Top English Premier League TV pundit and journalist Andy
"Biaised Manchester United/England" Gray has sensationally remarked
that Barcelona’s
World Player of the Year Lionel
Messi would struggle to cope with the rigours of the English
Premier League, and believes he could not cut it away at Stoke
City.
The Sky Sports host, who enjoyed spells with Aston Villa
and Everton during his playing career, was discussing the 2010
Ballon d’Or nominees during Monday evening’s broadcast of
Manchester City versus Everton.
When asked by co-presenter Richard Keys whether he felt Messi and
Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo would be capable of scoring so
prolifically in England, Gray stated his belief that the Argentine
would "struggle in a cold night at the Britiannia Stadium",
referring to the home of top-flight side Stoke City. He added that
"Barcelona would struggle in the EPL as they've never played the
likes of Stoke."
The 55-year-old also claimed that La Liga, when compared to its
English equivalent, did not have the same depth of quality, hinting
that Ronaldo and Messi would labour to score as consistently,
despite the former scoring 31 goals in 34 matches for Manchester
United in the 2007-08 season.
Furthermore, on Ronaldo, Gray criticised the decision to omit the
Portuguese from the final of the Ballon d’Or, but added that he
"would not be the player that he is today had he not played in
English football".
Gray's remarks have caused quite a stir around the world, and the
SKY pundit has been heavily criticised on social networking sites
such as facebook and twitter.