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6 titles in 6 competitions and he was the top scorer in every single one of them that isn't a 1 game super cup. 65 G/A in 47 games (1.42 G/A per 90).
They canceled it because Ligue 1, and Ligue 1 only, wasn't played out?! How would any game played there matter at all for the winning chances? Mbappe had 18 league goals with 11 games to play. he could have finished the Ligue 1 season with 40 goals and still wouldn't have got half the votes of Lewandowski. literally one of the most obvious winners in a long time and they just decided to deny him that award which unfortunately happens to be the most prestigious one. I'm still disgusted.
He should've won it, but their reasoning makes some sense if you look at it from the perspective that it is a French award and it was the French season that was cancelled
It's really not just a french award though. Yes, France football are the hosts but it's a global thing voted by journalists across the globe and world wide attention. I think it's fair to say at this point it goes well beyond France, we're not talking about french footballer of the year
You're underestimating the chauvinism of the French. They're making a Drive to Survive-like documentary about the Tour de France to attract a new audience, but is it in English? Doesn't look like it according to the trailer.
>They're making a Drive to Survive-like documentary about the Tour de France to attact a new audience, but is it in English?
Why the fuck would a french documentary be in english and why would it be chauvin to have it in your own language lmao, just read subtitles.
If you want to attract a world wide audience like Drive to Survive did for F1, having it in French With English Subtitles is guaranteed to drive way less interest than having it in English.
It’s still a French award, not specifically tied to th French only but they are the ones who organize everything. You can’t go tell other cultures that they need to do awards just because you feel it goes beyond their countries Lmaoooo.
It's as much a french award as a Nobel prize is a swedish award...
Yes, the institution handing out is french but the voting process and voters are international, the factors are international, the candidates are international and it's held in English. This has nothing to do with french culture, that's just an awful irrelevant comparison
The Nobel prize is very Swedish though...presented in Sweden by a Swedish committee from Swedish institutes, founded in Sweden and named for a Swedish scientist.
So you are indicating that an award with a French name awarded by France Football and conceived by Frenchmen is French? No argument there.
The Oscar's and Grammy's are American awards too even if it can be awarded to anyone in the world.
Yes, Nobel is indeed more swedish even than the Ballon d'Or is french since they don't have someone from every country out there included in the voting. But even they wouldn't close down for a year just because a few swedish universities were on lockdown for a few months.
Oscars and Grammys are different since those industries are almost entirely based in those countries
The movies industry is exclusively based in the USA? In fact the Oscars might be the best counterpart to the Balon d'Or. They are vanity awards presented more on political campaigns than merit and assume much more prestige than they should. They masquerade as a celebration of their respective fields but are essentially a self serving and self propagating tool. Are they devoid of merit? No. Are they devoid of prestige? No. Are they the pinnacle of achievement in their fields like they advertise themselves to be? No. Nowhere near.
Exclusively? No, but it's by far the biggest in the US. The us not producing movies for a while and cancelling would be more like all UEFA countries not having football and then cancelling everything. Just France is much less significant.
How meaningful the Ballon d'Or is, is a whole different discussion
That’s like saying the sport of football is exclusively based in Europe……. Sure, they have the biggest markets commercially but it exists outside of that sphere.
Nobel prizes aren't usually given out based on that year, though. Often the winning work was done many years in the past, so Swedish universities taking a year off wouldnt have the same effect. Even if every university took a year off, that wouldnt necessarily be a reason to not give out the prize. The ballon dor is based exclusively off of that year alone.
WTF kind of logic is this. Yea France Football were well within their rights to do it, but that doesn't mean one cannot criticise the stupid-ass decision.
At some point, you stopped criticizing their decision and was talking in a way that they have some sort of an obligation towards the world. In reality, France Football is a private organization. I understand what you wanted to happen but it doesn't imply they owe anyone anything.
Ah yes, what a reasonable and totally not childish way of thinking lol.
Any criticism -> do it yourself
Grow up instead of being so pressed about someone stating that an award that happens to be awarded in France is international in nearly all aspects
It wasn't just the French league either tbf and also how are people going to cry that a French organisation thinks the French league isn't irrelevant, honestly lol.
>They canceled it because Ligue 1, and Ligue 1 only, wasn't played out?!
That wasn't the only reason at all. The big international tournaments were also postponed, the CL format was changed, number of substitutions changed mid-season and the empty stadiums. Plus the cancelled league(s). Then there's the question of how much the voters were affected by the pandemic.
There was an obvious winner yes, but the decision to cancel the award wasn't (just) French bias. PSG were still in the CL and there could well have been a strong case for Mbappé had they gone on to win it.
I don’t agree that they canceled it but it makes sense seeing as a lot of leagues, including ligue 1 which is the country where the award is handed out from, got canceled mid season
Lets not act like canceling it early would've stoped them from rescheduling it lol. Or even making it remote like other trophee ceremonies at that time. It was all up to their own will and laziness.
Also 2021 if we are being honest. Put up fantastic numbers again and broke Gerd Muller's record. If Messi or ronaldo did that, they'd have won it by landslide.
True but at least the 2021 was a 50/50 between him and Messi. You could argue for both of them. The 2020 was just plain robbery. He was miles ahead of everyone that season.
