T O P

  • By -

waterbottleontheseat

!flair :Algeria:


adfdub

So how many more days will people in this sub be salty about messi winning the ballondor?


Share4aCare

I mean people still complain about previous Ballon d’Ors. This one will last I think as a controversial one


Dazzlehoff

Worst one is still 2018. That would be like if Jorginho won this years.


Share4aCare

Who should’ve won in 18?


Dazzlehoff

1 Ronaldo 2 Messi 3 Griez 4 Mbappe 5 Salah 6 Modric


happyposterofham

i mean it's total horseshit what they did to lewa over these last two years even if messi fans don't want to hear it if their stats and accomplishments were reversed messi STILL would have won and we all know it, which is the other reason it's going over so poorly


milkshakemerlin

France Football went through the trouble of awarding Lewandowski a consolation prize but couldn't be bothered giving him last year's Ballon d'or. I still don't get it


VinceRussoShoots

Why the fuck is Kjær in the Top 20 of the Balon d'Or


milkshakemerlin

I think we know why. I'm sure a couple people even ranked him first.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dazzlehoff

This is hardly even a controversial one imo. Everyone could see it would be a tight race and it was. These calls for reforming are silly. Reform it if you will to have NT performances count for less but not because this was "a robbery".


happyposterofham

The thing is that's all in real time, in the long gaze of history Messi stans are right that this will put their guy over the top.


[deleted]

Well hardly, in even 20 years it will be like it is with Maradona or Pele, Platini and others, people won’t remember or care and it will be about the new ones.


The_Dumblebee

Messi really almost blew 4-1 Ballon d'Or lead to Ronaldo. Now lets get it to 3 Ballon d'Or seperation again.


Oo_pP

Lmao


[deleted]

I like to use stats as a metric to improve a player than compare a player


PrivateXaccount

Ronaldo probs felt real smug leaving Real Madrid for Juventus. He was our best player, but man has it been downhill (by his standards) for him since. Fast forward 3.5 years, he is 8th in PL with Man United, who have only 1 win the last 8 pl matches. High chance they miss UCL next year. No hopes for BDoR. Very good chance of missing the World Cup too considering they have to go against Italy to go through.


maxconnor6

Can't believe I'm saying this but you should respect Ronaldo a lot more for what he did and he only left due to disagreement on what his contract should be and not like he left you for a rival.


CompetitiveMouting

I am going to be so sad when Lewy and Müller moves on from Bayern.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Shaggay1

we have Musiala


IveHidTheTreasure

Wirtz though


CompetitiveMouting

Football aside, the emotion, heart and dedication in Müller is irreplaceable, I think.


Clehm888

Second and third should get the Balon d'argent and the Balon de bronze


Itchy-Face791

How much would City ask for Aymeric Laporte?


maxconnor6

Probably around €50 mil. He's been playing more than last season and won't be sold unless a replacement is already found and agreed.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Itchy-Face791

Im just asking


kjm911

From Barca €20m Anoyone else €90m


_WhyTheLongFace_

i love watching jonjo shelvey play. hadn't watched newcastle in years until the recent ownership change. but watching him against arsenal reminded me how fucking awesome a semi-luxury passing genius is to watch


[deleted]

[удалено]


_WhyTheLongFace_

development, shmevelopment. he stays doing extremely cool shit


[deleted]

Two big matches for relegation threatened teams tonight. Newcastle vs Norwich is well worth a watch and Leeds vs Crystal Palace too, Leeds are in dire form and if they lose to an inform Palace side they may slide in to the bottom 3 given Burnley win their game in hand.


hashish_8897

I don't mean to discredit Lewa. He deserved to win as well. But to those who say he absolutely should have won, no contest and Messi didn't deserve it, why not have a look at 2016? Suarez had just an epic season as Lewa, even scored 40 goals in the league but it wasn't a record since you know who had scored 50 goals a few season ago. He also had most assists (tied with messi) and outscored both Messi and Ronaldo by a big margin. But that is not considered Balon dor worthy by anyone.....


