David Villa or Wayne Rooney?

Arguably the two best strikers in world football, playing for arguably the two best clubs in world football. Both superb finishers with excellent goal returns, but which do I think is better?

David Villa

After many superb performances for his national team in the FIFA World Cup in 2010, David Villa Sanchez was bought by FC Barcelona for a huge fee of 40 million euros from Valencia. Following this he became a pivotal part of the front three that won Barcelona the Champions League in 2011. 67 appearances into his career in Catalonia and Villa already has 30 goals, a number that will of course increase to even more extraordinary levels as his time at Barca lengthens.

Perhaps his greatest asset is his eye for goal. It isn't often you speak of Villa missing a goal scoring opportunity and his performance and brace against Real Madrid in his team's emphatic 5-0 victory over Real Madrid was as good as any player gets. He has scored 265 goals at club level in his career having played for Sporting Gijon B, Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza and Valencia before being signed for Barcelona and has 78 assists to his name, his excellent ability to be a team player was surely crucial to Pep Guardiola's decision to sign him and to his success as a footballer in general.

However Villa's footballing abilities are unfortunately contrasted by his off ball antics at times. Too many times has he dived, held his face after being touched on the shoulder, waved imaginary cards at the referee in an attempt to get an opposing player booked and in one case hit Mesut Ozil in the face after trouble broke out in the Spanish SuperCup. Although I am analysing his skills with a ball, acts of stupidity and cheating will certainly come into my conclusion when I compare him to Wayne Rooney.

Last time I was comparing a Barcelona player to someone else, it was Lionel Messi. This was the section which lost it for him, his international career. Fortunately, this time the man in blue and purple has had a fantastic international career. For Spain, David Villa has impressively scored 50 goals in 80 games thus becoming the Spanish national side's all time leading goalscorer - and he's not even 30 yet. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup, David Villa was at the very top of the game. At that World Cup you forgot about Messi, you forgot about Ronaldo, Iniesta, Xavi, Kaka and even Rooney because that tournament was the David Villa show. He finished joint top goalscorer with 5 goals (an accolade shared with Thomas Muller), and without those goals, it is beyond any doubt that Spain wouldn't have won their first World Cup.

I am in no doubt that Villa is a top player, and he was an absolute joy to watch at the World Cup but in Wayne Rooney he has a rival for the number one striker in the world. Its far too close to call...

Wayne Rooney

Now then. Shrek, Wazza, Rooney - call him what you will but this is one hell of a player. He just seems to have it all: Skill, composure, superb vision and an impressive goal return. Seen as not just Man Utd's best player but England's too and he was part of a terrifying trio with Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez that was so lethal a few years back and heavily contributed to the club's Champions League success. Since then he has formed superb partnerships with Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez. Strikers come and go for the Reds, but Rooney remains a constant in Ferguson's attack.

Just like Villa, Wayne Rooney's most lethal weapon is surely his ability to score goals in the big games. Time and time again has the now 26 year old netted winning goals against the top teams in England and from around Europe, goals which when playing for Man Utd are crucial to winning the trophies they crave. Rooney has scored 175 goals in 411 club appearences so far, a stat that will of course increase from being Man Utd's number one asset going forward - very impressive. He is in the peak of his career right now, and already is he Man Utd's ninth leading goalscorer, behind players that retired well into their 30's. Rooney has a long way to go before retirement so don't be surprised to see him moving up that table rapidly.

Earlier I criticised Villa for how he is as a person at times. However in 2010 Rooney went to different levels of stupidity. After an awful personal World Cup where England may as well have had 10 men Rooney decided that he no longer wanted to play for Man Utd, after many transfer requests and an ongoing saga Man Utd suddenly decided to offer their best player more money, to which he of course said yes to and miraculously he loved Manchester again. Typical footballer. Although, if you want a player to put maximum effort into a match and never stop running you want Wayne Rooney, just look at his performance in the 2011 Champions League final. Man Utd lost 3-1 to Barcelona in a match in which they had the ball a total of four times (spot the exaggeration). However Rooney was constantly chasing the ball and seemed the only player in white that realised the importance of the game, he bagged himself the goal of the night because of it.

