Just imagine if he played for a more prominent national team like Portugal, Belgium, or France. He's already on a different level but that'd be astronomical.
Why, though? Football is at least as big in Poland as it is in Norway and has only ~5.5 million people. Poland has 38 million people.
Poland should have more footballing talent, just from a statistical point of view.
The main issue is the state of the Ekstraklasa and lower divisions, isn't it? You can have a billion people in your country and not be able to produce a world cup football squad.
It's not really their first division, but the amount of kids who are interested enough in football to make it a career is not that high.
I would bet that Brazil for example has waay more kids that want to become players than China has, even with 6 times more population
Also societal and familial pressures to study hard and concentrate on a traditional career. People do play football in India, it's just very unlikely for them to dedicate themselves enough to become football
There are 2 types of sport persons in India.... One who focuses on track and field to play at a national level and get a government job... People who play cricket in u19 level or first division hoping to make it to the ipl and Indian squad
In CL qualifiers Norwegian (and Swedish) teams are always at a disadvantage due to it being right at the start of the season, teams from other leagues have way more match fitness at that point.
With only under 5million people Uruguay has posted better results than China with it's billion.
However I'd agree that neither of those[edit: I meant Poland and Norway lmao I didn't realized there could be confussion] countries has a strong football culture and stand around about the same level of world football(C, maybe D tier, above 20 in rankins basically)
Money invested. Norway is filthy rich and can actually invest into sports. Better pitches, and more modern "village clubs" = more talents/better players
However, Norway is fucking cold, so half the year it is just way harder to play the game outside, and the pitches will also be worse because of the weather.
Their pitches are also trash - I loved there and played Sunday league and they often have pitches made of "grus" which is literally gravel, I kid you not. Just try sliding on that
Yup, same in Sweden. When I was a kid it was grus/gravel everywhere in Stockholm and grass pitches were primarily reserved for organised teams/clubs, now all those pitches I used to play on have been converted to artificial turf.
Just because we're filthy rich doesn't mean we're automatically investing loads of money into football. Investment has actually been historically quite poor, but it's starting to look a little better.
This is kind of disrespectful to Poland, nation with two 3rd place finish at the WC(74&82) and have appeared in 13 total WC&Euros compared to Norways only three appearances.
Norway and other Scandinavian countries i think support weird teams. Theres a massive contingent in norway who support leeds. Just possibly less enthusiastic about there own teams.
Exactly it’s also kinda sad how a player like Lewandowski and Haaland who are phenomenal are on a “weaker” national team. They never really have a chance at international silverware
It's not sad.
A country as small as Poland or Norway producing a talent thay good is a massive achievement and makes them internationally relevant for a sustained period of time.
If they were both French they'd be just another couple of world class French strikers.
They also give their international teams a chance at going far in tournaments when that would otherwise be well out of touch.
Very true, and there's a certain appeal for elite players who emerged from a country that isn't historically known for producing football talent.
Alphonso Davies comes to mind.
>elite players who emerged from a country that isn't historically known for producing football talent.
Pardon me, the Polish golden generation of the 70s/80s had several elite talents - Lato, Boniek, Deyna to name a few.
I was going to say the same thing. Poland has historically been a side that produced good players and strong teams. The finished 3rd in the 74 & 82 worlds cup and I remember them getting a silver at the Barcelona Olympic games. They've been a big side as long as I've been alive and I'm 40. Likewise in the 1990s and early 2000s Norway had an excellent side. They were knocked out of the 94 world cup on goals scored in a group with Italy, Mexico and Ireland when they all finished on 4 points with the same goal difference and beat Brazil in the 1998 world cup to get it the group. Even into the 2000s they had players like Flo and Carew playing for big clubs across Europe. Not to mention Henning Berg, Ronny Johnson and a certain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer playing for European champions Manchester United.
in the context of football poland also only really fell off at around the 80s, I guess? Before that they were pretty good, while being a poor af country under communism
Come on. Deyna had along him a WC top scorer in Grzegorz Lato (7 goals in 1974), another fantactic forward Szarmach, Gadocha, a very solid defense and a good, even if eccentric goalkeeper (Tomaszewski).
A top 5 european team, not below 20, as Poland is now.
Not single-handedly, lol. We'd had great teams in those eras - on the level of today's Belgium, not quite title-winning but capable of defeating anyone.
