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

ManuMou

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Close call, but Modric deserves it more than Ronaldo. "Attacker gets more glory as usual", it is just human nature, sadly.
 
He already got Ballon D’Or for the WC. So almost no chance he lands the real one?
 
Ronaldo won the domestic league and the Champions League but crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter finals.

Mbappe won the domestic league AND won the World Cup, scoring 4 goals including the final. But crashed out of the Champions League. And he did it all at a tender age of 19.

Surely, Mbappe's a bigger achievement and deserve the Ballon d'Or?
 
First time in a while a season has come to an end without there being a clear contender for it. In other words, it might not go to Ronaldo or Messi this time.
 
Juve has a history of solid Ballon d'Or lobbying so I reckon it's going to Ronaldo (again).
 
Can someone sum up for me why a player who wasn't the best player in his domestic league, wasnt the best player in the champion's league and wasn't the best player in the World Cup can be said to be the best player on the planet?
 
jeff_goldblum said:
Can someone sum up for me why a player who wasn't the best player in his domestic league, wasnt the best player in the champion's league and wasn't the best player in the World Cup can be said to be the best player on the planet?
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Who do you think was better than him at the World Cup?
 
You're just saying that because you're used to seeing the numbers Ronaldo puts up, Modric is good, but not Ballon d'Or good.
 
First time in history no clear deserved winner for Ballon D'or. Hard one to predict really, if Ronaldo or Modric gets it, i'll be fine with it.
 
There is no debate whatsoever.

Loris Karius is the best player this year.
 
Fortitude said:
Who do you think was better than him at the World Cup?
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I think he is talking about Ronaldo is he not?

I do think this season neither Messi or Ronaldo have been at say their sort of performance level except for a few occasions. Ronaldo up until about the turn of the year looked quite mortal even. He did all of a sudden kick in to high gear, but there was/is an opening for someone else to sneak in.

Modric is probably more of a football lovers choice. Goes under the radar, just doing his job but doesn’t really stand out but is appreciated by people in the know. I don’t think he’ll do it but he deserves it in my opinion.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
I think he is talking about Ronaldo is he not?

I do think this season neither Messi or Ronaldo have been at say their sort of performance level except for a few occasions. Ronaldo up until about the turn of the year looked quite mortal even. He did all of a sudden kick in to high gear, but there was/is an opening for someone else to sneak in.

Modric is probably more of a football lovers choice. Goes under the radar, just doing his job but doesn’t really stand out but is appreciated by people in the know. I don’t think he’ll do it but he deserves it in my opinion.
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Oh, if so, nevermind.

Just think Modrić has had the kind of season that elevates him from one of the best in the world to one of the best of a generation.
 
Micky Targaryen said:
Ronaldo won the domestic league and the Champions League but crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter finals.

Mbappe won the domestic league AND won the World Cup, scoring 4 goals including the final. But crashed out of the Champions League. And he did it all at a tender age of 19.

Surely, Mbappe's a bigger achievement and deserve the Ballon d'Or?
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He's a shoo in for Golden Boy or whatever, but not Ballon d'or. Ronaldo scored like twice as many goals?
 
Ronaldo, Messi, Salah and Modric should be the top 4 in that order if they keep their form for the rest of the calendar year.

Modric is in an interesting situation where he’ll have both Barcelona and Madrid media pushing for him to win it along with others who are sick of Ronaldo and Messi in the top 2. Same people who were pushing for Buffon to get it last year, hopefully in the end they actually have some sense again.

Ronaldo and Messi doing what they do year after year may seem normal but it’s not. Messi will get criticism for being average in the CL quarters, Ronaldo will get criticism for being average in the CL semis and final while Modric won’t have any criticism at all for being below average in the round of 16, quarters and semis because that’s how different the expectations are between those two and the rest but the truth is they’ve once again been the two best players in the world.

