messi v rooney are they simular who is better for there age?

overall rooney i would say, hes got strength, speed, style, skill and charisma. messi is still amazing for his age. he was amazing against chelsea though

There is already a thread on this.

And BTW. Did anyone see 18 year old Messi's incredible performance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge today?

Messi is a champion. By next year he will overtake Rooney's status.

Ur a Barcelona fan so you would say that

im not much of a la liga fan but if you think messi didnt play exceptional futbol today against chelsea then you must be del horno's cousin

LOL classic

both have potential to be the best. but imo messi is better. he really stand out vs chelsea. he outshines his teammates. honestly, before the match, i dont think he can play at that level agaisnt chelsea defense and im worng.

Messi without a doubt .I cant see Rooney playing like how Messi played against Chelsea today.

messi is exceptionally good...but rooney is still better....buttt....lately,rooney hasnt been his usual form...been quite silent for a few weeks now

So if Messi is exceptionally good , and Rooney is still better , what u mean is Rooney is super exceptionally good

Nah

Rooney doesnt have the vision, dribbling skills or ball control that Messi has .Rooney maybe stronger but thats just abt it.

Both awesome players but ver diffrent ones messi is without doubt the better dribbler where as rooney has a more creative pass both without doubt will be world class within a year or two.By the way i wouldnt like to say who's better.

I was never convinced of Messi until last night. But to compare him with Rooney is a bit too much. Look what Rooney has done, he is the best in his country at 20, been playing regulalry for 4 years in the premiership, for 3 years in the national team. And people who say Rooney doesnt have the vision and skill is annoying, because it usually comes from people who dont watch Rooney, La Liga fans etc.

Rooney at the moment but in a few years by going on the way he played last night, Messi can be as good as anyone.
With world class attacking players such as Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto'o playing alongside him, the future is very bright for Messi and Barcelona are very lucky to have him.

Im a united fan through and through but even I can admit that Messi is better than Rooney. I tipped him to have an explosive season at the start of the La Liga campaign and so far everyone has to admit, it's been true. As a clear indicator of how good this boy is "he could well win the World Player of the Year award in the 4 years". I can't remember exactly who said this but by 22 he is expected to be WPOY. As far as I know it has not been said about Rooney.

Remember Rooney broke into the premiership four years ago when he was at Everton, hardly a top team. Just ask Cesc or Pique how hard it is to break into Barca. He is keeping out Giuly as well and being picked ahead of Larson. If it were up to me i would want Messi ahead of Rooney. I'm pretty sure he's going to the World Cup this year, so he's emulated everything Rooney has done if not better.

Messi wins this and is a greater talent at 18. He is the best player of his age and already performing in the best league and matching or exceeding all expectations placed upon him by Barcelona.

Rooney has lost his way at MU and the pressure is building up on him, he has never proven himself as a good goalscorer and this is seen in that often he goes through big phases of a season without scoring a goal. Sadly at the moment its 13 games without a goal and his form has dipped. He has failed to score in the CL proper since his debut in 2004. And recently went 16 months without a goal until vs Argentina.
Critically he has turned in alot of inept performances which is unacceptable for his level of ability however he has been so far spared the criticism of the media or pundits.

Rooney is an excellent player but at the moment the team is not clicking, his form has dipped and he is lacking in confidence. It does not help with the media/ experts placing ridiculous pressure on him. Spastics like Lawrenson/ Townsend are claiming every match they could watch rooney all day!

In terms of comparison--Rooney has greater power is unpredictable and mental strength. However Messi has greater skills, and seems to destroy defences at will with his passing or dribbling style!

So its Messi

Messi.

Messi is a genius,rooney is not that good, he only bully defenders.long live messi,cesc,van persie,robinho.these players are great.

It's very hard to choose between the 2 best u-20s in the world at the moment, but it's Messi for me. He certainly made a lot of difference when playing even in a team already full of stars. Rooney is not too far off though. Both of them belong to the same class, best of the prodigies.

I have been following Messi for 2 years now, and as a Real Madrid fan it hurts me to say this, but this kid is AMAZING, he is the next Maradona.

