I have played against the big England players - Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole. I never like to point out somebody because they are all great players with experience.
During my time playing for England we had Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes. They were world-class players playing for Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, all legends of the game.
Now in the U.S.A., a lot of great players come after their careers in Europe, like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, great players.
I looked at a lot of players - the legends from Chelsea - when I was at the academy and witnessed the first team winning trophies and major trophies. I wanted to take things from every part of their game. I wanted to follow in their footsteps. Players like Lampard, John Terry, Didier Drogba, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech... All of them really.
Honestly, I am a fan of the game like anyone else, so my favorite players' list is pretty big. But if we are to narrow it down to England, I have a lot of respect for Wayne Rooney and the things he has achieved for club and country.
He's a big player, and the big players score the big goals and make the big contributions in the big games. That's what determines a great player. That's what Steven Gerrard is.
I don't have to prepare any differently because it's Messi, because every day in training I am up against people like Rooney, Berbatov, Ronaldo, and Tevez, so you know what to do against big players.
Look, the reality is that people will pay more for a match when Wayne Rooney is playing than when I am playing. I will never expect to be paid the same as Wayne Rooney, because I am not Wayne Rooney. And there's no getting around that.
Of course, Steven Gerrard is one of only a few Liverpool players who never get left out by Rafa; and even he doesn't always get picked.
I hope maybe one day I can be like Wayne Rooney. Maybe then some young players will be proud to play against me. That would be amazing.
You look at the way some of the big English players in the past, like Rooney and David Beckham, have been criticised and you have to ask: 'What do you want these players to be?'
I've played lacrosse players, football players, basketball players. I think that's just because of how I'm built. I look young, and I'm also a big person.
I back all of my players, not only Wayne Rooney.
The best player I ever played against is Thierry Henry. He was something else; i've played against Rooney and Ronaldo and players like that but i think he was the best player ever to play in the Premier League
It is a great privilege for me to play at Man United, where great players like Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole have played.
Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney are both outstanding players.
The likes of Frank Lampard and John Terry at Chelsea, English players with proper status at a club, they're going to be like the dodo bird. Extinct.