Modric hasn’t even been one of Real Madrid’s best 3 players in 2018... he was better in 2016 and 2017. Very good WC but not close to being great enough to win the Ballon D’Or. He’ll most likely not even finish in the top 3, rightly so. He’d deserve it for the career he’s had but Ronaldo, Messi and Salah have clearly been better.
 
jeff_goldblum said:
Can someone sum up for me why a player who wasn't the best player in his domestic league, wasnt the best player in the champion's league and wasn't the best player in the World Cup can be said to be the best player on the planet?
Click to expand...
Ronaldo was the best player in UCL though. Modric was the best player in WC. Messi was the best player in La Liga, top league in the world.

I think that for Ballon D'Or it should be Modric followed by Ronaldo and Messi. I also think that it will be like that.
 
Zlatattack said:
He's a shoo in for Golden Boy or whatever, but not Ballon d'or. Ronaldo scored like twice as many goals?
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29 goals and 19 assists this season for Mbappé (54 and 10 for Cristiano). It could be much more if he was given penalty and free-kick duties and it's especially impressive considering unlike Ronaldo neither PSG or France are set up for funneling goals to him.
 
Fortitude said:
Who do you think was better than him at the World Cup?
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Plenty of players have a shout, including a couple of his own teammates. I'd give it to either Mbappe or Pogba. Both put in better and more game-changing performances than Modric throughout the tournament against stronger opposition, both made the final and produced in the final. Modric is the narratively satisfying choice based on him captaining an unfancied side to the final in his last World Cup, but best player in the tournament should be based on the quality of performances, not how romantic a story it is or the natural inclination to support the underdog.

Put it this way, if Croatia had gone out on penalties against Denmark, Modric would have had a solid tournament with a commanding performance against Argentina in the groups being his personal highlight. So, in terms of him individually rather than Croatia collectively, in which of the Russia, England or France games did he outperform his competition and put himself at the top of the pile? Personally I think he was good in all of them, with his best performance of the 3 was the second-half + extra time against England in a game where Perisic was probably MotM.

In terms of the thread title though, do you think he's been the best player on the planet this calendar year so far?

Revan said:
Ronaldo was the best player in UCL though. Modric was the best player in WC. Messi was the best player in La Liga, top league in the world.

I think that for Ballon D'Or it should be Modric followed by Ronaldo and Messi. I also think that it will be like that.
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As above, I'd disagree that Modric was the best player of the tournament. This calendar year (2018, so disregarding his slow start to the season) I think Ronaldo has been the best player in both La Liga and the UCL.
 
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Revan said:
Ronaldo was the best player in UCL though. Modric was the best player in WC. Messi was the best player in La Liga, top league in the world.

I think that for Ballon D'Or it should be Modric followed by Ronaldo and Messi. I also think that it will be like that.
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Was Ronaldo the best player in the CL? He didn't do much against Bayern and Liverpool. No I'm not wumming, I think he's had better CL tournaments.
 
Micky Targaryen said:
Ronaldo won the domestic league and the Champions League but crashed out of the World Cup in the quarter finals.

Mbappe won the domestic league AND won the World Cup, scoring 4 goals including the final. But crashed out of the Champions League. And he did it all at a tender age of 19.

Surely, Mbappe's a bigger achievement and deserve the Ballon d'Or?
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What?
 
RedDevil@84 said:
Dejan Lovren should get it. Specialist in finals
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Griezmann was just as special in the finals in 2016 and look at him now. Not comparing the two but you get the point.

Lovren is a bit of a twat. He's often under pressure and copes with it by talking too much and bringing even more of it onto himself, but we can also give him some credit when he deserves it. He played really well this world cup and ends the season with a "biggest loser of the season" award. It's funny because to be that guy, you need to have a good season.
 
manunited1919 said:
He already got Ballon D’Or for the WC.
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It's called the Golden Ball, Ballon d'Or (yeah, I know that it's a literal translation) is a different award.
 
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