As for Rooney, i think he is no where near Messi, the english media hype him alot.

rooney by just a slim margin. he is a lot stronger, a lot more experienced, and his final ball is always perfect. everything else like shooting, running, dribbling, vision, passing etc seem to be on par with eachother.

if messi wants to be known as better than rooney he has a lot more to do.

In England maybe, everyone else recognizes his talent.

Amazing how most people just recognized he was great after yesterday.

Messi has been consistently putting in those performances for 6 months. Shows how much EPL fans actually watch of Messi and La Liga.

Tell me what skill you see in Rooney, somebody tell me, Rooney uses a lot of force.
Rooney said he beats his opponents, mentally and physically.
Mentally?

You can't compare, Rooney with Messi.

Messi, is too good for Rooney at Dribbling with the ball, Pace with the ball.
Look at Rooney's dribbles, you don't see him moving side to side, when he dribbles. It is a straight on dribble.




Englan newspaper, said rooney was Pele 2. I have never heard a saying of all sayings so untrue with so much lie.

ONE read me perfectly....this is Messis FIRST big game and yes hes performed like a genius....i accept...but tell me how can you call him better than Rooney,whos been doing this consistently for the past 2 years...but now all of a sudden one big game changes that....now that shows how much the media can twist us....anyways wat can i say to all of the ppl claiming messi right now is better....well yesterday he had a great run out...but u ppl all forget that,it was against Del Horno a guy who is half the defender Gallas is and was partnered by another attack minded player in Robben,so it was basically messi v del horno...one on one...and that is the one reason he got past him so many times.. if it were for Gallas...then u would have seen Messi's inexperience clearly,but Del Horno was palying like dumb witted fool and eventually made a joke of himself....anyways i read one of the msot ridiculous posts in this thread,claiming he doesnt score enough and stuff....do u have a clue wat position he even plays in...hes nto even a striker.....this is guy is basically a back up stiker or can i say a player in the hole...who does alot of defensive work....according to prozone stats,he barely spends 30% of the total tiem near the penalty box and he spend around 20% of the time in his own penalty area,now thats alien to any striker....and one more thing Rooney has played through the centre all his life,either at 16 or 18 or 20 ...hes always the main man completely marked out.....but where as messi plays from the wing,who tends to drift in...so tell which is far more difficult?any one who has experience of palyin football will accept that palyign through the crowded centre is wats difficult,and thats wat Rooney does so effieciently.....and another final thing...Rooney is playing in a team which is rebuilding and hes carrying the team on his own where as Messi has been playing in probably the best team in the world rite now...and if ur gonna claim that Rooney doesnt give enough,like somebody claimed,then thats being ridiculously harsh and unfair to a 20 year old.


And before saying that the engliosh media branded him the next pele tag,just get ur facts right...it was Zico,Pele's team mate,who said he sees Rooney playing like Pele and he Rooney can play under pressure,pele is the one claimed that hes a outrageous talent....Maradona is the one who said,Rooneys play resembles him,the way he plays with passion,reminds him of his days...the only person the english media compared Rooney to was George Best,and thats natural coz he passed away and he was the best palyer in Manchester United then and Now Rooney has that mantle.

I was going to read your paragraph, but that first sentence is RIDICULOUS. Calling this his first big game shows how AMAZINGLY LITTLE you follow him. He has played against almost every team in La Liga and has played amazingly EVERY game.

I am sorry but I ca not take you seriously if you say that is his first big game.

That reply just shows how much u even know to read....didnt u see the word BIG game... are u were blind to the word alone...and dont tell me the Real Madrid game was big,Real are the most pathetic team iv seen in ages....tell me another good team hes performed like a genius ..nwo dont bring in that youth worldcup things coz ull embarrasing ur self when u comapre that too Rooneys achievements....the spainsh league is the msot over rated league in the world according to me...yes they got the best team in the world...but the rest of the mare as crappy as crap can get...We saw how two of ur reps i nthe ucl got thrown away from the ucl....and how Real got humiliated by Arsenal a team which was playing their worst football ever,with uncountable injuries and Real were bang on form....doesnt it show the quality of ur teams....3 years ago ur league was better than anyother league,but tiems have changed,and the spanish league is rotting and is going to be over taken by the seria soon.

they are both phenomenal prospects, but Messi hasn't been producing as long as Rooney. The next 3 years of Messi will tell alot.