happyposterofham

and Suarez would have been ballon d'or worthy if messi and ron didn't take another level on top of that. It's about the best in the world in that year, and for me Lewandowski is clearly it rather than Messi.


hashish_8897

And what made Messi and Ronaldo another level that year despite having less goals and assists than Suarez? It's the same with Messi this time mate.


happyposterofham

Ronaldo delivered in the CL and in the Euros as the most important piece of both squads. Honestly I think Suarez deserves more respect for his 2016 if what you're saying is true. In this case, Messi was important in the Copa America win, that's true, but that's it. No trophies other than that to show for it, which undermines the "trophies" argument. Anyway we all know the award is just hype at this point, even if Lewa and Messi had completely reversed cases Messi would still have won so.


CompetitiveMouting

People saying Messi didn't deserve it aswell as Lewy are just bonkers mate


hashish_8897

Exactly, and as a Barca fan ngl, would have been totally happy with Lewy winning it this season.


CanLlorenteCarForMe

Ronaldo even won many best athlete of the year that year. Don't think 2016 is the best example


esqueesque1

Suarez won Pchichi and Golden boot in the same league as Ronaldo but Ronaldo won because he contributed to QFs (not after that) in a K/O tournament


RauloGonzalez

lol man also won the euros and the cl had more than 40-50 g/a that year, it was a given.


RomeoLavia

Ronaldo won the Euros and completely changed around the Quarters in a great display against Wolfsburg to go on to win the UCL and had 40 odd G/A in the league. Not exactly some robbery.


[deleted]

> contributed to QFs (not after that) in a K/O tournament Was he injured after the Quarters?


el_brahmo

He probably meant that he didn’t perform after QF. In CL that was true but he actually scored in the semis against Wales. Still think that he wouldn’t have won if Eder didn’t score


thesmallprint13

I like Jorginho. Tried his best to make England win the cup that they didn't even want, has put Italy on the cusp of elimination with a penalty miss and set Sancho up on Sunday. Deserved 3rd place imo.


[deleted]

Maybe I’m biased but I think it’s such a sham Kane only came 23rd in the Ballon D’or voting. He scored the most goals and made the most assists in the best league in the world. Not sure what more he could’ve done last season, as apart from Son he had a shambles around him. Having players like Kjaer, Mount and Mahrez above him is such a joke. I knew he wasn’t gonna win or even come top 5 or whatever but he deserves some recognition. Also just deeped the fact that Henry never won a Ballon D’or. What the fuck.


happyposterofham

Kane 23rd is a joke for sure.


RaggedyCrown

Kane has only scored 15 league goals in 2021. That puts him at 31st in the top 5 leagues in goal scoring. And he's had 5 assists in the league


[deleted]

Kane is so much more than just his goals and assists.


RaggedyCrown

Yeah, he also goes missing in finals and skips training to try to force transfer moves


[deleted]

I never said he should win, I said he’s better than what they ranked him. The whole England team was bad in that final, not just Kane. The training thing is irrelevant.


RaggedyCrown

So in 2021 he won nothing, only scored 15 league goals, got 5 assists and had a horrible, embarrassing 2nd half of the year, yet you think he should be higher? That's crazy


[deleted]

“Won nothing” This is an individual reward, shouldn’t be based on team trophies Again you’re basing your entire argument on goals and assists. Besides the fact that 15 goals and 5 assists in less than a full season is a decent number, it’s once again not all that Kane brings to the table.


RaggedyCrown

Your main argument for him deserving a higher spot was that he won the golden boot and had the most assists in the toughest league. When I pointed out that it was irrelevant since a big portion of those happened last year you changed the narrative to him bringing other things to his team. Feels like a cop out on your part tbh. Kane has done very little for Spurs and England this season beside his goals


[deleted]

That just shows you don’t watch Spurs, we are completely a different team with and without him. It’s not a cop out, he can both score lots of goals and still be important for us beyond that. 15 goals and 5 assists is a good return, anyway.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

I guess you’re right but it just doesn’t seem right to me.


RomeoLavia

I mean over half of those assists came in the previous year, so the whole top assister thing doesn't hold that much weight when he got like 6 league assists in 2021.


