Modric deserves Ballon d'Or, but Ronaldo will get it
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Ffs
2 goals until December wasn't it?
Spot on then about 21/22 before April.
Also got 8 in champions league until December but whos counting that eh?
Varane not a bad choice either. Wasn't cannavaro the last player to win this thing who wasn't a Ronaldo or a Messi?
Kaka.
Yeh so rely on your opinion and ignore everything else then? FFS
IMO he is average. No one ever mention his name as contender for Ballon D'or this year before world cup, no one. FFS.
Isn't this award for Calendar year?
He was not the key man for Real. He was a man for Real.
He was the key man for Croatia, but there were a few not far behind him. People talking like he did it alone are very silly.
Of course, but Ronaldo and specially Messi have been winning it when they were less deserving then Modric is now, so I see no problem with giving it to Modric this time.
It's a tough year to give the award because no one player really stood out and no team won more then one meaningful trophy.
At least it will be fun this time because we just can't tell where it's going, but one thing I'm sure of, Ronaldo or Messi are not winning it this time.
Then you should put a huge bet on it given how much of a favourite Ronaldo is on every betting agency.
I'm not saying Modric will win it. I'm saying he deserves it more then Ronaldo.
The way I see it, if Ronaldo ends this year like he ended 2017. (scoring 3 goals all together in all those games from the start of the season until December) he's not winning it. If he starts well at Juve and scores plenty, he's probably winning it.
If Messi will have a great start of the seson beating teams all by himself he'll be a contender.
If Griezmann starts of well with Atleti doing well, people will forget he dived his way to a world cup trophy and he's in it.
Real could easily sign no one of note this summer and if they start of well in the league (as if Ronaldo was never there) and Modric adds to that with his performances, it's him as the main candidate.
If any of these scenarios happen and some of them collide then no one knows what will happen.
Early days still, but at this point in time Ronaldo and Messi should be completely out of the picture (imo).
Who should have won it instead of them?
Messi scored the most goals this season in world football in a team that won the league, I don't see why hed be out of contention. Ronaldo top scorer for the champions league winners and top scorer in the champions league by 5 goals.
I don't consider Modric as main contender due to 3 reason:
1. He didn't win WC, and he wasn't best player in knockout stages (but easily best player in group stage)
2. his overall contribution to CL success last season was not significant
3. His league form for Real is rather average
But agree the early season form could still change some of the votes among Ronaldo or Messi.
The main contender are:
Club form (40-50 games)
Possible contender: Ronaldo, Messi, Salah, Neymar
Likely contender: Ronaldo or Messi (both win big trophies)
Unlikely contender: Salah (wins feck all), Neymar (disappointing CL run, injury)
WC form (7 games)
Possible contender: Modric, Mbappe, Hazard, Griezmann
Likely contender: Modric (Golden Ball winner) or Griezman (WC winner)
Unlikely contender: Mbappe (13 goals in French league is very poor return, even less than Depay!), Hazard (doesn't really shine much in Premier league, only finish 3rd in WC)
Club + WC
1. Ronaldo (48 goals in 48 games overall for Real and Portugal, best player/top scorer in CL, 2nd top scorer in league, decent in WC)
2. Messi? (Best player in Spain, insane no. of goals and assists, but flop big time in WC)
3. Modric? (Best player in WC, but average in CL/league)
or Griezman? (decent return of goals in Spain, WC winner, key player and among one of top goalscorer with 4 goals, but wasn't best player in any of the major competition)
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Hahaha so wait, Messi was a flop in WC despite actually showing up in the two most important matches with a goal and two assists and Ronaldo gets upgraded to decent despite being a complete ghost in the final group stage match and missing a penalty that could have won them the group and an easier bracket. He also was a complete no show against Uruguay and yet Messi is considered a flop?
I have no problem if people fee ronaldo had the slightly better WC, but Ronaldo got worse as the WC went on and Messi’s best matches are the two biggest ones. Not his fault argentina’s Defense was shite
Modric for me wasn't the best player at the world cup. He certainly deserves credit as he was one of a few players to carry Croatia to the final, but it wasn't a exactly the hardest of runs and they needed 3 periods of extra time to get there.
I might be being a little stat obsessed, but Griezmann scored 4 and assisted 3 and therefore had the highest direct statistical goal contribution. This contribution also helped France win the world cup.
Outside of the world cup, Ronaldo may have had a slow start to the season, but his stats were still in the best ever levels bracket. Winning another CL is also massive.
Messi had a good year in the league, but little else.
Salah was amazing for Pool, but won nothing.
For me its probably Ronaldo winner and a close tie between Griezmann, Messi and Salah for 2nd.
I might be being a little stat obsessed, but Griezmann scored 4 and assisted 3 and therefore had the highest direct statistical goal contribution. This contribution also helped France win the world cup.
Outside of the world cup, Ronaldo may have had a slow start to the season, but his stats were still in the best ever levels bracket. Winning another CL is also massive.
Messi had a good year in the league, but little else.
Salah was amazing for Pool, but won nothing.
