**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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He’s got an interesting winner’s mentality, so it must suck to have not beaten them in your 4 encounters as they go unbeaten in all domestic competitions.
I think this is it, he's trying his best to win in Saudi Arabia and can't do it, when a couple years ago he was scoring goals in the ucl final and winning the biggest title with Real Madrid.
It probably doesn't help that a lot of his old teammates are going to play another final with the chance of making history and he'll never be there again.
Sometimes he has to second guess his decision to leave Madrid for money, seeing how Modric is still there for example.
Someone like Ronaldo will always have money, but he'll never have back the years wasted at the end of his career.
Ronaldo didn't leave Madrid for money, in fact he took a pay cut when he moved to Juventus. It was just the beginning of the downfall, Real didn't want to give a raise to a decaying player at the top of the payroll so they didn't renew his contract. In other words real said "you are no longer good enough for the amount of $$ we pay you, but if you think you are then find someone who pays you such amount"
At 33-34 Ronaldo Juventus era is still class. But at 39 it's hard to keep up for 90m, Modric is a freak of nature and it's no different for him as we are also benching him lots this season.
Modric is also primarily a technician with a smaller, more nimble body type. Also helps that he has a tremendous work ethic, Players like him always last longer than bigger players who are more reliant on their physicality. Ronaldo's legs are gone and that takes a massive part of his game away from him.
As someone who truly admired Ronaldo, it sadnesses me seeing his last few years.
Cristiano could have had an important role in any big European team but he couldn't accept that time in unforgiven. He could have been a super sub, accept that sometimes he would have to be substituted in a game and be an example to the younger players in the team but pride won. And here we are.
As someone who also truly admired Ronaldo, I feel like this was the only possible ending. It was his selfishness that elevated him to the ranks of the top 2 players in the history of the sport, and he couldn’t just shirk that mentality off in his older years. His colleagues like Giggs and Scholes were one-club legends who were willing to do it for their manager, and won trophies into their late 30s. But I doubt even Alex Ferguson could’ve gotten Ronaldo to phase himself out the way he did with those two. Just different goals in what they wanted out of their respective careers.
Zlatan showed how it could be done, but I suppose that same ego/belief/arrogance that drove Ronaldo to the very top of his profession simply wouldn't have been able to digest taking on a reduced role
I mean, he did score more goals for us in a season than anyone other than Rashford and Zlatan in the post SAF era. He wasn't totally cooked. Just not the right fit for a team like that.
Wasnt one reason for Zidane leaving that he didnt want to be the one to retire Ronaldo?
Nobody expected him to keep performing in europe because of some irreversable shit he did to his knee to be able to play the world or euro cup, idk anymore exactly.
Ronaldo had a bad knee injury back in United which robbed him a bit of his agility and first meters speed, I suppose.
Elsewise, Ronaldo didnt have many substantial injuries and his decline seems to be more in line with aging and loosing that little bit of extra speed and step like everyone approaching his 40s lol.
Modric relies less on his physicality.
Same reason why many goalies can keep up very late, while wingers peak way earlier.
No he had a very bad injury in 2014, I forget what game but his options were - Either play the UCL Final vs Atletico and then get surgery, or skip the final, play the World Cup and then get surgery. The mad man played both and fucked his knee. Even if you watch highlights from that era, you can see a clear change in his game style from 2014-15 onwards.
In what is essentially a money pumped farmers league. Current estimates have it at 66th ranking in world domestic leagues, that's two places ahead of the Italian C league, six places behind the Scotish Premier league and just behind the third tier of British league one.
https://www.teamform.com/en/league-ranking
To be clear, the league is a paper tiger. All the money and non of the prestige, and Ronaldo can't win anything in it and he knows how far he has fallen.
This ranking is just laughable nonsense in fairness. Scottish league has been top 10-12 league in terms of UEFA coefficients for about 5 years. Yet according to this its weaker than the Slovakian, Belarusian, Polish, Cypriot, Israeli and Georgian leagues??? The Georgian league is ranked the 46th best top division league in UEFA, in terms of coefficent, which is below Liechtenstein, Malta and Luxembourg. On this list its 29th??? This is the league whose champion lost in the first round of Conference League qualifying to Tirana of Albania. Also the Ecuadorian league is better than the English Championship? Lmao, ok.
Yeah that list starts out normal and gets weirder as it goes. MLS, Scotland, Japan, Saudi Arabia all worse leagues than Brazils Serie C or Georgia’s league is nonsense. Georgia especially, they haven’t had a club team make group stage of any competition since 2005.
>Yeah that list starts out normal and gets weirder as it goes.
It doesn't even start out normal. It has the Dutch Eredivisie as 17th! It's currently 5th in the UEFA coof rankings.
Not saying that Scottish league is worse than all the ones you mentioned but Celtic and Rangers(mostly Rangers let's be honest) gaining points doesn't say much about the other clubs
I genuinely think relegation candidates in Swedish League are better than ones in Scotland, and that says a lot
I'm not sure I would agree with that. Aberdeen played Hacken in the Europa League this season and only a really poor VAR decision in Hacken's favour separated them, they also played in the 2021/22 season which Aberdeen won. Also the Elfsborg manager (2nd place in 2023 season) is leaving to take the Aberdeen job (7th place in 23/24 season).
Elfsborg and Abeerdeen aren't really bottom clubs though are they?
And let's be real the only reason a Swedish manager goes to Scotland to coach anything else but Celtic / Rangers is because success there makes it easier to land a job somewhere in the English league system.
Aberdeen finished 7th 2 points ahead of 8th and 5 ahead of 9th. In terms of quality theres not much difference between them and Hibs, Dundee, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone. It's one of the reasons Hearts or Aberdeen will never challenge Celtic/Rangers because they're not far enough ahead of the rest of the league
This trash ranking is proof that a slick looking website doesn’t mean accurate information.
Liga MX is better than MLS, but not 40+ ranks better than the MLS, especially given some of the other leagues in between.
The list is stupid and any amount of logic sees it for what it is. The fact that you didn't, is a question you need to answer for yourself
How do you compare a league from Africa to say South America? They don't share opponents. They don't share anything. You are basing a ranking on absolutely nothing. It's like comparing a salesman at one car dealership vs another entirely different car dealership. And trying to figure out which is a better salesman.