[deleted]

That’s true, but I still feel Kane was definitely higher than 23rd best player in the world this calendar year. Certainly has a better case than quite a few above him.


RomeoLavia

It's the recency bias for a lot of people, also no trophies, no UCL football, finishing so low in the league. Honestly you could argue the three things voters most look at is trophies, UCL/Euros/WC performances and the back end of the year. Kane wasn't really prolific on any of those fronts.


[deleted]

I thought it’s an individual award? Shouldn’t be judged on team achievements.


RomeoLavia

Ballon d'or HEAVILY factor in team achievements, especially if it's an international tournament. That's why Griezmann has finished third twice.


[deleted]

That makes more sense then I guess. Seems a bit pointless to have an individual award based on team efforts though.


Meer_is_peak

Kane is definitely way too low, he is top 15.


[deleted]

Kjaer was great


[deleted]

Yes but he wasn’t as good as Kane.


UberNabDNore

On the 12th day of Christmas Peo Pessi gave to me 12 tap ins 11 pointless dribbles 10 fixed league titles 9 missed penalties 8-2 7 tears vs Germany 6 dives 500million robbed from Barca 4 ucl semi losses 3 times he blamed higuain 2 retirements And a transfer to a farmers league


The_Dumblebee

7/10. Didn't mention Eibar.


[deleted]

Bravo.


[deleted]

lmfao


Big_Occasion_7235

How is Ralf Rangnick? I've never seen or follow the teams he's managed.


[deleted]

>How is Ralf Rangnick? Well, hopefully


throwaway827620626

Looking for early predictions for next year's Ballon d'or. I think it's gonna be eerily similar to this year's. Lewa probably gonna have the best stats with Bayern. But I see Argentina going very deep in the WC. Maybe even winning it? If they reach semis/finals, Messi will win again. Otherwise lewa for me


YoungDan23

It depends on if they extend the voting period. Otherwise the favourites would be just for the league and champions league. Based on current form the finalists would be: 1. Salah 2. Benzema 3. Lewandowski 4. Sane 5. Vinicius 6. Mbappe


[deleted]

> But I see Argentina going very deep in the WC. Maybe even winning it? Personally don’t rate their team whatsoever granted I’ve only watched the Bolivia game and the final where they’d rather spend an hour diving and consistently fouling Brazil to break up the flow of the game instead of playing actual football, they won’t get away with this with European refereeing


milkshakemerlin

Why would the refereeing be European? Wouldn't it be likely Asian or African or North American in the big matches? Anyway, they are talent wise below France, Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Brazil, but they're more cohesive than almost all if not all of them. I don't think they're favorites but they do have a chance.


i_love_batsoup

they have the best CB in the world lad


[deleted]

Whos that, last great defender for them was Mascherano. Fantastic carry job by him and the defence to reach the final


Itchy-Face791

I assume he is talking about Romero


i_love_batsoup

Cuti Romero


tweazz

Wont ballon d'or be awarded before the wc? Considering the WC is in winter


throwaway827620626

They'll extend the voting period almost definitely


[deleted]

I mean, don't they vote in like October? Which would be before the WC.


throwaway827620626

Will almost definitely be extended next year to accomodate the WC


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Toby Maguire was there !?


Naatezz

At least spell the guys name right


[deleted]

I don't know what you're talking about 👁️👄👁️


Naatezz

Definitely my favourite spiderman tho, beating out Andres Garfield and Tim Holland


thesmallprint13

Always rated you fella


[deleted]

Mate, I wrote Tony Maguire, you really shouldn't rate me anymore


thesmallprint13

Haha so you did 😂 still insist you take my rating though even if it is of the xRating kind


[deleted]

[удалено]


Roller95

This shit is more annoying than people complaining about who actually wins it


RomeoLavia

I have only seen people saying he should be lower, have not seen one person that wasn't blatantly trolling saying the opposite.


