Alex Ferguson Quotes

I think now Messi is probably done more than most players. But he is in the same class as Alfredo de Stefano, Johan Cruyff, Pelé. When he finishes and he retires, he will automatically become one of them. A player that people will talk about forever, while the game of football is as good and as popular as it is. He is a sensational player.

Steve Nash is the most unathletic player in the league.

I have enough confidence at the moment to say that I have the potential to play at the same level as Arjen Robben or Franck Ribery.

I was a better hockey player than I was a baseball player.

Pele wasn't as gifted as George Best and I would definitely put George above Johan Cruyff because he had more heart.

Who were the best players I had ever played against? Raul, Messi, Zidane.

Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United.

As far as natural ability, I was always athletic.

I've always been a pretty good athlete.

I wasn't a great athlete.

When you go from Division II to the NFL, you're amazed at how good these guys really are.

I'm not the best athlete.

I think if you can score the ball, you can play at any level.

We often compare footballers with players of the past.

Simeone, De Boer, Van Basten - fantastic names to have worked with.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar are phenomenal.

Maradona is among the best five players I've ever seen: Garrincha, Pele, Diego, Cruijff and Beckenbauer.

Some people like Messi didn't have to learn a lot as his is a natural style. But of course you can improve your technique, your football intelligence, your everything.

I played with great teammates like Ronaldinho and Messi. I think they are two of the greatest players in the history of football.

If it's about working out and playing basketball, I'm one of the best in the world to do it - at least two years ago. But I'm still in a space where I can play.

Messi is the great player of this generation, like there were great players in other generations.

For 20 years they have asked me the same question, who is the greatest? Pele or Maradona? I replay that all you have to do is look at the facts - how many goals did he score with his right foot or with his head?

I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo - and the greatest of them all is Messi.

I consider myself a decent athlete but when I started to train martial arts like Kung Fu, I realised it had nothing to do with how athletic you are. It's all mental. It's what you know, how you use it and your mental toughness and composure. It's incredible.

Messi is undoubtedly a gifted footballer, like Maradona and Pele, and he's playing for the best club side in the world at the moment. He's successful and he's winning trophies, so it's only logical that he'll be voted the best player in the world.