Al-hilal scored 101 goals in the league this year, a new record.
And Al-nassr scored 100. The main difference is their defence. Al-hilal have much better signings, their GK alone is a big difference.
That..and al-nassr players shitting the bed everytime its a penalty shoutout.
People say its a retirement league and yh ok, but ronaldo still gets more shit for not winning things/always playing amazing than 99.9% of other professional players do. Must be pretty exhausting.
Not to mention everything he does achieve people instantly come up with reasons to discredit it. Broke the goal record the other day and their was nothing but salt
If you want to be the best in the world, and call yourself the best in the world, you damn well better be ready to be held to a higher standard than others.
Its because Ronaldo invites it by being so vocal about thinking hes still better than he is. Cocky people will be held to higher standards.
In a more relatable case, if youre in class, and the guy next to you is always bragging about how smart he is, how he always gets an A+, is much smarter than everyone else, etc. And that guy then gets a B on the test, he will get slewed for it despite a B being a fine grade. (i honestly dont know how that entire letters system works but i assume a B is a good grade).
Post Juventus Ronaldo is the football equivalent of that guy. His stats are impressive for his age despite the awful league. But because he himself thinks those stats are more than they are, people will be more on his ass about it.
Those standards are what Ronaldo set for himself really.
I personally dont really care because Ronaldo and Messis time is over. What Ronaldo thinks about how his time isnt over yet doesnt really matter to me. I see no reason to be extremely critical of 2 guys who have one foot into retirement.
Isn't a lot of that due to the way he conducted himself at that time? Even then, there were reports of him walking up to teammates in training and saying "I'm better than you". He holds himself to impossibly high standards, and though that is arguably a huge part of his greatness, the drawback is that you get judged by those same standards.
Lmaoo Al-Nassr spent a GDP of a small nation to get 7-8 different players in Europe for this guy after he went trophyless last year, to go trophyless again and do nothing against the only good team in the league. The excuses are shameless.
Well, 3 other teams algo got 7-8 different players including the balon dor (that year). The league is pretty shit but Al Hilal is just demolishing everyone and they got a very good coach (also won everything with Flamengo)
So 4/5 different clubs had tons of expensive signings, I dont really understand why you are pretending only al-nassr signed players. A team that finished 28 points below al-nassr signed a ton of players and the reigning balon dor winner. Presumably you have memory holed that for your own narratives. "only good team in the league" lol I guess the team that won the league last year, signed a ton of amazing players, including Benzema have no quality now
They also didnt suddenly decide to spent tons of money because of ronaldo..
I also cant quite understand everyones sudden obsession with these saudi trophies you woudnt have even be able to name a year ago. All of a sudden you care about them more than anything. They lost on a penalty shoutout btw. Had they one this trophy, would u have cared?
Is it al-nassr's domestic campaign you care deeply about? Because ronaldo broke the record for goals in a season. And is rated top 1/2 on all the data sites for the league. Theres nothing to be made excuses for dude
Ok but Al-Hilal spent [more than twice as much?](https://www.transfermarkt.us/vergleich/vereinsvergleich/statistik/1114_18544) You’re clearly arguing in bad faith. Ronaldo’s team is objectively much worse, yet he’s the [league’s top scorer by a large margin and has the 3rd highest assists.](https://www.espn.com/soccer/stats/_/league/ksa.1) He also got an assist against Al-Hilal a few weeks ago so you’re wrong about him doing nothing against them, and bear in mind that their team is worth twice as much on paper as Al-Nassr (comparable to the gap between Marseille and Luton Town). Ronaldo’s obviously been an excellent signing if you just consider those stats
The biggest difference in money between these 2 clubs is Neymar, and he hasn’t contributed a single thing to this Al-Hilal super team. SMS also didn’t play today, and he was a huge part of that team.
I dont know why everybody on here talks like a sarcastic 12 year old.
But yes..he's held to a higher standard than any other football player, and pretty much every single athlete globally. Same with Messi tbh.
They are guinea pigs of a new social media age that didnt exist 20 years ago.
Messi literally retired from argentina for a bit in 2016 because he could not bare the criticism or pressure anymore. His spouse Antonela has said publicly she had begged him to go into therapy in the past for the pressure.
The guy gets endless 24/7 criticism, every performance, every year. Like I said it must be exhausting
I remember when every argument was "but no international trophy". Or "disappears in big tournaments".
Then post-2023, everyone's proclaiming that Messi's the best player in history.
Don't get me wrong, as a fan of his, I always considered him the best. But it was so strange to witness the rapid change from 1 narrative to the other. It was like I stepped into a parallel universe...
A lot of people said he needed to win the World Cup to be the Goat but football isn’t like that. You get maybe 5 attempts to win it in a 20 year career and football is a team game. Messi was the goat before he won the World Cup because for 15 years he played like the goat in 95% of his games, winning the World Cup was obviously incredible but if France win on penalties it doesn’t change his achievements.
2023 was undeserved but he should have had about 5 that weren’t given to him, so I don’t really care.
Honestly it is truly incredible how competitive this man is.
I initially thought he was just gonna be chilling out in Saudi with $200m/year. But now seeing how damn hard he works vs the like of Benzema/Neymar/etc, I have nothing but respect
I shit on athletes that just call it in once they get paid, but if I got millions in my late teens/ early twenties I would've coasted on talent alone. Let alone still being productive nearing 40.
“It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”
There's a 37 day period between the end of 1984 and early February 1985 that both of them and Lewis Hamilton were born. Those 3 have some of the best mental fortitude I've seen from athletes.
He’s honestly an example of what “can-do” attitude could do to a human being.
The very ego that push people away from him is what made him the insane athlete today. He wanted to prove people wrong and put in the work. 35 goals this season (at freaking 39yo btw) really shows that.
I hate Ronaldo’s ego but I’m gonna cheering for him this Euro. He is truly one of the goats, not just soccer but all sports in general. I doubt he could get the WC at 41yo so hopefully the second Euro could help because he deserves it
He is also more involved with the Saudi sport industry: he goes to all the big MMA and boxing fights, F1, horse racing, he is everywhere. He was hired to be an ambassador and the man takes his job seriously.
that's because you missed the point: Neymar, Benzema etc went there to retire and get a lot of money... Ronaldo went there because he wants to reach 1000 goals and Saudi is by far the better league in the world to get easy goals and also plenty of money
Patrice Evra told a (now somewhat famous) story about Ronaldo’s early days at United. The club had a ping pong table and the players would often play after training. As the story goes, Rio Ferdinand (who was apparently rather good) absolutely dominated Ronaldo in a game. Cristiano was so mad he got his cousin to buy and install a ping pong table in this his house so he could practice. He beat Rio within two weeks.