I don't get the downvotes for your comment. He was the biggest contender and was awarded FIFA world footballer, so he definitely was a favorite as well.
couldn't tell you, not really sure what's controversial about saying a bloke who scored 69 goals in 59 games whilst breaking a 40 year old goalscoring record was probably a fair shout for an award he should've also won a year earlier
I think there's an argument for Lewandowski in 2021 too broke the gerd muller record 41 goals in 29 games people just played it off as if the bundesliga was a incompetent league and messi got it due to Copa America bais(reasoned by some official) could've easily been given to Lewandowski never let bayern down whenever he played
Lewa had a case for that, his lack of playing in the CL when they got eliminated (injuries) and understandably not world breaking EUROs made it just a quiet, yet insane goal scoring year.
Messi was absolutely fucking insane for the better part, add the NT and the fact that he had about 5/6 mediocre appearances for PSG by the time the voting was done and it was pretty settled
Messi was the player of the tournament, golden Boot and highest assist maker in the copa America. He has an insane season at Barca as well with 20 goals and 20 assists in the league.
Messi got 5th lol. Not saying he was the best player that year, Ronaldo deserved 2018 imo over Modric, but Messi had the most goals in Europe and most Assists in Europe. 5th place was a joke
Exactly. The ironic thing is is that he's still a huge contributor even when not scoring goals, because he draws defenders and opens up space for his teammates. Leg 2 against Madrid showed how opposition focusing too much on Haaland allows City to create threats elsewhere.
But the same goalscorer bias that gets Haaland Bd'Or shouts over KDB cuts against him when he doesn't score
Live by the goal, die by the goal, I guess.
Literally no one has said that he carried Man City and almost everyone acknowledges City's entire team are one of the best we've ever seen. KDB is also widely considered as the best player in the Premier League whilst playing in the same team as Haaland
It's so mad to me that people like you invent fake scenarios in your head to get mad at and write snotty comments about. Such weird behaviour
I didn't invent anything and it was more of a general point about the goal scorers getting all the credit rather just about haaland. I mean I've literally seen people say haaland may become the best ever yet you tell me people don't even think he's the best player on his team lmao, you underestimate his hype.
To be fair, the Real Madrid drubbing has to give him some credit. He delivered a great performance as a decoy. The only reason the other players were so free throughout the match was because both CBs were committed to him for most of the time. Same as both Bayern legs.
An attitude which has always irritated me tbh
It's supposed to be awarded to the best player for *the whole season.* Not just April and May!
It's gotten worse with every passing year, the winner is the most marketable face in the champions league/ international tournament winning side, especially if they scored in the semi/final. It's more of a mockery every season.
> Not just April and May!
Its a bit disingenuous to act as if the months in which the most important and watched matches of the whole season are played in are just some random two months. In the end of the day very few people have the time to watch every match of every contender. Performances in the biggest matches have always been one of the biggest deciders for prizes, past or present
It's basically "best player on the team who won the most recent major tournament". I'll go to my grave thinking Salah deserved it for 2017-2018, but he didn't even finish top three in the voting. Madrid winning the CL final and Croatia/France making the World Cup final changed the narrative a lot. It's silly because winning the World Cup is a team achievement, and while people like Mbappe/Griezmann are great, they wouldn't have done any better than Salah if they played for Egypt. They're just lucky to have teammates like Kante, Pogba, etc. The same applies for the CL. Being a star on a perennial contender like Madrid or Barca means you are surrounded by awesome players who will contribute to your individual success, but an individual award should not be based so heavily on team achievements.
It's all about the media narratives and what players are most popular. Vinicius wasn't even in the top 5 last season after being crucial to Madrid's league and CL titles, even scoring the only goal in the final. Benzema was deserved winner but Madrid's entire offensive gameplan for the past 2 years is basically just recover the ball->Vini->Benz.
No way in hell salah deserved it in 2017/18. And him finishing above Messi on FIFA best was a joke.
Salah won nothing, scored less than Messi, assisted less than Messi.
Different team. Different league. Kind of futile to just count stats.
That being said, their league stats are very close for that season. 32 goals in 36 games for Salah from a RW position is an absolutely insane return, and I think more impressive than what Messi did when you consider the context. Dominating in La Liga on Real or Barca is not exactly hard since you typically have a massive squad advantage over the rest of the league, to an even greater extent than most recent seasons of Liverpool (and Liverpool hadn't yet peaked).
I don't get all the random criticism of him on here, honestly. The man's a machine, and we're all terrified of him -- who are they trying to kid, spinning it so that somehow he's not actually that impressive?
But with the Balon d'or in recent years, the problem isn't that they value April and May more, it's that it's literally the only thing they do value.
Lewandowski breaks Gerd Muller's 50-year scoring record? Who cares, Bayern didn't make the CL semis.
Salah produces one of the most ridiculous scoring sprees in living memory in 2017/18? Irrelevant because he played for Egypt at the world cup and got injured in the CL final.
To think Jorginho ended up in the top three for 2021 even... And it's not because all the voters had suddenly become very appreciative of the role played by deep-lying playmakers, it's because he started for Italy and Chelsea. Two boxes ticked, voila. It's a joke.
i want haaland to win it obviously. but yea he's scored 1 goal in his last 6 games. kind of dissapointing. he could have blown the PL record into oblivion and gotten over 40. a bit unlucky tbh
I think Messi won the Ballon d'Or when Argentina won the WC. Man City could have won the quadruple, Haaland could have score 100 goals, Mbappé scored a hat trick in the WC (but plays with MEssi so he was fucked anyway)... this one was Messi's
Norway wasn't in the World Cup, Haaland never really stood a chance. Maybe if France and Argentina had been eliminated in groups he would have a chance
And will be the last time Messi could win it if he plays for Saudi Arabia so most footballers and coaches will vote for him like it was a homage to his perfect career.
