discreditting cristiano or messi cause they worked their ass off.
omg
EOD CR7 and Messi have done more and for longer periods of time at high levels. Coulda, woulda, shoulda doesn't matter.
And this coming from someone who respects both ronaldo and ronaldinho at their peaks. But drive to keep going matters.
Nonsense. There's a reason that Messi is CONSTANTLY compared with Maradonna....the same Maradonna who was wildly inconsistent. The same Maradonna who let himself go a la R9/10
As I said earlier, to me (and I concede that it's my opinion but it's a strong opinion i hold) greatness is defined by what you did and at what level you did it. Maradonna tore up the entire England team....Messi tore up Zaragoza. After tearing up basically the World, Maradonna could let himself go and do whatever the fuck he wanted...and retired a LEGEND......
Messi and CR7 still bust their ass to score their hattricks vs the Almeria's and Levante's of this world and it's these games that give them their statistical notoriety. Do you honestly think a post World Cup Maradonna or Ronaldo gave a fuck about busting his ass to get another goal in a won match vs some shit team in their league? So the motivation and effort cannot and shouldn't be discounted. To neglect it's role would be foolish.
The thing is, there's a whole lot more small/shit sides to play and it's all well and good that they're very consistent against these.....doesn't mean that they're better than the legends of old. Actually this situation is a microcosm of Ibrahimovic's problem. He's AMAZING vs the lesser teams but often struggles vs the bigger ones/on the bigger stages. The only difference is that Messi and CR7 are better at facing the big teams.
Again....Ibra's career is actually going to end up with him being more consistent than Ronaldo....does that mean he was better?
1. You will make worlds worst parent with this logic
2. How did he do the same? I don't see him scoring near the amounts they did. Champions league performances they have for a freaking near decade. League performances messi and cr7 did for a near decade. It's cool 'on his day' ronaldo could be better. It's way more important how often 'that day is'. On his day pirlo completely outperformed zidane in the world cup finals. Is he the better player?
I know luiz ronaldo specifically had a lot of circumstances related to injury. And that sucks. But it's also reality. Proper training can keep you healthy. Or less likely to get hurt. Sometimes even that doesn't do it. Injuries happen. Longevity is a talent tho. Having desire to work your ass off and keep your body as right as you physically and mentally can.
"Longevity is a talent"?




Are you kidding me?
Some players are simply
built for longevity and some aren't. That's all there is to it. Nesta and Maldini were both consummate professionals. But Maldini's body held out at the top (or thereabouts) longer than Nesta. Does it mean Nesta didn't train right or take care of himself? No it doesn't. That fuckin Van Basten...couldn't make it to his 30's and so on.
Granted, there are always things that one can do to prolong his career at the top level but genetics plays a major major role.
End of discussion.
Ronaldo doesn't have a ton of CL goals because he didn't play a ton of CL games. It's really that simple. His scoring averages are great in any competition for any team in any league. I thought this was

but I guess I was wrong.
It's also sad that the Messi/CR supporters for GOAT don't get how incredibly inflated their stats are. I mean, they are all fantastic /generational talents....but these guys have such a massive support net ....it's ridiculous!
Messi
-plays where he wants when he wants
-takes Barca's penalties
-has been playing with world class players since he was a child
-has been developed (and drugged) by Barcelona since age 12/13
-Augmented by almost an entire team of all-stars for his whole career
-faces shitty defenses for the majority of his games
CR7
-plays where he wants when he wants
-has an assist slave in Benzema, who does all the dirty work
-takes all penalties AND free kicks
-keeps getting world class midfielders and fellow wingers supporting him
-Also augmented by an entire team of all-stars for his Madrid career
-faces the same shit defenses that Messi does.
when you take this and add this to the ungodly advantages Barca AND Real get from their revenuse to the ridiculous amount of penalties they get is it really that far-fetched to at least consider that all these record breaking statistics may not be solely down to the players' greatness?