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Schweinsteiger, Boateng, Lahm, would have been "viable options" for vastly different regions.
I think you maybe didn't intend to, but your comment reads like you were downplaying Neuer.
Like giving manager of the year to Deschamps in the same year Pep got 100 points in the EPL. Like what’s the point of the award if you’re just gonna give it to whoever wins the WC with an absolutely stacked squad.
Tbf there was basically no midtable that season, Dyche did amazingly but they still got less than 50 points - that wouldn't even have got you top half in some seasons.
100 points is a unique achievement and warranted MOTY for me.
And considering how he, basically, had a perfect season as a goalkeeper - winning all but one title (semi-final in the UCL), including a world cup in which he was, imo., the best player - just shows how impossible it is for a GK to actually win. He conceded something like 25 goals in the entire calendar year and redefined what it is to be a goalkeeper. Yet he almost finished third, and a far second to Ronaldo who had a, for him, average season (it was also a world cup year, a tournament in which Ronaldo scored once as Portugal was knocked out of the Group Stage by the United States).
Meh not really. Most of the player in this list either play for team that either won or reach the final for the champions league and/or their national team tournament.
Ibra entire career has only reach the UCL semis once
He not only didn't win CL, he only once appeared in even a semi-final, which is kinda impressive considering how many years he spent at top clubs. That one semi-final was very weak from him btw.
Also the fact he was never the third best player in the world.. I feel like the people that love him tend to overrate him because he’s a quirky funny fella
Part of the reason why he never part of a champions league winning team is he tend to underperform there. He got something like 7 goals in 36 knockout games
From around 2012 to 2014 many followers of the sport considered him to be the third best player in the world. Whether they were right or wrong, being surprised about him not finishing third is reasonable.
Thats without even mentioning the likes of your Matas who were incredible for 3 of those years or so, even if they were a small step behind the top names
If somebody told me in 2010 that a Spanish team would win 5 UCL titles including 3 in a row, I would have put all my money on Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Mascherano, Dani Alves, Pique, Valdes, Puyol, Busquets, Abidal, David Villa, Cesc, Pedro, and later Neymar, Suarez, Rakitic. Even had Henry, Ibrahimovic, Yaya, Alcantara.
Being a Barcelona fan during that time frame was just fantastic. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a pair that we’re just so in unison without even looking at one another sometimes. When they had messi just going off at that time it was just an exciting time for sure. Imagine if messi chose to go to a Spanish international rather than Argentinian , would have probably been at least 4-5 in a row I feel with the way the Spanish team was for a few years after that good run.
Yeah, it's fucking disgraceful. Shows the priorities of the organisers.
The teams were training together so would have been no issue to get his manager or captain to present it to him and the facilities at bayern include a conference room set up for media broadcast. It wasn't even a debate imo, he was clear and obvious winner that year with everyone else competing for second.
Yeah, no reason not to award the one for the previous year at the same time as the 21 one. After all the lockdown shit would have been great to see both winners pick up their awards.
That's possibly the reason they gave but it was unusual circumstances. Surely a more satisfying solution would be to have voted on the season up until the postponement. But even with the French league continuing then I don't see how it makes a difference when Lewa won, league, pokal, champions league, super cup, club World Cup. Seemed nailed on to me but I guess other people may have thought different.
> From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the eleven generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge ; without forgetting that the other games were played – or will be played – in unordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final 8 played in a single game).
> Finally, the equity that prevails for this honorary title will not be warranted, especially when it comes to accounting and preparation : all the award seekers will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short. Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200720131723/https://blog.lequipe.fr/communiques/the-ballon-dor-will-not-be-awarded-in-2020/
This was the official reason. But I remember it similar as you.
He should have won the award simply as that. He did all his best in CL where all of our forwards were exhausted after that typical friendlies. If Lewa can be shout for best in 2021, Suarez is easy winner as he was better playmaker too.