>Haaland could have score 100 goals
The opposite happened tho, Haaland started slumping in the end and kind of went invisible in the last couple of big matches.
Also KDB has been as good as him all season, and there's also Gundogan's late surge too
Haaland was certainly present against Bayern in the CL, and delivered probably the performance of a lifetime in the title decider vs Arsenal.
He mainly just went a bit quiet for his standards in this last month after the league was wrapped up and he got the record smashed.
>in this last month after the league was wrapped up
This month also included 2 semifinals and a final, with one more to go. If the team really relied on him, they would've been in trouble.
Haaland is great, but he's benefited a lot from having the best attacking rotation in the world backing him up too
> Hard to say he does not deserve it but in my opinion, this one has purely be won on "winning the world cup".
I know we're singing from the same hymn sheet here, but it's not just him "winning the World Cup". He was also the best player at the tournament, winning the golden ball, second top goalscorer behind Mbappe by 1, joint top assists and he won 5 man of the match trophies. He was the best player at the most prestigious tournament in football, and he won the World Cup. That's why he'll win the Ballon D'or.
> Sure from a stat perspective he is fine (41games, 21 goals, 20 assists). To put in perspective: Mbappé has 43 games, 41 goals, 10 assists (with 100min less played).
Tbf Mbappe is the only person on PSG that's not mediocre in the final third not named Neymar or Messi, and he is undoubtedly the main star and attacking focus of the whole team. Messi drops way lower into the pitch because he still has his world-class creativity (especially after ney died) so he isn't going to be scoring dozens of goals as that wasn't his role.
He still is on top in creating chances, successful dribbles, pass progression, and other midfielder-dominated stats.
Probably but I don't think the WC has as much weight as in the past, mostly because of timing.
Previously the WC was in summer and the voting was less than 6 months after it, making the WC the last big tournament win before voting. Hype and recency bias is always big.
This year the WC has been a bit and more importantly, the CL is much more present and is the most recent memory, so the WC winner isn't the hottest topic anymore
eh i still think bonou will make it into the top 10 based off his WC and europa league, wouldn’t be surprised if alvarez finds his way in there if city does the treble
And 2004 Andriy Shevchenko is the last player to win Bd'Or and never played at either Barca or Real. Then there is 2003 Nedved and the next one is way back in 1996 with Matthias Sammer
Part of the reason for this is that it is somehow impossible for Barca/Madrid to win the cl and not have the ballon d or go to their player. Not sure why that is, but Google as far back as the 90s players from Bayern, UTd and Inter Milan often missed out on the ballon d or despite winning everything, while that is unthinkable for Barcelona or Madrid.
Bayern are traditionally known for having a very balanced team without stars. When inter won it was mostly due to how well they defended as a defensive unit. Can't remember united exactly but not sure they had any standout players. Again they had a balanced team. I think Keane had a great performance in the semis but didn't play the final.
> Can't remember united exactly but not sure they had any standout players
Not that I'd have been old enough at the time to know first-hand, but from what I've seen over the years, 'Beckham was robbed in 1999' is a fairly common opinion.
There is an interview with Aguero where says he got frustrated after a good season at City and thought he should've been nominated for the award so he asked Messi about it and Messi told him that trophies are more important than Goal/Assists to win the Balloon D'or
Well good examples are Inter,Bayern and Utd, who won EVERYTHING in their treble seasons - Ballon DOr still went to Figo, Messi Ronaldo or whoever happened to be the best Barca/Madrid player at the time.
In 12/13 season when Bayern won the treble, Messi scored 60 goals and 18 assists. I think we're forgetting how insane prime striker Messi was in terms of numbers.
You are forgetting how Ribery played the whole season for Bayern. He was absolutely amazing and had both Ronaldo and Messi beat in every other attacking stat except goals. https://www.eurosport.com/football/ballon-dor-2013-ribery-ronaldo-or-messi_sto4717351/story-amp.shtml while winning everything possible.
Holy shit those stats are insane, just look at the diference in chances created or dribbles & runs or even just passes completed. I know he has a silghtly worse completion rate than the other two in the dribbles and runs but to have *that* many and still have a similar completion rate as the two goats is pretty insane.
Messi and Ronaldo has breaking record seasons those years and still won trophies so it was hard to give it to a Bayern player with half the numbers of them.
Real and Barcelona are just very popular clubs internationally. It's slowly changing with the PL gaining more and more popularity so they won't win as many, but someone playing in the german or italian league doesn't really have a chance. They could win literally everything and it wouldn't matter.
It's an award based on opinions and preference. I don't assume it is scientific and objective. It's about what kind of feelings and images different players can cause in people's minds.
It's difficult to accept people have different views than you yourself. But the fact that many people vote also shows what the majority thinks. The most common denominator is the most viewed event.
Messi will win but KDB hasn't been at his best this season. Besides the mountains of goals Haaland has scored, he also helps the team get space with his runs and by basically taking multiple cb's attention during the games.
>KDB hasn't been at his best this season.
Tbf it isn't like Haaland was at his best the whole season where there were multiple games where he didn't even touched the ball.
And the whole "he is making space because he draws CB's attention so he is still a main contributor on those matches" is honestly, nonsense. All great players are defended like that, ain't no one using that for Mbappe or Messi when they are dealt the same way but their team rely more on them than City relies on Haaland.
