Modric deserves Ballon d'Or, but Ronaldo will get it

Modric was the best player in WC but he didn't win it

He won the CL but he wasn't the best player there (not even near top 5)

I don't know why Modric should win it.
 
charlton66 said:
Let's just see how well Real Madrid do this year in the CL without Ronaldo.

Having said that just noticed that City are the current favorites with the bookies to win it and we are listed at tenth behind the other 3 English clubs. Sad that!
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Figures you ignored the fact that Ronaldo was pretty much absent in the semis and finals, yet Madrid won. Your statement was already proven wrong last season.
 
In Rainbows said:
Figures you ignored the fact that Ronaldo was pretty much absent in the semis and finals, yet Madrid won. Your statement was already proven wrong last season.
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"Pretty much" is your opinion. When Ronaldo is on the pitch just by his presence he makes things easier for everyone else. Let's just see how Madrid do for real this upcoming year.
 
RedRonaldo said:
Modric was the best player in WC but he didn't win it

He won the CL but he wasn't the best player there (not even near top 5)

I don't know why Modric should win it.
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People are overrating his WC performances. The same people who say that England only did well because they faced shite teams go overboard with the modric praise. Yes, he played very well but against shite teams. Each of their games went to extra time. Ronaldo was the highest scorer in the CL. He had like 40 goals in the second half of the season as Real finally came back on track in La liga. Its a tough choice but Ronaldo edges it IMO.
 
ayushreddevil9 said:
People are overrating his WC performances. The same people who say that England only did well because they faced shite teams go overboard with the modric praise. Yes, he played very well but against shite teams. Each of their games went to extra time. Ronaldo was the highest scorer in the CL. He had like 40 goals in the second half of the season as Real finally came back on track in La liga. Its a tough choice but Ronaldo edges it IMO.
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To be honest, individually Modric has had quite an average season in club football overall
 
RedRonaldo said:
To be honest, individually Modric has had quite an average season in club football overall
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I don't really know where these opinions come from. Everytime I saw Madrid last season, he was excellent. Funnily, he is more or less the exact opposite of Cristiano - at least in the last years. He is rarely seen on the scoresheet but he has such an impact in almost every other area of the pitch in almost every game he plays. Such players were rated much higher in the pre-Messi/Ronaldo era.

Collectively Madrid was weaker than from 2015 to 2017 which made it harder for players like Modric or Kroos to shine but individually especially Modric was brillant.
 
charlton66 said:
"Pretty much" is your opinion. When Ronaldo is on the pitch just by his presence he makes things easier for everyone else. Let's just see how Madrid do for real this upcoming year.
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And how is "his presence" supposed to do this? Even if he drags the concentration of defenders to him, you can't be serious if you compare this completely mental effect to Modric's direct impact on the game. He has been Madrid's engine alongside Kroos for the past 4-5 years and clearly makes it so much easier for every of his team mates by dominating the midfield, distributing the ball and initiating chances/attacks.

I mean, it is not like Ronaldo constantly has two or three markers on him following him everywhere on the pitch which would create space for his comrades. Cristiano isn't particularly dangerous outside the box anymore so why should teams care about marking him in these areas? In terms of creating momentum out of static situations, there are at least five or six players in Madrid's side who are better than him.
 
Zehner said:
And how is "his presence" supposed to do this? Even if he drags the concentration of defenders to him, you can't be serious if you compare this completely mental effect to Modric's direct impact on the game. He has been Madrid's engine alongside Kroos for the past 4-5 years and clearly makes it so much easier for every of his team mates by dominating the midfield, distributing the ball and initiating chances/attacks.

I mean, it is not like Ronaldo constantly has two or three markers on him following him everywhere on the pitch which would create space for his comrades. Cristiano isn't particularly dangerous outside the box anymore so why should teams care about marking him in these areas? In terms of creating momentum out of static situations, there are at least five or six players in Madrid's side who are better than him.
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This is a circular argument. I say he has a greater impact, you say he has a lesser one. Like I said, instead of all these "what ifs" lets just see how Madrid do for real now that he is gone.
 
charlton66 said:
This is a circular argument. I say he has a greater impact, you say he has a lesser one. Like I said, instead of all these "what ifs" lets just see how Madrid do for real now that he is gone.
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I think whether Real does well without Ronaldo and vice versa has no real informative value, really. This is no clean A/B test since there are so many variables that changed. I mean, the coach has changed, the competition has changed, players aged and matured in both teams Juventus and Madrid and so forth. Besides that, winning the CL is incredibly hard and you require luck to accomplish it (like Madrid in the semis vs. Bayern). Most likely, neither Madrid nor Ronaldo will win it this year and there will definitely be people in both camps who will use this as an "argument" to suit their agenda.

