Argentina superstar Lionel Messi is leaps and bounds ahead of England striker Wayne Rooney in quality and will still outclass him when at his worst, according to former England man Alan Hudson.
Messi scored the winning goal for Argentina in their debut World Cup fixture in Brazil this weekend, leading his national side to a 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In the eyes of ex-Chelsea playmaker Hudson, the highly prized Barcelona forward struggled through his worst season ever with the Catalan giants and is not in best form for his national side, either.
Hudson told Football Express News: “Messi’s been having a total nightmare this year and at the moment he looks overweight, he looks a worried man, he looks like he’s not enjoying the game and this is him on an off season.”
He then compared the player’s goal-scoring ability to that of Man United’s Rooney, who played a part of the Three Lions’ 2-1 defeat to Italy on Saturday.
“Although he’s been struggling and having a bad time at Barcelona, when you look at Messi’s goal that he scored for Argentina last night and compare that to what Rooney does, miss-firing, missing chances, there’s such a class gap between the two players.
“Even on an off day Messi is head and shoulders above Rooney in quality.”
Hudson, who played for England in the 1970’s under Don Revie, compared Barcelona’s 2013/2014 football season to that of Man United, describing both clubs as ‘having had their day.’
“Last season Barcelona had pretty much the same season as Manchester United, they’ve gone backwards. They’ve had their day and Man United have had theirs.”
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