Life After Ronaldo and Messi

I think it's time to start getting worried, boys. I look around and I see nobody talented enough to take up the torch from those two. Maybe they have set the bar too high and maybe they are simply an anomaly that we were simply and incredibly lucky to witness. But once you get a little bit spoiled, it's really hard to go back to where you were.

Now granted, the competition will be more entertaining and closer between the other BdO contenders once those two retire and their duopoly breaks. But as football fans, we'll lose the most fierce rivalry in the last decade and two of the best players the game has ever seen.

The game will certainly survive their departure, but I think most of us will keep looking back to the times when those two roamed the earth and made the ground crumble under their feet. We'll keep having other talented players, but I'm almost certain none of them will be able to make Ronaldo's numbers or Messi's magic. And in a way, that makes me a little bit sad.

On the contrary I can't wait.

Sick of fanboy crap that comes with them and they have dominated the CL between the two of them.

Less focus on two superstars on more focus on the teams is good for the sport imo.

What makes me a little bit sad is the Ronaldo and Messi, because it's not Ronaldo and Messi. It's just the image created by the press around Ronaldo's imaginary skills just to have a rival for Messi, whereas, he's not even close to Lionel Messi. This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

The ridiculous fanboyism honestly made this rivalry of sorts absolutely annoying but I try to separate the two elements as to appreciate the fact that both players are absolutely wonderful.

Life after both would be the same mostly: me logging on to GL to get my daily dose of banter.

Valkyrja wrote:This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

Probably the worst post you ever made with respect to Ronaldo. Absolute madness and you have written some proper opinionated stuff before.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:On the contrary I can't wait.

Sick of fanboy crap that comes with them and they have dominated the CL between the two of them.

Less focus on two superstars on more focus on the teams is good for the sport imo.

Exactly this.

Doc wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

Probably the worst post you ever made with respect to Ronaldo. Absolute madness and you have written some proper opinionated stuff before.

Please enjoy the best football player in the world putting in a masterclass in the biggest game of the season.

Stuff of legends

What followed was even better.

And this is why I really would have no issue with life after Ronaldo and Messi so I can mentally block out this foolish act of ridiculous nitpicking to justify an already ridiculous opinion. Thanks Valk for reminding me of why I hate whenever someone brings up those two in the same sentence. Totally appreciate it.

Doc wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

Probably the worst post you ever made with respect to Ronaldo. Absolute madness and you have written some proper opinionated stuff before.

I agree, I'll never consider Ronaldo better than Messi no matter how many trophies he wins but he's clearly being overly ridiculous with that post.

Fakenaldo is a football fake, it's been time after real Cronaldo already about 4 years. I read the sentence he was put together with the football hero who remains unparalleled, again, and skipped the rest. Just wanted to say that. But maybe it's just that, there's only fake football and media ruled football in the future? I wonder who will be the next fake player to make money for media?

Ronaldo will never be close to Messi in terms of footballing skills and abilities, basically no one will probably ever. But Ronaldo's stats and his strengths are also unbelievably good.

I've long expected they would decline eventually as they age and prepared for the eventuality, hence enjoy all the time I get watching them today. Ronaldo has shifted his game and is still so effective, but at the top level no sure how long it will continue. Hes clever in the business sense though so Im pretty sure he could move to a lower league and continue to be a star, perhaps like Beckham in the MSL. Messi probably is someone who loves football more purely and will play as long as he can I think, so I can see him still continue playing a fair more few years at Barca, and then his Argentine club to finish when he does decline.

Have to say I‘ll miss the rivalry between them when they decide to quit, the way they pushed each other is unbelievable. Don‘t think we will see such a long and consistent rivalry in our lifetime again.

I'd miss watching them and forever appreciate their talents, but in some respects I feel they're not good for the competition aspect of the sport. It's almost unfair to have these guys in a team who can win games on their own no matter how bad their respective teams are doing.

I also think the end of their era will help us contextualise performances better. The standard Messi and Ronaldo have set in terms of goalscoring has been ridiculous yet at the same time it has made some forget that a striker who scores "only" 20-30 goals in a season has actually had an excellent season and anyone who can do that season after season is a top class performer. But we can never truly appreciate how good those players are because they're always going to be a level below Messi or Ronaldo.

That's true, a good ratio for a striker before this era used to be 1 in 2.