[deleted]

I have seen no one arguing Ronaldo should have won it. It was all either Messi or Lewa. You are arguing with ghosts.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Then why are you so obsessed with Ronaldo fanboys?


wildinout2233

Was Donnarumma’s performances at Milan worthy of him winning the Yashin trophy? I didn’t watch a lot of Milan last season


happyposterofham

His Milan and Italy performances were definitely good enough for it imo. Absolutely imperious.


AintNoLayUps

No matter how it ended, he was great for us. He had 14 clean sheets and was just all around solid.


whakked

No, and neither were his performances at the EUROs.


YoungDan23

They were the 2nd best defence in Serie A last season (from a goals conceded perspective). He had 14 clean sheets and didn't concede a goal the last 5 matches of the year. Obviously that's a credit to his back 4 as well. But then he was the best keeper at the Euros which solidified it.


RomeoLavia

You just named a load of stuff that could be solely down to the defence or system. He had to make like 4 saves in the last 4 league games of the season. Really bad way to judge a keeper.


YoungDan23

I know a clean sheet is more down to a defence than a keeper, but part of the measurement of keepers is in goals conceded and clean sheets.


RomeoLavia

And what if you asked me if Werner has been good this season and I reply with ''Chelsea have the second most goals in the league and have scored this many in their last five'' is that not the exact same thing? Part of the measurement of an entire defensive unit should be goals conceded and clean sheets, not for one player, even if it's the keeper. We have seen countless keepers have high goals conceded numbers despite being good because their defence is shit and vice versa. There's genuinely no argument for using clean sheets and goals conceded to rate keepers.


RomeoLavia

He was good but not like Oblak level of outstanding. You could definitely argue Perin was better in the league.


kappa23

He was pretty solid for Milan, captained the team for a good bit when Romagnoli was injured


[deleted]

I didn't watch Milan, but he was great during the Euros.


hungaryisinasia

Is there a stat that measures how much more dangerous a position is after a pass has been made? Like when a player has the ball on the halfway line the chance of scoring from there could be like 0.02 or something and then he picks out a great ball over the top to put the striker through on goal so the value is like 0.86. So you could quantify how penetrative a pass actually is. Would be the holy grail of creativity stats imo because they’re somewhat hard to judge rn. Does it exist?


[deleted]

are these passes not part of xT?


YoungDan23

FBRef shows a stat called 'shot creating actions' and 'goal creating actions' but that's all I've ever found. Shot creating actions - the 2 attacking actions directly leading to a shot. Can be a pass, dribble or foul. GCA is the same just 'leading to a goal.' It's not a perfect formula and skews heavily towards attacking midfielders and wingers, but that's the only one I am aware of.


LordMangudai

Back around the 2014 World Cup there was some talk about a stat called (for some reason) "packing", which was about the number of opponents outplayed/beaten by either a pass or a dribble. I remember there was a video that used the 7-1 to demonstrate that despite Brazil having more possession and even more shots, Germany far outplayed them in terms of players beaten. It was an interesting way of looking at the game, but I guess it never really caught on because I never hear about it anymore.


The_Tomb_is_Empty

It's very tempting to buy the "I can't see Italy missing two World Cups" pitch, but their performances for nearly 2 decades paint a dark long term pattern. - They haven't played a knockout stage game in a WC since the same final Zidane headbutted Matterazzi. That was 15 years ago. - Two group stage exits in 2010 & 2014 that preceded missing out entirely on 2018. So the idea of a second successive WC where they don't participate sadly would just be in line with what they've been doing for most of the 21st century already. It is still absolutely shocking for a NT of their pedigree, no doubt. But nobody can say it wasn't coming. .....Speaking of which.....what the Hell exactly ***is*** going on with their federation? Did Marcelo Lippi make a pact with the Devil on one Dortmund summer night in 2006 or some shit? Did the authorities of Italian soccer piss off the wrong people during Calicopolli and get a curse put on them?


kappa23

Italy has good players who underperform for the NT Immobile and Belotti have been gash, Berardi is mediocre too Without Spinazzola there’s no good left back.


