People keep saying that FIFA loves some footballers and hate others. Or that some players won this trophy while others did not win that. Or so some deserve this while others don't deserve that.
But most of the people who are making these arguments sometime leave out FACTS and ANALYSIS as they embark on their journey to change the world.
And so because this is "TRUE FOOTBALL ANALYST" and not "LOYAL FOOTBALL FAN" Page, I will try once again, to help some of you change the way you are thinking about at this whole thing:
CONCERNING THE BALLON D'OR AWARD
This is more like the Oscar Awards where the professionals of the industry do the voting. Film Producers, Actors, Directors & Film Writers are the ones who choose who the BEST ACTORS are. And many "FANS" don't like this. They are often angry because Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have never won an Oscar despite the billions that their films have made at the Box Office. Meanwhile some "relatively" unknown actors like Daniel Day Lewis have won Best Actor THREE times, while new comers like Christoph Waltz already have 2 Oscars.
Personally, I am very happy with the way the Oscars winners are chosen so I am quite happy with the way Ballon D'Or is chosen. I know what could happen if FIFA throws it open to millions of half-baked football fans around the world.
Why Not The Fans?
Three sets of people's opinions are valued much higher than the opinions of the millions of fans who watch football for all sorts of reasons:Reasons like,
a) My friends have a favorite club, so I must have one as well.
b) I am in love with Ozil's girlfriend, a supermodel, so he is my favorite footballer.
c) I am an African, therefore I must keep up with African footballers to promote them.
d) There is a lot of poverty in my country, so football is the opium of the poor.
So because of these and many other mundane reasons, I cannot see it as a wise thing to let ALL THE FANS select the World's Best player.
Hence I am more comfortable with FIFA's design to have it trusted to the PROFESSIONALS OF THE INDUSTRY:
Every country that his recognized by FIFA (including Paraguay, Wales, Japan, Burkina Faso & Malta) is represented by
1) Their National Team Captain
2) Their National Team Manager
3) A Representative from their national Media.
An excellent design in my opinion.
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| Although it is an Individual Award and shouldn't be solely based on how many trophies your team won during the year, There is still a way that it reflects on the clubs. For me, it proves how great a club is, and its ability to attract the greatest players in the game. |
Because if you had left it to ALL of the media that reports on football, then the English speaking media which dominates the world (thanks to AMERICA, but which works, in terms of football, for England) would likely give Ballon D'or every year to Wayne Rooney or Gareth Bale.
Also, If you left it ONLY to players, then some collective "beef" could begin to show for some particular players.
So Managers and selected Sports Press are added there to balance things. And everyone is advised to CHOOSE according to "EXCELLENCE" NOT "nationality".
The Error Of Relying On The Trophy Cabinet
Another thing I REALLY have to point out about Ballon D'or.....
It is NOT an Award for a SEASON!
It is an Award for a calendar Year!
The European Player of the Year Award that Ribery recently won was for a SEASON. This is the Award that naturally has a higher regard for Trophies won during the season.
But there is still a lot of football still to be played after those trophies have been won, and this is why Ballon D'or winners may not necessarily win trophies in the year they won. It didn't start with Lionel Messi.
Another thing you must understand is that individual players are incapable of winning a trophy. Only teams, in fact, ENTIRE squads can.
In fact, I was once guilty of this assumption too. When Ronaldinho won the Award in 2004, I thought Deco was robbed. But then Deco moved to Barcelona with Ronaldinho, and for the rest of the year, the difference in their performance was quite clear.
Deco wasn't even in the Top three of the Barcelona squad of that period, if you ask me. There was Ronaldinho, there was Eto, and there was a budding young talent called Messi. And these three did all of the heavy lifting. So Deco had 2 consecutive Europe & Portuguese league trophies, but Ronaldinho had phenomenal football on his side.
Then, there is the Wes Sneider argument as well. For those people who felt that Wesley Sneider deserved to win the Ballon D'or for 2010 instead of Messi.
Well, for me, I could have made a small case for Xavi. But not the dutch man. Because, again, individually he was not so outstanding in 2010. He scored some good freekicks and made some nice assists when Inter won the Champions League, but Diego Milito and Samuel Eto were slightly more impressive for me.
Also Holland getting to the World Cup Final was not very fair for Brazil, who were robbed of a clean goal (ruled off as offside) after dominating a match where the referee allowed Holland players to rough-handle the Brazilians. But this even encouraged Sneider's teammates to use even rougher tactics in the Final. It was an eyesaw. If a decent referee had officiated that match, Holland would have had 2 players sent off before the end of the first half. And then we would see if they wouldn't have been hammered 4-0 or something.
But most of all, again, Inter's overall performance after the Summer Break was very poor. And that was really what (in my opinion) killed Sneider's case for the Ballon D'or. But Messi continued to score and assist goals at will from the start of the new season.
See?