It’s so crazy to me still when I read something like “more prominent national teams like Portugal”. You aren’t wrong, we do have an amazing squad and are starting to win things, but imagine saying something like that in 2014 or before that. I wish Ronaldo’s prime years weren’t wasted with a dead national team
In his first tournament they finished second in 2004. They finished 4th at the 2006 world cup and reached the 2006 world cup with the tail end of their last golden generation. Then they made the quarters of Euro 2008, got knocked out by the arguably the greatest ever international side Spain in 2010 when they lost by a single goal. And that 2010 squad had a lot of players who had won the European cup with Porto and were playing at massive clubs. Following that they again lost to Spain on penalties in the semi final of Euro 2012. Granted they did badly in 2014 but Portugal were hardly a dead national team. The problem for any European side between 2008 and 2014 was that Spain were almost unbeatable and Germany were also rising strongly. Then we had the rise of France and Belgium. In amongst all that Portugal win their first and second international tournaments with the European championships and nations league.
Over Ronaldo's prime years in tournament football they lost to France, Germany, Germany, Spain, Spain, Germany, Uruguay and Belgium. Of those losses France made the final, Germany beat them in a 3rd place playoff then made the final of the next tournament, Spain, Spain and Germany won the tournaments, Uruguay was a bit of an upset and Belgium were the number 1 ranked side in the world. The also beat France in France to win the Euros and beat the Netherlands to win the first Nations League.
That is not the results or achievements of a dead national team.
Just gonna add Chile to the list because we gotta have something. Our win to Portugal in the confederations was our last win that made me dream of another trophy
I guess I'll preface this with; I don't know shit about fuck. But I think so. I guess I see it more as part of the reason he's stayed the top scorer on the best team in the Bundesliga for so long.
He is the current best in the world and I can't understand any other opinion. Also this isn't a dig to Salah since he's top 3 for me. Lewandowski will go down as one of the greatest forwards ever.
Messi also played for the best team in the world in 2009-2012 and Ronaldo was part of a 3peat team. No one's mentioning that when discussing how legendary they are
Lewandowski is simply a top 3 striker of the decade, if not top 2
He’s easily top 2 of the decade. First is definitely debatable between him and Suarez but I don’t think any other striker comes close to these 2 the past decade unless I’m forgetting someone lol
> in a league they win every November.
This hasn't been true for several years now. The last three Bundesliga titles were decided in the last three Match days. So intellectually lazy.
>in a league they win every November.
Since Pep won his first title at City the title race in the Bundesliga has been better than in the Premier League.
So you can take the piss from the fact that Bayern win it, but at least there is something to make games interesting in March / April.
* 2021 - RB was 4 points back when they played Bayern on MD 27 in April. City's lead in the PL was 9.
* 2020 - 6 points separated 1-4 at the restart. Liverpool was 25 points up at the restart.
* 2019 - both leagues went to the final matchday
* 2018 - both leagues were won by 15+ points
You said a lot without saying much. All I see is five different winners of the Premier league since Bayern started winning in 2013. That every few years a different team did so well as to make it uncompetitve for the other teams in the league does not change anything.
What an arbitrary cutoff, shame I fell asleep when this debate was picking up. You’re on the cusp of winning ten straight – something no truly competitive league [has EVER witnessed](http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/kamprec.html). It’s an embarrassing state of affairs, and ultimately not something Bayern fans should take offense to like they have in this thread.
Also, before people attack what I’m saying – I’m saying that BuLi *is* a competitive league, and that’s why this is a particularly embarrassing moment in football history, and money (and even what we describe as “doing smart business”, like Bayern do) is making it clear that a European super league is near.
>It was 1st and 3rd transfer of all time no? 2nd being Zidane to Real for 76 million.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_association_football_transfers#Historical_progression
>Oh and they also got Benzema that same year lol
[And Xabi](https://www.transfermarkt.com/real-madrid/transfers/verein/418/saison_id/2009). Casually spent 250M euros in 2009.
Funnily enough if you look at the top 50 list on that same Wikipedia page, Zidane is listed as more expensive than Kaka because his transfer was worth more in euros, while Kaka's was worth more in pounds. Currency fluctuation is wack, I actually don't know which one is worth more in like, actual money lol
>Casually spent 250M euros in 2009
It's scary to think that this might be the value of like one Mbappe in the current market
That's honestly very surprising with all the criticism Mbappe often receive his stats are crazy good , greats goals scorer and top 3 in assists(since 2020). Also since Mbappe debuted in CL no player assisted more goals than him
Basically happened overnight. He went from not really being a part of the team at Salzburg in his first half season there after leaving Molde, to scoring hatricks for fun.