For me, if people start using arguments like the "presence" of a player and the mental effect he has on the opposition, it is a clear indication that the respective footballer didn't perform very well. It is something like a desparate, last resort. The substantial fact is that Cristiano didn't score in this year's most important matches and wasn't really involved in the games he played. The latter doesn't seem to bother many people but especially the absence of the former is what distinguishes his last season from previous CL wins. It was the one big argument in his favour. Even if I never really agreed with this it was a fair point. What is left is a player with a big name who scored many goals in stages that a team like Real Madrid has to pass anyway and afterwards was carried by his team mates. No best player material for me,
 
Zehner said:
I don't really know where these opinions come from. Everytime I saw Madrid last season, he was excellent. Funnily, he is more or less the exact opposite of Cristiano - at least in the last years. He is rarely seen on the scoresheet but he has such an impact in almost every other area of the pitch in almost every game he plays. Such players were rated much higher in the pre-Messi/Ronaldo era.

Collectively Madrid was weaker than from 2015 to 2017 which made it harder for players like Modric or Kroos to shine but individually especially Modric was brillant.
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As a midfielder, Kroos and Casemiro outshines him last season
 
RedRonaldo said:
As a midfielder, Kroos and Casemiro outshines him last season
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Hell no. Modric was worse than in previous years, but he was still above Kroos and Casemiro (who also had a pretty bad season by their standards)
 
charlton66 said:
. When Ronaldo is on the pitch just by his presence he makes things easier for everyone else.
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Wow. Give him the trophy then. Best player when not on the ball is quite something.
 
adexkola said:
@giorno what do you think of this?
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Casemiro had a bad season, and Modric was generally better than Kroos. I'd say in 15/16 or 16/17 Modric and Kroos were comparable. Well Modric was better in open play but Kroos set-piece delivery was an incredible weapon for us. I'd say Kroos was better in 15/16 and Modric was better in the last two seasons.

In all honesty if i were to vote for the balon d'or right now i'd probably go with Cristiano or Messi. Neither has been phenomenal by their standards, mind you. Mbappé or Griezmann have the world cup on their side, so a great second half of the year could see either of them topple the Messi-Cristiano dynasty
EDIT: i forgot Salah. I think he was the best performing player in the world in the first half of the year, until the injury. But he has no chance. Won nothing. He's a serious candidate for the FIFA award, but not the balon d'or

But i do believe Modric will win it, because it's still people voting and they're biased, and likely to be tired of those two. Neither Messi nor Cristiano nor anyone else was great enough to make passing them up look like a joke, and there's been a rather massive push for Modric since the world cup. Now that cristiano is gone Florentino can throw his weight behind Modric, and Florentino's weight is a very great weight :D
 
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B20 said:
Wow. Give him the trophy then. Best player when not on the ball is quite something.
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I've actually tried to read your posts over the years as you seem quite knowledgeable. I didn't say he was the best player on the field when not on the ball - you did. We both well know that some players command more attention than others during the game - whether they have the ball or not. I hope your reply was just being facetious, otherwise it was just dumb.
 
Schneckerl said:
Hell no. Modric was worse than in previous years, but he was still above Kroos and Casemiro (who also had a pretty bad season by their standards)
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No, Kroos and Casemiro is better, in terms of club football last season

If you disagree, fine. Opinion differs. But from the games I've watched (over 30 games), they clearly are better.

And whoscore average rating across 40+ games also suggest the same.
 
Modric just wins Fifa Best Mens award. He's gonna win the Ballon D'or too.

What a player and what a season.
 
So when is the next award ceremony?

Next month? Thought Modric already won something a month ago.
 
NieThePiet said:
So when is the next award ceremony?

Next month? Thought Modric already won something a month ago.
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He won UEFA POTY and TOTY.

This is a new-ish award only a few years old, basically FIFA's version.

Ballon D'or then I think is actually a French magazine (someone may correct me) award. But it's the most highly regarded.
 
Who votes for ballon d'or? Only journos? Or coaches and captains?
Will Ronaldo call them all and cry on the phone to vote for him?
 
For a while FIFPRO and France Football combined their awards. They went back to having their own awards recently.
 
Modric scores 2 goals and gets 7 assists in 17/18 and gets best player in the world. Honestly its embarrassing.

Modric shouldn't be in the top 10
 
Champions League - Winner
World Cup - Runner Up

World Cup - Player of the Tournament
World Cup - Dream Team (best XI)
UEFA - Player of the Year
UEFA - Team of the Year
FIFA - Player of the Year
FIFA - Team of the Year

And Ballon D'or. What a season.
 
The others scored more but they're attackers. Combining player and team success, he definitely did the best out of them.

Refreshing to see someone having a chance to break Messi-Ronaldo cycle.
 
RedRonaldo said:
No, Kroos and Casemiro is better, in terms of club football last season

If you disagree, fine. Opinion differs. But from the games I've watched (over 30 games), they clearly are better.

And whoscore average rating across 40+ games also suggest the same.
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I watched all their games and you're wrong, Modric was better.
Whoscored algo isn't that good for midfielder.
 
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