And now onto his inconsistent career with England. His first tournament was Euro 2004 in which he was superb, he looked like England's next superstar as he ripped defenses to shreds. Unfortunately he plays for England so no one else offered the same amount of skill meaning England were sent crashing out in typical penalty shoot-out fashion - but not before Rooney picked up a broken metatarsal, perhaps the root to our failure in that match. In the 2006 and 2010 World Cups however we saw the bad side of this player, a stamp in 2006 on Portugal's Ricardo Carvalho saw him sent off in a match that England once again went on to lose on penalties. Nothing of the sort happened in 2010, however this time we saw Rooney's form drop to levels we'd not seen before. He couldn't pass, shoot, dribble or enjoy himself. Never did he even look like he wanted to be there, I'm sure Villa has similar moments, but to abandon your team when it most needs you is unacceptable, especially when you're earning mega-bucks to do it.

So, who's best?

My decision, David Villa is the better player. It is an incredibly close decision, one week Rooney will be better but the next week Villa will be better. But my decision is that right now, David Villa is the best striker in the world. Why? Well both have had similarly brilliant club careers and I cannot separate their quality in front of goal and therefore it has to go on their international careers. Rooney is unlucky to be part of a national team where the players just don't seem to care about winning trophies, but that doesn't excuse Rooney's embarrassing performances in 2010. He could of been rubbish and I've had eventually forgiven him, but the fact he then went on to blame the England supporters was pathetic. Villa is incredible to watch for Spain, never does he suddenly decide to go missing in games like Rooney did in South Africa. So for that reason, Villa wins.

Who would I prefer in Stoke's team?

I may believe that Villa is slightly the better player, but I would rather have Rooney in Stoke's team. This is largely down to the effort he puts into each league game he is involved in as well as his experience in the Premiership. Rooney is great in the air and seems to enjoy playing in physical games, therefore he'd fit into the Stoke team well. He wouldn't get as many goals, mainly due to our awful midfield but the guy is good enough to get his own goals. Villa is often diving and cheating in matches, something Tony Pulis hates. He might score a few with Stoke, but just like Tuncay and Gudjohnsen he'd find it real tough settling in.

Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

Every football fan has an opinion here, arguments on which is better happen each day and the players themselves are constantly outdoing eachother on the pitch. But which player do I think is the best?

Lionel Messi

The crucial figure in a magnificent team, perhaps the greatest team of all time. FC Barcelona are known for producing superstars, Messi is just one of a long list of successes including Iniesta, Pedro, Xavi, Valdes and Carles Puyol among others. The difference is none of his teammates scored 53 goals in all competitions in the 2010-11 season.

The Argentine is known for many things. His finishing ability is sublime, it’s not often you speak of him missing a 1-on-1. His rapport with fellow players is important to Barcelona’s tactics, 24 assists last season says it all. However it’s his dribbling that has caught the eye of the footballing world with Maradona-esque goals being regular in the player’s career. Notably his blistering run in the first leg of the 2010-11 Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

Another factor when judging the career of this already great talent is his personality. On the one hand he doesn’t have the charisma that Diego Maradona did; he lacks the field presence that Paul Scholes or Zinadine Zidane possessed and you could say he isn’t a natural leader like John Terry or Nemanja Vidic for example. However he certainly plays the game the right way. In the past he has dived on occasion (who hasn’t these days?) and in one instance spat at an opponent, but these instances are rare and overshadowed by how Messi behaves in a ‘normal match’. For a player that wiggles and dribbles through defenders all match long rarely do you see him pointlessly throwing himself to the floor and rolling around as though he’s been shot. Unlike many modern day footballers.

