.

(But Zidane also had big games where he was not that great.

In 1996 UEFA cup final he played the second leg as Bayern wiped the floor with Bourdeaux. Ok it was only Bourdeaux and it was Bayern after all.

In The 1997 final where he was marked out of the game by that titan of football Paul Lambert.

In 1998 final he started well but then Karembu and Redondo marked him out of the game as Madrid beat a ludicrously good Juventus side 1-0.

He played off the park by his replacement at Juve, Nedved when Juve beat Madrid 3-1 in 2003.)

Overall he was a great player. Probably didn’t do as much as he should have on a season by season basis. Great career. But he never had a so-called great peak that stretched over 2 or 3 seasons. Don’t get too carried away with the Balon D’or and so on. It’s indicative of nothing.

Ironically it is Bale who has resembled Zidane a lot. World record transfer. Obvious greatness. Great Euro performances. Often goes weeks and months not doing very much then goes and wins them the final in ridiculous style.

Well summed up. Always thought Zidane was a player of great moments than a player who dominated an era. Think he only won 1 CL and 2 domestic titles. (Obviously not including his international honours)

 

[Josh 76]

The 98 side wasn't balanced, it was very defensive and lacked creativity. The 2006 team was very good defensively but a lot more creative and dangerous in the last third. The 2000 team was the best.

They should have peaked in 2002.

You mean Platini at Euro 1984 ? Possibly the best individual performance of a player at a European Championship, he never reached nothing close to that level for France in 3 World Cups, at least I cannot remember nothing close to that level at the Euros, well if we talk about World Cups a small guy from Argentina with the number 10 possibly was even more influential...

Platini was on another level in the early to mid 80s:
1983, 84, 85 top scorer Seria A
1983, 84, 85 European footballer of year
1984, 85 European cup winners cup and CL
1983, 84, 85 Seria A titles
1984 European Championship and top scorer

Italy was the best and hardest leagues in the world at the time. That is what dominance is!

 

[11101]

The fat Ronaldo thing in 1998 being unplayable is an exaggeration to say the least. If anything, early in the tournament prior to the semi vs Netherlands, commentators were saying he had not really started playing to his expected level and infact it was Rivaldo who was shining brightly for Brazil.

Infact, if you watch the individual Ronaldo's individual highlights from that tournament, you will realise it is the truth.

Maradona 86 on the other hand was the highest peak by far in a short tournament.

However, if you talk highest level of football, Messi 2010, 2011, 2012 2015 is the same level as Maradona in 86 but over entire seasons and many of his other seasons aren't far behind.

I dont need to watch the highlights, I watched him live. He was scintillating in 1998, as evidenced by him winning the best player award by a clear margin. By all accounts he was better in 98 than he was in 2002 when he actually won it and was also top scorer by a mile.

I'm not interested in getting into a another Messi argument but no player has come close to what Maradona achieved in 1986, in a short tournament or otherwise.

 

[el_loco_bielsa]

The terms of engagement aren’t clearly laid out in the OP as to whether he’s referring to players peaking in a single tournament or over a 2-3 year period across multiple club seasons/tournaments, so I’ll just stick with performances across a single tournament.

individual tournaments, in order of greatness:

1) Maradona, 1986 WC. Man of the match performances in every single game, 5 goals, 4 assists, absolutely untouchable. A peak no other player has reached before or since.

2) Cruyff, 1974 WC. This is a close one with platini below but edges him out on the basis of the higher level of the tournament, the eye watering number of goal scoring chances cryuff was actually creating per game (5.1 a game on average!), and his seismic role in the peak total football side.

3) Platini, 1984 Euros. 9 goals, 2 assists in just 5 games, MOTM in every game, scoring two thirds of all his team‘s goals. Beaten into 3rd by the two geniuses above.

4) Marco van Basten, 1988 Euros. The greatest pure number 9 of them all (bar perhaps gerd muller) at his highest peak before the injuries killed him. MOTM in every game, 5 tournament goals including clutch goals at every stage of the tournament, carried the oranje to the trophy.