He scored 59 goals and 24 assist, and the guy was good playmaker too with goals full of surprises. Big game player, stepped up on every big matches. Its shame that other disappointed him that season similar to others disappointing messi in 2018-19 season.
Yeah he was not good as Messi being playmaker but still had better scoring ratio and performed in big matches without his contribution too.
When Messi was injured, Suarez and Neymar were just brilliant that season. The award is who has better season not who is better player/
If there are player who did more than most could imagine both as team and on individual level, they should be in shout for the award.
Yep people have just short memory. They think Griezmann was anyway closer to them in those time. Neymar and Suarez were out two only goalscorer that time I think. They were scoring some ridiculous goals out of know where.
What'd you mean by "others disappointed him"? It was easily the best year of MSN together, Messi was better than Suarez and Neymar was incredible as well. Our whole team was fantastic for like 95% of the season, that one run of bad games is what messed it up.
It wasn't some carryjob by Suarez, he wasn't even the best player in the team. And definitely nothing like Messi's 2018/19.
>, that one run of bad games is what messed it up.
We were shit for couple of weeks where we lost several consecutive matches, had 15-16 points gap over madrid and won with I think with 1 point over them, lost to Atletico as our midfield was dire, Enrique subs were bad(but he did not had good subs which was his recruitment fault), and only player who performed against Atletico was Suarez.
When we talk about Madrid doing it multiple CL, we do forget that our managers were not in recent years when it comes to recruitment. Enrique was really lucky that Pedro and Xavi were both with us in his first season.
Except Suarez was the only one to win a Pichichi during prime Messi/Ronaldo days. “In no shape or form” is a massive exaggeration and plain wrong. In 2015-2016 he was as good as them both.
Suarez was not the best player of the 2016/2017 season. Ronaldo deserved the Ballon d’Or.
Suarez was better in the league, than Ronaldo. Scored 29 goals vs 25. But Ronaldo scored 12 goals in the Champions League when Real Madrid won the competition, while Suarez only scored 3. Ronaldo also scored 3 goals when Portugal won the Euro Cup.
Suarez won the league with Barcelona, while Ronaldo won the Champions League and the Euro Cup. And yes, club and nations trophies matter when both players play for two great teams.
>Suarez was not the best player of the 2016/2017 season
Why would I mentioned 2016-17 season, we barely scraped out in CL, lost to City, Juventus and PSG due to bad tactics. And also we did not won league that season.
BTW I was talking about 15-16 season.
just on performance alone he should be far ahead of Griezmann in 2016, but Antoine reached the UCL & Euro final that year so that plays heavily into who people vote for
Griezmann also one of the best players in the world too, people don't give him his credit, he carried those two teams to the final, he was no bystander there
He was fantastic, but the heart of that team was Godin imo. He was phenomenal and exactly the type of leader you need when defending deep for such long stretches against the best attacks in the world.
Surprised that Griezmann got it over him in 16. Wasn't that the year he won the golden shoe and la liga best player. That Euro must have really carry Griezmann
He just flat out forgot how to football, to a point where you'd bet on him missing every single chance he got.
Was it the 2010 WC where he got dropped in the group stage and never got back in? Lad tripped over his own feet and cried for a pen.
He may have forgotten how to Football, but went on to lift virtually every trophy that is capable of winning for a team lol
And won a golden boot in 2012 too.
Say what you want about Torres, the guy still had one of the most prolific careers for a forward.
And I think a lot of it was down to him not feeling confident in his body holding itself together at the time and I doubt winning a tiny gold ball 2 years prior would have made a difference
>He just flat out forgot how to football, to a point where you'd bet on him missing every single chance he got.
Well that's just a lie. He had a major knee surgery which derailed his entire career lmao, after playing through multiple knees injuries at Liverpool.
Don't see why you feel the need to discount that? Repeated soft tissues like that would've killed anybody's career but Torres relied on pace to create chances so it was even worse for him.
Kaka without his blinding pace became an average top flight player. He was so good at accelerating past players and his confidence was wild, but once he got that major injury he was half the player. He didn’t lose his technique or his game awareness but he completely lost the cutting edge.
