Better career? CR7, better peak R9 by a country mile. R9 was also much more feared and much more popular. Everyone just loved him.
Ronaldo vs Ronaldo
- Thread starter altodevil
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Cristiano has obviously had the better career but I can't think of any player who has been better at his peak than Ronaldo. He was completely unplayable. Probably only Messi and Maradona come close.
Do you think Dwight Yorke was a better player than Shearer?
Good example why you shouldn't rate players only based on career achievments.
What an embarrassing post.
He really couldn't. Nobody can or could do what Ronaldo did when he was young. Unrivalled potential. The guy was the definition of a prodigy.
I mean, he has a fair claim on being the best dribbler ever, the best technician ever, the fastest ever, the best finisher ever and on top of that he's comfortably worldclass in terms of strength, balance, long shots and passing. Really can't see anyone rivalling his skill set, not even Messi. You can maybe say the Argentinian had a slightly higher peak because he had more time to improve his decision making etc. but in terms of raw ability, Ronaldo truly was a phenomenon.
Title should be romanticized Ronaldo vs non-romanticized Ronaldo for proper distinction. This thread would have made sense back in 2012.
Their peaks happened in very different circumstances but it’s not clear cut by any of them at all, Cristiano in his best period (2013-14 before the knee injury) was better than R9 at his best imo.
Their peaks happened in very different circumstances but it’s not clear cut by any of them at all, Cristiano in his best period (2013-14 before the knee injury) was better than R9 at his best imo.
The face that you think he was a better dribbler than Messi is proof hes being romanticized. Im a Cr7 fan but Brazillian Ronaldo having better dribbling than Messi is ridiculous.
Better career is subjective...how much weight (excuse the pun) is put on R9's World Cup successes with Brazil compared to the numerous Champions Leagues and Euros CR7 won (injured in the final)...tight call imo!
That’s just not true at all though. You can’t limit the service Ronaldo gets because of the way he plays, I have never seen any other player make it so easy for his team to create chances for them. Just look at the way Juventus plays and how little service he gets.
Good luck neutralizing any half decent team to stop getting to the line and putting a cross in or getting a few set pieces... how many teams have ever managed to consistently neutralize the service Cristiano gets? He always gets half a chance, if you lose your marker as often as he does throughout a match and have physical advantages over defenders then the ball will eventually find him in the right spot.
Getting the ball and trying to solve everything on your own is not an effective way to play football and making the team better, no matter how good that player is. Teams will figure out how to defend it a lot easier and the rest of the team won’t play at their best.
I think you've never really seen him play then. You can argue either way but it sure as hell isn't ridiculous, regardless of who you see slightly ahead.
I haven't said that Ronaldo was better by the way. Can't bring myself to a decision.
Everyone knows CR7 has the best stats but R9 was far more exciting to watch , the only player to come close was Ronaldinho . The 2 Brazilians were awesome .
How is Fenomeno unstoppable, when he only had one season above 40 goals in his whole career? And I imagine CRonaldo has more assists, too
Club football post Guardiola and pre Guardiola are completely different things from a statistical standpoint. Hence comparing numbers is completely foolish.
Ability - Fat Ronaldo
Stats - CR
Stats - CR
Who’s standing ovation was better, Ronaldo’s after his hat trick at OT or Cristianos after his overhead kick v his current employers.
I've seen him play. A monster of a dribbler but Messi can take on teams with his dribbling like Brazilian Ronaldo never could have. To me personally it's a ridiculous opinion so we'd have to disagree but if anyone puts him above Messi in any category, that's wrong for me but to put him above Messi in dribbling ? I don't even understand how you can make an argument for that.
This
Could Ronaldo score a free kick like CR7 did. Could Ronaldo even go for a Bicycle kick like CR7. Was Ronaldo a better header than CR7 at his peak? Did Ronalod have better long shots than CR7 at his peak? Did he even ever show the same level of consistency?
Because he's a childhood icon for many here and the myth that he was some unplayable force with zero weaknesses just gets propelled more and more. There's no doubt he's one of the all time greats but this debate belongs in 2010 or 2011. Now it's disrespectful to Messi and Ronaldo to even mention him alongside them.
Next, Klose the best player ever due to being all time WC top scorer
Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Pele was
People love to ignore Cristiano’s crossing and heading ability despite recognizing the importance of wing play in the teams he’s played for throughout his career.
For a big percentage of football fans ‘footballing ability’ means 10% of all abilities relevant to football.
For a big percentage of football fans ‘footballing ability’ means 10% of all abilities relevant to football.
Fat Ronaldo and it's not even close.
Unless you're valuing WC success as the be all and end all, this shouldn't really even be a debate. R9 will always be remembered in a better light and at his peak, which is a flash in the pan compared to CR7, he was phenomenal but even if CR7 retired today he'd win this contest hands down for me. I 'like' R9 wayyyy more but it doesn't cloud my judgement on who is/was the better player.
Strip back the nostalgia and, aside from the already mentioned WC success, how does R9 beat CR7 in any capacity? If the thread is a popularity contest, CR7 will be rock bottom but if this is based on career goals, assists, trophies (the things that I think should define a players career) Cristiano Ronaldo .
Strip back the nostalgia and, aside from the already mentioned WC success, how does R9 beat CR7 in any capacity? If the thread is a popularity contest, CR7 will be rock bottom but if this is based on career goals, assists, trophies (the things that I think should define a players career) Cristiano Ronaldo .