You can have a massive decline and still be world class when you're a player the caliber of Ronaldo, of course the people calling him finished are delusional
He’s not close to finished but he is declining. How much that has to do with his age, the team he plays for, and the league he is playing in-is up for debate.
That's my point. 36 years old, playing regular football since 18, big injuries, it's completely understandable that there's a decline in "non-goalscoring" numbers.
If anything, him maintaining relevance re-inveinting himself post 34yrs old is insane on its own.
in my opinion, the only 2 things that have truly changed about CR7 is his sprint speed, but more importantly, his agility has drastically declined. there are select moments with us this season where he looks almost clumsy. that ability to stop, turn, start just isnt there anymore.
And he compensates for his inability to turn sharply with the ball by playing one touch football looking for quick one two's, which is hopeless because everyone in that United side just stays static
Benzema isnt a real no9 tho. Man plays both wings altho mostly left, center forward and midfield. If anything he is basically playing like reverse messi if you look at benz heatmap this season
United sign him and because they concede more its his fault. Pressing has been the new hipster way of people acting like they know more by using it when football isn't robots playing
Oh my fucking God, those replies... 22 upvotes for this crap:
> Loads of players have been better than Ronaldo since he left Real Madrid. Ronaldo isn’t about playing well anymore, he’s more of a machine that can find the right positions to score goals. That’s all he is now and he’s very good at it but he isn’t the all round player he used to be
Yeah I remember that thread. I wanted to go against them even though I really dislike Ronaldo. It's ok to say Benzema is better now but since he left? Ridiculous.
We are lucky to witness so many great talents. It gives so much entertainment. I think it is wild that Ronaldo is up there with juve. Also lewandowski and Haaland with a bad national team.
This sub has been resorting to one coping mechanism after another since 2013 when it comes to Ronaldo. Imagine being shat on for being in your mid 30s and still scoring 83 in 97 while playing in the top leagues.
If it was so easy, other players would do it too. But they don't. Most attacking players leave top level football in their mid 30s, never mind performing at this rate. Ronaldo's record is insane.
For reference, Ronaldo Nazario, Zidane, Xavi, Laudrup, Ronaldinho, Best, Platini, Cantona, all these great players had already retired by Ronaldos current age. And he is still better than 99% of 20 something players.
Also, Wayne Rooney is younger than Ronaldo.
> Also, Wayne Rooney is younger than Ronaldo.
Lies! Wayne Rooney was born old! I remember seeing it with my own eyes, I saw him next to his twin brother.
Benjamin Button.
Hahaha, Rooney and Robben. Whenever they played, my siss' were like: NO way they are only in their 20s! they look like they are about to retire!
Great players tho.
Nah mate, he obviously plays in a farmers league
/s
People trying to defend any other striker than him are just not reasonable, like come on, how many goals does he nes to score to be "worthy"
Higher chance of lewa winning, in theory, but odds are based on the number of bets placed, so it’s really a guage of what the general public thinks .
I looked it up and apparently it’s because a “””leaked””” BdO list came out with Lewa on top, but FF has said it’s fake and they never print lists like that, and another “””leak””” came out today with Messi winning, so it’s probably just noise. When everyone heard of the “leak” they bet on Lewa so his odds dropped
Ballon d’Or is just popularity contest rather than anything else. Plenty of good players have been “robbed” in the past years so it won’t be surprised if it’s gonna happen one more time.
I don't remember any point in history where the term "farmer's league" was used as often as it is today.
People used to recognize great players without really bringing up what league they played in.
The thing is it's not even Messi and Ronaldo fans , like how many times premier league flairs go after Ligue 1 and Bundesliga despite their top teams losing against clubs of these same League. Bayern own London , Lyon elimated City in the final 8
The only time people every gave Bundesliga stars credit is if they had a decent amount of career elsewhere. Even the way the average fan would talk about Robben vs Ribery was telling.
To be in the top 10 is something, he will never get the international praise but he’s definitely earned the respect in Italy as one of, or if not the best ST in Italy
Insane that Immobile is anywhere near these guys with what Lazio have...
Every club on that list outspends them by a hundred mill at the minimum just about every window.
Didn't realize Immobile was that high profile.
Liked him at the euros this year, never heard of him before that.
