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Ballon d'Or

El Dante said:
Well deserved and finally he gets the appreciation that was LONG overdue.
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I'm always a cynic of the Ballon D'Or as it doesn't really represent football holistically. They clearly have this massive bias towards attacking players. In 20 years we've seen 1 defender (Cannavaro) and 2 midfielders (Modric and Rodri) win the award. The rest have been forwards. Every year you look at the nominees and see massive gaps of the defensive minded players who have had stunning years. I think they have a bias against our PL with only Rodri bucking the trend.

Very happy for Harry though. He's had a long old innings and waited until he was 33 for something like this to happen. Really pleased for him.
 
Muttley said:
I'm always a cynic of the Ballon D'Or as it doesn't really represent football holistically. They clearly have this massive bias towards attacking players. In 20 years we've seen 1 defender (Cannavaro) and 2 midfielders (Modric and Rodri) win the award. The rest have been forwards. Every year you look at the nominees and see massive gaps of the defensive minded players who have had stunning years. I think they have a bias against our PL with only Rodri bucking the trend.

Very happy for Harry though. He's had a long old innings and waited until he was 33 for something like this to happen. Really pleased for him.
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But the defenders of this era are not nowhere near where the likes of Cannavaro, Maldini, Nesta, Thuram and the King were. I think the best players in the World right now ARE attacking players . But I do understand your point.

In the list I think Olise should have been a lot higher. But otherwise it’s fair.
 
El Dante said:
But the defenders of this era are not nowhere near where the likes of Cannavaro, Maldini, Nesta, Thuram and the King were. I think the best players in the World right now ARE attacking players . But I do understand your point.

In the list I think Olise should have been a lot higher. But otherwise it’s fair.
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But just think of guys like Neuer, Courtois, Van Dijk, Puyol, Godin, Silva etc not even making the shortlists. Think about a 35 year old Messi or Ronaldo not being as good as they were when they were 28 but still winning it. It's been a massivly biased award for a very long time.

A guy like Hakimi will never win it. Back to back CL wins and league titles. Has been a different level at RB for a very long time. No chance.
 
Muttley said:
But just think of guys like Neuer, Courtois, Van Dijk, Puyol, Godin, Silva etc not even making the shortlists. Think about a 35 year old Messi or Ronaldo not being as good as they were when they were 28 but still winning it. It's been a massivly biased award for a very long time.

A guy like Hakimi will never win it. Back to back CL wins and league titles. Has been a different level at RB for a very long time. No chance.
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It’s about what he does as an individual. It’s not a team award so back to back UCL wins counts but not as loudly as his individual performances.

And it’s for that reason that the attacking bias likely exists. Goals, assists, general attacking play can be a lot more memorable than tackles and interceptions.

Maybe there needs to be emphasis on a Balon D’Or established Team alongside the individual award. With voting metrics displayed. That may better give the defenders rightful praise.
 
Not really interested in these awards, as they're totally irrelevant, or at least has been, as a couple of players have had a free ride to it for years. Harry getting it, is probably the most deserved one in the history of this award.
Huge congrats! Nice of him to also highlight his time with Spurs.
 
Muttley said:
I'm always a cynic of the Ballon D'Or as it doesn't really represent football holistically. They clearly have this massive bias towards attacking players. In 20 years we've seen 1 defender (Cannavaro) and 2 midfielders (Modric and Rodri) win the award. The rest have been forwards. Every year you look at the nominees and see massive gaps of the defensive minded players who have had stunning years. I think they have a bias against our PL with only Rodri bucking the trend.

Very happy for Harry though. He's had a long old innings and waited until he was 33 for something like this to happen. Really pleased for him.
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I agree but goals are the currency of the game that's why scorers and creators get the big money, who apart from Baleforce wanted to be a defender when they first started playing?
 
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