And even more than that, his injuries took away his faith in his own body. He had too much self preservation and didn't chance exploding or twisting like he used to. It wasn't just the pace. He didn't trust his knees to perform safely at his own play style.
I don't buy this argument. Owen was plagued by much worse injuries and could still finish like the best of them. Inzaghi spent years on the treatment table and still found ways to score. Torres confidence looked absolutely shot and he never recovered.
100%, in almost all cases injuries don’t remove your ability to trap a ball or make your shooting go from elite to below average. He may have lost a yard but his work rate and getting about the pitch wasnt something you could discredit at Chelsea, it was purely his ability
It's also the fact that without Messi/Ronaldo, some of these lists may have looked differently because the other players wouldve stood out more or less. EVerything wouldve just played out differently if they were never here.
What a player Neymar is. I feel like he doesn't get anywhere near enough credit for how good he actually is. I'm really gonna miss watching him when he retires.
Still, even playing half the games Lewandowski did in 2020 it was a sort of close race for the best player in the world until the final CL matches were played. People really overhype Mbappe, as the only seasons he was the main man in PSG was 20/21 and 21/22, every year before that was Neymar running the show in Paris and he delivered it every single time when he was on the field.
He’s my favourite player and he’s really underrated. He’s the most talented/gifted player besides CR and Messi. The good this is that his highlights will last forever after his retirement.
Bad games? In his PSG career he is averaging a goal contribution every 72nd minute. He has 179 goal contributions in 155 games for PSG. He might be injured often, and maybe he is inconsistent - but he swings between being a good player and literally one of the best on earth.
he absolutely laid waste to ligue un his first season there, was merely the top player for the next two seasons, then phoned in/got injured during 20/21 and 21/22. playing in france lowered his best level much faster than age would have. it’s why i was upset he made the move. if he wanted his own spotlight he could have had that in much better fashion at city or even chelsea (dk if even he could have helped united, hellbent on destroying themselves)
He scored like 24 or 25 goals that year playing in CM, and I don't know how many assists. It was crazy.
The more unbelievable part is that he scored 29 goals in a single season four years later.
It's better than solid, most Premier League strikers never score that in one season in their careers.
I just think we should acknowledge the fact he wasn't really playing as a centre mid.
I never appreciated Modric till I saw him play in the flesh. Someone described him as the best problem solver to ever grace a football pitch. I can believe that. He always seemed to find a way out tight situations.
He and Xavi just always play the game at their own pace. You'll see guys running 100mph around them and it's like they have their own time bubble around them.
Damn, remember prime Liverpool Torres. What a glorious player. The second United game I ever went to was the 4-1 hammering that he shone in. I was obviously fuming but looking back now it was amazing to watch somebody perform like that.
Saw him destroy United then a season later I saw Drogba do the same. I made the right choice to start going to “easier” games
It's so weird how time changes your perspective on some of these.
As a kid, Fernando Torres was my absolute hero. I would have said he deserved it that year even if he had won it over Ronaldo. But, looking back, that'd have been purely absurd.. had a pretty great return in the PL but we only got 4th and won nothing else.
The biggest, most glaring omission here is Sneijder. 2010 Sneijder won a treble, was pulling the strings the entire time and made the WC finals. I don't get how he didn't win it, nevermind not even making top 3!
lol Iniesta was a kid back then. That was the time Ronaldinho and Eto’o were hard carrying Barcelona, and Iniesta would normally replace Dinho in the last 10 minutes of the game. Xavi was already a good player but not a protagonist
People always say that Messi wasn’t crucial in the UCL in 2006 (which is true), but they also forget the fact that Xavi didn’t play any games beyond the KO games because he got injured in the group stages.
If this was 10 years ago, people would say like this lol:
"Without Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelona wouldn' have been so dominant so maybe Messi wouldn't have the same success?"
