There’s a real competition going on to decide whether Wayne Rooney or Lionel Messi is the best player in the world. That’s because both Rooney and Messi are consistently producing at a level considerably higher than their peers, especially when it matters. However, at the club level, the argument over who plays the best football still inevitably ends up involving Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. But if consistent production when it matters is a prerequisite for being considered the best footballing side in the world, it’s odd that these two sides so frequently reside in the same sentence. (more…)