5) Garrincha, 1962 WC. Tight one this one with Didi‘s magisterial performances in the 58 WC coming close but I‘ve never watched a better dribbler in football than the clips/match footage I’ve seen of garrincha and I include Maradona, Messi, peak Pele in that assessment. This was his tournament despite the early 60s being Pele’s peak - 4 goals and 2 assists in 6 games, MOTM performances in every game all the way to retaining the trophy.

 

[GMok]

I see Garrincha is mentioned mentioned in the previous post, and I feel happy about it. Without Garrincha, Brazil does not win WC 62. Only other player not named Maradona to single handedly (or two footedly, as seen from the archived footages) to win his country a world cup.

Ronaldo R9 was superb in 98. Was gutted to see him trudging in the final, and a tragic end of a superb footballer. 2002 Ronaldo was effective, but not as good.

I remember Chile was a dark horse in that tournament with Zamorano and Salas playing very well. Ronaldo just took them to cleaners in that R16 match. The final score was 4-1 with Ronaldo scoring a brace, but it could easily have been double.

 

[Josh 76]

Gerd Muller
1972 -1976
1 World cup
1 European championship
3 Bundesliga titles
3 European Cups
Top scorer in European Cup 1973,74,75
Top scorer Bundesliga 1972, 73, 74

smashed it for club and country over 4 years.

most underrated player ever !

 

[MrSingh2002]

The only fenoms I've seen in my lifetime are Brazilian Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi.

Everyone else since the 90s are human. Those 3 we're something else.

One level below them you have Rivaldo, Zidane, Beckham and Ronaldinho.

But the first 3 mentioned were breathtaking at their peak.

 

[Bogdannn]

Dude, he was playing for PSV, Barca, Inter, Real and Milan in Europe, not for peasant clubs. Managing to win a single league title and not getting close to UCL.

First of all, I was talking about a prime R9, not the post injuries version, so you can take out his Real and Milan days. You can also take out the his PSV days, he was a bit too green.
His prime was 96-99, when he was playing for Barca and Inter.
Your response tells me you are very young and you did not get to see those teams play live, and don't know much about them either.
90s Barca and Inter are nowhere near as good as 00's and 10's Barca and Real.
There were no Xavi's and Iniesta's when R9 was playing for Barca.
And the Inter team he had was even worse. Not to mention Serie A was a lot rougher back then, there were no rules to protect top players like now.
Apart from Djorkaeff (who was a good player, but not world class), R9 had little to no support up front, only a bunch of average Joe's behind him.
Put Messi and CR7 in the 97-99 Inter team R9 played for, and they'd do well to get 20 goals a season.

 

[Revan]

First of all, I was talking about a prime R9, not the post injuries version, so you can take out his Real and Milan days. You can also take out the his PSV days, he was a bit too green.
His prime was 96-99, when he was playing for Barca and Inter.
Your response tells me you are very young and you did not get to see those teams play live, and don't know much about them either.
90s Barca and Inter are nowhere near as good as 00's and 10's Barca and Real.
There were no Xavi's and Iniesta's when R9 was playing for Barca.
And the Inter team he had was even worse. Not to mention Serie A was a lot rougher back then, there were no rules to protect top players like now.
Apart from Djorkaeff (who was a good player, but not world class), R9 had little to no support up front, only a bunch of average Joe's behind him.
Put Messi and CR7 in the 97-99 Inter team R9 played for, and they'd do well to get 20 goals a season.

Poor Inter, a team that finished third the season before Ronaldo joined them, and then finished second with him.

Poor Barcelona, a team not that good.
A team that Ronaldo ‘carried’ to the second place, after they had finished third the season before. A team that won the league the season after Ronaldo left.

His first season with Real was immediately after the World Cup and individually was his second best ever season. Yet, Real went from winning 3 UCL in the last 5 seasons, to not getting close to winning it with him (though he was good only for the first two or three).

Cristiano and Messi were twice the players Luis ever was. They both have multiple seasons better than Luis’s best, and take out his Barca season, they had a decade of performances better than Luis in any season. Obviously, talking about club football, in international competitions Luis is way ahead of them.

