Would Ronaldo have been so adored if he played football in this current era

Sir Erik ten Hag

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And I'm talking about the Brazilian Ronaldo here.

He bursted into the scene as a super striker. He played for a number of great clubs at that time. But this is exactly the issue. He played for very big clubs: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan...etc. However during his whole career he only had 1 league trophy to show for it (No Champions League either). If he was born and played in the modern age, would people look at him as a less loyal Harry Kane? People lambasted Ibrahimovic as a small-game player but Ibra won the domestic league at everywhere he went, minus Manchester United. All because he didn't win a Champions League.

Ronaldo arguably had a better international career. He had an exceptional 2002 World Cup. However, even that came as a sort of "redemption" after his flop in the 1998 World Cup Final. Still, I'd rate his international career as a 8/10 at least.

I also don't think modern football fans would take too kindly to the fact that he played for rivals Real/Barca, Inter/AC either. Lukaku got bashed as a mercenary for less. Ronaldo jumping between big rival clubs with very little trophies to show for it would actually fuel even more ridicule towards him from bitter people, actually.

Do you think Ronaldo would have been so adored if he played football in this current era? Instead of the current god-hood status he got among football fans.

Ronaldo-at-Milan.webp
 
Sir Erik ten Hag said:
And I'm talking about the Brazilian Ronaldo here.

He bursted into the scene as a super striker. He played for a number of great clubs at that time. But this is exactly the issue. He played for very big clubs: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan...etc. However during his whole career he only had 1 league trophy to show for it (No Champions League either). If he was born and played in the modern age, would people look at him as a less loyal Harry Kane? People lambasted Ibrahimovic as a small-game player but Ibra won the domestic league at everywhere he went, minus Manchester United. All because he didn't win a Champions League.

Ronaldo arguably had a better international career. He had an exceptional 2002 World Cup. However, even that came as a sort of "redemption" after his flop in the 1998 World Cup Final. Still, I'd rate his international career as a 8/10 at least.

I also don't think modern football fans would take too kindly to the fact that he played for rivals Real/Barca, Inter/AC either. Lukaku got bashed as a mercenary for less. Ronaldo jumping between big rival clubs with very little trophies to show for it would actually fuel even more ridicule towards him from bitter people, actually.

Do you think Ronaldo would have been so adored if he played football in this current era? Instead of the current god-hood status he got among football fans.

Ronaldo-at-Milan.webp
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Do you have any idea how much more tribal and violent football fans were just 25 years ago? It helps that he didn't directly join a rival club, and I think his class gave him some leeway in that regard.

Go watch his Barca and Inter highlights to refresh your memory. It still holds up amongst the best in today's game.
 
Pronewbie said:
Do you have any idea how much more tribal and violent football fans were just 25 years ago? It helps that he didn't directly join a rival club, and I think his class gave him some leeway in that regard.

Go watch his Barca and Inter highlights to refresh your memory. It still holds up amongst the best in today's game.
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Football fans might have been more tribal and violent back then. But I think the current generation fanbase is more demanding of trophies. Such a long drought of Champions League/League trophies in this current age might not be given that much leeway.
 
He would have been better adored.

Also, with strikers better protected by referees these days, may be he would never had that dreaded injury (two big knee injuries + ankle) or got better surgical treatment - he could have been a bigger star, if anything.
 
Threads like this wouldn't exist, so he'd be more adored and less forgotten. Happens. People have become too stat obsessed in football so shrug at 35 goal seasons which is nonsense, ignore the performance levels and just look at stats these days, look at average analytics that weigh a small game as much as a big game, and put less stock in players stepping up in big games. There's a lot wrong in modern fans.
 
Probably not so much considering his trophy haul at club level was far from great.

Many would call him overrated for not winning as much as his talent suggest, modern fans are all about trophies and stats unfortunately.

SofaScore generation
 
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People have become more and more stat obsessed so probably not. I mean he did put up great numbers but he was seemingly about more than that especially at his peak. The modern day fan prefers Haaland.
 
Sure he would be very much adored during his peak, but really depends on his injuries and whether he could maintain same fitness level and productivity throughout.

We have some very talented player like Neymar or even Hazard, who are not quite being adored by many fans in this era, due to the above reasons.
 
