You just hate him cause he's a gypsy... :P


Comparing a player 7-8 years removed from his prime to a player in his prime basing on the current sales of their jerseys is just wrong. Even if Pirlo is still easily the better player (Rooney's carrier has been going nowhere for years). It's like saying Lady Gaga is more famous than Elvis, cause she has more songs on hit lists.

I mean - compare Pirlo's achievement and trophies to the... complete lack of achievements and trophies on Rooney's part. The only trophy that Andrea failed to win thus far is the European Champioship (his Italy finished 2nd in 2012). He has won every single other thing (World Cup, Champions League at least twice and all less important cups) - Rooney will never get remotely close. So even if Wayne is more known in USA now, and they are on par in Europe, Andrea is already a legend and will always be famous, while Rooney will fade pretty fast because he leaves no legacy whatsoever.


Pirlo > Rooney is a nobrainer.

I think it is also a fact that Rooney was just very popular for a short amount of time,(like really popular),  while Pirlo was an established name since the start of this century.

Pirlo's career has produced some great trophies but so what? They are trophies produced as part of the team, not on his own. It's much to reason why I got confused as to why Franck Robery was voted for Ballon d'Or along side Messi and Ronaldo. It's meant to be a personal award yet he popped up because of the trophies Bayern Munich won.

 Rooney and Pirlo play in different positions and can both be considered great for their perspective roles. Rooney's still only 28 so a long way to go to catch up to Pirlo's 34 and it is in his 30s he helped Italy to do so well. Yet, lack of support in the case of English achievements in touraments and a more competative Premier League should not drag Rooney down. 

You are so underplaying the guy. Every cup in football is a team effort - that's obvious, but you know what he did in the World Cup they won? First - scored 2 goals in the game that sent them to the tournament. First game of the event - scored the opening goal and had an assist on the second one (they won 2:0) - was Man of the Match. Second game - had an assist, the game was a 1-1 draw with USA. In the legendary semi-final for ages with Germany he assisted on the opening goal and was chosen the Man of the Match. In the final he executed the free kick that produced the equalizer for Italy, he scored his penalty and was chosen Man of the Match. Team effort? Sure. But you can't downplay the guys who made the difference when it mattered most, especialy when we're talking about a playmaker - the brain of the team. He was the X factor. He can still even today be considered the best active freekick executor and is a top playmaker in the business. Rooney? It's painful to watch him. Wayne had 2, maybe 3 good seasons, but he hasn't shown anything spectacular for years and now is more like a celebrity than a superstar. In fact I totally expect his England not to make it out of the group round in the World Cup this year. And they happen to play Italy in their opener, so we all will be able to see just what these two guys can do :)

As to EPL being more competitive - the league is very much overrated. Serie A is in a low right now, but there were seasons a couple years ago (when both these guys were active) when it was the stronger league of the two (just like Primera División is by far the best league currently). Premier League, Primera División and Serie A are the top 3 leagues in the world and should be put on par, playing in Premier League gives Rooney no handicap. Both these guys are the leaders of their clubs and national teams, so their achievements tell a lot about them.

He's a great football player of the greatest football team ever, but this time he's obviously wrong, between the wheel and PS there is the PC. But hey, we can't demand football players' brains to grok the PC.

Remove 'after the wheel'.

No doubt Rooney is extremely popular, but Pirlo is a much better player than rooney.
The only time Rooney was good was when Ronaldo was giving him tap-ins. Apart from that, he scores the odd wondergoal, but he has no consistency. He had to cry like a baby and threaten to quit just because he got replaced by a better player (RVP). His popularity is the only reason he is on 300k and because of the commercial revenue he brings to the club.
Pirlo has better technique, better tactical awareness, better skill, and is a better team player. The only advantage Rooney has is pace and thats fading away.

I believe that Rooney's fame isn't based on how well he plays, but it's the result of the British being so starved and craving for a top-class British player, that they simply overhyped the guy as much as they could.

Andrea Pirlo the legend kicked some azz in today's match.

Where was Rooney?

Yup.