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Van Gaal: Milner a better team player than Messi

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Image for Van Gaal: Milner a better team player than Messi

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has claimed that Liverpool veteran James Milner is a better team player than Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

The Argentine is widely regarded as the best player of all time, but Van Gaal states that the 32-year-old isn’t a great team player. Milner, on the contrary…

“Look at Barcelona. How many Champions [League] have won with what they say is the best player in the world?,” he told El Pais. “Look at Neymar at PSG. How many Champions won? Neymar and Messi I like them as individual players, not as team players. I believe that in collective games there is nothing more important than the team player.

“One of the best is James Milner. In the final of the Champions he played as a defender and as a midfielder. It’s great that I can offer that at 33. I think Messi should ask himself how it is possible that he has not won a Champions League for so long.”

OPINION

It’s a bit strange that Van Gaal used someone who has won the Champions League once as an example of someone who is a better team player than someone who has triumphed in it four times. Obviously Van Gaol’s point is more that Messi hasn’t won the competition for a few years now. That’s true, and you can’t really argue with it. Barcelona have the best player in the world but they haven’t won the competition since 2014-15. Liverpool obviously were victorious in the competition this year, where Milner did indeed operate in multiple positions. The former England international provides great creativity and is hugely valued by Jurgen Klopp for that reason. But using the fact that Milner is more versatile and has won the Champions League more recently as evidence that he is a better team player than the greatest footballer the world has ever seen is a bit ludicrous.

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