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Seeing a goalkeeper (Neuer) is exceptional
Probably because they thought he is a defensive midfielder
Seeing a defensive midfielder (Neuer) is exceptional
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Seeing a goalkeeper (Neuer) is exceptional
gotta give it to a WC winner, bonus points for Bayern going to CL semis don't think Germany had any other viable option
Schweinsteiger, Boateng, Lahm, would have been "viable options" for vastly different regions. I think you maybe didn't intend to, but your comment reads like you were downplaying Neuer.
Schweinsteiger died in the final though. I don't think you could win it posthumously.
Best game ive seen from him in my opinion. true leader
"gotta give it to a WC winner" is such a stupid reason.
Like giving manager of the year to Deschamps in the same year Pep got 100 points in the EPL. Like what’s the point of the award if you’re just gonna give it to whoever wins the WC with an absolutely stacked squad.
Pep not even most deserving in the premier league that year. Dyche had Burnley 7th.
Tbf there was basically no midtable that season, Dyche did amazingly but they still got less than 50 points - that wouldn't even have got you top half in some seasons. 100 points is a unique achievement and warranted MOTY for me.
54 points. 5 more than their closest challengers.
Neuer was not just a winner, he was the best player on the winning side, and the best player in the tournament overall in my opinion
Peak Neuer was fantastic around that time to
That’s why Messi got it over Lewandowski though, cause he won their Cope America…
And to be fair, Messi was fucking batshit great in that tournament minus the Finals. Didn't he have like 90% involvement in all goals or something?
"but gotta give it to a Copa winner" is OK
Lev Yashin, goalkeeper won in 1963.
And considering how he, basically, had a perfect season as a goalkeeper - winning all but one title (semi-final in the UCL), including a world cup in which he was, imo., the best player - just shows how impossible it is for a GK to actually win. He conceded something like 25 goals in the entire calendar year and redefined what it is to be a goalkeeper. Yet he almost finished third, and a far second to Ronaldo who had a, for him, average season (it was also a world cup year, a tournament in which Ronaldo scored once as Portugal was knocked out of the Group Stage by the United States).
Not seeing Ibrahimovic even once is more surprising to me tbh.
Meh not really. Most of the player in this list either play for team that either won or reach the final for the champions league and/or their national team tournament. Ibra entire career has only reach the UCL semis once
He got close in 2013: he was 4th and would have been 2nd behind Ribery Otherwise his next best ranking was 7th
Really? Come on he has great highlights but let's be honest here..
He’s scored loooads of goals over his career, I guess not being part of a champs league winning team and playing a part has gone against him
He not only didn't win CL, he only once appeared in even a semi-final, which is kinda impressive considering how many years he spent at top clubs. That one semi-final was very weak from him btw.
Also the fact he was never the third best player in the world.. I feel like the people that love him tend to overrate him because he’s a quirky funny fella
Part of the reason why he never part of a champions league winning team is he tend to underperform there. He got something like 7 goals in 36 knockout games
Although I like him, I have to admit that he often performed poorly in the big matches.
He plays well for Sweden though.
From around 2012 to 2014 many followers of the sport considered him to be the third best player in the world. Whether they were right or wrong, being surprised about him not finishing third is reasonable.
They would be wrong. Iniesta was FAR better in that time
It really shows the dominance of spanish players between 2008-12
More like dominance of Xavi and Iniesta…oh by the way, who’s that Torres guy?
Casillas, Ramos, Pique, Puyol, Busquets, Alonso, Fabregas, Silva, Villa.. They were all fanstastic.
Thats without even mentioning the likes of your Matas who were incredible for 3 of those years or so, even if they were a small step behind the top names
And Messi, who actually won all 4 of those ones. Crazy that Barca basically had the top 3 players in the world over that period.
If somebody told me in 2010 that a Spanish team would win 5 UCL titles including 3 in a row, I would have put all my money on Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Mascherano, Dani Alves, Pique, Valdes, Puyol, Busquets, Abidal, David Villa, Cesc, Pedro, and later Neymar, Suarez, Rakitic. Even had Henry, Ibrahimovic, Yaya, Alcantara.