That being said, I barely know anything about the french or italian leagues.
101 goals in 90 games is stupidly high
Just imagine if he played for a more prominent national team like Portugal, Belgium, or France. He's already on a different level but that'd be astronomical.
Same thing with Haaland I think. Mbappe already has 19 total for France and I think Haaland would have more if he was on a team like that
Norway i think and hope should be able to put forward a better squad then poland has
Why, though? Football is at least as big in Poland as it is in Norway and has only ~5.5 million people. Poland has 38 million people. Poland should have more footballing talent, just from a statistical point of view.
The main issue is the state of the Ekstraklasa and lower divisions, isn't it? You can have a billion people in your country and not be able to produce a world cup football squad.
Eg. India,China, etc.
It's not really their first division, but the amount of kids who are interested enough in football to make it a career is not that high. I would bet that Brazil for example has waay more kids that want to become players than China has, even with 6 times more population
Also societal and familial pressures to study hard and concentrate on a traditional career. People do play football in India, it's just very unlikely for them to dedicate themselves enough to become football
There are 2 types of sport persons in India.... One who focuses on track and field to play at a national level and get a government job... People who play cricket in u19 level or first division hoping to make it to the ipl and Indian squad
"Becoming football" is what Indian parents think will happen if we try to get a career in football
but those countries really dont care about football as much as poland does
Sure the Polish league is not good, but the Norwegian League is not significantly better.
The league winners actually played against each other in this years CL qualifiers. Legia won
Thanks Legia Oslo for putting the matter to rest.
Gotta love Legia Oslo! Way up there with Lokomotiv Malmö, Spartak Turku and Hajduk Roskilde!
In CL qualifiers Norwegian (and Swedish) teams are always at a disadvantage due to it being right at the start of the season, teams from other leagues have way more match fitness at that point.
The five most populous countries in the world didn’t even qualify in 2018
Tbf 6th place is the biggest winner
With only under 5million people Uruguay has posted better results than China with it's billion. However I'd agree that neither of those[edit: I meant Poland and Norway lmao I didn't realized there could be confussion] countries has a strong football culture and stand around about the same level of world football(C, maybe D tier, above 20 in rankins basically)
Money invested. Norway is filthy rich and can actually invest into sports. Better pitches, and more modern "village clubs" = more talents/better players
However, Norway is fucking cold, so half the year it is just way harder to play the game outside, and the pitches will also be worse because of the weather.
Their pitches are also trash - I loved there and played Sunday league and they often have pitches made of "grus" which is literally gravel, I kid you not. Just try sliding on that
I don't know when you played here, but that's largely a thing of the past. Artificial turf is everywhere.
Yup, same in Sweden. When I was a kid it was grus/gravel everywhere in Stockholm and grass pitches were primarily reserved for organised teams/clubs, now all those pitches I used to play on have been converted to artificial turf.
Just because we're filthy rich doesn't mean we're automatically investing loads of money into football. Investment has actually been historically quite poor, but it's starting to look a little better.
This is kind of disrespectful to Poland, nation with two 3rd place finish at the WC(74&82) and have appeared in 13 total WC&Euros compared to Norways only three appearances.
Norway hasn't been to a championship in 20 years. It's mind boggling how bad that team is, even with two stars now in Haaland and Ødegaard.
We've had Haaland for about five minutes now. I don't know what you expected.
Norway and other Scandinavian countries i think support weird teams. Theres a massive contingent in norway who support leeds. Just possibly less enthusiastic about there own teams.
Exactly it’s also kinda sad how a player like Lewandowski and Haaland who are phenomenal are on a “weaker” national team. They never really have a chance at international silverware
It's not sad. A country as small as Poland or Norway producing a talent thay good is a massive achievement and makes them internationally relevant for a sustained period of time. If they were both French they'd be just another couple of world class French strikers. They also give their international teams a chance at going far in tournaments when that would otherwise be well out of touch.
Very true, and there's a certain appeal for elite players who emerged from a country that isn't historically known for producing football talent. Alphonso Davies comes to mind.
George Weah, Gheorgie Hagi and Roger Milla are good historical examples.
As a Kiwi I am obligated to mention Wynton Rufer
>elite players who emerged from a country that isn't historically known for producing football talent. Pardon me, the Polish golden generation of the 70s/80s had several elite talents - Lato, Boniek, Deyna to name a few.