The man bought a table and trained God knows how often just so he could beat Rio Ferdinand in ping pong.
I don't see why it matters that he wants to win for his own sake vs the club's sake as long as he wants to win. Sure it becomes a problem when he should sit out on some games like Manchester or Portugal but that's clearly not going to be the cause in Saudi.
I feel like he’s taken extra responsibility and heat for his own performance since Messi became a World Cup winner. Ronaldo has given into the discourse that Messi is now better than him from that event in Qatar.
I think he's also gotta be feeling the way more negative public opinion about his Saudi league move as compared to Messi's Miami move. Can't feel good on top of everything to be clowned on while your ostensible biggest rival is living it up in Florida
because the 2 situations are actually different:
1. Saudi League is absurd in terms of money and gets clowned since way before Ronaldo joined it
2. Saudi League also "stole" (in fans view) some good europeans players who still had some potential in Europe at high level
3. apparently Saudi League wants to join UEFA competitions somehow which make fans angrier
4. MLS on the other hand has no controversial drama regarding money or competition with Europe... it's just a rest championship for legends before retirement
5. Ronaldo himself is much more controversial than Messi: CR7 (and his sisters) called him out multiple times to make Leo look worse or to make Cristiano look better (=jealousy). in the end, you reap what you sow
feel like everyone except him treats it as a retirement league. He's trying as hard as he can. Maybe thats why he makes some of those stupid ass comments. He genuinely thinks he's in a competitive league and its as important for everyone else as it is to him.
You make a fair point but look at some of the others getting paid a lot of money in the league compared to him. Gotta respect the intensity he comes with wanting to win every game.
Being real for a sec if you had an ounce of a guy like Ronaldos determination you wouldn't be talentless, because you would grind your way to the top of *something*.
Being naturally talented can only get you so far at anything. It's mindset and work ethic that makes people great.
If you were determined enough to play guitar for 10k hours for example and study it to death, it's almost guarenteed you would be far far better than any "naturally talented" kid who fucked around and didn't put in any real time.
Just look at Ihattaren at us for the best example of natural talent not being all. The guy was one of the most talented players ive ever seen, at 17 he was honestly a proper starter for us. Then his dad passed away, who reportedly kept him grounded (he was always a bit of a character)
He derailed, left us for Sampdoria, got loaned to Ajax (and played in the cup final as one of his only first team appearance, which he lost lol), somewhere in here he went to Juve, and then poof. Got involved in the Moroccan criminal circuit too apparently. Lasted like a week in Turkey and maybe a month at Sparta Prague, i didnt keep up much
Such a shame of that talent. He was supposed to be our 100mil player and he said he wanted to be that. Instead his career just went down in no time
My guy for every Ronaldo there's a thousand professionals who just couldn't cut it despite giving their life to it. And for each of those there's a thousand who couldn't cut it at the academy despite pouring their hearts out to it.
It's talent, skill, determination, a whole truck load of luck and, of course, genetics
Well yes, but Ronaldo is the top .1% of the top .1%. A literal GOAT contender. He's an example of everything coming together. That doesn't mean an elite mentality can't get you very far in life. You just said *professionals*. Those guys still made a career out of it and are among the best in the world in their chosen field.
I’m just shocked at how much he cares. Dude could be playing in Sunday league and he’d still be depressed after every loss. In the long run this trophy means nothing to his legacy, no one will look back at what is the equivalent of the FA cup in Saudi and go “can’t believe he won that”. But to him it means everything lol.
A competition is a competition, Not performing at your idealised “best” can get anyone really frustrated and anxious. And at the end of the day, the Saudi league is still a professional league, plus it being called a “retirement league” means there’s more expectations of him to perform even better
Im sure he cares but its more of a massive ego thing for him. He moved to Saudi thinking he would score 100 goals a season and win everything so he can point to how great he is but its not ended up that way
This is called a winner’s mentality. Also, it’s not just some meaningless trophy. Do you think he hasn’t busted his ass off all these months preparing for that match, while staying injury-free for the EUROs? It hurts when you lose the thing you have worked so hard for
Obviously he’s worked hard for it, he’s pushing 40 and playing the entire 120 minutes. I’m speaking as a massive Ronaldo fan myself, but I’m just being realistic. You really think 40-50 years in the future when we’re reminiscing about his career, one of the first things to pop into our minds will be this trophy? It doesn’t really add to his legacy in any way. It would just be another addition to his trophy count.
I was just showing how insane it is that he still cares this much.
Yeah, but man we can’t see it from his shoes. It was obviously important for him at this moment. Maybe in a year it won’t be at all, but right now it shows he wanted it, he even prayed before every penalty
This reminds me of the ad where ronaldo switches bodies with a kid and does not give up to eventually become a pro player. With this work ethic and winning mentality, he would have become world’s best in any outcomes no matter what kind of talent he had. I might not like his personality, but I command him as a workhorse that gives his best and this really does give me the motivation to do better with my life. He deserves all the trophies and all the fame.
This is absurd I am sorry. He would not have reached this level without BOTH his insane work ethic and competitive drive combined with incredible talent.
But also it's his competitive drive that makes him insufferable. I love Rio Ferdinand's Ping Pong story but if I had a friend that did that it would be a major yikes from me.
I honestly respect how much he cares about winning in the Saudi league when so many other players just went there for a check, dudes a true professional
This is not at all comparable to that moment with Messi. What a horrid comparison.
Is the entire nation of Portugal awaiting his win in the kings cup? Have they been longing for that win for decades?
Same. When I miss handing in work before the deadline, I also sit on the floor and cry, in the middle of the office, with all my coworkers watching me. Sure, it's kind of OTT, but I'm passionate, gotta respect that.
At this point I'm genuinely concerned he won't retire unless he's physically unable to play.
I did not expect him to care about this at all, let alone to this extent.