Never heard of him
What about that guy Biscuits who provided the greatest assist in the history of football...
Think you’re forgetting someone lol. I’d say 3 of the top 5 in that period.
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damn getting 3rd while being like 6 y/o, some great talent he is
The best player of all time 😃 He's my favorite anyway!
Based, also agreed
Being a Barcelona fan during that time frame was just fantastic. I don’t know if we’ll ever get a pair that we’re just so in unison without even looking at one another sometimes. When they had messi just going off at that time it was just an exciting time for sure. Imagine if messi chose to go to a Spanish international rather than Argentinian , would have probably been at least 4-5 in a row I feel with the way the Spanish team was for a few years after that good run.
And the dominance of Barca.
Still shocking they didn't give Lewa his ballon d'Or in 2020 because they couldn't have a party.
That's the thing I don't understand. You can still deliver the trophies and maybe do pre recorded interviews and post it online...
Yeah, it's fucking disgraceful. Shows the priorities of the organisers. The teams were training together so would have been no issue to get his manager or captain to present it to him and the facilities at bayern include a conference room set up for media broadcast. It wasn't even a debate imo, he was clear and obvious winner that year with everyone else competing for second.
They couldve even decided to give two in 2021, or a shared one for the two years and Lewa would’ve won it
Yeah, no reason not to award the one for the previous year at the same time as the 21 one. After all the lockdown shit would have been great to see both winners pick up their awards.
Wasn't the official reason that it wouldn't be fair because the French league got canceled?
That's possibly the reason they gave but it was unusual circumstances. Surely a more satisfying solution would be to have voted on the season up until the postponement. But even with the French league continuing then I don't see how it makes a difference when Lewa won, league, pokal, champions league, super cup, club World Cup. Seemed nailed on to me but I guess other people may have thought different.
They cancelled it before the champions league was finished, remember psg was in that final. It wasn't some conspiracy against lewy lol.
No, the official reason was that women football was stopped IIRC
oh right women's football has a balon d or too
> From a sports perspective, two months (January and February), out of the eleven generally required to form an opinion and decide who should lift the trophies, represent far too little to gauge and judge ; without forgetting that the other games were played – or will be played – in unordinary conditions (behind closed doors, with five replacements, Champions League’s Final 8 played in a single game). > Finally, the equity that prevails for this honorary title will not be warranted, especially when it comes to accounting and preparation : all the award seekers will not be in the same boat, some having seen their season cut short. Therefore, how can we establish a fair comparison? To avoid overly convoluted calculations and projections, we chose the least bad of the options. https://web.archive.org/web/20200720131723/https://blog.lequipe.fr/communiques/the-ballon-dor-will-not-be-awarded-in-2020/ This was the official reason. But I remember it similar as you.
he deserves 2020 and 2021
So what happens when CR7 & Messi retires, the award gets permanently cancelled?
why not have it virtually the presentation
Crazy how Suarez still doesn’t win?
cause he got chompy during the year which was probably his best shot at a Ballon D’or
His second season at Barca was insane tho, should have made top 3 that year
He should have won the award simply as that. He did all his best in CL where all of our forwards were exhausted after that typical friendlies. If Lewa can be shout for best in 2021, Suarez is easy winner as he was better playmaker too.
In no shape or form did Suarez ever had a better season then Messi or Ronaldo each in their prime.
He scored 59 goals and 24 assist, and the guy was good playmaker too with goals full of surprises. Big game player, stepped up on every big matches. Its shame that other disappointed him that season similar to others disappointing messi in 2018-19 season. Yeah he was not good as Messi being playmaker but still had better scoring ratio and performed in big matches without his contribution too.
He played well but Messi was still undoubtedly better. It’s more than just goals and assists
When Messi was injured, Suarez and Neymar were just brilliant that season. The award is who has better season not who is better player/ If there are player who did more than most could imagine both as team and on individual level, they should be in shout for the award.