If I were a manager of a team, I'd still pick CRonaldo. He has better consistency, longevity, mentality and drive, and output.
R9
Both Cristiano and Messi are better than Pele.
Cr7 is just a metrosexual Gerd Muller with the likability of an ulcer.
Lima was the real deal.
Lima was the real deal.
People re underestimating R9 here. He had an insanely good national team career. Apart from England, most of the world thinks national team is the biggest stage. People say he didn't play in 1994, but people forget how insanely good his 1998 world cup was, god knows what happened in that final. He won all Copa Americas he participated in also, as top scorer.
"Oh but how can you compare Cristiano, who played for Portugal" It's funny people account that Brazil had way more talent, but forget that Cristiano played his career in the most stacked, millionaire teams in the world, while Ronaldo's peak was at a mediocre Barcelona and Inter teams, who were fringe UEFA Cup teams. In early Bosman rule times too, where teams were much less stacked and Valencia and others had stronger squads than Barca a lot of times.
Of course the career of Cristiano overall, but Ronaldo's peak to me is unquestionably better. I hate how people bring up numbers here. Ronaldo was the most athletic player I've ever seen, considering all sports. But he was also one of the most technical players, with the bonus of entertainment and flair. I don't see how you improve that... unless you give him wings or something.
"Oh but how can you compare Cristiano, who played for Portugal" It's funny people account that Brazil had way more talent, but forget that Cristiano played his career in the most stacked, millionaire teams in the world, while Ronaldo's peak was at a mediocre Barcelona and Inter teams, who were fringe UEFA Cup teams. In early Bosman rule times too, where teams were much less stacked and Valencia and others had stronger squads than Barca a lot of times.
Of course the career of Cristiano overall, but Ronaldo's peak to me is unquestionably better. I hate how people bring up numbers here. Ronaldo was the most athletic player I've ever seen, considering all sports. But he was also one of the most technical players, with the bonus of entertainment and flair. I don't see how you improve that... unless you give him wings or something.
Ronaldo was a joy to watch 2005/06 to 07/08. Not so much in his last season but his contribution was still immense.
It can be quite easy to forget just how good he was and how entertaining he was at the same time.
We've got the best version of Ronaldo.
It can be quite easy to forget just how good he was and how entertaining he was at the same time.
We've got the best version of Ronaldo.
I feel that many posters are still missing the premise of the thread.
Let us imagine that Messi suffered an ACL injury during his breakout season with Barcelona and recovered in 2009, going on to lead Barcelona to CL glory.
Then he sufferes another injury and is never the same again, ending up winning nothing apart from the treble that season.
Who had a better career, Messi or Giggs? Giggs
Who had the higher peak? Messi
Regarding this thread, I feel it is impossible to argue against CR having had a better career.
However, the peak debate is not nearly as one-sided and career stats have no place in it.
Let us imagine that Messi suffered an ACL injury during his breakout season with Barcelona and recovered in 2009, going on to lead Barcelona to CL glory.
Then he sufferes another injury and is never the same again, ending up winning nothing apart from the treble that season.
Who had a better career, Messi or Giggs? Giggs
Who had the higher peak? Messi
Regarding this thread, I feel it is impossible to argue against CR having had a better career.
However, the peak debate is not nearly as one-sided and career stats have no place in it.
Just seen this the other day and it reminded me how amazing he was. Better than OG Ronaldo, as good as he was.
Which Ronaldo are you talking about?
Domestically, you can probably fit about 2 or 3 R9 careers into one CR7 career.
I don't really know what the OP definitively means by "peak." Statistically speaking, CR7 has about 6 or 7 seasons that eclipse R9's best season.
CR7 has also had numerous evolutions as a player. He's been a World Class touchline winger in a 4-4-2; a world class wide forward in a 4-2-3-1 & 4-3-3 and a World Class 2nd striker in a 4-4-2 diamond or a flat 4-4-2 (for portugal). He's pretty much done it all in every kind of system you can imagine be it possession, counter-attacking or defensive. He is much more tactically flexible due to being proficient at so many facets of the game. You could probably field each iteration of CR throughout his career in the same line-up and they'd be completely different players fulfilling different roles to a world class standard; that's how much he's been able to adapt and modify his game.
R9 at his peak was probably more explosive and could tear apart whole teams almost single-handedly but CR has also delivered some masterclasses for club and country where he's put teams to the sword through his own sheer brilliance aswell. Overall, R9 maybe had a higher ceiling but based on how things panned out, CR beats him more than comfortably imo.
I don't really know what the OP definitively means by "peak." Statistically speaking, CR7 has about 6 or 7 seasons that eclipse R9's best season.
CR7 has also had numerous evolutions as a player. He's been a World Class touchline winger in a 4-4-2; a world class wide forward in a 4-2-3-1 & 4-3-3 and a World Class 2nd striker in a 4-4-2 diamond or a flat 4-4-2 (for portugal). He's pretty much done it all in every kind of system you can imagine be it possession, counter-attacking or defensive. He is much more tactically flexible due to being proficient at so many facets of the game. You could probably field each iteration of CR throughout his career in the same line-up and they'd be completely different players fulfilling different roles to a world class standard; that's how much he's been able to adapt and modify his game.
R9 at his peak was probably more explosive and could tear apart whole teams almost single-handedly but CR has also delivered some masterclasses for club and country where he's put teams to the sword through his own sheer brilliance aswell. Overall, R9 maybe had a higher ceiling but based on how things panned out, CR beats him more than comfortably imo.