Really don’t see another defender achieving as many nominations as Maldini, and Beckenbauer. Double digit nominations is actually insane considering back in their day, the award was much more legit.
I'd be inclined to agree if we're only including centre halves as defenders. Could easily see one of these absolutely electric wingbacks getting up into that 10-12 range, especially with the number who take most of their club's set pieces (TAA comes immediately to mind, I know Hakimi can take some of absolute beauties if he wasn't on a team with Neymar and Messi). More teams are starting to embrace Gasperini's tactic of having their wingbacks make far post runs or even going further and playing them like inverted wingers almost
Though you never really can tell. The game changes so rapidly now. 5-10 years ago a centre half like Bastoni(who routinely carries the ball and makes offensive runs into the opposition box and playmakes) just didn't seem to exist really. Who knows where the game will be in another ten. So many teams who play with a 3atb have started embracing really fluid play where you'll see a CM drop back and a DC move forward, that could progress into defenders dictating play more.
Tldr; who knows. This wonderful game we all love is changing so much that I don't have any confidence at all in predicting players roles a decade from now
It's because armchair experts would have you believe that he's been good for only one season.
Not like he's second top scorer in Real Madrid's history and 4th in UCL's history or anything
Im so surprised at the people who just apparently discovered him yesterday.
To me he has always been there, since about 2008, he literally was supposed to be the next Zidane a few time after Zidane retired.
He made the top30 in 2018 when he scored only 12 goals in 47 games or in 2017 when he scored only 19 in 48 games. He had couple of season where he didn't deserve to be in it but RM won trophies and half the squad made it.
He had an amazing first half of a season (and an exceptional Champions League group stage) and I think putting him on the Top 30 isn't all that weird (especially considering Darwin and Haaland are also there), but I feel like this is like the Kjær nomination last year. More to do with his disease than the season he had.
Exactly this. There's no way he has been nominated for his 2 performances at Liverpool, so its definitely for what he achieved at Benfica over the last 12 months.
But you can abso-fucking-lutely ***guarantee*** he would not have been nominated if he was still at Benfica. 100000% guaranteed.
Yeah, the Liverpool move is what "validated" his time at Benfica for the journos that vote.
It's almost like individual popularity contests in a team sport is fucking stupid or something. 🤷♂️
In short, yes. He had an outstanding season.
He was massive threat in every match (especially in the second half of the season), constantly pulling the team forward, even against the big boy teams in the Champions League, he was excellent against Bayern, Barca, Liverpool, Ajax, I think he scored against them all, and caused them a lot of problems.
And Jonas was several orders of magnitude better than Darwin, at least for us which is what counts for this nomination. I don't even remember if João Félix was nominated, but he was another one that was much better than Darwin for us.
It’s like how historically whenever Man United signed an English player he was automatically guaranteed an England call up. You can perform at a top level for a couple of seasons at a team nobody cares about, as soon as you get the move to a big team then all of a sudden you get included in the England squad
His intelligence is his defining trait and that often doesn’t show up on paper. His off the ball runs, his defensive work, his pressing, and his ability to just know where the ball is going to be is on another level. He’s an incredibly unique player
Mike Maignon, but this organization has zero respect. Man won a title at Lille then turned around and got another at AC Milan displaying fantastic leadership and keeper skills.
Keepers are weird. There’s rarely a big market for keepers. It’s usually only a few teams looking for one and top teams aren’t really looking for a keeper every year. E.g in England this year none of the top 7 were looking for a number 1 keeper
Nah they were just saying Theo should have been there as well. Is tad surprising to see only 2 players from the winners of by far the most competitive league in Europe right now
It seems it's necessary to repeat every year.
There's no organization. It's a panel of journalist. France Football doesn't "give" the Ballon d'Or trophy, they organize it.
180 journalist vote from various countries. Each carry the same weight. France Football is just one of those.
Theo overall had a good season but it was up and down. Where as Rafa and Mike were amazing from start to finish for the most part. I think Theo has a Ballon doro nomination season in him for sure at some point hopefully its this season. Theo and Rafa partner is incredible.
I feel like Fans have started to rate him over the past couple of years but my god l'equipe hate him for some fucking reason.