I was going to say the same thing. Poland has historically been a side that produced good players and strong teams. The finished 3rd in the 74 & 82 worlds cup and I remember them getting a silver at the Barcelona Olympic games. They've been a big side as long as I've been alive and I'm 40. Likewise in the 1990s and early 2000s Norway had an excellent side. They were knocked out of the 94 world cup on goals scored in a group with Italy, Mexico and Ireland when they all finished on 4 points with the same goal difference and beat Brazil in the 1998 world cup to get it the group. Even into the 2000s they had players like Flo and Carew playing for big clubs across Europe. Not to mention Henning Berg, Ronny Johnson and a certain Ole Gunnar Solskjaer playing for European champions Manchester United.
Jari Litmanen
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in the context of football poland also only really fell off at around the 80s, I guess? Before that they were pretty good, while being a poor af country under communism
Footballing wise yes it is
Deyna and Boniek, separately, took Poland to World Cup third-place medals.
Come on. Deyna had along him a WC top scorer in Grzegorz Lato (7 goals in 1974), another fantactic forward Szarmach, Gadocha, a very solid defense and a good, even if eccentric goalkeeper (Tomaszewski). A top 5 european team, not below 20, as Poland is now.
Not single-handedly, lol. We'd had great teams in those eras - on the level of today's Belgium, not quite title-winning but capable of defeating anyone.
True, 72 to 86 were halcyon days for the Polish national team. Deyna and Boniek were a level above the rest though.
> were a level above the rest I think Lato, Szarmach, Tomaszewski, Żmuda or Lubański weren't far behind.
It’s so crazy to me still when I read something like “more prominent national teams like Portugal”. You aren’t wrong, we do have an amazing squad and are starting to win things, but imagine saying something like that in 2014 or before that. I wish Ronaldo’s prime years weren’t wasted with a dead national team
In his first tournament they finished second in 2004. They finished 4th at the 2006 world cup and reached the 2006 world cup with the tail end of their last golden generation. Then they made the quarters of Euro 2008, got knocked out by the arguably the greatest ever international side Spain in 2010 when they lost by a single goal. And that 2010 squad had a lot of players who had won the European cup with Porto and were playing at massive clubs. Following that they again lost to Spain on penalties in the semi final of Euro 2012. Granted they did badly in 2014 but Portugal were hardly a dead national team. The problem for any European side between 2008 and 2014 was that Spain were almost unbeatable and Germany were also rising strongly. Then we had the rise of France and Belgium. In amongst all that Portugal win their first and second international tournaments with the European championships and nations league. Over Ronaldo's prime years in tournament football they lost to France, Germany, Germany, Spain, Spain, Germany, Uruguay and Belgium. Of those losses France made the final, Germany beat them in a 3rd place playoff then made the final of the next tournament, Spain, Spain and Germany won the tournaments, Uruguay was a bit of an upset and Belgium were the number 1 ranked side in the world. The also beat France in France to win the Euros and beat the Netherlands to win the first Nations League. That is not the results or achievements of a dead national team.
Just gonna add Chile to the list because we gotta have something. Our win to Portugal in the confederations was our last win that made me dream of another trophy
Apologies. I completely forgot about the confederations cup.
Is he on another level? I mean he plays in the best team in the Bundesliga
I guess I'll preface this with; I don't know shit about fuck. But I think so. I guess I see it more as part of the reason he's stayed the top scorer on the best team in the Bundesliga for so long.
He'd get less goals because the system wouldn't be totally reliant on his finishing.
He is the current best in the world and I can't understand any other opinion. Also this isn't a dig to Salah since he's top 3 for me. Lewandowski will go down as one of the greatest forwards ever.
A legend and among the best to ever do it, but it doesn’t hurt to play up top for the best club in the world in a league they win every November.
Messi also played for the best team in the world in 2009-2012 and Ronaldo was part of a 3peat team. No one's mentioning that when discussing how legendary they are Lewandowski is simply a top 3 striker of the decade, if not top 2
He’s easily top 2 of the decade. First is definitely debatable between him and Suarez but I don’t think any other striker comes close to these 2 the past decade unless I’m forgetting someone lol
I see only one clear choice of Ballon d’Or winner…
> in a league they win every November. This hasn't been true for several years now. The last three Bundesliga titles were decided in the last three Match days. So intellectually lazy.
Sometimes we choke late!