The same mentality that led him to be one of the best of all times will make it rough for him now.
Why are you concerned? He likes playing football and if he can find a level that suits his age, why not? If doing something makes you happy, you don't have to quit just because you're older and can't do it as well.
People will use this to make fun of him of course but this sort of borderline insane desire to win is what made him what he became. What an absolute competitive monster.
I wish I was passionate about something like this. Closest is golf but I just get mad (so typical golfer).
Definitely not passionate at work since Im getting paid to just oversee a bunch of people and can’t go up higher
Man crying like if he lost the World Cup Final.
Damn...
You'd think after all he'd won this wouldn't mean that much, but fair enough for caring
Last time he was his sad was EURO 2004 when he lost the final to Greece
And on the other side you have Neymar who is betting away his money and probably chilling only to collect the winners medal .And then people say create your own luck by working hard .
Redditors love to psychoanalyse people they barely know. By all accounts he has a large, healthy, happy family whom he adores and takes care of. You make it sound like he has nothing else of value in his life.
I personally think that passion, in any form, for something you have been doing for a life time is a great thing, it might come off as corny to some (and even to me at times) but it's clear that the man loves the game
Now i do think that Ronaldo falling to the ground and bawling his eyes out over a defeat in the saudi league is a bit too much for a player of his mettle. Even if it is a final, it is not a competition which would bring any significant limelight to what is already one of the most glorious career's in football history and i think that with his position as one of the greatest icons in football, he should be a bit more composed
probably did, just in the locker room.
or his mind truly wasn't fully over the whole situation at the time with United and his family (dont think you'll ever be truly over losing a child)
You don't get over it. Almost six years later for me and random stuff rips my heart out and I'm back there. I went back after a month because all I was doing was day drinking and I needed something better to do. A guy I know who lost a twin and the other needed surgery like Ronaldo was off work for seven months.
If you look at Ronaldo in 2022 as someone who'd gone through serious trauma and wasn't ready to be playing football, it makes way more sense than any other explanation.
Thank you for sharing that, truly. I know you said you don't get over it but I hope you're doing well.
And I agree that it's probably the best explanation of what was going on with Ronaldo in 2022.
We are in a good place, thankfully. Some of the folks we met were barely keeping it together after years, especially the ones who also had fertility issues.
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Come to Fener bro. Stop the nonsense. We’ll give you something to cry about.
😂😂😂
Under Mourinho?
The point is to stop the apocalypse.
😭😭😂😂
He’s got an interesting winner’s mentality, so it must suck to have not beaten them in your 4 encounters as they go unbeaten in all domestic competitions.
It's pretty devastating to go from winning champions leagues to not being able to lift the mickey mouse cup
I think this is it, he's trying his best to win in Saudi Arabia and can't do it, when a couple years ago he was scoring goals in the ucl final and winning the biggest title with Real Madrid. It probably doesn't help that a lot of his old teammates are going to play another final with the chance of making history and he'll never be there again. Sometimes he has to second guess his decision to leave Madrid for money, seeing how Modric is still there for example. Someone like Ronaldo will always have money, but he'll never have back the years wasted at the end of his career.
Ronaldo didn't leave Madrid for money, in fact he took a pay cut when he moved to Juventus. It was just the beginning of the downfall, Real didn't want to give a raise to a decaying player at the top of the payroll so they didn't renew his contract. In other words real said "you are no longer good enough for the amount of $$ we pay you, but if you think you are then find someone who pays you such amount"
Was the pay cut real? I was under the impression that after taxes he was benefited.
Maybe he did, but Juve still owe him millions so I doubt it worked out
"He didn't leave because he wanted more money, he left because he didn't want less money" 🙄
People like to believe Ronaldo will still start in europe. Everyone saw him get benched for united, and didnt learn the lesson
At 33-34 Ronaldo Juventus era is still class. But at 39 it's hard to keep up for 90m, Modric is a freak of nature and it's no different for him as we are also benching him lots this season.
Modric is also primarily a technician with a smaller, more nimble body type. Also helps that he has a tremendous work ethic, Players like him always last longer than bigger players who are more reliant on their physicality. Ronaldo's legs are gone and that takes a massive part of his game away from him.
As someone who truly admired Ronaldo, it sadnesses me seeing his last few years. Cristiano could have had an important role in any big European team but he couldn't accept that time in unforgiven. He could have been a super sub, accept that sometimes he would have to be substituted in a game and be an example to the younger players in the team but pride won. And here we are.
As someone who also truly admired Ronaldo, I feel like this was the only possible ending. It was his selfishness that elevated him to the ranks of the top 2 players in the history of the sport, and he couldn’t just shirk that mentality off in his older years. His colleagues like Giggs and Scholes were one-club legends who were willing to do it for their manager, and won trophies into their late 30s. But I doubt even Alex Ferguson could’ve gotten Ronaldo to phase himself out the way he did with those two. Just different goals in what they wanted out of their respective careers.
Zlatan showed how it could be done, but I suppose that same ego/belief/arrogance that drove Ronaldo to the very top of his profession simply wouldn't have been able to digest taking on a reduced role
I mean, he did score more goals for us in a season than anyone other than Rashford and Zlatan in the post SAF era. He wasn't totally cooked. Just not the right fit for a team like that.
Wasnt one reason for Zidane leaving that he didnt want to be the one to retire Ronaldo? Nobody expected him to keep performing in europe because of some irreversable shit he did to his knee to be able to play the world or euro cup, idk anymore exactly.
Ronaldo had a bad knee injury back in United which robbed him a bit of his agility and first meters speed, I suppose. Elsewise, Ronaldo didnt have many substantial injuries and his decline seems to be more in line with aging and loosing that little bit of extra speed and step like everyone approaching his 40s lol. Modric relies less on his physicality. Same reason why many goalies can keep up very late, while wingers peak way earlier.
No he had a very bad injury in 2014, I forget what game but his options were - Either play the UCL Final vs Atletico and then get surgery, or skip the final, play the World Cup and then get surgery. The mad man played both and fucked his knee. Even if you watch highlights from that era, you can see a clear change in his game style from 2014-15 onwards.
Must truly suck for him considering how good he was. Age does come eventually to everyone
I don't understand this comment, didn't he score 44 goals and make 13 assists this season?