Messi is mainly known for his Barcelona career, somewhat in its shadow is his international career with Argentina. Never for his country has he achieved the same form or success as he has with his Catalan club, this begs the question of whether the player just isn't the same without Xavi, Iniesta and co. In 60 international appearances Messi has achieved 17 goals and 17 assists, this doesn't sound bad but he failed to hit the back of the net in either the 2010 FIFA World Cup or the 2011 Copa América, his only World Cup goal coming in 2006. His international success will be looked at when being compared to any fellow footballer, he needs to step it up in the remainder of his career.

So he is quite rightly considered to be the best player in the world, quite rightly raved about in the media and deserves all of the trophies he has won with FC Barcelona. But he has a rival in Cristiano Ronaldo, a rival that I believe is better.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The star player in a team glittered with stars. Ronaldo possesses all the flair and skill needed to succeed in football, and this guy has. He won everything there was to be won with Man Utd, scoring goals in FA Cup, Champions League and League Cup finals as well as many goals in the league to help the Manchester club to yet more titles. In 2009 he made a record £80 million move to Real Madrid and since then he's won the Copa Del Rey and scored 90 goals in 92 appearances in all competitions for the Spanish giants. Impressive, but how does he compare to Mr Messi?

Ronaldo is one of the most complete players in the game. He's regularly scored goals with powerful long range shots and free kicks, unbeatable headed attempts, cool finishes and solo goals worthy of the recognition they get. He is sometimes called 'selfish', however in his club career he has managed 71 assists to go with his 213 goals. Not bad for a 26 year old who has spent the majority of his playing career in the toughest league in the world with Man Utd.

People have wrongly criticized Ronaldo's personality when judging him as a player. He's by no means perfect but like Messi all he wants to do is play football. For example in the recent Spanish SuperCup vs FC Barcelona as usual the match erupted into a touchline brawl with most players and staff getting involved. Ronaldo stood off and watched, clearly he wanted to just get on with the match, something you have to admire him for. Sure he is known for the occasional dive and is easily frustrated when he or his team aren't playing too well but his sometimes controversial self is exaggerated. He certainly doesn't lack charisma, or presence on the field but he doesn't make captains material for me.

As well as a hugely successful club career Ronaldo has had a decent international career as well. With Portugal he has been capped 82 times scoring 27 goals in the process. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup Portugal reached the semi final before eventually being beaten by France, Ronaldo scored once as well as finishing a penalty shoot-out off with a penalty which sent England home. In 2010 Portugal had a tough time, being drawn in a group against Brazil and then meeting Spain in the round of 16, a match which knocked the Portuguese out. Ronaldo scored once, just as he did in Euro 2008, a tournament in which his side were knocked out in the quarter finals. Far from impressive, but unlike Messi he isn't surrounded by talent.

So, who's best?

I believe the better player is Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi is by far the best dribbler, not just between the two, but in the world. However I feel that Ronaldo is the more complete player. How often does Messi score a powerful header or a 30 yard free-kick? How often does Messi score long range goals such as Ronaldo's for Man Utd against FC Porto? Not very often, Messi is by far the best around at what he does but Ronaldo has proven himself in both the Premier League (widely believed to be the toughest in the world) and on the international stage (reaching a World Cup semi-final in 2006). Messi hasn't. I also believe that the Argentine's lack of magic for his national team is down to who he is playing alongside. By this I am saying that Messi for Barcelona is playing with the best midfielders in the game, midfielders that are there to assist Messi each time he moves and take the pressure off him somewhat. At Man Utd and now Real Madrid, Ronaldo has been playing with world class players, but not players of the same calibre meaning he has to work harder to keep the ball. As soon as Messi leaves the team (for example when he goes to play for his national side) he doesn't have Xavi and Iniesta to look after him and his influence isn't as big.

Who would I prefer in Stoke's team?

Can't I have both? Again I would pick Ronaldo, as I've already said he has Premier League experience. Add to that he loves a physical match and his height would flourish with Stoke's style of play. Just like Messi, Ronaldo loves getting the ball into the box, a crosser of the ball is always welcome at the Britannia Stadium with players like Kenwyne Jones to aim for. Furthermore, Ronaldo has more strength than Messi, so if Pulis ever wants to play him at centre back (you know what he's like) he would have no problems there.