For me its probably Ronaldo winner and a close tie between Griezmann, Messi and Salah for 2nd.
I don't get your rating of Messi. Sure he did not set the WC on fire but he was getting better as the competition was going on. The last 2 matches when it mattered most he was pretty much Argentina's best player and was a force out there. Should he have played in goal as well to try and stop the bleeding?
The Argentina defense and keepers were in total shambles, that team had no chance. I really hate this obsession people have of declaring players flops like this is not a team game. You don't think it was great..fine. But how can you say Ronaldo was decent then when he produced nothing in final games, missed penalty. If you're gonna call one performance a flop at least be consistent.
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Its all relative. 1 goals in 4 games is poor return given to his usual high standard and expectation (at goat level).
Ronaldo scored 4 goals in 4 games (which contribute to 67% of Portugal goals, highest player to team contribution in WC), I am not saying he is outstanding, but it is fair to say he is decent judging from any view point.
And Messi has a goal and two assists in bigger matches. I’m not saying Ronaldo was bad or Messi was great but quite silly to say he was a flop when he plays much deeper for Argentina and in their two biggest matches he scored in an elimination match and then assisted twice against a team that won the World Cup.
Ronaldo got worse as the WC wore on Messi was the opposite
I don't know how to define bigger matches. Every points count in group stage and knockout stage. Vs Spain is probably biggest match Portugal could have face, and he scored hat trick. Urgurary is another bigger matches but the whole Portugal team fails. Messi won only one crucial match vs Nigeria, its crucial but no way bigger than vs Spain. The other bigger match, Argentina loss despite Messi providing 2 assists (one of which is too late with 2 goals behind anyway).
This rather pathetic comparing the world cup of 2 players who massively failed during the tournament
Modric is average? Cool
Yes. He was average in league and CL last season.
Basically just attackers who score / assist...
When you have players standing out in attack it's hard to make a case for more defensive players.
Your example of Griezmann who was not as good as either Kante or Pogba in the world cup, but the stats have skewed your opinion
I can't disagree, those two bossed the midfield and without that the opportunities don't come, much as Modric did, but finishing and assisting is a precise art and I just appreciate it that bit more.
So we should just act like world cup didn't happen this year because that suits the Ronaldo/Messi case?
Well that's just not happening. Not this year when the journalists are the only ones who will pick the winner.
Those two can stick their facebook and instagram followers you know where, because if we leave all facts aside, the journalists will be hungry for a new story, a new star. Someone new to write about. They're more fed up with Ronaldo and Messi winning it then anyone else in this world.
OF COURSE it's bigger than Spain, spain was one group stage match where they still had two more afterward. Argentina loses to Nigeria and they are FINISHED.
Ronaldo did ZILCH in the final two games which were MASSIVE. Messi's first assist in the France gave Argentina the lead. Ronaldo was a total ghost in the two biggest matches for Portugal's WC run. If he scores that penalty they win the group. It is ridiculous to have blamed Messi when he was comfortably the best player in the France match and got MOTM against Nigeria where Argentina were in great danger of flaming out in the group stage.
So again, saying he flopped in the WC is ridiculous, Ronaldo started off strong (one goal off a massive DDG error, the other a penalty) and flamed out completely. You blame the "entire" Portugal squad for failing yet blame Messi by himself despite the rest of Argentina being much much bigger failures than the rest of Portugal who at least showed up defensively after the first match against Spain.
Messi had two assits in a do or die game, and Argentina's defense let them down. Ronaldo plays 5 feet from goal and failed to do anything in the last two matches with 6/10 performances at best.
Again, you can say Ronaldo had a SLIGHTLY better WC than Messi, but Ronaldo faded very quick and literally got worse and worse by the game, whereas Messi was the complete opposite. And France was 10 times the team anyone Portugal faced, Spain flamed out badly in the round of 16. Crotia were a finalist and France won the whole thing. Argentina were the only team the ENTIRE tournament to be winning against France and that was thanks to Messi.
In a year Messi will have had a better WC than Ronaldo...
You should follow the lead of your Barcelona media and go for the ‘anyone but Ronaldo’ camp. No point arguing for Messi this time around.
It’s going to be fun watching the Barcelona media and fans pushing for Modric or Varane to win it in a few months
I think Modric should win the Ballon d'or. I also think that Real should sell him this summer.
It would be a massively unpopular move but at the same time his stock will never be higher.
Real need to rebuild and there are rumors that they can't afford to pay for their targets, like Hazard. So, sell an aging asset and reinvest that and the Ronaldo money into revamping the squad. The team might become stale otherwise because correct me if I'm wrong but Real haven't made any major purchases for the first team in the past couple of years, have they?
It would be a massively unpopular move but at the same time his stock will never be higher.
Real need to rebuild and there are rumors that they can't afford to pay for their targets, like Hazard. So, sell an aging asset and reinvest that and the Ronaldo money into revamping the squad. The team might become stale otherwise because correct me if I'm wrong but Real haven't made any major purchases for the first team in the past couple of years, have they?
