Hernan Crespo explains why Lautaro Martinez is a better striker to have than Sergio Aguero, while Ronaldo wasn’t “given the same motivation” as Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Parma, Lazio, Milan, Inter and Chelsea star spoke to Sky Sport Italia about the current crop of strikers and how they measure up to his era.
Hernan Crespo explains why Lautaro Martinez is a better striker to have than Sergio Aguero, while Ronaldo wasn’t “given the same motivation” as Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Parma, Lazio, Milan, Inter and Chelsea star spoke to Sky Sport Italia about the current crop of strikers and how they measure up to his era.
“Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi have been fortunate that they pushed each other on, making each other better all the time to keep up. Ronaldo in my day was different. We probably didn’t give him the same motivation to keep raising the bar.
“Nobody can match Ronie, as the beauty of his movement, the creativity he used to get away from defenders, all that cannot be matched. I think CR7 created his career with enormous hard work, but he doesn’t have the creativity that Il Fenomeno did.”
Crespo was also asked to judge the latest Argentina forwards in Europe and was certainly impressed.
“We know Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala, while we’re getting to see what Lautaro Martinez can do. Lautaro could well be the new Sergio Aguero. He’s not as sharp in his dribbling, but he is more of a team player than Kun, who too often gets distracted and looks disinterested.
“Lautaro is always participating in the move, so he can play as a lone centre-forward or with another striker like Romelu Lukaku, even in a trident. I really like his mentality.”
Crespo had his best years in Serie A, but struggled at first to make his mark under Carlo Ancelotti.
“When I arrived at Lazio, Milan and Inter, I won’t say it was easier, but I did have less work to do because they were more attack-minded teams. The year that Parma sold Juan Sebastian Veron and Enrico Chiesa, I was left a bit isolated and had to create goals by dribbling past defenders. That season allowed me to become a more complete player.”