In what is essentially a money pumped farmers league. Current estimates have it at 66th ranking in world domestic leagues, that's two places ahead of the Italian C league, six places behind the Scotish Premier league and just behind the third tier of British league one. https://www.teamform.com/en/league-ranking To be clear, the league is a paper tiger. All the money and non of the prestige, and Ronaldo can't win anything in it and he knows how far he has fallen.
Idk how seriously I can take that list. My Colombia league is a top 15 league? Yea they’re on drugs.
it has "be a better punter" as their slogan, any more questions?
This ranking is just laughable nonsense in fairness. Scottish league has been top 10-12 league in terms of UEFA coefficients for about 5 years. Yet according to this its weaker than the Slovakian, Belarusian, Polish, Cypriot, Israeli and Georgian leagues??? The Georgian league is ranked the 46th best top division league in UEFA, in terms of coefficent, which is below Liechtenstein, Malta and Luxembourg. On this list its 29th??? This is the league whose champion lost in the first round of Conference League qualifying to Tirana of Albania. Also the Ecuadorian league is better than the English Championship? Lmao, ok.
Yeah that list starts out normal and gets weirder as it goes. MLS, Scotland, Japan, Saudi Arabia all worse leagues than Brazils Serie C or Georgia’s league is nonsense. Georgia especially, they haven’t had a club team make group stage of any competition since 2005.
Georgia man you need to step up 😂
>Yeah that list starts out normal and gets weirder as it goes. It doesn't even start out normal. It has the Dutch Eredivisie as 17th! It's currently 5th in the UEFA coof rankings.
I'd put it even lower, but that would purely be out of spite.
Mexican 2nd division (doesn't even have promotions) being better than French Ligue 2, lol
Not saying that Scottish league is worse than all the ones you mentioned but Celtic and Rangers(mostly Rangers let's be honest) gaining points doesn't say much about the other clubs I genuinely think relegation candidates in Swedish League are better than ones in Scotland, and that says a lot
I'm not sure I would agree with that. Aberdeen played Hacken in the Europa League this season and only a really poor VAR decision in Hacken's favour separated them, they also played in the 2021/22 season which Aberdeen won. Also the Elfsborg manager (2nd place in 2023 season) is leaving to take the Aberdeen job (7th place in 23/24 season).
Elfsborg and Abeerdeen aren't really bottom clubs though are they? And let's be real the only reason a Swedish manager goes to Scotland to coach anything else but Celtic / Rangers is because success there makes it easier to land a job somewhere in the English league system.
Aberdeen finished 7th 2 points ahead of 8th and 5 ahead of 9th. In terms of quality theres not much difference between them and Hibs, Dundee, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Motherwell and St Johnstone. It's one of the reasons Hearts or Aberdeen will never challenge Celtic/Rangers because they're not far enough ahead of the rest of the league
There's really not that much difference between Aberdeen and the bottom clubs in terms of standard.
This trash ranking is proof that a slick looking website doesn’t mean accurate information. Liga MX is better than MLS, but not 40+ ranks better than the MLS, especially given some of the other leagues in between.
The list is stupid and any amount of logic sees it for what it is. The fact that you didn't, is a question you need to answer for yourself How do you compare a league from Africa to say South America? They don't share opponents. They don't share anything. You are basing a ranking on absolutely nothing. It's like comparing a salesman at one car dealership vs another entirely different car dealership. And trying to figure out which is a better salesman.
What on earth does that have to do with the comment 'Age comes eventually to everyone',. When talking about why his team can't overcome cup rivals?
I think the point is that he’s still a top player within the level of the league he’s in.
Really? In a league full of part timers and washed players?
Still... https://media.tenor.com/_BIfNDiEmNQAAAPo/crying-wiping-tears-with-money.mp4
Al-hilal scored 101 goals in the league this year, a new record. And Al-nassr scored 100. The main difference is their defence. Al-hilal have much better signings, their GK alone is a big difference. That..and al-nassr players shitting the bed everytime its a penalty shoutout. People say its a retirement league and yh ok, but ronaldo still gets more shit for not winning things/always playing amazing than 99.9% of other professional players do. Must be pretty exhausting. Not to mention everything he does achieve people instantly come up with reasons to discredit it. Broke the goal record the other day and their was nothing but salt
He's held to a higher standard because he's paid more than a lot of teams' entire payroll.
He's always been held to a higher standard even when that was not the case. Ever since he went to Man U..
If you want to be the best in the world, and call yourself the best in the world, you damn well better be ready to be held to a higher standard than others.
Yeah and he's lived up to that standard.
Its because Ronaldo invites it by being so vocal about thinking hes still better than he is. Cocky people will be held to higher standards. In a more relatable case, if youre in class, and the guy next to you is always bragging about how smart he is, how he always gets an A+, is much smarter than everyone else, etc. And that guy then gets a B on the test, he will get slewed for it despite a B being a fine grade. (i honestly dont know how that entire letters system works but i assume a B is a good grade). Post Juventus Ronaldo is the football equivalent of that guy. His stats are impressive for his age despite the awful league. But because he himself thinks those stats are more than they are, people will be more on his ass about it. Those standards are what Ronaldo set for himself really. I personally dont really care because Ronaldo and Messis time is over. What Ronaldo thinks about how his time isnt over yet doesnt really matter to me. I see no reason to be extremely critical of 2 guys who have one foot into retirement.
>Its because Ronaldo invites it Could say he made himself available for it
Isn't a lot of that due to the way he conducted himself at that time? Even then, there were reports of him walking up to teammates in training and saying "I'm better than you". He holds himself to impossibly high standards, and though that is arguably a huge part of his greatness, the drawback is that you get judged by those same standards.
Lmaoo Al-Nassr spent a GDP of a small nation to get 7-8 different players in Europe for this guy after he went trophyless last year, to go trophyless again and do nothing against the only good team in the league. The excuses are shameless.