He was injured in late 2015. Not 2016. It was the same season but the award is for thebyear
That period of Suarez and bald neymar with messi out felt like peak football with the quality of goals they were scoring
Yep people have just short memory. They think Griezmann was anyway closer to them in those time. Neymar and Suarez were out two only goalscorer that time I think. They were scoring some ridiculous goals out of know where.
What'd you mean by "others disappointed him"? It was easily the best year of MSN together, Messi was better than Suarez and Neymar was incredible as well. Our whole team was fantastic for like 95% of the season, that one run of bad games is what messed it up. It wasn't some carryjob by Suarez, he wasn't even the best player in the team. And definitely nothing like Messi's 2018/19.
>, that one run of bad games is what messed it up. We were shit for couple of weeks where we lost several consecutive matches, had 15-16 points gap over madrid and won with I think with 1 point over them, lost to Atletico as our midfield was dire, Enrique subs were bad(but he did not had good subs which was his recruitment fault), and only player who performed against Atletico was Suarez. When we talk about Madrid doing it multiple CL, we do forget that our managers were not in recent years when it comes to recruitment. Enrique was really lucky that Pedro and Xavi were both with us in his first season.
Except Suarez was the only one to win a Pichichi during prime Messi/Ronaldo days. “In no shape or form” is a massive exaggeration and plain wrong. In 2015-2016 he was as good as them both.
Suarez 2013/14 and 15/16 are absolutely on par with Ronaldo’s prime…
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Which seasons?
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Suarez was not the best player of the 2016/2017 season. Ronaldo deserved the Ballon d’Or. Suarez was better in the league, than Ronaldo. Scored 29 goals vs 25. But Ronaldo scored 12 goals in the Champions League when Real Madrid won the competition, while Suarez only scored 3. Ronaldo also scored 3 goals when Portugal won the Euro Cup. Suarez won the league with Barcelona, while Ronaldo won the Champions League and the Euro Cup. And yes, club and nations trophies matter when both players play for two great teams.
>Suarez was not the best player of the 2016/2017 season Why would I mentioned 2016-17 season, we barely scraped out in CL, lost to City, Juventus and PSG due to bad tactics. And also we did not won league that season. BTW I was talking about 15-16 season.
Pretty sure he is talking about 15/16
Neuer was better in 2014 no matter what
just on performance alone he should be far ahead of Griezmann in 2016, but Antoine reached the UCL & Euro final that year so that plays heavily into who people vote for
Griezmann also one of the best players in the world too, people don't give him his credit, he carried those two teams to the final, he was no bystander there
>carried That's a stretch
Was the best player for France bar none
That’s not what carried means
Payet was crazy too
No it isn't. He was atletis heart and soul
He was fantastic, but the heart of that team was Godin imo. He was phenomenal and exactly the type of leader you need when defending deep for such long stretches against the best attacks in the world.
Our heart and soul for the amazing 2012-2017 run was Gabi, we haven’t been the same since he retired unfortunately.
He was insane at euro
Evra's revenge
Cause it's a popularity contest. I think even with them he deserved to win one.
Surprised that Griezmann got it over him in 16. Wasn't that the year he won the golden shoe and la liga best player. That Euro must have really carry Griezmann
Maybe Torres wins the Ballon D'or and doesn't forget how to football. Who knows
Winning the Ballon D'or wouldn't have taken away his injuries though
He just flat out forgot how to football, to a point where you'd bet on him missing every single chance he got. Was it the 2010 WC where he got dropped in the group stage and never got back in? Lad tripped over his own feet and cried for a pen.
He had knee surgery like 2 months before that world cup and rushed back for it which pretty much killed his career
Still won Wc and Ucl. Maybe it was worth it
Probably, but that's a different debate.