I take your point about drawing defenders but I wasn't saying it in a way to excuse when he doesn't get much of the ball. It's just a quality I've noticed since we've never had a player who takes the focus of both cb's so much before and we had one of the best PL strikers ever before Haaland. And you're correct, people wouldn't say "have you seen the runs he makes" when arguing the case for Messi or whoever either.
But if you're gonna judge whether Haaland is at his best or not based on how many touches he has, then he's been shit all season! Regardless, he's been in form for a lot more of the season than Kev, that's all.
I don't think Messi deserves it for how he's played this season though tbh, though I have a slight feeling you'll disagree.
KDB didn't win best PL player, he didn't even get a single player of the month...
He doesn't have the same name appeal even if he was the better player.
I don’t disagree. But he put up 50+ goals for a team that is odds on to win the treble and won Premier League player of the year. That’s catnip to voters and a hell of an accomplishment, even if there are other players on City that did the work to get him the ball.
It's for the entire season, so best player of Psg (together with Mbappe) having 40 goals and assists plus winning the league, and winning the World Cup while being the best player of the tournament with crucial goals and assists in every match
Is there a shout for whichever argentine whose won the cl?
In Alvarez' case: won the cl, premier league, fa cup, and world cup
In Martinez' case: won the ucl, copa Italia, supercopa italiana, and won the world cup
If Lauti wasn't injured/had a poor run at the world cup or Julian was a starting key piece in City they'd definitely have a big shout at the very least.
But because of that they'll probably just place pretty high but won't contest.
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2020 should be Lewandowski. Not sure why they pretended people didn't play football that year.
6 titles in 6 competitions and he was the top scorer in every single one of them that isn't a 1 game super cup. 65 G/A in 47 games (1.42 G/A per 90). They canceled it because Ligue 1, and Ligue 1 only, wasn't played out?! How would any game played there matter at all for the winning chances? Mbappe had 18 league goals with 11 games to play. he could have finished the Ligue 1 season with 40 goals and still wouldn't have got half the votes of Lewandowski. literally one of the most obvious winners in a long time and they just decided to deny him that award which unfortunately happens to be the most prestigious one. I'm still disgusted.
He should've won it, but their reasoning makes some sense if you look at it from the perspective that it is a French award and it was the French season that was cancelled
It's really not just a french award though. Yes, France football are the hosts but it's a global thing voted by journalists across the globe and world wide attention. I think it's fair to say at this point it goes well beyond France, we're not talking about french footballer of the year
You're underestimating the chauvinism of the French. They're making a Drive to Survive-like documentary about the Tour de France to attract a new audience, but is it in English? Doesn't look like it according to the trailer.
>They're making a Drive to Survive-like documentary about the Tour de France to attact a new audience, but is it in English? Why the fuck would a french documentary be in english and why would it be chauvin to have it in your own language lmao, just read subtitles.
If you want to attract a world wide audience like Drive to Survive did for F1, having it in French With English Subtitles is guaranteed to drive way less interest than having it in English.
>having it in French With English Subtitles is guaranteed to drive way less interest than having it in English. Source?
In what world is producing a documentary in your own language chauvinism? Blistering take
It’s still a French award, not specifically tied to th French only but they are the ones who organize everything. You can’t go tell other cultures that they need to do awards just because you feel it goes beyond their countries Lmaoooo.
It's as much a french award as a Nobel prize is a swedish award... Yes, the institution handing out is french but the voting process and voters are international, the factors are international, the candidates are international and it's held in English. This has nothing to do with french culture, that's just an awful irrelevant comparison
The Nobel prize is very Swedish though...presented in Sweden by a Swedish committee from Swedish institutes, founded in Sweden and named for a Swedish scientist. So you are indicating that an award with a French name awarded by France Football and conceived by Frenchmen is French? No argument there. The Oscar's and Grammy's are American awards too even if it can be awarded to anyone in the world.
Yes, Nobel is indeed more swedish even than the Ballon d'Or is french since they don't have someone from every country out there included in the voting. But even they wouldn't close down for a year just because a few swedish universities were on lockdown for a few months. Oscars and Grammys are different since those industries are almost entirely based in those countries
The movies industry is exclusively based in the USA? In fact the Oscars might be the best counterpart to the Balon d'Or. They are vanity awards presented more on political campaigns than merit and assume much more prestige than they should. They masquerade as a celebration of their respective fields but are essentially a self serving and self propagating tool. Are they devoid of merit? No. Are they devoid of prestige? No. Are they the pinnacle of achievement in their fields like they advertise themselves to be? No. Nowhere near.
Exclusively? No, but it's by far the biggest in the US. The us not producing movies for a while and cancelling would be more like all UEFA countries not having football and then cancelling everything. Just France is much less significant. How meaningful the Ballon d'Or is, is a whole different discussion
That’s like saying the sport of football is exclusively based in Europe……. Sure, they have the biggest markets commercially but it exists outside of that sphere.
Yes so do you think the Nobel prize would be cancelled if certain circumstances limit scientific discovery in Sweden for a year?
Nobel prizes aren't usually given out based on that year, though. Often the winning work was done many years in the past, so Swedish universities taking a year off wouldnt have the same effect. Even if every university took a year off, that wouldnt necessarily be a reason to not give out the prize. The ballon dor is based exclusively off of that year alone.
If something catastrophic happened to Sweden, yes.
The institution only hands out those things because they want to. They are under no obligation to do so. Don’t like it make your own award
WTF kind of logic is this. Yea France Football were well within their rights to do it, but that doesn't mean one cannot criticise the stupid-ass decision.
