- Joined
- Nov 19, 2021
- Messages
- 500
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- Juventus
I think the fact that Ronaldo has done it in the top leagues of the world pretty much closes the argument. There's always those who will come up with could have would have etc. but those remain unproven hypothesis. Not for a moment saying that Messi did not have what it takes to tear it apart in new leagues if he did move earlier in his career. But we will never have the data now to prove it.
Ronaldo proved that he could score goals as mostly a poacher/striker when provided great service at the expense of other players also taking all penalties/free-kicks etc. Messi is not a striker, he is one of the greatest playmakers, dribblers of all time that also has crazy amount of goals. That's why for many, they are not comparable even in this United forum or among some of Ronaldo's teammates. Ronaldo is more comparable to Lewa than Messi.
Ronaldo fans tend to (wrongly) see them as equivalent in terms of what they are capable of doing on the pitch (which is delusional tbh as Ronaldo lacks creativity, playmaking & dribbling skills at the highest level) and then say that Ronaldo has an edge because he proved it in different leagues, sorry but that does not make any sense. Messi is the complete package in terms of what he does on the pitch, Ronaldo is very limited compared to Messi in that regard. Even in the goal scoring area which is supposed to be his biggest strength, he does not have an edge over Messi. Just because Messi is scoring as many goals as other top strikers, people for some reason assume that Messi is also a striker camping around the penalty box waiting for the next chance. Messi and Ronaldo are very different players. Messi belongs to the Cruyff, Maradona, Platini camp with unbelievable goal scoring abilities, Ronaldo does not.
Also, a poacher's adaptation to a new league is not the same as a playmaker's adaptation to a new league (especially considering the way Pochettino positions Messi at PSG). Wherever Ronaldo goes, the whole team is designed to feed him.
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