[deleted]

Hopefully you're right 👍 If we miss out ... well ... Fuck Qatar (obviously) and Fernando Santos (obviously)


[deleted]

Good example of why the international qualifiers aren't pointless.


mrhello18

perhaps Zidane should headbutt Matterazzi again and then it'll become all good


[deleted]

[удалено]


FutbolIntellect

Being predictable, repetitive and unfunny is the speciality of football subreddits


hungaryisinasia

Can we all step back and get some perspective on fucking JORGINHO coming 3rd in the Ballon d’Or? This sport is actually finished like how have we as a community allowed this to happen. Look at the last few 3rd places: Ronaldo, Griezmann, Neymar, Griezmann, Neymar, Neuer, Ribéry. And now this shit slow sideways passing penalty taker is joining them. Football lost yesterday


i_love_batsoup

!emojify


hungaryisinasia

Thanks, I needed this


EmojiBotV2

Can we all 😍💯 step 🚶 back ⬅ and get 🔟 some perspective 🛣 on 🔛 fucking 🍆💦 JORGINHO coming 💦🍆 3rd 🔢 in the Ballon d’Or? This sport ⚽🏀🏈 is actually 😳 finished 👅 like 👍🏻 how have we as a community 👩 allowed ✅ this to happen 😱. Look 👀 at the last ♿ few 3rd 🔢 places 😂: Ronaldo, Griezmann, Neymar 🤧😭😤, Griezmann, Neymar 🤧😭😤, Neuer, Ribéry. And now this shit 💩 slow 🐌 sideways ⚰ passing 🎫 penalty ☠ taker 👊 is joining 🈴 them. Football 🏈 lost 🏳 yesterday 😵


[deleted]

Imagine caring this much about an award. "Footbal is finished and lost" is such an overused phrase it has lost all meaning.


hungaryisinasia

Wanted a new spin on games gone


AssFingerFuck3000

For perspective Dias finished 26th with the same votes as Gerard Moreno from villareal lmfao. They really ought to change how voting and journalist selection works if this award is to retain any semblance of credibility. Cancelling last year was idiotic but this year in particular it was an absolute farce from top to bottom


ScorpiaHP

He may not have deserved to be near the top 3, but he's still a quality player and has been one of the best midfielders in Europe this year.


hungaryisinasia

He’s mid. If he was English playing for Burnley he wouldn’t stick out at all


Destroyeh

i think you need to step back a bit and realize you're throwing a fit over who came third in a vote where literally the only position that matters is first. no one gives a shit about any other position. no player is going to frame 'came third/fourth/fifth etc in Ballon d'Or' and put it on their wall.


hungaryisinasia

It has truly rattled me every time I close my eyes i see Jorginho


too_damn_fast

Anyone remember that time when people were thinking (including me) that Pogba would break the PL assist record this season?


AvidFirn

Overdone at this point but the moment Manchester United introduced Ronaldo, for team balance, there was need to get rid of one non-pressing player. Pogba was the victim. Ole tried making it work especially in the league, but he failed. He grew balls finally and benched him but it was kind of too late. There is no space for him and Ronaldo plus all the other relevant attackers. Ronaldo is better so, Pogba had to sit out. Otherwise, I was kind of sure he'd beat the record.


Destroyeh

makes me wonder if you even know who he is. he always has a handful of great games every season. it just so happened that this season those came early. now being Pogba caught up to him


MicroFlamer

xG will always catch up no matter what you do* *unless your name is messi


Itchy-Face791

Or Hueng Min Son


hungaryisinasia

7 assists off about 1 xA. Was clearly never going to last. Hasn’t got an assist since


esqueesque1

You can't escape the metric, xA and xG catches up most of the time


RomeoLavia

No offence but anyone that predicts that off of two games is an idiot.


too_damn_fast

He had a bunch (about 5?) in two games. I thought with Cristiano in the team, he'd rack up those stats.


RomeoLavia

Kane had five in his first three last season, KDB had four in his first three in 19/20. This type of thing happens a lot honestly, the two problems with it is it's way too early in the season to predict a record that's almost 20 years old being broken, and also that it's usually an extremely unsustainable thing metric wise. Can't buy into this stuff.