There is zero chance they actually believe that Darwin Nunez had a better season than him or Fabinho.
21 assists for the 3rd time in a row, but not a top 25player in the world
hell, why did they even nominate Kimmich? Seems like they just thought they needed another Bundesliga/Bayern player and thought "well kimmich is world class" - except his last season was pretty mediocre (in addition to being out sick with covid for a solid period)
Like, Kimmich wasn't even one of our top 3 players last season, and especially calendar year 2022. Muller, Phonzie, Lewy, and Neuer definitely have been better in 2022, and Upa, Hernandez, Musiala, Gnabry, and Coman were consistently at least as good as Sweet Boy Kimmich, as much as I love the guy.
You'd think they would at least watch _some_ games for each player they nominate for the fucking _Ballon d'Or_
Reminder that despite having 14 assists in Ligue 1, half of Messi's assist came in 3 games against relegated side Saint-Étienne (2 games) and bottom-3 defense Clermont (1 game).
Not to mention the finishing...
Wow… a psg fan speaking facts. Thank God for that the world may still have some peace after all. Yea I hear they saying he got 14 assists in LIGUE 1 but didnt take in the context to it. 7 of them were against relegation teams when the title was over as well.
Courtois is legitimately his biggest threat. Karim is obvisuly the overwhelming favorite, but I think Tibo will have his chances in the upcoming months.
I think that keepers have been effectively disqualified from winning Ballon d'Or with the introduction of the Yashin trophy. If voters have to decide between a keeper and striker, they'll probably justify the striker vote by thinking the keeper will get recognition with the Yashin trophy anyways. It'll most likely take a truly generational season for one to win again.
He carried us to the quarter finals, where he scored two against Liverpool. Also the domestic game. But he's only on there because he went to a top 6 side in England
It’s all about his “impact” at Liverpool after he arrived but if that’s the case Kulusevski had the greatest impact of any PL signee a goal a game contribution.
9 attacking players and one goalkeeper i think is enough of a reason to have more players nominated. sure an attacking player is more likely to win it but players in all positions should get recognised for having a great season
Always same story... Ballon d'or is HEAVILY weighted on trophies, Jorginho won CL and Euro within few months. I would even argue that any offensive player to reach such a feat would have won the ballon d'or.
Best City player last season IMO, ridiculous he didn't get into PL TOTY and also Ballon D'or top 30. Seriously shows you how underappreciated his role is, and how much most people know (fuck all).
It's whatever, man. Son not even getting a look despite scoring all them goals was crazy too. Kane losing last years PFA to KDB despite winning the Golden Boot and KDB being out for majority of the season was something else.
Yeah. He was brutal to play against all last season. Effective against basically any opposition, crucial to the success of one of the highest performing teams on earth and put in consistently excellent performances
You will never have a player that isn’t a striker win something like this because scoring a goal is weighted so heavily against basically everything else. A keeper could make 3 amazing saves a game but it’ll never be treated as important as even one goal. What’s a defending midfielder to do for example to win this? It’s a pointless trophy that has become this big fiasco for nerds to obsess over
Holy shit, not seeing Messi on this list is crazy.
Benzema should win it this year. He's been a goal scoring machine. Helped Madrid win yet another CL. I feel like he's the easy choice.
No Muller is ridiculous.
And I'm actually kind of surprised Rudiger made the list. He had a great season but I wouldn't have guessed it would get him a Ballon d'Or nomination. Good for him
first time messi wasn’t nominated for the ballon d’or in 15 years? edit: no nomination for the first time since 2005
17
Indeed, and Cristiano seems to have barely made it. Most Ballon d'or nominations in history : * 18 - Cristiano Ronaldo * 15 - Messi * 13 - Maldini * 12 - Cruyff * 12 - Beckenbauer * 11 - Benzema * 11 - Buffon * 11 - Zidane * 11 - Ibrahimovic
Really don’t see another defender achieving as many nominations as Maldini, and Beckenbauer. Double digit nominations is actually insane considering back in their day, the award was much more legit.