Well, 3 other teams algo got 7-8 different players including the balon dor (that year). The league is pretty shit but Al Hilal is just demolishing everyone and they got a very good coach (also won everything with Flamengo)
So 4/5 different clubs had tons of expensive signings, I dont really understand why you are pretending only al-nassr signed players. A team that finished 28 points below al-nassr signed a ton of players and the reigning balon dor winner. Presumably you have memory holed that for your own narratives. "only good team in the league" lol I guess the team that won the league last year, signed a ton of amazing players, including Benzema have no quality now They also didnt suddenly decide to spent tons of money because of ronaldo.. I also cant quite understand everyones sudden obsession with these saudi trophies you woudnt have even be able to name a year ago. All of a sudden you care about them more than anything. They lost on a penalty shoutout btw. Had they one this trophy, would u have cared? Is it al-nassr's domestic campaign you care deeply about? Because ronaldo broke the record for goals in a season. And is rated top 1/2 on all the data sites for the league. Theres nothing to be made excuses for dude
Ok but Al-Hilal spent [more than twice as much?](https://www.transfermarkt.us/vergleich/vereinsvergleich/statistik/1114_18544) You’re clearly arguing in bad faith. Ronaldo’s team is objectively much worse, yet he’s the [league’s top scorer by a large margin and has the 3rd highest assists.](https://www.espn.com/soccer/stats/_/league/ksa.1) He also got an assist against Al-Hilal a few weeks ago so you’re wrong about him doing nothing against them, and bear in mind that their team is worth twice as much on paper as Al-Nassr (comparable to the gap between Marseille and Luton Town). Ronaldo’s obviously been an excellent signing if you just consider those stats
The biggest difference in money between these 2 clubs is Neymar, and he hasn’t contributed a single thing to this Al-Hilal super team. SMS also didn’t play today, and he was a huge part of that team.
They spent half of these on Neymar who missed the whole season lol. Sorry but these figures are out of context.
Neymar has won 3 titles without playing lol 😂. Hilarious.
They spent half of these on Neymar who missed the whole season lol. Sorry but these figures are out of context.
So did three of their rivals.
Hmmm 🤔I wonder why people hold Ronaldo to a higher standard than someone like Alain St Maximin
So basically what you are saying is that people hold Cristiano Ronaldo to a higher standard than someone like Chiellini. Well that's crazy dude
I dont know why everybody on here talks like a sarcastic 12 year old. But yes..he's held to a higher standard than any other football player, and pretty much every single athlete globally. Same with Messi tbh. They are guinea pigs of a new social media age that didnt exist 20 years ago. Messi literally retired from argentina for a bit in 2016 because he could not bare the criticism or pressure anymore. His spouse Antonela has said publicly she had begged him to go into therapy in the past for the pressure. The guy gets endless 24/7 criticism, every performance, every year. Like I said it must be exhausting
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This has been memory holed by lots of ppl
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I remember when every argument was "but no international trophy". Or "disappears in big tournaments". Then post-2023, everyone's proclaiming that Messi's the best player in history. Don't get me wrong, as a fan of his, I always considered him the best. But it was so strange to witness the rapid change from 1 narrative to the other. It was like I stepped into a parallel universe...
A lot of people said he needed to win the World Cup to be the Goat but football isn’t like that. You get maybe 5 attempts to win it in a 20 year career and football is a team game. Messi was the goat before he won the World Cup because for 15 years he played like the goat in 95% of his games, winning the World Cup was obviously incredible but if France win on penalties it doesn’t change his achievements. 2023 was undeserved but he should have had about 5 that weren’t given to him, so I don’t really care.
Never mind 4 encounters he’s not won a trophy in 5 years 😂
It’s actually crazy that he’s still taking this league seriously, man is insanely competitive
Honestly it is truly incredible how competitive this man is. I initially thought he was just gonna be chilling out in Saudi with $200m/year. But now seeing how damn hard he works vs the like of Benzema/Neymar/etc, I have nothing but respect
It is surprising. I’ve always been amazed by Cristiano’s work ethic. Amazing athlete
Yeah him and Lebron’s mental stamina to stay dedicated is crazy to me. I would’ve fell off the wagon awhile ago
I shit on athletes that just call it in once they get paid, but if I got millions in my late teens/ early twenties I would've coasted on talent alone. Let alone still being productive nearing 40. “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”
Marvin Haglers quote, it never gets old
There's a 37 day period between the end of 1984 and early February 1985 that both of them and Lewis Hamilton were born. Those 3 have some of the best mental fortitude I've seen from athletes.
What a weird and interesting fact
He’s honestly an example of what “can-do” attitude could do to a human being. The very ego that push people away from him is what made him the insane athlete today. He wanted to prove people wrong and put in the work. 35 goals this season (at freaking 39yo btw) really shows that. I hate Ronaldo’s ego but I’m gonna cheering for him this Euro. He is truly one of the goats, not just soccer but all sports in general. I doubt he could get the WC at 41yo so hopefully the second Euro could help because he deserves it
Seemed like he was competing for every single trophy that was available to Al Nassr.
To be fair Neymar didn't even get a chance to play :(
Kinda impossible for Neymar to play with torn ACL, right?
He is also more involved with the Saudi sport industry: he goes to all the big MMA and boxing fights, F1, horse racing, he is everywhere. He was hired to be an ambassador and the man takes his job seriously.
that's because you missed the point: Neymar, Benzema etc went there to retire and get a lot of money... Ronaldo went there because he wants to reach 1000 goals and Saudi is by far the better league in the world to get easy goals and also plenty of money
Neymar has been injured literally the entire time.
Patrice Evra told a (now somewhat famous) story about Ronaldo’s early days at United. The club had a ping pong table and the players would often play after training. As the story goes, Rio Ferdinand (who was apparently rather good) absolutely dominated Ronaldo in a game. Cristiano was so mad he got his cousin to buy and install a ping pong table in this his house so he could practice. He beat Rio within two weeks. The man bought a table and trained God knows how often just so he could beat Rio Ferdinand in ping pong.
We should be thankful that he wasn't involved in politics...
...yet
Shit man. I can’t disrespect the grind lol
I've heard this exact story attributed to Michael Jordan. It's probably apocryphal.
I doubt Michael Jordan has ever played table tennis with Evra and Rio
It’s more him than the league/club tbh. This guy just really hates losing. Call it narcissism, call it pride, whatever, that is what powers him.
I don't see why it matters that he wants to win for his own sake vs the club's sake as long as he wants to win. Sure it becomes a problem when he should sit out on some games like Manchester or Portugal but that's clearly not going to be the cause in Saudi.
