Ballon d'Or 2014

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Nicked this off someone on my FB who posted this.

The Ballon d'Or died in 2010. Ever since FIFA got their greasy palms on international football (soccer)'s most prestigious individual award, I have failed to recognize its legitimacy. Rather than being voted on by the world's best football journalists - people who have studied the game for longer than most of the current voters (captains and coaches of all national teams) have been alive - it has now turned into a question of who has the best statistics and who is more popular. Andres Iniesta was nominated in 2010, when he had spent most of the season out injured. For what? Scoring the winning goal in a World Cup final is impressive no doubt, but would anyone have considered Andreas Brehme over Lothar Matthaus in 1990 for the same reason? (For the record, Brehme finished 3rd.)

For those who hate FIFA with a passion and still believe football exists beyond two players, here's a new list of winners since 2010 compiled by yours truly.

2010 - Xavi (Barcelona and Spain)
You could make an argument for awarding the 2010 prize to Wesley Sneijder - 5 goals at the World Cup and instrumental in Internazionale's treble winning campaign - and you could very well be right. However I heavily favor World Cup winners in World Cup years and believe that Spain's most influential player in the campaign deserves the award more for helping his country win football's greatest prize, where Sneijder fell agonizingly short. He also had a huge hand in Barcelona's success where they won La Liga with a then record of 99 points.

2011 - Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
While Cristiano Ronaldo scored an incredible 40 goals in La Liga, all Real Madrid could manage that year was a Copa del Rey. Messi on the other hand led Barcelona to a 3rd successive La Liga title and a 2nd Champions league in 3 years scoring a record equaling 12 goals in the process. My other contenders were Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez for leading Uruguay to the Copa America title, but their club form was sketchy and counts against them.

2012 - Andrea Pirlo (Juventus and Italy)
Supposedly washed up and released by Milan after winning Serie A in 2011, Pirlo ended up at Juve and took them to the title unbeaten, signalling the return of the team from the corruption scandal of 2006. Then in the summer he took an unfancied Italian team to the European Championship final (where they were duly beaten by Spain). And as the year closed, Juve were well on their way to a second successive title.

2013 - Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich and France)
While FIFA remains obsessed with Messi and Ronaldo, Ribery was helping Bayern to a treble, finishing an astounding 25 points in front of Borussia Dortmund, whom they also beat in the Champions League Final. As the year closed, Bayern were crowned World Club Champions, have qualified for the 2nd round of the Champions League and sit comfortable atop the Bundesliga. Ribery lead the league in assists last season and is joint first this year as well.

2014 - Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany)
World Cup winners for World Cup years. I narrowly chose Neuer over Muller mainly because Neuer has been equally outstanding for club and country while Muller's club form, while very good, still tends to lag behind what he produced for the Mannschaft. Neuer on the other hand was German player of the year for 2014, and have conceded a mere 4 goals in the current season. After Lev Yashin in 1963, it is time for another goalkeeper to claim the prize.
 

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typeclub said:
Lel at complaints about the voting but didn't hear much when Messi won 4 dodgy ones.
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mate, i don't think anyone is complaining that Ronaldo won it. He had a fantastic year and i think he is fully deserving. If it were me i would have chosen Neuer, but Ronaldo also very deserving. I think you'll find most are complaining about the absurd team of the year.
 
ADL9798 said:
He has, but the Ballon d'Or and World XI looks at performances from just 1 season, and while there isn't much between them in terms of quality Suarez has been better performed during that period.
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Lol! no chance. Arjen Robben has had a phenomenal year, much better than Suarez. I actually think he was number one in the world this year (i know i'll probably cop plenty for that). This coming from a Dortmund supporter who despises Bayern
 
typeclub said:
Lel at complaints about the voting but didn't hear much when Messi won 4 dodgy ones.
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taking the piss if you actually think he won 4 dodgy wins

Messi and Ronaldo would be 1 balon d'or less if it was the odd system IMO . Snejder (2010) and Ribery (2013)
 
im just glad manuel ran outside the box and took some touches neuer didn't win it.

the one in 2013 was dodgy because of opening up the voting again because blatter offended madrid, but the right winner still won. 2014 was easily penaldo's year.

i did think though that muller should've been up there, but he didnt get a mention for anything. his world cup and club year was outstanding.
 
NFGKizza said:
im just glad manuel ran outside the box and took some touches neuer didn't win it.

the one in 2013 was dodgy because of opening up the voting again because blatter offended madrid, but the right winner still won. 2014 was easily penaldo's year.

i did think though that muller should've been up there, but he didnt get a mention for anything. his world cup and club year was outstanding.
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i think it's pretty disrespectful to his ability to pass his nomination in the top three as something gimmicky
 

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Rustin Cohle said:
Ribery was not better than Ronaldo or Messi in 2013.
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Depends what you base it on. Ribery has a different role in his team than Ronaldo and Messi.

I think if an attacker wins the award it should be based on goals/assists against GOOD teams. Penaldo and Messi scoring too many goals against rubbish teams inflating their stats.
 
kaiserchief13 said:
Don't worry he has nfi about keepers he thinks Joe Hart is good LOL
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sorry you're a sucker for stepovers and running around like an idiot while playing in a dominant team
 
NFGKizza said:
sorry you're a sucker for stepovers and running around like an idiot while playing in a dominant team
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Yeah Germany was so dominant against USA, Algeria, Argentina......the reason Bayern can play their high line and not concede a heap of goals is because of Neuer
 
NFGKizza said:
and he's a great keeper

top 3 in the world of all players? having an absolute laugh. people have been sucked in by the fact he's different.
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How do you compare a keeper's skill level to that of a forward such as Ronaldo and Messi?
 
how often he's the difference between winning and losing. that's the problem when you're in a team like bayern. he made 50 saves in the bundesliga all season. it's just impossible. goals win games. a keeper in the future might well win the balon d'or, but with guys like messi and penaldo swapping records each season, it's impossible
 
NFGKizza said:
how often he's the difference between winning and losing. that's the problem when you're in a team like bayern. he made 50 saves in the bundesliga all season. it's just impossible. goals win games. a keeper in the future might well win the balon d'or, but with guys like messi and penaldo swapping records each season, it's impossible
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Penaldo wasn't the difference between winning and losing in the CL last season for Madrid as he was pure garbage in the final, and in the Spanish Cup it was Bale who won it for them. Their goes your theory.
 
NFGKizza said:
sorry, he also did some stepovers and flicks.
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yeah that's the stuff that makes the facebook and youtube rounds but if you watch the bundesliga matches, many of Bayerns wins have been close encounters with Neuer's influence deciding the result (along with some Robben brilliance). Say what you want about Bayern's "dominant" team but that defense has not been the greatest, Dante has been woeful and Benatia is still adjsusting. Injuries have hit that team pretty hard too. As much as i dislike Bayern i still respect how good some of their players are.
 
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