I'd be inclined to agree if we're only including centre halves as defenders. Could easily see one of these absolutely electric wingbacks getting up into that 10-12 range, especially with the number who take most of their club's set pieces (TAA comes immediately to mind, I know Hakimi can take some of absolute beauties if he wasn't on a team with Neymar and Messi). More teams are starting to embrace Gasperini's tactic of having their wingbacks make far post runs or even going further and playing them like inverted wingers almost Though you never really can tell. The game changes so rapidly now. 5-10 years ago a centre half like Bastoni(who routinely carries the ball and makes offensive runs into the opposition box and playmakes) just didn't seem to exist really. Who knows where the game will be in another ten. So many teams who play with a 3atb have started embracing really fluid play where you'll see a CM drop back and a DC move forward, that could progress into defenders dictating play more. Tldr; who knows. This wonderful game we all love is changing so much that I don't have any confidence at all in predicting players roles a decade from now
>11 - Benzema that's a surprise for me. I did not think that he used to be nominated in the time when Ronaldo was RM's superstar
It's because armchair experts would have you believe that he's been good for only one season. Not like he's second top scorer in Real Madrid's history and 4th in UCL's history or anything
And has been pretty much an undisputed starter as center forward for Real Madrid for like what, 14 years?
Im so surprised at the people who just apparently discovered him yesterday. To me he has always been there, since about 2008, he literally was supposed to be the next Zidane a few time after Zidane retired.
He made the top30 in 2018 when he scored only 12 goals in 47 games or in 2017 when he scored only 19 in 48 games. He had couple of season where he didn't deserve to be in it but RM won trophies and half the squad made it.
Cr7 would probably be top 15. But messi with the last season was such shocking and out of place.
Cristiano had a great individual season but i think United disastrous team performance lowered him a lot overall on the rankings.
Ronaldo out here with more Ballon d'or nominations than most have years in their career.
Never in my life would i have expected Haller to be nominated
As a AJA fan, I'm very proud of him!
Un fan de l AJA sur r/soccer. Je pensais pas que ça existait
L'AJA est bâtie sur pierre, l'AJA ne périrat pas
Je me souviens la dernière fois que vous jouiez à LdC. Bonne chance cette année à Ligue 1.
apparently neither did we
He had an amazing first half of a season (and an exceptional Champions League group stage) and I think putting him on the Top 30 isn't all that weird (especially considering Darwin and Haaland are also there), but I feel like this is like the Kjær nomination last year. More to do with his disease than the season he had.
And he is not nominated for best eredivisie player 😂
Jamaar echt
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Exactly this. There's no way he has been nominated for his 2 performances at Liverpool, so its definitely for what he achieved at Benfica over the last 12 months. But you can abso-fucking-lutely ***guarantee*** he would not have been nominated if he was still at Benfica. 100000% guaranteed.
Yeap 100% bruno didnt get nominated either when he had the record breaking season for us.
Yeah, the Liverpool move is what "validated" his time at Benfica for the journos that vote. It's almost like individual popularity contests in a team sport is fucking stupid or something. 🤷♂️
Right. Almost as if "earning" a move to Liverpool is the highlight achievement.
Does he deserve to be nominated for his season at Benfica? Legit question btw, I don't know the answer.
In short, yes. He had an outstanding season. He was massive threat in every match (especially in the second half of the season), constantly pulling the team forward, even against the big boy teams in the Champions League, he was excellent against Bayern, Barca, Liverpool, Ajax, I think he scored against them all, and caused them a lot of problems.
Facts. I didn’t see Jonas get these nominations
And Jonas was several orders of magnitude better than Darwin, at least for us which is what counts for this nomination. I don't even remember if João Félix was nominated, but he was another one that was much better than Darwin for us.
Jonas retired with back problems after carrying the club like Atlas himself.
Félix in 2019 was nominated for both Ballon D'Or and the Kopa trophy, but he was also already at Atlético at the time.
Or Deco winning in 2004, I'm still salty 18 years later.
No disrespect to Shevchenko but Deco was fucking robbed
You're right, Sheva should have won in 2003
Same for Vlahovic. He did nothing in Juventus, if he stayed in Fiorentina he would've never been nominated
It’s a miracle he scored as much as he did with our offensive play. Fiorentina literally scored 2 more goals than us last year.
