- May 17, 2005
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I think that's debatable.
Not being one to really care if I fly in the face of public opinion, I hold the very unpopular opinion that the quality of footballers (sportsmen in general) has declined considerably over the last few years. I have some theories as to why but that is for another thread. But ultimately one of the key reasons why Messi, Ronaldo and hopefully Kane for some years to come!, have such amazing record breaking stats is because of this as much as their own brilliance.
To an extent it has always happened but we live in an era of hyperbole. I blame TV saturation but now average players are regarded as good, good players as world class etc. I look at Argentina and I see Dybala and Higuaín (another with great stats) and I simply do not see what the fuss is about. Decent players? Sure. Great players? Not even close. Going off on a tangent I think the same about Pogba. Never saw why he was being hyped to high heavens before Utd bought him back and I have seen nothing since they bought him back to suggest he is anywhere near world class.
As for Ronaldo vs Messi, it has been done to death. My personal view is that a peak Messi was a level above a peak Ronaldo as a footballer. But Ronaldo is a supreme athlete and as such it makes sense to me that he will be able to sustain a high level of quality longer than Messi. But a couple of games sample isn't really proof of anything. Ronaldo had a shocking game in the Champion's League final and people said he was finished. Now he is being spoken about as the GOAT after two World Cup games where he has scored more goals than all his previous World Cup games combined. Now people are saying Messi is a spent force, despite spearheading a comparatively weak Barcelona team to La Liga. As I said, hyperbole......
TLDR