Throughout his career, his number of assists were almost always the highest of his team. However, despite his talent and reputation as one of the most technically gifted and creative players of his generation, certain players, pundits and managers have questioned Laudrup's work rate, mentality, determination, and consistency throughout his career at times, in particular in his early career. His former Juventus teammate and admirer Michel Platini, for example, once said, "[Laudrup]'s the greatest player in the world, in training," also describing him as "one of the biggest talents ever," while also lamenting that he "never used his talent to its fullest during matches." His former Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff described him as "One of the most difficult players [he had] worked with," adding: "When he gives 80–90% he is still by far the best, but I want 100%, and he rarely does that.""Laudrup – Et fodbolddynasti", Christian Mohr Boisen, In 1998, he stated: "Had Michael been born in a poor ghetto in Brazil or Argentina with the ball being his only way out of poverty he would today be recognised as the biggest genius of the game ever. He had all the abilities to reach it but lacked this ghetto-instinct, which could have driven him there."Ekstra Bladet. 27 August 1998 At Swansea in 2012, Alan Tate commented: "He is still the best player in training at [age] 48 years." This was echoed by Swansea player Danny Graham: "Laudrup was the best player in training by a mile. It was unreal." In addition to his playing ability, Laudrup was known for his good conduct on the pitch and he never received a red card in his career.