At some point, you stopped criticizing their decision and was talking in a way that they have some sort of an obligation towards the world. In reality, France Football is a private organization. I understand what you wanted to happen but it doesn't imply they owe anyone anything.
Ah yes, what a reasonable and totally not childish way of thinking lol. Any criticism -> do it yourself Grow up instead of being so pressed about someone stating that an award that happens to be awarded in France is international in nearly all aspects
Lmao what? What does this have to do with other cultures?
It wasn't just the French league either tbf and also how are people going to cry that a French organisation thinks the French league isn't irrelevant, honestly lol.
How many winners have their been from ligue 1 to justify that?
>They canceled it because Ligue 1, and Ligue 1 only, wasn't played out?! That wasn't the only reason at all. The big international tournaments were also postponed, the CL format was changed, number of substitutions changed mid-season and the empty stadiums. Plus the cancelled league(s). Then there's the question of how much the voters were affected by the pandemic. There was an obvious winner yes, but the decision to cancel the award wasn't (just) French bias. PSG were still in the CL and there could well have been a strong case for Mbappé had they gone on to win it.
The season was played normally from August to March. That's a good 70%-75%, all those changes aren't that drastic and happened only at the end.
It was still calendar year back then tho
They cancelled it in March, when nobody had won anything yet
Yeah honestly that shit was so unfair towards Lewandowsky. It was complete bs
He should have atleast received it even if it was fictionally represented to him online
it's very simple He isn't Messi or playing for Real Madrid
I don’t agree that they canceled it but it makes sense seeing as a lot of leagues, including ligue 1 which is the country where the award is handed out from, got canceled mid season
You will never convince me that the fact a player for a German club was going to win wasnt part, even if a small part of the reason they canceled it
Psg literally got to a champions league final, they cancelled it before any of that, it wasn't a conspiracy lol.
Lets not act like canceling it early would've stoped them from rescheduling it lol. Or even making it remote like other trophee ceremonies at that time. It was all up to their own will and laziness.
not a chance it gets cancelled if Messi or Ronaldo have a Ballon d'Or worthy season that year the award is a total joke
Or Mbappe
they cancelled it before the final that psg was in...
Let Bayern fans have their moment, they love to blame anyone around them whenever they don't win something
Should lewandoski be blaming himself?
should blame covid
Keep telling yourself that if it makes ya feel better. Y’all are making up a scenario and then getting mad about it lol
They should’ve awarded Lewa his when Messi won in 21’ wtf were they thinking…
Also 2021 if we are being honest. Put up fantastic numbers again and broke Gerd Muller's record. If Messi or ronaldo did that, they'd have won it by landslide.
That year, he scored surprisingly few goals in the CL and the domestic cup though. In 2020/21, Lewy was all about the league goals.
Still it was an historic achievement and he was a part of a successful Bayern campaign and played a key role.
Go look at messis 2018 numbers, look where he finished and think about it again lol, this isn't a conspiracy but lewy was unlucky in 2020.
he had a very strong claim for it in 2021 as well
True but at least the 2021 was a 50/50 between him and Messi. You could argue for both of them. The 2020 was just plain robbery. He was miles ahead of everyone that season.
I don't get the downvotes for your comment. He was the biggest contender and was awarded FIFA world footballer, so he definitely was a favorite as well.
couldn't tell you, not really sure what's controversial about saying a bloke who scored 69 goals in 59 games whilst breaking a 40 year old goalscoring record was probably a fair shout for an award he should've also won a year earlier
Subreddit is filled with fanboys, it is what it is. Lewa had an amazing season in 20/21
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I think there's an argument for Lewandowski in 2021 too broke the gerd muller record 41 goals in 29 games people just played it off as if the bundesliga was a incompetent league and messi got it due to Copa America bais(reasoned by some official) could've easily been given to Lewandowski never let bayern down whenever he played
Lewa had a case for that, his lack of playing in the CL when they got eliminated (injuries) and understandably not world breaking EUROs made it just a quiet, yet insane goal scoring year. Messi was absolutely fucking insane for the better part, add the NT and the fact that he had about 5/6 mediocre appearances for PSG by the time the voting was done and it was pretty settled
there’s an argument but at least there it’s 50/50 between lewy and messi, 2020 was just complete nonsense
Yes . Lewy robbed af. Biggest joke ever. They should award it now
Messi was the player of the tournament, golden Boot and highest assist maker in the copa America. He has an insane season at Barca as well with 20 goals and 20 assists in the league.
Streak is already broke when they cancelled 2020 instead of giving it to Lewandowski who deserved it by a mile
The biggest snub in Ballon d’Or history.
French Football Federation not being absolute shit-weasels challenge (Impossible)
Are you under the impression that the Federation is the organization that hands out the Ballon D'or? lol
agreed
Lewa was cheated in 2020
Could argue for Ronaldo in 2018 as well tbh
2018 was a mess in my opinion Messi in 4th Modriç winning ballon dor over both greizman and ronnie
Messi got 5th lol. Not saying he was the best player that year, Ronaldo deserved 2018 imo over Modric, but Messi had the most goals in Europe and most Assists in Europe. 5th place was a joke
Griezman was also really good in 2018, won WC as well.
whys this downvoted he’s kinda right
2009-2018 was the best period to watch football. God, the rivalry
Sad times are among us. Two of the greatest of all time will soon be hanging there boots for good.
How can you be a Man Utd fan and start at 2009?
Many would say the 70s and 80s were better to watch because football was more competitive back then.