Ronaldo would’ve been tapped up and bought by whoever was the biggest superpower straight from PSV in the current era, ergo untouchable and untransferable. Whatever superpower that was would be assured of amassing a stupid amount of domestic trophies thanks to the financial imbalance. Playing in the best squad and also being Ronaldo, he would be more dominant, more revered and more regarded now than he was back then. There would be zero club-hopping unless the player wanted it; he definitely wouldn’t play for so many clubs in this era.

Any numbers anyone else is putting up would also be shattered by an injury-free Ronaldo.
 
The hot takes keep coming these days. Ronaldo would arguably have been even more adored in the current era. The man was a force of nature.
 
If you're going down the road of what ifs, the only acceptable question around El Fenomeno is what if he didn't have that massive knee injury so early on in his career.
 
He’d definitely have earned a few knee jerk reactions along the way. After United knock out inter in 99 while keeping R9 quiet he’d get nicknamed ‘Fenomi-nil” or something and labelled a big game bottler who couldn’t do it on the biggest stage.
 
It would have been the same. Ronaldo scoring 30 in his era would have been 40 in the modern era. He would be like Mbappé without the shitty ‘farmers league’ jibe because he was the best forward in Serie A which was today’s equivalent of Premier League. Both him and Mbappé more famous for international football than club football. But the World Cup is still the biggest event in football so he would have been big.
 
A striker that is fast, can dribble, pass, finish chances in multiple ways, has a great long shot and decent heading. We have plenty of those around, so we can deduct with 100% certainty that he would have been utterly disregarded.
 
From a neutral fan perspective, 100% he would be. The guy was a phenomenon. For us living in England, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, watching him play for any team was a joy and he's in my top 5 player list of players who I just loved (MVB, Maldini, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo 9). That wouldn't change had he playing in this era or '90's / '00's.

I think the fans of Barca (not so much as he only played there for 1 season), Real, Inter and Milan might feel different as to adoration - but in hindsight I think they'll be damn happy he played for them and gave them same great memories.
 
He’d probably have a better shot at the UCL nowadays but considering how everyone is so reactionary these days, he’d be called a bottler at some point as would everyone else from that era.

There’s a real lack of leeway in modern day football. You’re rated by your last game and nothing else
 
He’d destroy modern defences and I’d imagine he’d end up at one club that doesn’t need to sell (Real, City, PSG) and stay there for a longer period to negate the mercenary argument.

With modern advances in fitness and training, even with his attitude to partying, I suspect he’d be brought in line and with defences in general being less tough, he’d be less prone to the injuries that wrecked him.

In short, he’d be even better, which is a staggering prospect.

His ability to drop deep and playmake whilst also being lethal up top with ridiculously pace would really suit us tight now tbh.
 
Fortitude said:
Ronaldo would’ve been tapped up and bought by whoever was the biggest superpower straight from PSV in the current era, ergo untouchable and untransferable. Whatever superpower that was would be assured of amassing a stupid amount of domestic trophies thanks to the financial imbalance. Playing in the best squad and also being Ronaldo, he would be more dominant, more revered and more regarded now than he was back then. There would be zero club-hopping unless the player wanted it; he definitely wouldn’t play for so many clubs in this era.

Any numbers anyone else is putting up would also be shattered by an injury-free Ronaldo.
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This.
 
All players from that era and before would be more heavily scrutinised, have their faults endlessly poured over and their mistakes constantly catalogued if they played now. It's just part of modern football.

And if he was playing now he wouldn't have yet benefitted from the nostalgia of the now-adults who remember him.

So in those terms, sure. But as a footballer he'd still be class and might have a better chance of greater longevity given the massively improvements in fitness training and sports science since then.
 
His trophy haul at domestic level would probably be a lot better if he played for the respective sides during this era. Particularly his Real Madrid years.

I can only imagine the type of numbers he would be putting up in this era in terms of goals and assists. He did amazingly well then, today would be a blood bath.

And as for the swapping to rival teams, it's testament to both his ability and personality that he remains adored by fans of those clubs despite this. He also never left a team for a direct rival, so it wasn't really an issue. And particularly in Italy, it seems top players often play for both Milans and Juve during their careers.

TLDR: Yes he would still be as adored.
 
No, he'd have been playing at the same time as Messi and Ronaldo and would therefore have looked a distant 3rd to them
 
His matches would be more accessible than before. You'd be able to watch every minute of his career through some online stream or TV channel now, where as back in the 90s we had to wait for Football Italia to come on and show us just the highlights. At least in this country.