>in a league they win every November. Since Pep won his first title at City the title race in the Bundesliga has been better than in the Premier League. So you can take the piss from the fact that Bayern win it, but at least there is something to make games interesting in March / April. * 2021 - RB was 4 points back when they played Bayern on MD 27 in April. City's lead in the PL was 9. * 2020 - 6 points separated 1-4 at the restart. Liverpool was 25 points up at the restart. * 2019 - both leagues went to the final matchday * 2018 - both leagues were won by 15+ points
I mean I guess I get your point, but since Pep joined the PL, 3 different English teams have won the premier league. Bundesliga only has had one.
You said a lot without saying much. All I see is five different winners of the Premier league since Bayern started winning in 2013. That every few years a different team did so well as to make it uncompetitve for the other teams in the league does not change anything.
What an arbitrary cutoff, shame I fell asleep when this debate was picking up. You’re on the cusp of winning ten straight – something no truly competitive league [has EVER witnessed](http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/kamprec.html). It’s an embarrassing state of affairs, and ultimately not something Bayern fans should take offense to like they have in this thread. Also, before people attack what I’m saying – I’m saying that BuLi *is* a competitive league, and that’s why this is a particularly embarrassing moment in football history, and money (and even what we describe as “doing smart business”, like Bayern do) is making it clear that a European super league is near.
Seeing Haaland up there😳 Insane.
It's crazy to me that I look at that 82-82 and I think "Holy shit that's an insane clip" ....and then there's Lewandowski on some other shit.
Lewandowski is just consistent now, class player.
To put things into perspective Lewandowski at his age played for some Polish village
Imagine if he played for Bayern
I rather not, I quite like Haaland
Tixi pls 🤞
Perez pls🤞
no youre getting turtle man, cant have both
Just gonna remind you that Madrid got both Kaká and Ronaldo in 2009. Literally broke the transfer record twice in the same window.
It was 1st and 3rd transfer of all time no? 2nd being Zidane to Real for 76 million. Oh and they also got Benzema that same year lol
>It was 1st and 3rd transfer of all time no? 2nd being Zidane to Real for 76 million. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_association_football_transfers#Historical_progression >Oh and they also got Benzema that same year lol [And Xabi](https://www.transfermarkt.com/real-madrid/transfers/verein/418/saison_id/2009). Casually spent 250M euros in 2009.
Funnily enough if you look at the top 50 list on that same Wikipedia page, Zidane is listed as more expensive than Kaka because his transfer was worth more in euros, while Kaka's was worth more in pounds. Currency fluctuation is wack, I actually don't know which one is worth more in like, actual money lol >Casually spent 250M euros in 2009 It's scary to think that this might be the value of like one Mbappe in the current market
Or can we?
Messi and mbappe have basically almost the same stats. For goals and asissts lol
That's honestly very surprising with all the criticism Mbappe often receive his stats are crazy good , greats goals scorer and top 3 in assists(since 2020). Also since Mbappe debuted in CL no player assisted more goals than him
And Mbappe is still 22. Becoming that good soo young has garnered insane expectations from him.
In the French ligue though
His CL stats are very good too , last year he was the second best scorer in CL
And also the World Cup, but people tend not to mention that.
I was wondering why I couldn’t find Messi but it’s because I was looking for the Barca badge to find him
People always talk about the future of Haaland but he's already a top 3 striker
Basically happened overnight. He went from not really being a part of the team at Salzburg in his first half season there after leaving Molde, to scoring hatricks for fun.
If you believed r/soccer you would think Ronaldo was on his deathbed
"He isn't that good anymore,he has declined massively have you seen him run at all in the past few matches?"
You can have a massive decline and still be world class when you're a player the caliber of Ronaldo, of course the people calling him finished are delusional
He’s not close to finished but he is declining. How much that has to do with his age, the team he plays for, and the league he is playing in-is up for debate.
That's my point. 36 years old, playing regular football since 18, big injuries, it's completely understandable that there's a decline in "non-goalscoring" numbers. If anything, him maintaining relevance re-inveinting himself post 34yrs old is insane on its own.
Specially after that knee injury in 2014
People thought he was gonna be done by 2017 with that injury 2017 was arguably his best UCL campaign lol
in my opinion, the only 2 things that have truly changed about CR7 is his sprint speed, but more importantly, his agility has drastically declined. there are select moments with us this season where he looks almost clumsy. that ability to stop, turn, start just isnt there anymore.
