Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have widely been regarded as the best footballers on the planet for the last five years. The question of choosing between them has been put forward to several great players over the years. It has become a major topic of debate. Messi has won for FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, while Cristiano Ronaldo is close on his heels with two. He is the current holder of the coveted title from FIFA. Former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff, who is regarded as one of the greatest players and managers, says that it is difficult to choose between the two because they are both unique.

Cruyff says that he enjoys watching Messi and Ronaldo at the same time. According to him, Barcelona superstar Messi is much more technical and is able to use this low centre of gravity to his advantage. Ronaldo, meanwhile, is a much more physical player, who is also extremely adept at the technical game. Cruyff, who is known around the world for his opinion on various things related to football, says that he will not be able to choose between either of them and he will enjoy watching both of them at their best.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter recently stated that he would prefer Messi over Ronaldo. “Messi and Ronaldo are the two most beautiful players now and with distinctive styles. One is purely technical while the other is physical as well. And I like to watch both of them since this tells you clearly how different the game can be. Football is such a wonderful game because of its variations and its acceptance of every style. I like watching both at their best,” said the former Barcelona manager, who used to work as an advisor to several clubs around the world. He introduced the brand of total football.

Manchester United could have seen the best of Wayne Rooney were a few years ago according to club legend Paul Scholes, who has left the club after being the coaching staff for the last few matches of last season. Scholes played with Rooney for several years before announcing his retirement as a footballer last summer. Rooney endured a disappointing campaign with United, although it was good to him on a personal level after finding 17 goals, as the club finished in seventh place of the league.

Even though he was a first-team regular under David Moyes, his place in the team will be coming under threat from Louis van Gaal, whose praise of striker Robin van Persie has already raised such doubts. Scholes has added more pressure on Rooney by suggesting that the 28-year-old could retire at the end of his current contract. Rooney signed a new five-year deal which would take him to 33 by the time it completes. Scholes reckons that the England international may not play beyond that since he has already played a lot of matches in his career.

Despite being only 28, Rooney is close to playing in 600 matches for United alone while there are several more to come with regard to England.

“Wayne was in the Everton team at 16 years of age, in 2003. Since then he’s played at Euro 2004, two World Cups, Premier League, and Champions League every year at United. There’s a chance he’s worn out. Wayne’s peak may have been a lot younger than what we’d expect of footballers traditionally. Age 28 or 29 has been the normal ‘peak’. With Wayne, it could have been when he scored 27 league goals in 2011/2012 when he was 26,” said Scholes, who has also stated that he is unlikely to return back to United as part of the coaching staff next season.