Despite how good they both are, I think people tend to really exaggerate and romanticise their importance. Barcelona have dominated European football, only when they had some of the absolutely best players in the world at or near the peak of their careers, and the same goes for Real Madrid. I don't know how well these teams would have performed if Messi and CR7 had been replaced with other star players, but I personally don't think they'd be struggling. People praise both to no end when they're decisive in the Champions League, but easily forget when their team mates are forced to compensate for their poor workrate or lack of interest. They've provided entertainment value with their dribbling, flashy skill moves and redundant amounts of goals against the fodder clubs of La Liga, but as long as both teams have some of the best players in the world, I think they will be just fine without their commercial mammoths. It's no secret that Real Madrid have an ageing set of core players, and I think Barcelona's current XI is below the standard we've come to expect from them, but both clubs have the finances and influence to attract the best of the best, and so I'm sure they'll both be fine in the future - as they were when they replaced their top players in the past.

I mean they have one 9 CLs combined and it will probably be closer to 15 by the time they retire.

What other two players have dominated the CL like that? Can't think of any of the top of my head.

It will be a little weird to shift from "who is the best in the world, Messi or Ronaldo?" debate amongst the fans and media to "who is the best in the world from these half a dozen candidates, none of which are as good as Messi or Ronaldo were."

I don't think I'll miss either of them, they've been around long enough, but after those two have dominated the best player in the world talk for 10 years and counting, it is going to feel strange when new names are needed in that discussion.

Valkyrja wrote:What makes me a little bit sad is the Ronaldo and Messi, because it's not Ronaldo and Messi. It's just the image created by the press around Ronaldo's imaginary skills just to have a rival for Messi, whereas, he's not even close to Lionel Messi. This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

Arguably one of the worst posts I have ever seen in my life.

I can't wait either... football has gotten very boring recently. Needs fresh challenges and faces.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:That's true, a good ratio for a striker before this era used to be 1 in 2.

.67 was elite and anything over .50 was very good.

Valkyrja wrote:What makes me a little bit sad is the Ronaldo and Messi, because it's not Ronaldo and Messi. It's just the image created by the press around Ronaldo's imaginary skills just to have a rival for Messi, whereas, he's not even close to Lionel Messi. This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

Great post which is rare in gl. Here's Cronaldo's fall after 14-15 in numbers.



Funny thing is that he's reaped all Fake d'Or's after his team mates started doing his work.

Valkyrja wrote:What makes me a little bit sad is the Ronaldo and Messi, because it's not Ronaldo and Messi. It's just the image created by the press around Ronaldo's imaginary skills just to have a rival for Messi, whereas, he's not even close to Lionel Messi. This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

How times have changed. Valk has done a heel turn on Ronaldo!

How anyone can watch Ronaldo AT THIS PRESENT MOMENT IN TIME and call him the 'best in the world' is embarrassing. Inzaghi with great marketing.

He is subpar outside of the box when he can't get a tap in or get off shots.

The start if the season he had a 0.025 shot conversion at some point (a goal every 40 shots) and was the main reason Madrid flopped in La Liga when he kept missing sitter after sitter. Last season when they won LalIga it wasn't because of Ronaldo, it was mostly because the whole team contributed last minute goals and CR was injured for a lot of the first half irrc. HE simply cannot carry you in a league campaign when all he does is tap ins.

I keep hearing the same nonsense. O he has pace! What pace? He got oupaced by Juanfran ffs and in the final couldn't even outpace Lovren! He has power! Shooting power maybe, but he falls to the ground like he's been shot every time he gets into it with a defender. Now he doesn't even have the skill to even dive properly

He only turned up this season in 2 months. Did Zilch in semis, did Zilch in finals. Madrid has carried this guy in the last 4 seasons.

How people can watch Neymar and Ronaldo ans conclude ROnaldo is better says more about the observer than the two footballers. That cl final is one of the worst I've ever seen from a top player. He was arguably Madrid worst player as well. Then he had the audacity to be mad at Bale going for a hattrick when this clown used to take almost 9 shots a game every *bleep* season!

That's only 2 cl finals he's played well in.

United 08 (Still missed a pen) and Madrid 2017 (2 tap ins)

WOAT in Madrid 2018
Didn't even realise he was playing in 2016
Did zilch then scored a pen after game was won then stole headlines (2014)

but but he detroyed Bayern last year Give me a break, MArcelo was MAdrid's best player last year. Ronaldo scored 2 offside goals ffs.