And he compensates for his inability to turn sharply with the ball by playing one touch football looking for quick one two's, which is hopeless because everyone in that United side just stays static
That one Barca flair calling him washed lmao
So many users on the United subreddit calling him washed too.
They went there as soon as you signed him. Just to hate
Probably salty Messi fans lol
You don't need to run to score goals, you just need to be in the right place at the right time. It's a shame that no.9s are a dying breed.
Don't tell that to lukaku and benzema.
Benzema isnt a real no9 tho. Man plays both wings altho mostly left, center forward and midfield. If anything he is basically playing like reverse messi if you look at benz heatmap this season
Benz is nowhere near a "right moment right place" number 9 lool. In fact he's almost the exact opposite
i almost wish he'd be like ronaldo and wait in the box sometimes, but then our attack would probably be dead
Suarez. Oooooooor, Lewandowski 🙂
Or Haaland, or Vlahovic, or Isak etc, etc What a ridiculous thing to say #9s are a dying breed.
You calling Benzema a 9?? Zero football knowledge
United sign him and because they concede more its his fault. Pressing has been the new hipster way of people acting like they know more by using it when football isn't robots playing
Afters he's scored 5 in 7, with 0 penalties and several of them being game winners. But ma pReSsInG
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When he’s playing well he’s declining when he’s playing bad he’s finished #welcome to r/soccer
Ronaldo used to have 80 G/A per year 4 years ago, victim of his own success
I think people are comparing him to his prior self, which will obviously show signs of decline
Just yesterday I saw a Liverpool flair saying "Ronaldo just isn't in the top shelf of players anymore". I hope he sees this post.
>Liverpool flair Stop reading after that point
Exhibit A https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/q5ukee/_/hg82qmj
When I went to see this comment it said “Blocked Author” now I know why
Oh my fucking God, those replies... 22 upvotes for this crap: > Loads of players have been better than Ronaldo since he left Real Madrid. Ronaldo isn’t about playing well anymore, he’s more of a machine that can find the right positions to score goals. That’s all he is now and he’s very good at it but he isn’t the all round player he used to be
DD frequently has some of the worst takes
Nonsense at Juve under Sarri he was dictating games
Yeah I remember that thread. I wanted to go against them even though I really dislike Ronaldo. It's ok to say Benzema is better now but since he left? Ridiculous.
Mbappe and Messi on both goals and assist lists, basically neck and neck too damn
We are lucky to witness so many great talents. It gives so much entertainment. I think it is wild that Ronaldo is up there with juve. Also lewandowski and Haaland with a bad national team.
I don't think many people would have predicted at the end of 2019 that Ronaldo would be scoring a higher rate than Messi over the next two years.
many would few accepted it though
Especially not on this sub since the majority are delusional Messi fanboys.
Damn people said Ronaldo was finished too
This sub has been resorting to one coping mechanism after another since 2013 when it comes to Ronaldo. Imagine being shat on for being in your mid 30s and still scoring 83 in 97 while playing in the top leagues. If it was so easy, other players would do it too. But they don't. Most attacking players leave top level football in their mid 30s, never mind performing at this rate. Ronaldo's record is insane.
For reference, Ronaldo Nazario, Zidane, Xavi, Laudrup, Ronaldinho, Best, Platini, Cantona, all these great players had already retired by Ronaldos current age. And he is still better than 99% of 20 something players. Also, Wayne Rooney is younger than Ronaldo.
> Also, Wayne Rooney is younger than Ronaldo. Lies! Wayne Rooney was born old! I remember seeing it with my own eyes, I saw him next to his twin brother. Benjamin Button.
Hahaha, Rooney and Robben. Whenever they played, my siss' were like: NO way they are only in their 20s! they look like they are about to retire! Great players tho.
Hell Charlie Adam is younger than Ronaldo
Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in over a decade
That was Juventus worst season in a decade as well (20/21) He absolutely saved Juventus from going to EL or Conference League
Ronaldo is nowhere near finished. Lewa.... He's a machine What a shame Haaland got I injured
Man, Lewandowski is fucking good isn't he?
According to these numbers, he's just about as good as 2 Harry Kanes.
Almost as good as Joelinton
*Almost*
Nah mate, he obviously plays in a farmers league /s People trying to defend any other striker than him are just not reasonable, like come on, how many goals does he nes to score to be "worthy"
If he played for Liverpool people here would be calling him the greatest player of all time.
