I feel like alot of noobs try to look up Ronaldinho and Zidanes stats and then argue that they werent that good. They dont realize that in the 2000s teams would have like 60 goals a season with like 70 something points to win leagues. Back then games were more defensive because a win used to be 2 points in the early 90s, and teams were slowly adjusting out of the mindset that draws and wins arent that distinguishable. In the 2010s the top teams were scoring 80-100 goals and getting 90 points in the league. Even in serie a the second place teams were getting 80+ goals. I definetly could see a young Ronaldinho lighting it up in the modern era, or a young Zidane doing even better than he was.
Original Ronaldo’s numbers would’ve been in the hemisphere. That man was a beast. If he played a bit later or had not been so unfortunate to suffer the horrendous injury that he did. He’d be in goat conversation
Same situation with Shearer.
Horrible injury that forced him to change his playstyle, and yet he was still insanely effective.
That’s not to mention that most of his career was with Newcastle, where it was only a competitive team for like 4 years of that time, with the rest being a middling prem side. His physicality and knack for finding the perfect position, his pace pre-injury, and being one of the best strikers of a ball in history would stand out even now when physical strikers aren’t as prominent.
To have the numbers he had during that time, with the injuries he had, and not playing for a top team for the vast majority of it (a couple seasons with Newcastle, and 1 with Blackburn), I can’t imagine how much more he’d have scored if he had accepted an offer from a more competitive side and hadn’t had that injury, AND was playing in the modern era with better tactics and sports science knowledge to protect players.