Rooney is absolutely phenomenal and is better than Messi at oresent. He had a great game vs chelsea, but that doesn't cancel out how rooney plays week in week out.

Messi looks good dribbling and has got goals, but Robben last year looked unstoppable doing similar and better things with the ball. and Reyes was seen as great when he was in the dribble-friendly spanish league.

Anyone who sees Rooney as anything less than potentially one of the greatest players to play the game watches football differently than me. Strength, natural touch, speed, great shooting and supreme confidence in front of goal. Not to mention the ability to bulldoze through people and still hold the ball at his age.

Messi can become great, but still has to do the business internationally as well. (as I stated, he's done nothign that Robben didn't do last season)

Messi.

Hahaha, your posts are really funny, did you know that??

Can you name the Rooney achievments you speak of??

And Real Madrid are the best football club in history, so saying that el Classico in the Santiago Bernabeau is a small game shows alot of ignorance.
Also like eurochamp has said, Messi has been playing like this in every game this season.


Can you please use proper english (not too proper, just readable stuff)??

3 goals in euro 2004 in a tournament that Torres flopped.....Players young palyer of the year last year,Uefa young player of the year,and candidate for the world young player of the year by fifa,two time premier league player of the month this year itself,a hatrick on debut in the champions league for a 18 year old,unheard of for such a young player.....carrying one the best sides in the world all by himself.... 10 goals,8 assists this season,and the hope of the nation when they have the likes of Beckham,Lampard,Gerrard....now that should give u a slight idea of his ability and achievements.

And dont ever say the el classico was contested like a big match,that was one of the worst ever performances ever put by real along with the Arsenal perfromance,they are a total humiliation,they dont deserve to be wearing the glorious white shirt....and beating that pathertic side isnt that big deal...and the every game he has played like that,Rooney has been giving better or equally good performances himself...and he doesnt have a Ronaldinho to help him out... ppl like u conviniently forget the fact that,both their teams are in different siuations.

MRarsenal guy put it very well,he has done anything that Robben didnt do himself in his first season at Chelsea and i still rate them equally now.

and abt my english,u showed me very well that u could reply to my post,so theres no need to act kool and calling my post unreadable....so peace....and if u still wanna act kool,then thats ur wish... sorry for goign offtopic...peace.

What does Torres have to do with anything???

Messi was the top scorer and most valuable player in the Youth World Cup, he also has a La Liga with Barca from last year, and i belive he was the top scorer of the South-American u-17 championship.
He has also been the best Barca player on the field in many matches, a very hard thing to do when you are an 18-year old playing with Ronaldinho, Etoo, Deco and others.

Messi has better pace, acceleration, control, dribbling, first touch, vision. Rooney is a better finisher and more powerful. Their passing is about the same.
Also you mentioned the pressure on Rooney, Messi has been playing brilliantly in every chance he gets, against big teams as well as small ones, and its not easy to stay cool about that when you have LArsson, Guily, and Ezquerro fighting to take your place.


I know your posts are readable, but they take twice the time to read and decypher

Well I guess I do not have an arguement blaze. All the teams in La Liga are crap so the only good team he has played is Chelsea.

So he does great against every team he plays anyway. Consistency. Rooney has been out of it for a while now.

And do you see that trophy in Messi's hands in my sig??? Young player of the year. He beat Rooney by about twice as many votes. Well how about that.

This thread was only a result of yesterday's performance, some people who follow Barca have known that he was this good long before, the majority of the other people who voted Messi basically saw this one match and do not watch Barca week in and week out and was basically wowed at probably one of his best performances yet. Yet opinions change with the time, what if Rooney is to go on and score say a hattrick against Chelsea in a few months? I will guarantee that again people will change opinions, but a single good performance shouldn't just make a player better then another player.

