There is a feeling that the criteria for the Ballon d’Or have gone in the wrong direction. Yes, you know that yourself. In recent years there has been so much outrage: who was given the award, who was deprived of it, and one day no one received it, which was also very dubious. Robert Lewandowski was excellent in 2020, but France Football magazine refused to award him the award due to the pandemic. Although, except for the French championship, all other major leagues were completed and Bayern took the Champions League.
Robert Lewandowski
Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images
Let’s forget about names for a moment – we’ll come back to them later. Key: the Ballon d’Or winner is still remembered as the best footballer of the season (or of the year, as it was until 2021). By design, we’re talking about an individual performance. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work that way. Everyone looks at the trophies. As if the possibility of the strongest footballer of the season being left without a title is excluded. And this is in a team game.
Ok, everyone has more or less accepted this paradox, but what is even worse is that titles with the national team seem to have more value than club titles. Here there is a special recognition for the last Ballon d’Or. Obviously, the championships in England, Spain or the Champions League are more indicative of identifying the best. There is a greater selection of matches and the level of play is higher.
By now you probably think that the title doesn’t match the text, but that’s not the case. The main thing is ahead.
There is another spectrum where we have reached the extreme. It was not said that the Ballon d’Or should go to a striker or an attacking midfielder. You can vote for a defensive midfielder, a defender or a goalkeeper, but their chances are close to zero. Of these, only Fabio Cannavaro received the Ballon d’Or in the 21st century in 2006. In all of history, only one goalkeeper has won the award: Lev Yashin in 1963.
Monica Bellucci and Fabio Cannavaro
Photo: Stephane Reix/Getty Images
The desire to single out attacking players is understandable and even natural. Only now we have all become hostages of the Ronaldo-Messi era. There is no question about most of their Ballon d’Or awards. They scored more than 50 goals per season. But now there is simply no attacking footballer who has destroyed everyone over the past year. There is Jude Bellingham, who was great at the start of the club’s season. And then there is Vinicius, who was great at the end. In La Liga they are not even in the top 3 in terms of the goal+pass system. None of them scored 20 goals in the championship. Meager numbers: about half of those of Messi or Ronaldo.
Here are the odds the bookmakers have for the new Ballon d’Or winner:
Who will win the Ballon d’Or? It’s not so clear yet
Excuse me, but isn’t this the time when we should give midfielders, defenders and goalkeepers a chance once every 10 or 20 years?
That’s why I want Rodri to win the Ballon d’Or this time. He’s not trendy and he’s not even a star in football in general. Just a person who quietly produces results. He set a Premier League record for the season in accurate passes (3359) and accurate passes in the opposing half of the pitch (2122). With him, City did not lose a single match in the last championship. The best player in the world in his position. He could well have won the Ballon d’Or the season before last, when he scored the winning goal in the Champions League final. And this year there are victories in the Premier League and at Euro 2024 – a good set.
Daniel Carvajal
Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
There is another good option if we accept the obsession with trophies. There is such a defender: Dani Carvajal. This season he won La Liga, Euro 2024 and the Champions League, where he scored the winning goal in the final. Bellingham and Vinicius? Yes, we had a great season, but not outstanding. Is it possible at least this time to give the trophy to those who are not so popular, who do not go viral on TikTok, but who have no less influence on the game?
It would be nice too
“He deserved the Ballon d’Or. The monstrous season of the Spanish defender at 32 years old