Oh God, not Messi v Ronaldo again
I think Modric has a decent shout, but don‘t think he was much better as De Bruyne at the WC and certainly worse during the season. De Bruyne has several factors going against him though, with the poor CL exit and a slow end to the season for him, compared to where he was during the autumn/winter. Let me remind you, no one was championing Modric during the season for Ballon D‘Or. There were threads calling De Bruyne the best midfielder in the world and one of the Top3 players in the world.
In the end, I think De Bruyne got overshadowed by Salah which is fair. If you exclude the WC, I would say Salah is the best choice for Ballon D‘Or. Most goals ever in a single season in the PL, plus how did he compare to Messi and Ronaldo when it counted? He was much better than both during the CL semi finals. Ronaldo and Messi both did literally nothing in CL games beyond the quarter final and WC games beyond the round of last 16.
Salah‘s World Cup was the weakest, but he also had a shit show of a team. Everyone talks about how Messi had to play in a poor Argentina side. I bet Salah would have fecking loved to play with Rojo, Aguero, Di Maria etc instead of the teammates he had.
My Ballon D‘Or voting
1 Salah
2/3 Ronaldo Messi
4/5 Modric De Bruyne
I think Modric has a decent shout, but don‘t think he was much better as De Bruyne at the WC and certainly worse during the season. De Bruyne has several factors going against him though, with the poor CL exit and a slow end to the season for him, compared to where he was during the autumn/winter. Let me remind you, no one was championing Modric during the season for Ballon D‘Or. There were threads calling De Bruyne the best midfielder in the world and one of the Top3 players in the world.
In the end, I think De Bruyne got overshadowed by Salah which is fair. If you exclude the WC, I would say Salah is the best choice for Ballon D‘Or. Most goals ever in a single season in the PL, plus how did he compare to Messi and Ronaldo when it counted? He was much better than both during the CL semi finals. Ronaldo and Messi both did literally nothing in CL games beyond the quarter final and WC games beyond the round of last 16.
Salah‘s World Cup was the weakest, but he also had a shit show of a team. Everyone talks about how Messi had to play in a poor Argentina side. I bet Salah would have fecking loved to play with Rojo, Aguero, Di Maria etc instead of the teammates he had.
My Ballon D‘Or voting
1 Salah
2/3 Ronaldo Messi
4/5 Modric De Bruyne
Oh God, not Messi v Ronaldo again
I think Modric has a decent shout, but don‘t think he was much better as De Bruyne at the WC and certainly worse during the season. De Bruyne has several factors going against him though, with the poor CL exit and a slow end to the season for him, compared to where he was during the autumn/winter. Let me remind you, no one was championing Modric during the season for Ballon D‘Or. There were threads calling De Bruyne the best midfielder in the world and one of the Top3 players in the world.
In the end, I think De Bruyne got overshadowed by Salah which is fair. If you exclude the WC, I would say Salah is the best choice for Ballon D‘Or. Most goals ever in a single season in the PL, plus how did he compare to Messi and Ronaldo when it counted? He was much better than both during the CL semi finals. Ronaldo and Messi both did literally nothing in CL games beyond the quarter final and WC games beyond the round of last 16.
Salah‘s World Cup was the weakest, but he also had a shit show of a team. Everyone talks about how Messi had to play in a poor Argentina side. I bet Salah would have fecking loved to play with Rojo, Aguero, Di Maria etc instead of the teammates he had.
My Ballon D‘Or voting
1 Salah
2/3 Ronaldo Messi
4/5 Modric De Bruyne
Salah would definitely been much more deserving than the likes of Modric and Varane but 0 trophies makes it impossible. It’s weird how he pretty much vanished from the conversation after being injured in the CL final and a WC where he was playing for Egypt.
Plenty of people have won without doing well at the world cup. And its a very short tournament after a long season unlike the league season and champions league where you have to perform over a sustained period.
In a year Messi will have had a better WC than Ronaldo...
You should follow the lead of your Barcelona media and go for the ‘anyone but Ronaldo’ camp. No point arguing for Messi this time around.
It’s going to be fun watching the Barcelona media and fans pushing for Modric or Varane to win it in a few months
Ronaldo having a mediocre World Cup is a fact. Never said he didn’t deserve ballon d’or
Mediocre
He was out best player by a mile, the best player in the group stages ffs... and we reached out goal for the tournament. Again.
Mediocre
He was out best player by a mile, the best player in the group stages ffs... and we reached out goal for the tournament. Again.
He was mediocre, he had two decent games and missed a crucial penalty. Take off the homer
Glasses
If Ronaldo's WC was mediocre, what was Messi's?
And this is someone who prefers Messi over Ronaldo.
And this is someone who prefers Messi over Ronaldo.
Either you’re insane or you’ve been reading too many of those tweets again.
I thought Barcelona fans would finally give up on this Ronaldo thing now that he’s out of Madrid...
Either you’re insane or you’ve been reading too many of those tweets again.
I thought Barcelona fans would finally give up on this Ronaldo thing now that he’s out of Madrid...
Do you feel Juventus was the right move for him? Do you think he saw the writing on the wall at
Madrid like Zidane May have?