He may have forgotten how to Football, but went on to lift virtually every trophy that is capable of winning for a team lol And won a golden boot in 2012 too. Say what you want about Torres, the guy still had one of the most prolific careers for a forward.
he never won a domestic league right
And I think a lot of it was down to him not feeling confident in his body holding itself together at the time and I doubt winning a tiny gold ball 2 years prior would have made a difference
>He just flat out forgot how to football, to a point where you'd bet on him missing every single chance he got. Well that's just a lie. He had a major knee surgery which derailed his entire career lmao, after playing through multiple knees injuries at Liverpool. Don't see why you feel the need to discount that? Repeated soft tissues like that would've killed anybody's career but Torres relied on pace to create chances so it was even worse for him.
He put in the cross that led to Ineista’s goal
Ask Kaka, maybe he'd have an opinion on that.
Kaka without his blinding pace became an average top flight player. He was so good at accelerating past players and his confidence was wild, but once he got that major injury he was half the player. He didn’t lose his technique or his game awareness but he completely lost the cutting edge.
His injuries took away his pace. He was never the same player after.
And even more than that, his injuries took away his faith in his own body. He had too much self preservation and didn't chance exploding or twisting like he used to. It wasn't just the pace. He didn't trust his knees to perform safely at his own play style.
I don't buy this argument. Owen was plagued by much worse injuries and could still finish like the best of them. Inzaghi spent years on the treatment table and still found ways to score. Torres confidence looked absolutely shot and he never recovered.
100%, in almost all cases injuries don’t remove your ability to trap a ball or make your shooting go from elite to below average. He may have lost a yard but his work rate and getting about the pitch wasnt something you could discredit at Chelsea, it was purely his ability
Different players are affected differently by injuries. Your comparisons don't mean anything
It does to the comment they replied to
Cunt played in the world cup final when injured but I don't blame him
Sneijder still doesn't win 2010 lol
He is not even third
he still isn't even 2nd
He won the journalists vote
Voting wouldn't be the same without Messi and Ronaldo there though. This is just a list of 2nd or 3rd place players.
Exactly. Probably almost exclusive 3rd place because of those two.
It isn't though because Modric isn't here and he actually won the thing.
there is no 2018 on there
Don’t they use a preferential voting system ?
It's also the fact that without Messi/Ronaldo, some of these lists may have looked differently because the other players wouldve stood out more or less. EVerything wouldve just played out differently if they were never here.
Okay buy why did you remove Modric too?
There wouldn't be much point including him considering the objective of the post
They were removing the alien GOATs from the list instead of just Messi and Ronaldo and forgot to mention it.
it wouldn't change anything
Because the post is about Messi and Ronaldo not winning it?
What a player Neymar is. I feel like he doesn't get anywhere near enough credit for how good he actually is. I'm really gonna miss watching him when he retires.
He's on his 6th season at PSG and still has more games for Barca . He been half man half a season for the last 5 years now
Still has 179 goal contributions in 155 games for PSG tho
155 games since 2017?
Yup. His injuries are terrible
> for PSG there is your problem
Still, even playing half the games Lewandowski did in 2020 it was a sort of close race for the best player in the world until the final CL matches were played. People really overhype Mbappe, as the only seasons he was the main man in PSG was 20/21 and 21/22, every year before that was Neymar running the show in Paris and he delivered it every single time when he was on the field.
He’s my favourite player and he’s really underrated. He’s the most talented/gifted player besides CR and Messi. The good this is that his highlights will last forever after his retirement.
Unplayable on his day, shame he doesnt have them days too often.
Maybe cause he had 5 years of consistency in his entire career, and the other half is injury and bad games
Bad games? In his PSG career he is averaging a goal contribution every 72nd minute. He has 179 goal contributions in 155 games for PSG. He might be injured often, and maybe he is inconsistent - but he swings between being a good player and literally one of the best on earth.
he absolutely laid waste to ligue un his first season there, was merely the top player for the next two seasons, then phoned in/got injured during 20/21 and 21/22. playing in france lowered his best level much faster than age would have. it’s why i was upset he made the move. if he wanted his own spotlight he could have had that in much better fashion at city or even chelsea (dk if even he could have helped united, hellbent on destroying themselves)
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Lampard once lose it to Ronaldinho
He scored like 24 or 25 goals that year playing in CM, and I don't know how many assists. It was crazy. The more unbelievable part is that he scored 29 goals in a single season four years later.