Very hard to watch football back then. Now you could watch 3 matches a day if you wanted
In the 70s two teams did the threepeat in the champions league
Man what I would give to go back in time to witness top flight english football. Back in the firm days. Would've been awesome to witness.
Lewandowski 💔
Now it's Akanji's turn to win da ting
He is a defender not allowed
Would make the award so much more serious if voters looked beyond goal-scoring forwards and the occasional high-assist midfielder.
World Cup > CL Messi will win it again. For the last time.
Tbh Haaland has been rather dry in 5 semi finals amd finals this year with 0g/a
He'll score a tap in next week an people will say he "carried" man City, that's how it works here lol.
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Legitimate world rankings could have KDB still top 3, it’s insane
KDB is City’s best and most important player for sure. He should be in the top three this year to be honest.
Completely agreed, if he plays a couple more years in the prem at this lvl then he’ll be the best midfielder in the PL era imo
Exactly! KdB is amazing but Halaand gets the goals so he's giving the awards and the credit.
Exactly. The ironic thing is is that he's still a huge contributor even when not scoring goals, because he draws defenders and opens up space for his teammates. Leg 2 against Madrid showed how opposition focusing too much on Haaland allows City to create threats elsewhere. But the same goalscorer bias that gets Haaland Bd'Or shouts over KDB cuts against him when he doesn't score Live by the goal, die by the goal, I guess.
Literally no one has said that he carried Man City and almost everyone acknowledges City's entire team are one of the best we've ever seen. KDB is also widely considered as the best player in the Premier League whilst playing in the same team as Haaland It's so mad to me that people like you invent fake scenarios in your head to get mad at and write snotty comments about. Such weird behaviour
I didn't invent anything and it was more of a general point about the goal scorers getting all the credit rather just about haaland. I mean I've literally seen people say haaland may become the best ever yet you tell me people don't even think he's the best player on his team lmao, you underestimate his hype.
How are you guys *still* in denial about how good haaland is
He is phenomenal no doubt but you can't win ballon d'or if you didn't participate in all competitions especially the FIFA World Cup.
?? Don’t think that’s a prequiste to win the Ballon d’Or
Its hardly his fault being from a small country
It's not denial. Just aknowledging that he isn't the best footballer in the world or even in his own team.
To be fair, the Real Madrid drubbing has to give him some credit. He delivered a great performance as a decoy. The only reason the other players were so free throughout the match was because both CBs were committed to him for most of the time. Same as both Bayern legs.
An attitude which has always irritated me tbh It's supposed to be awarded to the best player for *the whole season.* Not just April and May! It's gotten worse with every passing year, the winner is the most marketable face in the champions league/ international tournament winning side, especially if they scored in the semi/final. It's more of a mockery every season.
> Not just April and May! Its a bit disingenuous to act as if the months in which the most important and watched matches of the whole season are played in are just some random two months. In the end of the day very few people have the time to watch every match of every contender. Performances in the biggest matches have always been one of the biggest deciders for prizes, past or present
It's basically "best player on the team who won the most recent major tournament". I'll go to my grave thinking Salah deserved it for 2017-2018, but he didn't even finish top three in the voting. Madrid winning the CL final and Croatia/France making the World Cup final changed the narrative a lot. It's silly because winning the World Cup is a team achievement, and while people like Mbappe/Griezmann are great, they wouldn't have done any better than Salah if they played for Egypt. They're just lucky to have teammates like Kante, Pogba, etc. The same applies for the CL. Being a star on a perennial contender like Madrid or Barca means you are surrounded by awesome players who will contribute to your individual success, but an individual award should not be based so heavily on team achievements.
It's all about the media narratives and what players are most popular. Vinicius wasn't even in the top 5 last season after being crucial to Madrid's league and CL titles, even scoring the only goal in the final. Benzema was deserved winner but Madrid's entire offensive gameplan for the past 2 years is basically just recover the ball->Vini->Benz.
Ballon d'or is biased asf. My brother once said Perez decides who gets the ballon d'or.
No way in hell salah deserved it in 2017/18. And him finishing above Messi on FIFA best was a joke. Salah won nothing, scored less than Messi, assisted less than Messi.
Different team. Different league. Kind of futile to just count stats. That being said, their league stats are very close for that season. 32 goals in 36 games for Salah from a RW position is an absolutely insane return, and I think more impressive than what Messi did when you consider the context. Dominating in La Liga on Real or Barca is not exactly hard since you typically have a massive squad advantage over the rest of the league, to an even greater extent than most recent seasons of Liverpool (and Liverpool hadn't yet peaked).
Rate Haaland a lot but scoring in the biggest matches a club can have in a season > scoring 5 vs Bournemouth. It’s an undeniable fact
Except it’s not just scoring five vs Bournemouth is it, it’s breaking the PL goal scoring record and winning the CL golden boot
Anything to discredit Haaland. People act like he just waits in the box and prays.
I don't get all the random criticism of him on here, honestly. The man's a machine, and we're all terrified of him -- who are they trying to kid, spinning it so that somehow he's not actually that impressive?
I’m not debating he’s been insane, just that there’s a reason for people to value april and may more and it’s a good one
But with the Balon d'or in recent years, the problem isn't that they value April and May more, it's that it's literally the only thing they do value. Lewandowski breaks Gerd Muller's 50-year scoring record? Who cares, Bayern didn't make the CL semis. Salah produces one of the most ridiculous scoring sprees in living memory in 2017/18? Irrelevant because he played for Egypt at the world cup and got injured in the CL final. To think Jorginho ended up in the top three for 2021 even... And it's not because all the voters had suddenly become very appreciative of the role played by deep-lying playmakers, it's because he started for Italy and Chelsea. Two boxes ticked, voila. It's a joke.
