Looking at the long term I think United are in a far worse position than Chelsea, the club is absolutely rotten to the core - infected with a rot that has been festering and eating away at the club for over 10 years. While the Glazers have their parasitic stranglehold on the club that’s not going to change no matter how many managers come and go. There’s no plan either on the pitch or in the infrastructure itself and the club is just in total chaos and disarray.
At least with Chelsea you can see there’s a plan(ish) even if it isn’t quite coming to fruition yet - they have a talented group of young players to build for the future around, I feel like they play well enough but they’re just struggling to convert the chances they create. With a decent, consistent striker I feel like Chelsea could easily get back to being regular top 4 finishers over the next few years.
I feel like in Ronaldinho’s case the problem is longevity. Watching Ronnie in his prime was like watching a master magician at work - his unrivalled ball control, dribbling and tricks were awe inspiring and left people dumbfounded wondering how the hell he could have pulled off some of the outrageous stuff he did with the ball at his feet. I think the thing I really enjoyed most about watching him play was the fact that he never seemed to take it too seriously and just seemed to have fun - almost like a kid playing in the garden with their buddies. He was essentially the epitome of what Brazilian football is, or at least was, about.
At the time of his prime he was actually considered by some to be the best player of all time. After 2006 though he just kinda started to drop off.
Neymar I feel had a similar talent but since leaving Barca for PSG his career has just been plagued by inconsistency and I just feel like he never really fully realised that potential he once had. No doubt he’s a fantastic player but he could’ve been so much more.
Messi is just literally everything you could possibly want in an attacking football player. Playmaker, goalscorer he’s got it all. The full package. Even at 36 and after doing it for as long as he has he’s still doing his thing and doesn’t even look like he’s lost a beat in all of them years.
All of them are talented players in their own way but Messi’s longevity and consistency over an extremely long and decorated career is what sets him above the others imo.