That works both ways really. We'd get to see him in all his glory all of the time, but we'd also be more exposed to the odd off day. The people arguing over Messi/Ronaldo on social media would do the same with R9 and make no mistake, he would be in the conversation with both of them if the pre injury version played today.

His injuries were largely a result of his own biology though, I'm not sure playing in the modern era would have prevented them, at least not entirely. His speed, power and agility were off the scale and while his freakish genetics and muscles allowed him to do what he did, his joints were never going to be able to take the strain over an entire career. His knees were ticking time bombs.
 
Rhyme Animal said:
He’d have been more adored and an even bigger star.

He puts the ‘best strikers on Earth’ in the current game to absolute shame.

He was decades ahead of the game.
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I don't understand how he puts Haaland to shame considering their avg goals per game is comparable. Nor how he was decades ahead of his time since he's not even the best player of the past couple decades
 
AndySmith1990 said:
I don't understand how he puts Haaland to shame considering their avg goals per game is comparable. Nor how he was decades ahead of his time since he's not even the best player of the past couple decades
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You never watched R9 did you?

Let alone considered what he’d do in the current game with the protection strikers receive?

And more pertinently - far better medical care and sport science (imagine Haaland playing back then…).

I rate Haaland very highly (see my posts on him), Ronaldo was on a different level at playing football.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
I don't understand how he puts Haaland to shame considering their avg goals per game is comparable. Nor how he was decades ahead of his time since he's not even the best player of the past couple decades
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Is this all football has become? Bloody eck, we just saw Haaland make like 9 touches in his biggest game of the season and get shut out by Rudiger while not evein being the top 5 best performing player on the pitch for his team, Ronaldo was a whole different proposition in his prime and at the same age. He was decades ahead of his time, and we still haven't seen a number 9 quite like him since.
 
Righteous Steps said:
Never.
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Of course he would have. He scored like 4 champions league knockout goals in his whole career, cristiano scored 67, Messi scored about 50. He only scored 14 in 40 games total. Ronaldo and Messi were regularly putting up 60 goal seasons while Ronaldo managed 47 once, he'd be closer to suarez than to either of Messi or ronaldo
 
Rhyme Animal said:
You never watched R9 did you?

Let alone considered what he’d do in the current game with the protection strikers receive.

I rate Haaland very highly (see my posts on him), Ronaldo was on a different level at playing football.
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He probably watched a couple games of him on the wane, and checked Wikipedia to see how many goals he scored in each season.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
I don't understand how he puts Haaland to shame considering their avg goals per game is comparable. Nor how he was decades ahead of his time since he's not even the best player of the past couple decades
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I wouldn't say 'put him to shame' but there is a gulf in overall ability between the two players.
 
jm99 said:
Of course he would have. He scored like 4 champions league knockout goals in his whole career, cristiano scored 67, Messi scored about 50. He only scored 14 in 40 games total. Ronaldo and Messi were regularly putting up 60 goal seasons while Ronaldo managed 47 once, he'd be closer to suarez than to either of Messi or ronaldo
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He barely played in the CL in his prime for several reasons, if you think R9 in his prime wouldn't be close to Messi then you either didn't see him in his prime or have a fading memory, Suarez was great i watched him extensively but he was no R9.

Also don't need to go on wikipedia and check how many goals scores and what not, without much context of the era, and the teams each individual played for.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
I don't understand how he puts Haaland to shame considering their avg goals per game is comparable. Nor how he was decades ahead of his time since he's not even the best player of the past couple decades
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Because his all-round game was on a complete different level to todays strikers:

Want a striker that is as physical as Haaland....buy Ronaldo
Want a striker that is as instinctive around the box as Lewa...buy Ronaldo
Want a striker that can drop deep and link play like Kane...buy Ronaldo
Want a striker that can receive the ball on the turn, dribble past five players and rifle it past the keeper like.....erm.....

You get the drift
 
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Righteous Steps said:
Is this all football has become? Bloody eck, we just saw Haaland make like 9 touches in his biggest game of the season and get shut out by Rudiger while not evein being the top 5 best performing player on the pitch for his team, Ronaldo was a whole different proposition in his prime and at the same age. He was decades ahead of his time, and we still haven't seen a number 9 quite like him since.
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Except he didn't improve his teams results, Barca won the league the season after he left but finished 2nd the season he was there, he joined real Madrid who'd won 2 champions leagues in the 3 seasons before he joined and they never even got to another final while he was there, so if we're not judging by goals scored, or impact on his teams results, then what? Ability to dribble well?
 
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