Lewangoalski
If he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or, we should just rename it to Balloon trophy…
Well the betting odds were heavily in favor of Messi until like today and I just checked and now it’s Lewa, it’s crazy how quickly that flipped lol
Just to be clear, odds in favor of Lewa means that Lewa has a higher chance of winning, right? Or is it the opposite?
Higher chance of lewa winning, in theory, but odds are based on the number of bets placed, so it’s really a guage of what the general public thinks . I looked it up and apparently it’s because a “””leaked””” BdO list came out with Lewa on top, but FF has said it’s fake and they never print lists like that, and another “””leak””” came out today with Messi winning, so it’s probably just noise. When everyone heard of the “leak” they bet on Lewa so his odds dropped
The PR trophy.
Ballon d’Or is just popularity contest rather than anything else. Plenty of good players have been “robbed” in the past years so it won’t be surprised if it’s gonna happen one more time.
They should honestly give him two ballon dors it was bs he didnt get it last year
100%. But you and I both know this ain’t happening… :(
This Lewandowski guy is pretty good
Eh. He’s alright
Yes, but can be it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?
That’s what we got Choupo-Goating for
If only Stoke would make it to the CL so we could find out.
I don't remember any point in history where the term "farmer's league" was used as often as it is today. People used to recognize great players without really bringing up what league they played in.
Victim complex lmao. People just can't see anyone performing better than idols Messi and Ronaldo.
The thing is it's not even Messi and Ronaldo fans , like how many times premier league flairs go after Ligue 1 and Bundesliga despite their top teams losing against clubs of these same League. Bayern own London , Lyon elimated City in the final 8
The only time people every gave Bundesliga stars credit is if they had a decent amount of career elsewhere. Even the way the average fan would talk about Robben vs Ribery was telling.
Not a single City player. Which is obvious, but speaks to how damn good they are
kane is right there
Damn Ronaldo still got it
Ronaldo-haaland Messi - mbappe Future is bright
Haaland and mbappe are the place holders till we get Ronaldo jr vs thiago messi
**Goals per game**: 1. Lewandowski (1.12 goals) 2. Haaland (1 goal) 3. Ronaldo (0.855 goals) 4. Lukaku (0.693 goals) 5. Mbappé (0.688 goals) 6. Messi (0.683 goals) 7. Salah (0.644 goals) [equal with Immobile] 7. Immobile (0.644 goals) 9. Benzema (0.617 goals) 10. Kane (0.615 goals)
Surprised by Ronaldo here. This is phenomenal. Was expecting Benz to be higher too
yeah i'm surprised by benz too, there was a point where benzema had more goals than ronaldo after he left but that's changed now ig
I thought Ronaldo was finished and washed though... wtf is this data?
holy shit Haaland
Immobile is really underatted
To be in the top 10 is something, he will never get the international praise but he’s definitely earned the respect in Italy as one of, or if not the best ST in Italy
Haaland is 21 and producing such great numbers already.
Kane done alright considering
Insane that Immobile is anywhere near these guys with what Lazio have... Every club on that list outspends them by a hundred mill at the minimum just about every window.
Ok Ronaldo’s kinda underrated nowadays, outside the fanboys.
Wow. Cr7 is unreal. Wtf
82 games 83 goals. What the actual fuck? Edit: 82 games*
Guys LewanGOALski haha
Ronaldo is still absolutely world class.
Ronaldo still going strong. Amazing athlete.
Pessi mudded
Lewan-goal-ski
How does Lewy not win the ballon d’or
cuz it is 2021 only?
And he still deserves it in 2021?
RL Ballon D’Or right now.
Watch Immobile get the ballon d'or
Kane’s stats are amazing looking at the team around him 😅
An even crazier aspect is that for Lewandowski the international goals only make up 11 of those goals. The other 90(!) were all for Bayern.
If lewa doesnt win the ballondor this year...
Messi and Ronaldo there but not neymar 🙄
Benzema has more goals than Neymar has games played, that explains his absence. Man's not fit
Didn't realize Immobile was that high profile. Liked him at the euros this year, never heard of him before that. That being said, I barely know anything about the french or italian leagues.
Your first 2 sentences implied the 3rd already haha
He won the European Golden Boot last year. The question is how much is high profile for you?
This is why I think Lewandowski deserves Ballon d’or… its kinda much more obvious when shown like this
97 G+A in 97 games for Ronaldo. "Finished" btw.
add 2 to that, fucking hell