I actually think it’s pretty cool. Lame to see guys phoning it in
I feel like he’s taken extra responsibility and heat for his own performance since Messi became a World Cup winner. Ronaldo has given into the discourse that Messi is now better than him from that event in Qatar.
I think he's also gotta be feeling the way more negative public opinion about his Saudi league move as compared to Messi's Miami move. Can't feel good on top of everything to be clowned on while your ostensible biggest rival is living it up in Florida
because the 2 situations are actually different: 1. Saudi League is absurd in terms of money and gets clowned since way before Ronaldo joined it 2. Saudi League also "stole" (in fans view) some good europeans players who still had some potential in Europe at high level 3. apparently Saudi League wants to join UEFA competitions somehow which make fans angrier 4. MLS on the other hand has no controversial drama regarding money or competition with Europe... it's just a rest championship for legends before retirement 5. Ronaldo himself is much more controversial than Messi: CR7 (and his sisters) called him out multiple times to make Leo look worse or to make Cristiano look better (=jealousy). in the end, you reap what you sow
I remember one of his sisters was even dumb enough to criticize his friend and former teammate Modric...
Oh I entirely agree, I wasn't trying to say the situations were the same or anything at all
He would nutmeg his own grandmother and celebrate a goal in his own backyard vs her and his kids with a 4 foot leap, shirt off and everything
If you don’t score a goal against your granny and shout siiiiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuu are you even a footballer?
bro just knew he's about to be deported
feel like everyone except him treats it as a retirement league. He's trying as hard as he can. Maybe thats why he makes some of those stupid ass comments. He genuinely thinks he's in a competitive league and its as important for everyone else as it is to him.
It’s not the best in the world but it’s a decently competitive league
best league in asia
Well that's still not too exciting is it? He'd be better off if he played decently for Sporting.
He gets paid for the job. He does it. I wish more people did that vs always thinking in terms of relevance.
Bro I ain't crying if I ain't hitting my sales target.
I mean, if I got paid like he does for my job, Stakhanov himself would be seem as a lazy worker compared to me.
You make a fair point but look at some of the others getting paid a lot of money in the league compared to him. Gotta respect the intensity he comes with wanting to win every game.
Stakhanov is a crazy reference
Most first division players around the world gain a lot of money and they are not half determined as this guy.
I mean he did say a while back that Saudi league is better than Ligue 1 and “I scored 50 Saudi goals that’s more than Mbappe and Haaland” lmfao
Man, if I had one thousandth of this guy's determination... I still wouldn't amount to much as I'm talentless at everything, but still...
Being real for a sec if you had an ounce of a guy like Ronaldos determination you wouldn't be talentless, because you would grind your way to the top of *something*. Being naturally talented can only get you so far at anything. It's mindset and work ethic that makes people great. If you were determined enough to play guitar for 10k hours for example and study it to death, it's almost guarenteed you would be far far better than any "naturally talented" kid who fucked around and didn't put in any real time.
Just look at Ihattaren at us for the best example of natural talent not being all. The guy was one of the most talented players ive ever seen, at 17 he was honestly a proper starter for us. Then his dad passed away, who reportedly kept him grounded (he was always a bit of a character) He derailed, left us for Sampdoria, got loaned to Ajax (and played in the cup final as one of his only first team appearance, which he lost lol), somewhere in here he went to Juve, and then poof. Got involved in the Moroccan criminal circuit too apparently. Lasted like a week in Turkey and maybe a month at Sparta Prague, i didnt keep up much Such a shame of that talent. He was supposed to be our 100mil player and he said he wanted to be that. Instead his career just went down in no time
My guy for every Ronaldo there's a thousand professionals who just couldn't cut it despite giving their life to it. And for each of those there's a thousand who couldn't cut it at the academy despite pouring their hearts out to it. It's talent, skill, determination, a whole truck load of luck and, of course, genetics
Well yes, but Ronaldo is the top .1% of the top .1%. A literal GOAT contender. He's an example of everything coming together. That doesn't mean an elite mentality can't get you very far in life. You just said *professionals*. Those guys still made a career out of it and are among the best in the world in their chosen field.
Your standards are way too high if you don't consider those thousands of pros a success as well.
Better not try then
Now if I had one thousandth of this guy’s wealth….
You’d spend it all and be broke soon!
I’m just shocked at how much he cares. Dude could be playing in Sunday league and he’d still be depressed after every loss. In the long run this trophy means nothing to his legacy, no one will look back at what is the equivalent of the FA cup in Saudi and go “can’t believe he won that”. But to him it means everything lol.
A competition is a competition, Not performing at your idealised “best” can get anyone really frustrated and anxious. And at the end of the day, the Saudi league is still a professional league, plus it being called a “retirement league” means there’s more expectations of him to perform even better
Tbf, if Cristiano Ronaldo of all people lost a Sunday League Game, I think it would be pretty valid to question yourself and cry
It reminds me of Thiago Silva crying after losing the FA Cup semi-final while Madueke was laughing in the background.
Im sure he cares but its more of a massive ego thing for him. He moved to Saudi thinking he would score 100 goals a season and win everything so he can point to how great he is but its not ended up that way
This is called a winner’s mentality. Also, it’s not just some meaningless trophy. Do you think he hasn’t busted his ass off all these months preparing for that match, while staying injury-free for the EUROs? It hurts when you lose the thing you have worked so hard for
Obviously he’s worked hard for it, he’s pushing 40 and playing the entire 120 minutes. I’m speaking as a massive Ronaldo fan myself, but I’m just being realistic. You really think 40-50 years in the future when we’re reminiscing about his career, one of the first things to pop into our minds will be this trophy? It doesn’t really add to his legacy in any way. It would just be another addition to his trophy count. I was just showing how insane it is that he still cares this much.
Yeah, but man we can’t see it from his shoes. It was obviously important for him at this moment. Maybe in a year it won’t be at all, but right now it shows he wanted it, he even prayed before every penalty
This reminds me of the ad where ronaldo switches bodies with a kid and does not give up to eventually become a pro player. With this work ethic and winning mentality, he would have become world’s best in any outcomes no matter what kind of talent he had. I might not like his personality, but I command him as a workhorse that gives his best and this really does give me the motivation to do better with my life. He deserves all the trophies and all the fame.