Even though a lot of us disagree on who is better, one thing we can agree on is that they are both the best young football prodigies in the world. They both have their strength and weaknesses and it is merely impossible to make a consensus of who is actually better since both have such a huge following.

You know there's no problem with saying Rooney is better than messi, but when you try to belittle Messi's opposition to play down his talents then we've got a problem.

People who claim Rooney turns in performances week in week out are deluded.

First goalscoring-wise Rooney has not scored for Man U since dec 28th 2005 vs Birmingham!

Its almost 3 months without a goal --thats 14 games without a goal.
in terms of creativity there has been not much in this period.

Its 16 months and counting since Rooney scored a goal in the CL--following his hat-trick debut vs fenerbahce!

Rooney had not scored for England since euro 2004 until he netted vs Argentina--so that's 16 months without a goal!

More worryingly Rooney's form has nosedived and in many games he loses possession easily with bad decisions.

Now despite the team's problems or his even playing in midfield--he simply has underperformed given his talent. No Beckham played on the right yet would chip in frequently more often with assists and goals than Rooney is doing!

Yet there is talk of rooney being amazingly creative or deadly in front of goal.

Rooney has 8 assists this season --but this after 37 apps is far from impressive.
Someone like Park has made 33 apps but most as sub (15) playing approx 15 mins or so yet he has 7 assists to his name!

Someone like Ronaldo is targeted for having a 'bad' season yet he has 9 goals and 7 assists for MU and more goals/assists for Portugal.

Rooney is good but is overhyped!

Messi we will have to see in 1-2 years time and this world cup to see his ability and development.

Well...obviusly you haven`t seen him play every week. Coz that was NOT his best performance. It was his usual. When he has a great day....oh, he is almost unstoppable. And he has played like this(against Chelsea I mean) or better almost every game this season. So seeing Chelsea game people should know that he plays like this every week.

i dont think rooney is so consistent like peoples claim

to be honest when rooney plays against chelsea he never looked as dangerous as messi.

liverpool, this season in 3 matches, rooney cant do anything, same as milan last season in UCL.

messi has performed in every barcas big games so far. yesterday, messi first UCL knock out stage, imo hes the motm, he really cause damage to chelsea defense.

so how can peoples say hes not at least as good as rooney?

imo rooney is good, but when he is up against strong and organized defense, rooney looks struggle. he cant performed like he usually does against weaker defense.

and messi made it looks easy from yesterday match against one of the best defense.

Yeah, I`ve noticed too that there is something very special in Messi. He is 18 years old but he talks, acts and plays very mature. And most important - he always gives 120% of him, always fights to the end no matter who he is playing against. I can`t wait to see him in 3 years....

Messi is a extraordinary footballer and playing at the highest level at Barca and matching or exceeding all expectations.

Apart from the very best talents this kind of situation arises very rarely.
At Barca --Messi will develop and be encouraged by the likes of Dinho and Deco. Barca will play fast and exciting football and further the game of Messi.

Messi has every chance of doing well with Argentina and winning the world cup at 18. There is a chance he may even be the star and lets remember not many players have achieved it at that age.

This will make his achievements Pele-esque! Now that is a scary thought--however for the greatness of football and definition of talent i hope he achieves this feat!

If Messi does that then he will leave Rooney trailing in achievement and performance categories.

Note there is every chance Barca may win the Champs League this season as well. So it could 'possibly' be a great year for Messi.

But then again Football is a strange game!

Some people said the messi was amazing against chelsea I wouldnt got that far he played well but I have seen him play better I dont think he had the ball enough to go on many dribbles like he normally does but I bet he will in the return game.

He had a good game in the sense that everytime he touched the ball, he created danger. There's no question in my mind that he was the main threat to Chelsea.

I really appreciate Messi, compared to Rooney he doesn't have a great physical presence but he is an incredible fighter and I just love that. My best example was against the recent game with Chelsea where Arjen Robben was covering the ball and you just saw Messi trying to desperately get the ball and actually managed to get it somehow, put Arjen in the wind and then get Del Horno a red card right after.

