Is the Barcelona attack the best of this era?
For the moment, yes, because they won the Champions League. But, last year, it was [Real Madrid’s] Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale. Things can change with every game.
Do think football has become much faster in the last 10 years?
Do you think Messi is faster than 10 years ago? Do you think Ronaldo is faster than 10 years ago? I don’t think that players are faster than 10 or 20 years ago.
The fact that the game is more protected by the referee, that you have balls around the pitch, and because you don’t give the ball back to the goalkeeper and he stops the ball makes the game automatically more intense.
It’s not a question of the players. I’m not sure that a player today is quicker than a player 30 years ago, but the way of how to play is automatically faster.
Perhaps the players are more [physically] prepared than 20 years ago – but the ball is always the most important factor. As my father always told me: ‘Michel, the ball will always run more quickly than you.’
So at least there is more football in the 90 minutes than in your day?
Perhaps we have up to 20 minutes more football. The game is more intense but I don’t think that the players have changed.
Why have been Ronaldo and Messi been able to keep scoring so many goals for so long?
Ronaldo and Messi are totally different and totally exceptional – so when you ask whether one or the other is better, you cannot do it. The game is beautiful for that. It’s just because they are incredible, and there is a team that plays for them.
It was the same with Brazil’s Ronaldo, in the past, and with many other players. In a great team, you always have a great player – and the great player has become great because he has a great team. It was the same in the case of Ajax, in the case of Johan Cruyff. He made the difference for them, but he needed a good team around him to do it. It’s a collective game.