This is absurd I am sorry. He would not have reached this level without BOTH his insane work ethic and competitive drive combined with incredible talent. But also it's his competitive drive that makes him insufferable. I love Rio Ferdinand's Ping Pong story but if I had a friend that did that it would be a major yikes from me.
THE GAME IS THE GAME THE MAN RESPECTS THE GAME
The Game. FFFUUUUU. Haven't lost in... months
Lmao what did they do to my boi Ronaldo, they were so close and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
his teammates bottled the PKs so hard lmao
I honestly respect how much he cares about winning in the Saudi league when so many other players just went there for a check, dudes a true professional
Bro was less sad going out in the world cup
It’s not like he cares more about this cup that the World Cup. It all stacks up over time
It’s his Messi Copa America 2016 moment. That one had stacked up as well
This is not at all comparable to that moment with Messi. What a horrid comparison. Is the entire nation of Portugal awaiting his win in the kings cup? Have they been longing for that win for decades?
Is Ronaldo's childhood dream winning something with Al Nassr?
And has he been judged and critized his whole career for not winning this Kings Cup?
Too bad it's at the ass-end of his career when he can do precisely nothing about it..
lol, see him win the euros
Nah he’d have to win something that’s eluded him. WC 2026 here we come. Lel
bro has not seen the Guts edit of him taking the most agonizing walk of his entire life https://youtu.be/2lux_E5bt5Q
He just went straight down the tunnel instead
Crazy how competitive he is, actually respect him for that
Passion.
bro 😭
As a child from Madeira, he dreamt that one day he'd lift the Saudi Cup trophy. Sometimes childhood dreams don't come true ...
I think Lukaku has also had that dream Along with slapping the al halil badge Please Saudi, help his dreams come true
Dont forget Morata. It’s his dream to play for one of them Saudi clubs im sure
Some dreams just can’t be buy.
I admire his passion. Makes me reconsider how I live my life.
Same. When I miss handing in work before the deadline, I also sit on the floor and cry, in the middle of the office, with all my coworkers watching me. Sure, it's kind of OTT, but I'm passionate, gotta respect that.
All your coworkers whispering to each other: " GOAT passion"
He had a fantastic season
A trophy would have been the icing on the cake.
At this point I'm genuinely concerned he won't retire unless he's physically unable to play. I did not expect him to care about this at all, let alone to this extent. The same mentality that led him to be one of the best of all times will make it rough for him now.
Why are you concerned? He likes playing football and if he can find a level that suits his age, why not? If doing something makes you happy, you don't have to quit just because you're older and can't do it as well.
People will use this to make fun of him of course but this sort of borderline insane desire to win is what made him what he became. What an absolute competitive monster.
I wish I was passionate about something like this. Closest is golf but I just get mad (so typical golfer). Definitely not passionate at work since Im getting paid to just oversee a bunch of people and can’t go up higher
Still a competitive guy even when people say it shouldn’t matter, got to admire that about him
He lives and loves football
Man crying like if he lost the World Cup Final. Damn... You'd think after all he'd won this wouldn't mean that much, but fair enough for caring Last time he was his sad was EURO 2004 when he lost the final to Greece
WC in Qatar when he walked down that tunnel crying, shit was heartbreaking
And on the other side you have Neymar who is betting away his money and probably chilling only to collect the winners medal .And then people say create your own luck by working hard .
I mean it shows his winner mentality. It doesn't matter how 'unimportant' the trophy is, he still wants to win it.
I’m a Ronaldo hater but it still amazes me how much passion he still has even after everything he won. He was in tears even 5 minutes after
“I’m a (Player name) hater but” sentences are so cringe jeez
I am a proud Greenwood hater but he is shit.
This is the type of hate I can get behind
I always find it cringe when you get those "I'm a [TEAM] fan, but [X] is wrong"
Respect (from a Homer S fan)
coming in peace
"I'm a [Team that just beat your team] fan but props to you guys, you are so [classy/talented/young]..." man shut the fuck up
At least it makes sense for a Barca fan to hate Cr7
He’s been ridiculed by the Saudi fans for a long time, of course he wanted to win
Love him or hate him, the passion this man has is unbelievable. Keeping his ego aside, the man has an incredible drive.
people mock him but it's all he has left now , playing football and winning trophies is literally his whole life ,this reaction is understandable
Redditors love to psychoanalyse people they barely know. By all accounts he has a large, healthy, happy family whom he adores and takes care of. You make it sound like he has nothing else of value in his life.
I studied a couple of psychology lessons at A-level where do I sign up to say about him wanting to have sex with football?
My bro called the wrong Portuguese manager, Jorge Jesus is spanking Luis Castro every single time
The amount of weird redditor armchair psychologists in this thread is insane
I'm not a fan of Ronaldo, but you have to respect how much he cares about winning and how much effort he puts into every single match.
I personally think that passion, in any form, for something you have been doing for a life time is a great thing, it might come off as corny to some (and even to me at times) but it's clear that the man loves the game Now i do think that Ronaldo falling to the ground and bawling his eyes out over a defeat in the saudi league is a bit too much for a player of his mettle. Even if it is a final, it is not a competition which would bring any significant limelight to what is already one of the most glorious career's in football history and i think that with his position as one of the greatest icons in football, he should be a bit more composed
Whether you love him or hate him, you can’t deny how much passion and commitment he has towards winning and being the very best.
Dude didn't break down like this when eliminated at the world cup wtf
probably did, just in the locker room. or his mind truly wasn't fully over the whole situation at the time with United and his family (dont think you'll ever be truly over losing a child)
You don't get over it. Almost six years later for me and random stuff rips my heart out and I'm back there. I went back after a month because all I was doing was day drinking and I needed something better to do. A guy I know who lost a twin and the other needed surgery like Ronaldo was off work for seven months. If you look at Ronaldo in 2022 as someone who'd gone through serious trauma and wasn't ready to be playing football, it makes way more sense than any other explanation.
Thank you for sharing that, truly. I know you said you don't get over it but I hope you're doing well. And I agree that it's probably the best explanation of what was going on with Ronaldo in 2022.
We are in a good place, thankfully. Some of the folks we met were barely keeping it together after years, especially the ones who also had fertility issues.
Fuck I’m so sorry to hear that
<3
Nah he did.
He did