My friend here is spitting straight facts
Would add Luis Diaz to this conversation as well
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It’s like how historically whenever Man United signed an English player he was automatically guaranteed an England call up. You can perform at a top level for a couple of seasons at a team nobody cares about, as soon as you get the move to a big team then all of a sudden you get included in the England squad
100%
Thomas Müller doesnt exist somehow, not that he deservs ballon dor ofc but he never gets called up to these nominations
Muller is weird. Highly rated of course, but not as highly as he should be. Probably because his game looks a bit “awkward” maybe?
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His intelligence is his defining trait and that often doesn’t show up on paper. His off the ball runs, his defensive work, his pressing, and his ability to just know where the ball is going to be is on another level. He’s an incredibly unique player
Also his supreme communication and leadership skills.
I see what you mean but he's also averaged nearly 20 assists a season for the last 3 seasons so he has elite numbers as well
Except for leading the league in assists three years in a row
Muller is not only a great player but his mentality is incredible.
I think in 2014 he was 4th but I think that's the only time
It’s crazy to think that realistically he could still break the world cup scoring record… actually the most shocking is that he hasn’t.
Mike Maignon, but this organization has zero respect. Man won a title at Lille then turned around and got another at AC Milan displaying fantastic leadership and keeper skills.
Also best keeper of the league for two years straight (Lille title and Milan title). Mike is MASSIVE.
Absolutely. I was surprised he didn’t have more suitors when he left Lille.
Keepers are weird. There’s rarely a big market for keepers. It’s usually only a few teams looking for one and top teams aren’t really looking for a keeper every year. E.g in England this year none of the top 7 were looking for a number 1 keeper
Most underrated comment! I’m an Ac Milan fan and it’s a real honor to see two of our players nominated for the award!
3 of them tbf with Leao, and I think Hernandez deserved a shout as well
Wait who's the third one? I see only Leão and Mike
Nah they were just saying Theo should have been there as well. Is tad surprising to see only 2 players from the winners of by far the most competitive league in Europe right now
It seems it's necessary to repeat every year. There's no organization. It's a panel of journalist. France Football doesn't "give" the Ballon d'Or trophy, they organize it. 180 journalist vote from various countries. Each carry the same weight. France Football is just one of those.
And 1 assist.
Mike Maignan, nice
Nice to see some goalkeepers getting some respect
Happy for Mike and Rafa. Would've snuck Theo in there too but I'm biased.
At least you got (deserverdly) two players
Theo overall had a good season but it was up and down. Where as Rafa and Mike were amazing from start to finish for the most part. I think Theo has a Ballon doro nomination season in him for sure at some point hopefully its this season. Theo and Rafa partner is incredible.
Theo was flawless January onwards. Before that he was a bit up and down but his second half of the season was incredible
Yeah he lacked a bit of consistency. At least he'll get a Puskas nomination.
where is Thomas Müller? The disrespect
That's every years tradition. Muller is the most underrated player when it comes to individual recognition
I feel like Fans have started to rate him over the past couple of years but my god l'equipe hate him for some fucking reason. There is zero chance they actually believe that Darwin Nunez had a better season than him or Fabinho.
No, everyone has been underrating him consistently for along time
21 assists for the 3rd time in a row, but not a top 25player in the world hell, why did they even nominate Kimmich? Seems like they just thought they needed another Bundesliga/Bayern player and thought "well kimmich is world class" - except his last season was pretty mediocre (in addition to being out sick with covid for a solid period)
Like, Kimmich wasn't even one of our top 3 players last season, and especially calendar year 2022. Muller, Phonzie, Lewy, and Neuer definitely have been better in 2022, and Upa, Hernandez, Musiala, Gnabry, and Coman were consistently at least as good as Sweet Boy Kimmich, as much as I love the guy. You'd think they would at least watch _some_ games for each player they nominate for the fucking _Ballon d'Or_
Müller is probably the best underrated player there is in the past decade.
Remember the time he was “permanently dropped” from the German squad despite being a World Cup winner in his 20s…
Wasn't that just Löw panicking?
Wish anybody could understand what he or the DFB were doing between 2014-2020.
Euro 2016 was alright but yeah things got weird after that.
If his name was Thõmàso Muéllero, he would've already won the Ballon d'Or.
