The funny thing is, outside of fantasies about one-man teams at the Spanish giants, Ronaldinho did have a chance in Europe to really elevate a more workmanlike squad (but with some very good supporting players like Anelka, Okocha)...and it was with PSG
Since their good to excellent earlier '90s teams that regularly competed for the title had faded away, they had an inconsistent last four seasons before he joined... 8th, 9th, 2nd, 9th.
They set a decent foundation by getting to 4th in his first season, then drop off to 11th by the end of the second, with criticism of inconsistency and lack of effort in training starting. Now, I don't hold not being able to have a significant "one man army" impact against him...he was still in his early 20s after all and didn't have the expectations of a true superstar at the time, plus he played well overall, but it goes to show that actually doing that sort of thing is feckin hard and he wasn't up to it at the time, even in a league a lot of people won't give any respect to. I've no doubt if he'd beasted it liked Neymar and Mbappe it would be brought up often as an additional proof of vast superiority.
Imo, a comparison like these two shows how likeability and timing/circumstance can put a big, mostly artificial gap between two players. I don't look at anything in either player's career and see anything that looks likely to be an insurmountable task for the other. Swap them both at Barca...could Neymar, with no Messi to play second-fiddle to, be the creative/attacking talisman for that earlier side? I don't see any reason why not when I look at what he did do with Barca, or coping with leading Brazil; he played more than well enough to easily imagine it. Same as the other way around - I think Ronaldinho could have played the supporting 10/wide forward role with Messi to a similar degree of effectiveness. I also don't see either struggling much with a switch of National Team context. If either were derailed, it would probably be because of injuries (Neymar) and dedication issues (Ronaldinho).
We don't even have to look at anything other than their Barca and Brazil careers, it's not as if Neymar played vastly less games than Ronaldinho there...putting aside the times they were struggling, there's probably only about a half-season at most more games in favour of Ronaldinho, but between Messi overshadowing him and the PSG move, it seems there is an impression Neymar didn't put in a lot of elite quality work there.
I feel like Ronaldinho was allowed to grow and develop at his own pace and the pressure on him as a youngster was nothing like what Neymar faced from a much, much younger age.
I was alerted to Neymar by a Brazilian friend who adores Pele and used to send me VHS of what were then extremely hard to come by full matches; he didn't introduce me to Neymar with good intentions as he would pour scorn on the kid for being called a potential Pele usurper and the one who would break Pele's international goalscoring record - the hype around Neymar goes back to his mid teens and carries straight through with him leading that incredible Santos side, ably assisted by Ganso and Diego, winning the Copa Libertadores and being a legit superstar in South America before he left.
I know this board generally couldn't care less for what happens in South America, but the pressure and weight of expectation for these respective players couldn't be more different throughout their formative years and, ironically, their crossover comes when Ronaldinho matures at Barca - that's the time he has to carry burdens Neymar had had before he had even debuted as a teenager. In 2002, Ronaldinho was very much in the shadow of the superstars of the time in the team, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's a huge contrast to Neymar, who again, was burdened with being the one expected to match Pele, beat his records and carry Brazil - the time Ronaldinho had equivalent pressure to that, in 2006, he crumbled. And that was supposed to be his World Cup; going into it it was seen pretty much as a formality for Ronaldinho's form and exploits at his club that this would be his ascension to a player who could have a tournament that could rival what the true greats had done in the past. We all know what happened there, but the blot on his copybook rarely gets spoken about and the criticism for his performance there is of the softest variety. It comes with being adored, however, and that's something Neymar hasn't received on the universal scale, which means most of his exploits are played down, as we see in this thread, but on a broader level, he's always going to be seen as someone who came up short despite it mostly being injuries that waylaid him as opposed to outright failure on the pitch.
One of Neymar's biggest criticisms was that in times of dire straits, particularly for Brazil, he would go into hero mode and try and do far, far too much by himself. You certainly cannot levy hiding or being fearful of the spotlight or pressure to perform on his shoulders as he was always up for trying with everything he had to affect a game's result. I find the perception of the player to be one of the most fascinating of all superstars as to me, I don't know who of that élan gets played down and mostly summarily dismissed as much as Neymar. As a study, I'll always find that most curious because I doubt he'll ever get the praise he warrants and he'll mostly have his story warped because of how disliked he is.
Having said all of the above, my vote would still go to Ronaldinho as he did a hell of a lot to cement his legacy at Barcelona, but if their careers are extrapolated and examined:
- Neymar is in a different stratosphere as a teen and before coming to Europe
- Their respective times at Barcelona were a huge success. For all the praise Ronaldinho has bestowed upon him for his time there, Neymar was still an essential cog in one of, if not the greatest attacking front line seen in club football
- Neymar did more outside of their halcyon periods, despite being at PSG
- It's fair to say they both lost their hunger and appetite for the game by 30
- Neymar has done more for the NT than Ronaldinho, and as
@antohan said, you swap an equivalent age Neymar with 2002 Ronaldinho and Brazil still win that trophy. I'd say Neymar would have a greater impact even, as 22-year old Neymar is a better player than 22-year old Ronaldinho, by a distance. Ronaldinho was still figuring out his game at that age, Neymar was already a seasoned winner and carrier of teams.
- Ronaldinho hasn't a run of games as impactful for Brazil as Neymar's before being tiger knee'd out of the competition.
If we boil it down to broth, we are basically comparing the Barca iterations of both players as that's where both achieved their greatest feats and accolades (despite doing what he did at Santos being enormous), and I think that discussion is a lot closer than has been put forth.
Incidentally, one area that Ronaldinho cleans up is in iconic moment in isolated games. I wouldn't go as far as to say it clouds perception, but it certainly adds a certain flavour to assessment. If we go by iconic highlight reels, Ronaldinho's stock elevates beyond many who sit above him in all-time regard, even. Neymar doesn't stand a chance there.
