Arsenal YouTuber Lee Gunner blasted Cristiano Ronaldo, calling the Portugal superstar a stat padder and claiming that he wouldn't even make his top 50 players from the past 20 years.
Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the greatest to ever graced the game, alongside Lionel Messi over the past two decades. The 38-year-old has found success in every league he's played in, including the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A.
The Portuguese ace has scored a total of 844 goals and provided 236 assists in 1174 appearances across all competitions for club and country, winning five Ballon d'Or awards in the process. He is also the highest goalscorer of all time.
He has also won a total of 35 major trophies in his career, having recently won the Arab Club Champions Cup with Al-Nassr.
While most football fans would rank Cristiano Ronaldo in their top three players from the past 20 years, Lee Gunner had other ideas. The Arsenal fan made an appearance on an episode of The Football Terrace alongside Terry Flewers.
When the latter asked where he would rank Ronaldo out of all the attacking players from the last 20 years, Lee Gunner replied:
“Ronaldo isn’t in my top 10 players [of the last 20 years] list mate, let’s not go there. I’ve said this before, he’s not even in my top 50 of all time. Are you forgetting how old I am? I’ve seen proper footballers and Ronaldo turned into just a stat padder."
He added:
“Good luck to him, well done. When he was at Manchester United, I think it was 2008/09, he was fantastic. Then he went to Real Madrid and he was good for a year, or two years. Then he went nah, I wanna catch Messi. Neymar is a better footballer than Ronaldo all day long.”
His rant can be viewed below:
Ronaldo currently plays for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr. He has scored 20 goals and provided two assists in 25 appearances, showing that he hasn't lost his touch despite being in the twilight years of his career.
Russia international believes Cristiano Ronaldo should be starting every game for Portugal
Russia international Artem Dzyuba recently blasted the Portugal national team for their treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The 38-year-old made his debut for Portugal at the age of 18 back in 2003. Since then, he has made 200 appearances for his country, scoring 123 goals. He was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the sport's most-capped player of all time.
However, Ronaldo didn't have the best of impacts during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He started all three group-stage games but only found the back of the net once. Former manager Fernando Santos decided to omit him from the starting XI for Goncalo Ramos in the Round of 16 against Switzerland.
Ramos scored a hat-trick during Portugal's win, resulting in Ronaldo being on the bench during their loss in the quarter-finals against Morocco.
Artem Dzyuba recently slammed this decision by saying (via @TimelineCR7 on Twitter):
"When you hear the word Portugal, what do you think? Oh, Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal is associated with Cristiano Ronaldo for the whole world. And that's how you treat him!"
He angrily continued:
"He deserves it, by just being there. The man scored 800 goals. Is he worse than any if these? I just don’t understand. Against Switzerland, 'Ah, that's it. Old f*ck. Nobody needs you.' Against Morocco, 0-1, 'Oh! Where is Cristiano?'"
His exchange can be viewed below:
Cristiano Ronaldo has won two trophies for his nation - the 2016 European Championship and the 2019 Nations League.