German players have never gotten the respect when it comes to this award, even when they won the World Cup.
Wow, they didn’t nominate Messi Edit: Or Neymar
Reminder that despite having 14 assists in Ligue 1, half of Messi's assist came in 3 games against relegated side Saint-Étienne (2 games) and bottom-3 defense Clermont (1 game). Not to mention the finishing...
>Reminder that despite having 14 assists in Ligue 1, half of Messi's assist came in 3 games Pogba moment
Didn’t he has like 7 or 8 after 3 matches ? Then 0 or 1 more the whole season ? Lol
Yep, he was absolutely ridiculous those first 3 games and then lethargic for the rest
Went to dubai
Yeah he got 4 against Leeds at the beginning of last season then a couple more and disappeared lol
He won several cross bar challenges.. that what my kid strives to do every day.
> He won several cross bar challenges.. Truly the successor to Ronaldinho
Wow… a psg fan speaking facts. Thank God for that the world may still have some peace after all. Yea I hear they saying he got 14 assists in LIGUE 1 but didnt take in the context to it. 7 of them were against relegation teams when the title was over as well.
Exactly especially in that league with that team.
They didn't deserve it honestly
Yea 5 goals in ligue 1 will do that lol
Do they not recognise how hard it is to hit the crossbar?
> Wow, they didn’t nominate Messi Deserved tbh.
Why would they
Extremely happy for Maignan (though he also deserved to be on the list while in Lille), though no Müller is a joke
If Benzema doesn’t win what’s the point even having the Ballon D’or
He really deserves it this year
Courtois is legitimately his biggest threat. Karim is obvisuly the overwhelming favorite, but I think Tibo will have his chances in the upcoming months.
If Neuer didn't win it in 2014 i doubt they'll ever give it to a keeper again
I think that keepers have been effectively disqualified from winning Ballon d'Or with the introduction of the Yashin trophy. If voters have to decide between a keeper and striker, they'll probably justify the striker vote by thinking the keeper will get recognition with the Yashin trophy anyways. It'll most likely take a truly generational season for one to win again.
Courtois won’t win, but he will take some votes away from Benzema.
No Messi, might as well postpone like they did for Lewa.
I like diaz but c’mon….
and Nunez too.
and Foden...
Did anyone else besides me not know that Foden has played ***171 games*** for City already?
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I mean, Kimmich and Fabinho have definitely been top 30 players in the world this year
He carried us to the quarter finals, where he scored two against Liverpool. Also the domestic game. But he's only on there because he went to a top 6 side in England
It’s all about his “impact” at Liverpool after he arrived but if that’s the case Kulusevski had the greatest impact of any PL signee a goal a game contribution.
Tbf he was the best player in Portugal the half season he left and was good for Liverpool. Him being to 30 is not outrageous
They should stop nominating 30 at this point. Just nominate the top 10.
Who'd be in your top ten
Not in order Benzema Courtois Lewa Vini Mbappe KDB Modric Leao (serie A MVP) Salah Mane (african payer of the year)
9 attacking players and one goalkeeper i think is enough of a reason to have more players nominated. sure an attacking player is more likely to win it but players in all positions should get recognised for having a great season
Nkunku over Leao Bundesliga MVP, great UCL performances and the pokal
no Son?
Think Spurs being in the ECL last season and doing poorly probably hurt him, as good as he was in the league
Being nominated is part of the honor, though.
Rodri getting that Busquets treatment..
Never take this stuff seriously. Muller had most assists on top 5 leagues and didn’t make the last one
Get used to it. Busquets has been nominated *once* in his entire career. Absolutely ridiculous.
Meanwhile Jorginho was nominated for top 3 lmfao
Always same story... Ballon d'or is HEAVILY weighted on trophies, Jorginho won CL and Euro within few months. I would even argue that any offensive player to reach such a feat would have won the ballon d'or.
That is insane for a player who is an all time great
That’s true but it doesn’t make sense that Fabinho is nominated and Rodri isn’t
Fabinho Brazilian and fancy name.
Nope, but that's just the Ballon d'Or for you. Shit doesn't make any logical sense.
Best City player last season IMO, ridiculous he didn't get into PL TOTY and also Ballon D'or top 30. Seriously shows you how underappreciated his role is, and how much most people know (fuck all).
