“Mourinho is a good coach, Ronaldo is a great player” – Messi

Lionel Messi has granted an interview to a Barcelona-based media outfit, in which he spoke about Real Madrid’s duo of Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo, his team mate David Villa and the current Barcelona coach, Tito Vilanova. “He’s [Mourinho] a good coach who does his job. So is Cristiano Ronaldo, [who is] a great player,” Messi told todo-barcelona.net. “Villa is also a great guy that nobody can be wrong about.” The 25-year-old forward also praised Vilanova for continuing with the methods Pep Guardiola employed at the Camp Nou, before he departed in the summer. “[With Tito], you will see the same Barcelona from past seasons,” he added. “Our style of play will not change because Tito thinks like Pep in this regard. There is no change. “Pep left a mark on the history of football. He gave me the bonus of playing in different positions on the field and that’s something he did with the team. “He changed and reinforced the philosophy of playing good football, but with the perfect balance in defence and attack.”