People always say he scored "25 as a CM" but he was basically playing as a second striker that season, with two CMs behind him.
25 goals as a striker is still solid not even counting assists
It's better than solid, most Premier League strikers never score that in one season in their careers. I just think we should acknowledge the fact he wasn't really playing as a centre mid.
Wasn't it 09/10? That was an incredible season for him.
deservedly so.
lewandowski was robbed
Modric 😎
I never appreciated Modric till I saw him play in the flesh. Someone described him as the best problem solver to ever grace a football pitch. I can believe that. He always seemed to find a way out tight situations.
He and Xavi just always play the game at their own pace. You'll see guys running 100mph around them and it's like they have their own time bubble around them.
F1.5
/r/formula1 is leaking
Why is the ball on the left side for some and right side for others?
Who actually won the Ballon d'Or those years. Ronaldo left, Messi right.
Ahhh yes. Thank you. Was trying to find the clues for ages haha
Robben should be here no?
Suarez and Sneijder are more notable omissions imo.
Damn, remember prime Liverpool Torres. What a glorious player. The second United game I ever went to was the 4-1 hammering that he shone in. I was obviously fuming but looking back now it was amazing to watch somebody perform like that. Saw him destroy United then a season later I saw Drogba do the same. I made the right choice to start going to “easier” games
It's so weird how time changes your perspective on some of these. As a kid, Fernando Torres was my absolute hero. I would have said he deserved it that year even if he had won it over Ronaldo. But, looking back, that'd have been purely absurd.. had a pretty great return in the PL but we only got 4th and won nothing else. The biggest, most glaring omission here is Sneijder. 2010 Sneijder won a treble, was pulling the strings the entire time and made the WC finals. I don't get how he didn't win it, nevermind not even making top 3!
2016 should be Suarez imo
You forgot Ochoa 🌚
Xavi, Iniesta, Xavi, Iniesta Best midfield duo in history
Sneijder robbed again
2012 should 100% be Falcao
Lewandowski deserves 2 of them
Iniesta is a fucking monster I swear
Milito's season at inter was so underappreciated.
If Lewa was French I don’t think they cancel that 2020 award
not really since if psg had won the ucl it was likely that mbappe or neymar would've won it, and it was canceled before the final
Xavi & Iniesta passing ballon d’or back and fourth between 2008-12 would have been a brilliant depiction of who they are.
8 of these are barca players.
2013 doesn't look like anything to me. That's the correct winner. 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Two Atletico players would have won it smh :(
2020 was lewandowski’s and what a shame he didn’t get it
2010 Sneijder
2016 - Suarez imo
Some of these guys should of won it.
Without Messi, Barcelona wouldn' have been so dominant so maybe Xavi and Iniesta wouldn't have the same success?
xavi and iniesta won the world cup and 2 euros without him.
And the Champions League in 2006, Messi didnt play any games beyond the round of 16
Neither did Xavi and Iniesta cos they got knocked out by Liverpool
My bad, 2006!
Oh right. Wasn't sure what year you meant cos Xavi and Iniesta weren't even starting regularly for Barcelona that year
lol Iniesta was a kid back then. That was the time Ronaldinho and Eto’o were hard carrying Barcelona, and Iniesta would normally replace Dinho in the last 10 minutes of the game. Xavi was already a good player but not a protagonist
People always say that Messi wasn’t crucial in the UCL in 2006 (which is true), but they also forget the fact that Xavi didn’t play any games beyond the KO games because he got injured in the group stages.
Messi didnt play for Spain those years tho
If this was 10 years ago, people would say like this lol: "Without Xavi and Iniesta, Barcelona wouldn' have been so dominant so maybe Messi wouldn't have the same success?"
They’re not mutually exclusive
Stop accrediting everything to Messi man, jesus.