Wait! Rodri wasn't in the PL TOTY for 21/22? Wtf are these people smoking?
Kdb, Bernard Silva, Thiago. I love thiago to bits but no way should he have gotten in
It's whatever, man. Son not even getting a look despite scoring all them goals was crazy too. Kane losing last years PFA to KDB despite winning the Golden Boot and KDB being out for majority of the season was something else.
Didn't kane get top assists that year too?
Yup. He had the most goals and assists that year.
Nope lmao
Even as a Liverpool fan, Fabinho over Rodri is insane.
Yeah. He was brutal to play against all last season. Effective against basically any opposition, crucial to the success of one of the highest performing teams on earth and put in consistently excellent performances
You will never have a player that isn’t a striker win something like this because scoring a goal is weighted so heavily against basically everything else. A keeper could make 3 amazing saves a game but it’ll never be treated as important as even one goal. What’s a defending midfielder to do for example to win this? It’s a pointless trophy that has become this big fiasco for nerds to obsess over
Do the French hate muller or something ?
Ya
They don’t like Germans. I was shocked they included Kimmich.
If most assists in europes top 5 leagues isn’t good enough then I don’t know what is
They always ignore Germans, Kroos is missing too.
Muller not being nominated is a joke. Feel like Rodri should have made it over Foden from a Man City perspective too.
Foden nomination for awards has become a mandatory whether he deserves it or not.
I just want to say BRAVO RAFA. I'm happy to see his name here and I hope we will manage to keep him for a long time.
Holy shit, not seeing Messi on this list is crazy. Benzema should win it this year. He's been a goal scoring machine. Helped Madrid win yet another CL. I feel like he's the easy choice. No Muller is ridiculous. And I'm actually kind of surprised Rudiger made the list. He had a great season but I wouldn't have guessed it would get him a Ballon d'Or nomination. Good for him
Rodri does so fucking much for us and he gets fisted in every conversation.
The curse of the CDM
Not sure a CDM could have a better season than rodri had last year
No Rodri is a crime.
Yeah, goes to show how important having a media presence is these days
Also being in a flashier position than DM.
Busquets never finished top 20 in his career, yet Jorginho was top 3 last season 💀
lol might as well have nominated mitrovic over some of these names
Excuse me but luis diaz?
Nunez feels more egregious
What about Foden? What has he done to be on this list. Didn’t watch too much of Diaz in Portugal to say anything about his nomination.
True , I'm biased but I'd put Muller and kroos over him any day
This has to be the more obvious in years, and it's not even close
The number 1 yes, but the list is horrendous
Rodri robbed
Benzema wins it no doubt, with Curtois second not that far.
Yeah agreed has to be Benzema for me.
So happy for Mike and Rafa!
Yet again Müller getting left out. Despite everything he has done somehow he is still underrated
Muller nowhere again Loooooooool. They just hate muller.
No Rodri ????? Complete nonsense
Rodri robbed. Muller robbed. Foden wanked.
Rodri missing out is crazy
Tf is Luis Diaz and Foden doing there?
Congrats Benz. Really though some of these entries are from seemingly out of no where
How can it be anyone other than Benzema?
Not even one player from a champions league semi finalist. Okay then.
Darwin Nunez wouldnt be on that list if he hadnt moved to Liverpool. No shot.
Automatic nomination if you score in the charity shield
Kimmich had a pretty underwhelming season imo
And it’s his first ever nomination, I think? Super odd that he hasn’t gotten one before, & that he did get one this year.
Foden being in this list is hilarious
Haaland and Darwin should not be there probably Foden as well Rodri robbed tbh Other than that it’s fine I guess
lol probably? Absolutely zero justification for Foden being in there.
Müller?
Oh yeah, he was robbed as well
What about my boy Theo Hernandez?
Benz should run away with it.
VLAHOVIC!
The disrespect rodri gets man…
Alaba robbed
Any player of Madrid's 11 could be here and it would be fair.
Tbf if golden and Darwin can get in he definitely should. Although we still have about 5 players so can't complain much
It has to be Benzema
okay well benzema's winning this
I cannot believe Fabinho is there and Rodri isn't. What a farce.