 

[Hammondo]

Messi by a long way imo

 

[galwayfa]

Great reading all these memories, cruyff was brilliant in 74 but boycotted 78 where he would have excelled, Maradona in 86, best player in my view, but for me, in a single tournament, mr rossi , 82 , I cried when they beat Brazil but loved him.at end,

 

[berbatrick]

Outside Maradona 1986 and Zidane 2006:
Some of Ronaldinho's 2006 CL games are ridiculous. Ran the attack away at Milan and assisted the only goal of the tie. Scored/ was involved in all 3 goals vs Chelsea.

 

[Bogdannn]

Poor Inter, a team that finished third the season before Ronaldo joined them, and then finished second with him.

That team actually won the league, since Juventus had the refs paid.

Poor Barcelona, a team not that good.
A team that Ronaldo ‘carried’ to the second place, after they had finished third the season before. A team that won the league the season after Ronaldo left.

That Barca team had a new coach in Louis Van Gaal. He also bought some new players in Rivaldo, Sonny Anderson, Reiziger and Dugarry.

His first season with Real was immediately after the World Cup and individually was his second best ever season. Yet, Real went from winning 3 UCL in the last 5 seasons, to not getting close to winning it with him (though he was good only for the first two or three).

No, it wasn't his second best season.
His best season was the 97-98 Inter season.
And his second best was his Barca season.
He was past his prime at Real. He was still a great player, but not the same.
You just look at stats, but those depend a lot on the teammates you have and the opposition you face.

Cristiano and Messi were twice the players Luis ever was. They both have multiple seasons better than Luis’s best, and take out his Barca season, they had a decade of performances better than Luis in any season. Obviously, talking about club football, in international competitions Luis is way ahead of them.

They've had far superior teams at their disposal and they stayed injury free.
Plus, how can you really assess if their seasons were better ?! You just use stats, which are completely irrelevant when comparing players from different eras.

 

[Lay]

Poor Inter, a team that finished third the season before Ronaldo joined them, and then finished second with him.

Poor Barcelona, a team not that good.
A team that Ronaldo ‘carried’ to the second place, after they had finished third the season before. A team that won the league the season after Ronaldo left.

His first season with Real was immediately after the World Cup and individually was his second best ever season. Yet, Real went from winning 3 UCL in the last 5 seasons, to not getting close to winning it with him (though he was good only for the first two or three).

Cristiano and Messi were twice the players Luis ever was. They both have multiple seasons better than Luis’s best, and take out his Barca season, they had a decade of performances better than Luis in any season. Obviously, talking about club football, in international competitions Luis is way ahead of them.

Barcelona would have won the league if it wasn’t for him being on international duty. In the 5 games he missed, they failed to win 3 of them including the loss to Hercules, where instead of playing in La Liga he was playing for Brazil. Different times back them so you need to take some context with your criticism.

You’re weirdly attributing certain teams lack of success down to him. The Galatico experiment wasn’t a well thought out plan. They didn’t sign defenders because it wasn’t sexy enough. The ‘Zidane y Pavon’ Project was awful planning.

Plus like others have said his Real Madrid seasons wasn’t his peak. He had, what 2-3 ACL injuries by then and had put on weight. He had a great first season which included a barren run at the start (after his debut) but it wasn’t peak Ronaldo, you need to look to more than stats to realise he wasn’t the player he once was despite scoring a lot of goals. I watched Ronaldo week in week out since 96, and it was clear as night and day that the Real Madrid version was a step or two below the Barcelona and Inter version.

 

[Spoony]

Maradona
Ronaldo Brazilian
Messi.

 

[Bebestation]

Brazilian Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

Felt they played for good teams but didn't exactly reap a benefit tactically compared to the recent great players that peaked.

 

[Piratesoup]

Messi's plateau is much higher than most peaks, so he's a pretty safe bet.

 

[Spoony]

Ronaldo received some mental treatment. Diego even more so.