Southampton Coach and former Barcelona player Ronald Koeman rates Lionel Messi higher than Pele, Johan Cruyff and Diego Maradona.
Marca reports an interview with Koeman on Cadena Cope in which he discussed a number of topics, from the Argentine to the kerfuffle over comments made by Gerard Pique as Barca celebrated the treble.
The defender joked about the infamous party held by Cristiano Ronaldo on the night Real Madrid lost heavily to Atletico Madrid and the Spanish Press has run amok.
“The Pique thing isn’t a lack of respect. These things happen. You can say that after a treble. It was a joke,” Koeman contends.
“Messi? He’s the best player of all time. The talk is of Pele, Cruyff, Messi, Maradona…no one has been as decisive. For the goals he’s scored, how he scored them. He’s the greatest player of all time.”
Koeman went on to discuss the situation of two Barca figures, Coach Luis Enrique and right-back Dani Alves, with their respective futures in the air.
“Enrique has to stay. He’s done a great job and is responsible for much of the success,” Koeman said of his counterpart.
“Alves is in his best form and it’d be a shame if he didn’t stay. If he doesn’t stay then Barca will have to find a player to live up to the job.
“Winning a treble isn’t easy and to achieve it is something great, but I still think Pep Guardiola’s Barca was better.
“[Rafa] Benitez is a very experienced Coach, but coaching Madrid or Barca is complicated.”
