The most successful manager in modern era of Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson thinks that Lionel Messi is better suited to ‘Barcelona style’ whereas his former pupil Cristiano Ronaldo is one top three players he managed at Old Trafford during his 26 year reign.
Sir Alex went as far as to say he believes Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi because former could ‘play for Doncaster, Millwall, QPR and STILL score a hat-trick’.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who has three Premier League titles, one Champions League, and is currently holder of prestigious Ballon d’Or, was signed by Ferguson from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.
In last seven years Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon d’Or award, with Argentine star edging Ronaldo 4-3. But Ferguson has slightly different take on the duo and feels that Real Madrid star would be more useful than his rival if they were both asked to play for a weaker team.
“Ronaldo is tough,” the Scot asserted. “People say ‘who is the best player in the world’ and plenty of people quite rightly say Messi. You can’t dispute that opinion. But the thing about Ronaldo…Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or anyone and he’d score a hat-trick. I’m not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo’s got two feet, he’s quick, he’s good in the air and he’s brave, though Messi’s brave too of course. I just think Messi is a Barcelona player.”
Ferguson has nothing but praise for Ronaldo on his time at Old Trafford, and went on to say the 30-year-old is in top 3 best players he managed during his United stay with legends like Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs the other two.
“Ronaldo is the biggest improvement I ever had at Manchester United really because he came as a young skinny kid at 17,” revealed Ferguson. “And yes, he had stuff such as diving which people used to criticise him but, once he got out on the training field, he was fantastic. “The most important thing for a great player is decision-making and that improved over Ronaldo’s time at old Trafford. Him and Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, you have to say, are the best three players I ever had. Bryan Robson and Roy Keane and Eric Cantona were great players, too, but not [at their level].”