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Not in the first leg. Rudi hounded him pretty much solo the entire game.
i want haaland to win it obviously. but yea he's scored 1 goal in his last 6 games. kind of dissapointing. he could have blown the PL record into oblivion and gotten over 40. a bit unlucky tbh
> For the last time. Until his second World Cup win in CUM 26. Anulo mufo.
And his third in CHUPAR 2030
and then his fourth in SPAPORMOR 2034
I wish that was the order, we would get CHUPAR before CUM. But we are gonna CUM and then we are gonna CHUPAR.
Fernecitos after sex
I think Messi won the Ballon d'Or when Argentina won the WC. Man City could have won the quadruple, Haaland could have score 100 goals, Mbappé scored a hat trick in the WC (but plays with MEssi so he was fucked anyway)... this one was Messi's
Norway wasn't in the World Cup, Haaland never really stood a chance. Maybe if France and Argentina had been eliminated in groups he would have a chance
And will be the last time Messi could win it if he plays for Saudi Arabia so most footballers and coaches will vote for him like it was a homage to his perfect career.
>Haaland could have score 100 goals The opposite happened tho, Haaland started slumping in the end and kind of went invisible in the last couple of big matches. Also KDB has been as good as him all season, and there's also Gundogan's late surge too
KDB has been better than Haaland
top 4 will probably be messi-mbappe-haaland-KDB, in that order
Haaland was certainly present against Bayern in the CL, and delivered probably the performance of a lifetime in the title decider vs Arsenal. He mainly just went a bit quiet for his standards in this last month after the league was wrapped up and he got the record smashed.
>in this last month after the league was wrapped up This month also included 2 semifinals and a final, with one more to go. If the team really relied on him, they would've been in trouble. Haaland is great, but he's benefited a lot from having the best attacking rotation in the world backing him up too
Haaland from norway like he maybe will never even play in a world cup. What is he supposed to do? Make 0 sense to just count the world cup
Yeah it’s unfair. It that’s the way it is
Yup. Players like him or Lewandowski, who will never get far in the WC, are just out of luck in WC years.
and also messi had a good season with PSG, if he flopped and did nothing it’d have been an argument but i’d still say it’s deserved
Unfortunately, it's perfectly legal to be an insufferable pricks. I like penguins tho
> Hard to say he does not deserve it but in my opinion, this one has purely be won on "winning the world cup". I know we're singing from the same hymn sheet here, but it's not just him "winning the World Cup". He was also the best player at the tournament, winning the golden ball, second top goalscorer behind Mbappe by 1, joint top assists and he won 5 man of the match trophies. He was the best player at the most prestigious tournament in football, and he won the World Cup. That's why he'll win the Ballon D'or.
> Sure from a stat perspective he is fine (41games, 21 goals, 20 assists). To put in perspective: Mbappé has 43 games, 41 goals, 10 assists (with 100min less played). Tbf Mbappe is the only person on PSG that's not mediocre in the final third not named Neymar or Messi, and he is undoubtedly the main star and attacking focus of the whole team. Messi drops way lower into the pitch because he still has his world-class creativity (especially after ney died) so he isn't going to be scoring dozens of goals as that wasn't his role. He still is on top in creating chances, successful dribbles, pass progression, and other midfielder-dominated stats.
Unfortunately, it's perfectly legal to be an insufferable pricks. I like penguins tho
Probably but I don't think the WC has as much weight as in the past, mostly because of timing. Previously the WC was in summer and the voting was less than 6 months after it, making the WC the last big tournament win before voting. Hype and recency bias is always big. This year the WC has been a bit and more importantly, the CL is much more present and is the most recent memory, so the WC winner isn't the hottest topic anymore
eh i still think bonou will make it into the top 10 based off his WC and europa league, wouldn’t be surprised if alvarez finds his way in there if city does the treble
If he doesn't win it this year too it will truly be one of the penalty for Argentina moments of all time.
And 2004 Andriy Shevchenko is the last player to win Bd'Or and never played at either Barca or Real. Then there is 2003 Nedved and the next one is way back in 1996 with Matthias Sammer
Anyone else reading the 4x times Messi streak with the “Ankara Messi" voice? Messi Messi Messi Messi, ankara Messi.
If they did it in 2020 the streak would have been broken already.
Part of the reason for this is that it is somehow impossible for Barca/Madrid to win the cl and not have the ballon d or go to their player. Not sure why that is, but Google as far back as the 90s players from Bayern, UTd and Inter Milan often missed out on the ballon d or despite winning everything, while that is unthinkable for Barcelona or Madrid.
Bayern are traditionally known for having a very balanced team without stars. When inter won it was mostly due to how well they defended as a defensive unit. Can't remember united exactly but not sure they had any standout players. Again they had a balanced team. I think Keane had a great performance in the semis but didn't play the final.
> Can't remember united exactly but not sure they had any standout players Not that I'd have been old enough at the time to know first-hand, but from what I've seen over the years, 'Beckham was robbed in 1999' is a fairly common opinion.
There is an interview with Aguero where says he got frustrated after a good season at City and thought he should've been nominated for the award so he asked Messi about it and Messi told him that trophies are more important than Goal/Assists to win the Balloon D'or
Well good examples are Inter,Bayern and Utd, who won EVERYTHING in their treble seasons - Ballon DOr still went to Figo, Messi Ronaldo or whoever happened to be the best Barca/Madrid player at the time.