Messi's a fighter, but he isn't perfect. Rooney, to me, is more accurate in front of the goal keeper and from far away. He, as I've stated earlier, has more physical presence to fend off markers. Other than those two factors, I seriously consider Messi superior to Rooney in every other aspect.

No comparision Rooney is hugely overrated. Messi takes this by miles. There are many young players better then Rooney

Well you can hardly call Madrid pathetic since they've only suffered 2 defeats in 2006 at the hands of Zaragoza and Arsenal and perhaps you missed the 2nd leg of the Madrid Zaragoza game. If you ask Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool what are some of the more difficult fixtures in the season they'll say the likes of Bolton, Middlesborough and Spurs and in that same respect in La Liga you have Villareal, Athletico Madrid, Sevilla and am sure i'm missing a few others. My point being that just cause they not big teams doesn't mean to say won't be difficult to beat. Correct me if i'm wrong was it not Villareal knocking out Everton in the Champions League qualifying stages and was it not Marseille knocking out Bolton and remember the french league is weaker than both Spanish and English League. So don't say that rest of the mare as crappy as crappy can get. Hey i'll go back to an old saying if Greece can win the Euro Championships then anything is possible and we saw that with Arsenal beating Real Madrid. Another point i'd like to add if you take the biggest names in the world you'd have to say Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Figo(when he was there), R. Carlos, Eto'o, all foreigners playing in Spain. There's quite a few WPOY in that list huh. Now lets look at the Premiership...Henry, Nistelrooy, Davids...hm struggling to name quality foreigners wanting to play in the Premiership. The lure of La Liga is far greater than the Premiership and btw are there any WPOY in that league so do not dismiss this league it is still the best in the world.

Sorry if it was off topic but had to reply to this post.

So you also claim that Gallas is a far better defender than one whom knows and has played LB all his life. I'm not talking about Del Horno all though it's funny how Mourinho see's fit to pick Del Horno ahead of Gallas at left back on a lot of occasions, I was actually talking about the Left Back's in the Spanish league whom he's been terrifying with his dribbling skills for a very long time now.

Remember Mourinho would be the first to tell you that the basis of a win is to keep a clean sheet and if thats the case then surely Gallas would be picked ahead of Del Horno in the EPL since you claim he is a better defender, right? And do not say that he picks Gallas for the tougher games and Del Horno for the weaker opposition cause Del Horno will get more joy in attacking, cause that just doesn't cut it as a plausible reason.

To be honest the lack of credit Rooney is getting in this thread is laughable

Yep i dont really need to reply to anyone,in here....agreed ppl can say messi is better than Rooney and stuff....but saying hes miles better and stuff is just laughable.....anyways ppl have called epl the most over rated league in the world,and they had egg on thier faces when arsenal trashed Real at home....and ppl will continue to say Messi is better than Rooney,just coz hes a beter dribbler and its ok,coz in the end well see that its not the tricks and flicks wins u matches and we'll see who can perform better in the world cup......now looking at both argentina and england...most ppl will agree that argentina has a better squad and most ppl will say that england is the most over rated team in the world...for this reason alone i wish argentina perform better.....other wise itll be one of the most humilaiting things i can think of in here and i would love to read this thread one more time all over again ,if that happens .. it would be quite a laugh riot,wouldnt it ?

They are both talented.

Rooney though is an immature loudmouth git. Can't stand watching a Man Utd game with him screaming at everybody for no apparant reason.

where did I say that was his best performance?, I said one of his best. He plays good a lot but not every week, if he played like that everyweek then he'd be WPOTY. Yes he is good, definitely one of the best young players to come around, but for godsakes some of you are worshipping him like a god. Same scenario with C.Ronaldo, terrorized defenses when he first came to the EPL, yet now defenders have figured him out. Expect that to happen to Messi as well.

messi, the player was amazing against chelsea

We will see who performs better on the big stage.. the world cup; Before you all judge from a chelsea match.