An Individual Award! Also an Award for the Calendar Year, NOT the previous season. (try to understand that part - it's a vital part most people miss)
I hope some of you are finally beginning to understand this now. It is not according to how you feel. It is according to how the National team captains and managers judge the people that they play against from time to time, and see on a regular basis. I remember a time (early 90s) when I was a huge Juventus fan. I sometimes literally prayed for AC Milan to lose important matches so that my Juventus would rise to the top of Serie A. But at the last minute, that crook Van Basten pops up with a heart-shattering and spectacular volley to give all the points (then just 2) to Milan. And I am left sulking. But I am sometimes PARTLY comforted at the end of the season, when Roberto Baggio wins the Award of Calcio Best Player, despite Milan taking the title by up to 7 points gap.
The judgment is that Gullit, Rijkaard, Donadoni, and Massaro "diluted" Van Basten's greatness. But Baggio did it all for Juve:- Top Scorer. Top Assister. Most Flair. And another attribute that many don't take notice of. Ability to command the FEAR of your opponents on the pitch. You see this in players who, more often than others, draw 2 to 3 defenders to themselves when they hold the ball.
(pay attention particularly to Isco, Ribery and Zlatan Ibrahimovic when they hold the ball - the "other guy" doesn't need to be mentioned, so I do not incur the wrath of my friends).
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| I would prefer him to win this one. But I am not contradicting myself by saying that Ribery won many trophies, AND HAS also really dazzled very brightly at the start of this season. |
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| Someone has to give this little guy some fashion tips. For real! |
Referees Are Human, So Are Ballon D'Or Voters
Again, I must point out that while I don't think the FIFA method is fool-proof, I still insist that it is the best way I could have come up with.
In fact, I probably wouldn't have come up with it on my own. So I applaud them for keeping it "Pro".
I am a Nigerian, we speak English and we watch SuperSport - A South African channel that is dominated by British sports journalists and ex-footballers.
So you can bet that many of my people think there is some FIFA conspiracy in favor LaLiga and against England-based footballers. Some even use the word..."racism".
I have to spend time explaining to some of them that Cristiano Ronaldo (Brazillian-Portugues) and Jose Mourinho are latin footballers as well. So if FIFA were so racist, then it would probably be Van Persey, Schweinsteiger and Bale that would be running for this year's Award.
But the truth is that you have to have the Best people selecting the BEST.
For example, as a Digital Marketer, I will hate it if someone who doesn't even understand the true meaning of Social Media Marketing was given the power to choose the best Digital Marketers in the World.
he could just go out and choose the name that he hears being mentioned the most. Because his understanding of digital marketing is very limited.
Can you see what I mean?
Yes, we know that there are some fans who really KNOW THEIR FOOTBALL (trust me, I am one of them). But how do we separate them from the millions of ignorant "fanboys" who will twist and turn every statement to suit the guy that they idolize?
Look at this...
A few years ago, a survey was carried out in Brazil where they asked LOCAL Brazilian players to select the best players in the World. They made it a "secret ballot" (that means people don't know who you voted for) so it gave the players a chance to speak their true feelings. In the end, it shocked everyone that Messi beat Neymar and CRonaldo to win the majority of the votes.....professional footballers in BRAZIL!
Think about it. If it had been merely Brazilian fans, you can bet that perhaps even Juan Mata would have beaten Messi there.
Another important thing that you should consider about the HUMAN SIDE OF THE VOTE.
When Jose Mourinho claimed that FIFA cheated for Del Bosque in the last vote (I was actually STUNNED that he would think he achieved better), it was NOT the first time he was accusing FIFA of rigging something.And because of him, FIFA did something that many of us think is not good. They revealed everyone's votes for the world to see.....(Check Out The Breakdown Of Voters Here - Again Professionals)
What finally settled it was that this forced the Football Federation of Goran Pandev's country to apologize for changing his vote for Mourinho into a vote for Del Bosque.
So it made me realize that FIFA and the Tooth Fairy may not be out to get him; but at least now he knows that the Macedonian FA is! But it also made Mourinho look much more annoying in the eyes of some people who are already tired of his antics.
And what he, and most of his devoted fans may fail to see is that he has consistently creating a stigma for himself with all of his complaints against referees, FIFA, UEFA, Spanish FA, and the Ku Klux Klan. This may win him points with some lily-livered referees and most of his fans. But these are not the people doing the voting. Professionals could interpret this behavior in another way, while they observe other players & managers quietly doing their thing and letting their FOOTBALL speak for them.
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| So who's it gonna be? Surely not Messi this time! |
Conclusion
For me, eventhough I personally think Cristiano Ronaldo should win This Year's Award. It is not necessarily because he deserves it more than Ribery. I think he does deserve it more than Messi this time though.
Why I would pick him is purely because he has been shortlisted for the past 4 years or so. To be honest, looking at both of them, I still see a little bit more of the kind of football that pumps my blood in Ribery's game. But I would give it to Ronaldo because he has been consistently close to the Top for a while longer than just the past year. But the national team captain of Chile may disagree, as well as the national coach of Germany.
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