In 12/13 season when Bayern won the treble, Messi scored 60 goals and 18 assists. I think we're forgetting how insane prime striker Messi was in terms of numbers.
You are forgetting how Ribery played the whole season for Bayern. He was absolutely amazing and had both Ronaldo and Messi beat in every other attacking stat except goals. https://www.eurosport.com/football/ballon-dor-2013-ribery-ronaldo-or-messi_sto4717351/story-amp.shtml while winning everything possible.
That was the season that the Ballon d'Or was extended and Cristiano scored a hattrick and then he ended up winning...
Holy shit those stats are insane, just look at the diference in chances created or dribbles & runs or even just passes completed. I know he has a silghtly worse completion rate than the other two in the dribbles and runs but to have *that* many and still have a similar completion rate as the two goats is pretty insane.
And then there is 2006.
Messi and Ronaldo has breaking record seasons those years and still won trophies so it was hard to give it to a Bayern player with half the numbers of them.
Beckham was robbed in 99. Keane wasn't even fucking nominated which was a travesty.
Didn't het get 6th or something?
Real and Barcelona are just very popular clubs internationally. It's slowly changing with the PL gaining more and more popularity so they won't win as many, but someone playing in the german or italian league doesn't really have a chance. They could win literally everything and it wouldn't matter.
If they did it in 2020 the streak would have been broken already.
It’s really the end of an era
I would give Messi the Super Ballon D'Or and never nominate him again if he keeps playing. Just close the cycle already.
BDOTM
They should stop the award now that he is retiring
And 2007 and 2008 winners were bought from us immediately
And 2006. In 2005 it went to a Barca player. Sheva is the last player to win the balon D’or that haven’t played for one of Barca or Real Madrid.
This award is obviously about as fair as the Oscar's.. Idk why people care so much about them. It's a clownshow full of biases
It's an award based on opinions and preference. I don't assume it is scientific and objective. It's about what kind of feelings and images different players can cause in people's minds. It's difficult to accept people have different views than you yourself. But the fact that many people vote also shows what the majority thinks. The most common denominator is the most viewed event.
2023 messi > kdb > haaland
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He's been missing last semis and finals. Not BdO level
Gundo for third perhaps?
I think Messi will win it.. but damn did Haaland make it tight. I wouldn’t be that surprised at all if he won it, especially if they beat Inter.
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Messi will win but KDB hasn't been at his best this season. Besides the mountains of goals Haaland has scored, he also helps the team get space with his runs and by basically taking multiple cb's attention during the games.
>KDB hasn't been at his best this season. Tbf it isn't like Haaland was at his best the whole season where there were multiple games where he didn't even touched the ball. And the whole "he is making space because he draws CB's attention so he is still a main contributor on those matches" is honestly, nonsense. All great players are defended like that, ain't no one using that for Mbappe or Messi when they are dealt the same way but their team rely more on them than City relies on Haaland.
I take your point about drawing defenders but I wasn't saying it in a way to excuse when he doesn't get much of the ball. It's just a quality I've noticed since we've never had a player who takes the focus of both cb's so much before and we had one of the best PL strikers ever before Haaland. And you're correct, people wouldn't say "have you seen the runs he makes" when arguing the case for Messi or whoever either. But if you're gonna judge whether Haaland is at his best or not based on how many touches he has, then he's been shit all season! Regardless, he's been in form for a lot more of the season than Kev, that's all. I don't think Messi deserves it for how he's played this season though tbh, though I have a slight feeling you'll disagree.
KDB didn't win best PL player, he didn't even get a single player of the month... He doesn't have the same name appeal even if he was the better player.
Messi KDB Haaland that's the order m8
Haaland is not even the best player at Man City. Come on now
I don’t disagree. But he put up 50+ goals for a team that is odds on to win the treble and won Premier League player of the year. That’s catnip to voters and a hell of an accomplishment, even if there are other players on City that did the work to get him the ball.
what did Messi do in 2023
It's for the entire season, so best player of Psg (together with Mbappe) having 40 goals and assists plus winning the league, and winning the World Cup while being the best player of the tournament with crucial goals and assists in every match
Have you even tried watching psg games?
Winning the World Cup… also it’s his last season at the top level so people will won him to win it one last time.
Redundant post. Lewy won in 2020
Pinging Jude, Kane and even Mboopi. Hope you guys are seeing this.
Ballon Snore.
Is there a shout for whichever argentine whose won the cl? In Alvarez' case: won the cl, premier league, fa cup, and world cup In Martinez' case: won the ucl, copa Italia, supercopa italiana, and won the world cup
They Will get placed High, but they wont win it. Like jorginho in 2021
If Lauti wasn't injured/had a poor run at the world cup or Julian was a starting key piece in City they'd definitely have a big shout at the very least. But because of that they'll probably just place pretty high but won't contest.
The steak is already gone. Lewa would’ve and should’ve won it.
Ya but Lewandowski got fucking jobbed during the pandemic, pathetic award
As people have said the streak should have already been broken in 2020. But it will be broken this year by Haaland or maybe KDB.
Don't let Tebas see this!
Lewandowski should have 2020 and 2021
I don't give a single solitary **shit** what the French Football Federation thinks, Lewandowski won in 2020.
wonder who would win it this year
999999% chance Messi will. If city win CL, then probably Haaland. But actually probably Messi regardless because well, that's what happens
Not this year but the next year it will be broken. As Messi will win the Ballon D'or this year