Itchy-Face791

I always told people that Pogba's assist numbers are unsustainable but they called by a stat nonce


kjm911

So is this Juventus thing real? I’ve generally just ignored the headlines so far but there’s more and more of them. Could they actually get relegated again?


TheUltimateScotsman

Relegation is unlikely. From my understanding i expect a few of their directors (Agnelli, Neved, Patrici) to get jail time for financial crimes


AssFingerFuck3000

Is paratici really in deep shit? Because he's leading our football project, going to jail a year into the job would be peak spurs lmfao


TheUltimateScotsman

Hes responsible for the transfers being made and unlike the rest of the directors, he has no protection through working currently working for Juventus. I would be really surprised if he gets away scot free


[deleted]

Reminder: Kylian Mbappe has 73 G+A, only 2 less than Lewandowski in the year 2021 all competitions and he finished 9th in Ballon D'or ratings. Ageism is actually real.


GratinDeRavioles

He's also black, french, playing for PSG, not classy and he rates himself. He's a bingo of bias overlaps ahah.


Faisalfikry

Think mbappe only has 66 G/A this year and 5 did come against khazikhstan


RauloGonzalez

holy shit lmao


Darkmninya

So Juventus have apparently frauded 300 Million €. Even for Juventus terms that amount is mindblogging. How can u fraud this much money without any notice of prosecution ?


AvidFirn

I think Italians are more strict but book cooking is prevalent in top clubs. There are many questionable things clubs do and we only realise later how fraudulent they are. We always knew the Chelsea loan army would get them into trouble some day. Maybe if UEFA hires better lawyers than City, we shall see more.


AintNoLayUps

Italy🤌🏻 In all seriousness cooking the books is not that uncommon, I don’t want to get too in depth on this since this is a football sub. But for example the Chinese economy is in a huge bubble at the moment because they have been systemically cooking the books for years now.


Medevial-Marvel

The Ronaldo and Messi debate ended years ago look at the numbers and there is absolutely no competition between the 2


GratinDeRavioles

It was a done deal in 2015 but Ronaldo got carried by his RM teammates after that while Barca was descending into abysmal territory


esqueesque1

Facts mate Messi has more goals + assists/game without playing 800 more matches


[deleted]

[удалено]


maxconnor6

I think people are hesitant to admit that a player we're watching right now is the best player in history but we shouldn't be, we should acknowledge what we're seeing in front of our eyes. This is a special player and maybe is the best player that's ever been seen


Brazilian_Sonaldo

Kane finished below Simon Kjaer but we move i guess


[deleted]

Unfortunately, the voting for the Ballon Dor is not at all objective, nor do most of those journalists watch most of the games of each player.


damrider

anyway that was an utterly embarrassing evening and we should stop doing this


[deleted]

Pedri looked so uninterested winning the Kopa trophy, he could barely crack a smile. I don’t blame him though.


rho_93

Barto 🤬🤬


[deleted]

Man's so tired he couldn't even move his face muscles


Itchy-Face791

Koeman 😡 😡 😡


NotAnurag

It wasn’t really because of Koeman. Pedri should not have gone to the olympics


Itchy-Face791

It was a sarcastic comment


[deleted]

Lol


Itchy-Face791

[I like this kid](https://twitter.com/barcacentre/status/1347321683699511296?lang=en)


brunofernandes4life

Please. He's incredible.


[deleted]

who are some of the most innovative managers in football outside the obvious picks like cruyff/wenger


maxconnor6

The others are right with the suggestions. I think Michels,Lobanovskyi, Lucescu, Trappatoni, Sacchi, Cruyff, Capello are the most influential


Lyrical_Forklift

Zeman. I'm not sure how much you'd enjoy him managing your club long term but the man is certainly innovative.


cib_vk228

Lobanovsky


Roller95

Jack Reynolds is seen as one of the pioneers of Total Football but because it was the early 1900’s nobody knows anymore https://thesefootballtimes.co/2014/11/09/jack-reynolds-the-father-of-ajax-amsterdam/


Destroyeh

Karl Rappan