He scored a Bicycle kick against Juve  yea after like 700 attempts he has finally scored 2 in his career.


Ultimately what it boils down to is what does CR do when he doesn't score? Give me a match he has put in a motm performance when he hasn't scored and do the same for Messi...

jibers wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:What makes me a little bit sad is the Ronaldo and Messi, because it's not Ronaldo and Messi. It's just the image created by the press around Ronaldo's imaginary skills just to have a rival for Messi, whereas, he's not even close to Lionel Messi. This guy instead of blackmailing Perez and Co in giving him a new contract should kiss their feet because it's only because the exposure he gained as a Madrid player that put him on the same imaginary pedestrial with one of the GOATs. Had he stayed at United he would have been irrelevant for a few years now because his football skills are utterly average when you watch a football game from head to tail. And the worst part is that his individual success occured at the expense of his teammates who are superior football talents.

How times have changed. Valk has done a heel turn on Ronaldo!

How anyone can watch Ronaldo AT THIS PRESENT MOMENT IN TIME and call him the 'best in the world' is embarrassing. Inzaghi with great marketing.

He is subpar outside of the box when he can't get a tap in or get off shots.

The start if the season he had a 0.025 shot conversion at some point (a goal every 40 shots) and was the main reason Madrid flopped in La Liga when he kept missing sitter after sitter. Last season when they won LalIga it wasn't because of Ronaldo, it was mostly because the whole team contributed last minute goals and CR was injured for a lot of the first half irrc. HE simply cannot carry you in a league campaign when all he does is tap ins.

I keep hearing the same nonsense. O he has pace! What pace? He got oupaced by Juanfran ffs and in the final coulnd't even outpace Lovren! He has power! Shooting power maybe, but he falls to the ground like he's been shot every time he gets into it with a defender. Now he doesn't even have the skill to even dive properly :Lol:

He only turned up this season in 2 months. Did Zilch in semis, did Zilch in finals. Madrid has carried this guy in the last 4 seasons.

How people can watch Neymar and Ronaldo ans conclude ROnaldo is better says more about the observer than the two footballers. That cl final is one of the worst I've ever seen from a top player. He was arguably Madrid worst player as well. Then he had the audacity to be mad at Bale going for a hattrick when this clown used to take almost 9 shots a game every *bleep* season!

That's only 2 cl finals he's played well in.

United 08 (Still missed a pen) and Madrid 2017 (2 tap ins)

WOAT in Madrid 2018
Didn't even realise he was playing in 2016
Did zilch then scored a pen after game was won then stole headlines (2014)

but but he detroyed Bayern last year
He scored a Bicycle kick against Juve  yea after like 700 attempts he has finally scored 2 in his career.

Give me a break, MArcelo was MAdrid's best player last year. Ronaldo scored 2 offside goals ffs.

Ultimately what it bois down to is what does CR do when he doesn't score? Give me a macth he has been motm when he hasn't scored and do the same for Messi...

He destroyed Bayern last season

I can't believe the media went with that headline after Marcelo put out one of the best box to box performances I've ever seen in my lifetime

What's baffling is that he won 4 Balons during a period he became a much worse player then he was in prime. In the meantime, Messi kept adding value to his game season by season. But a past his prime Ronaldo is carrying Madrid to CL title after CL title , thing he couldn't do in his absolute prime and winning BDors. Nobody cares that until Modric came in he didn't do shit in CL and was like 20 goals behind Messi

sportsczy wrote:

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:That's true, a good ratio for a striker before this era used to be 1 in 2.

.67 was elite and anything over .50 was very good.

But that's not really down to Ronaldo/Messi, is it?. Several elite strikers today are well above that ratio. Kane (last 2 years), Aubameyang, Lewandowski, Suarez are well above 0.7 or even 0.8 and that's just from the top of my head.

they will be forgotten in 10 years, just like no young fans know who the *bleep* Ronaldinho, Zidane, R9, Henry, Del Piero, Nedved, Edgard Davids, etc.  are, unless researching/watching their old youtube videos.

We only remember things fondly, that happened in our own timeframe.

In 10 years, new guys will make these 2 obsolete, and old fans of Messi and CR7 will decline and decline. It's the cycle of life.