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

led_scholes

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Why was Ronaldo the best player of the CL? He scored one great goal against 10 men Juve. So? And Mbappe was nowhere to be seen in the Cl (he is 19 so you cant expect that much from him) and in the WC he actually had 2 really good games, against Argentina and Croatia. In the other games he was a bit meh. People love good stories, dont they? Like Mbappe is the youngest player to score after Pele blabla. Like ,ok, if he was the YOUNGEST you could mention it all the time, but he is the second one and it is mentioned all the time, like it is some short of the biggest football achievement.
 

manunited1919

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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.
When you leave out my second sentence it changes the whole meaning to my post.
I would hope Modric would win the Ballon D’Or, but hardly likely.
 

Thunderhead

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I think Varane should get it before Modric, Messi or Ronaldo

Best defender in the CL, best defender in the WC, won both, job done.
 

Revan

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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.
Yes. UCL is a bit longer than semis and finals, and none of the other usual suspects was magnificent there. Bale was of course fantastic in the final, but he sucked more or less for the entire year.
 

Ishdalar

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Yes. UCL is a bit longer than semis and finals, and none of the other usual suspects was magnificent there. Bale was of course fantastic in the final, but he sucked more or less for the entire year.
I'm baffled at how you guys might even mention Bale and not have a shout for Marcelo, a LB that scored vs PSG to seal a 3-1 win, vs Juve to close a 0-3 in the Juventus Stadium and another for a 1-2 win in the Allianz Arena.

And if anyone mentions that he's the one that made the mistake in Kimmich's goal I swear to god I'm going to spam the videos of Cristiano missing open goals vs Juve and Bayern, we don't get to judge defenders only for their mistakes and forwards for their success, Marcelo might be slightly behind Ronaldo in this UCL run if you consider Ronaldo bailed them in two legs, but he's the only player that at least was brilliant all through their tournament.
 

Revan

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I'm baffled at how you guys might even mention Bale and not have a shout for Marcelo, a LB that scored vs PSG to seal a 3-1 win, vs Juve to close a 0-3 in the Juventus Stadium and another for a 1-2 win in the Allianz Arena.

And if anyone mentions that he's the one that made the mistake in Kimmich's goal I swear to god I'm going to spam the videos of Cristiano missing open goals vs Juve and Bayern, we don't get to judge defenders only for their mistakes and forwards for their success, Marcelo might be slightly behind Ronaldo in this UCL run if you consider Ronaldo bailed them in two legs, but he's the only player that at least was brilliant all through their tournament.
I agree. What I meant was that Bale was the only player who was magnificent in the final, but was crap on rest of the year. Marcello, Modric, Ramos and possibly Varane were just behind Ronaldo if you look at the entire competition.
 

In Rainbows

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Not sure why it's Ronaldo's to lose. I have no idea who will win it this time around. Both Messi and Ronaldo failed to come out on top after this World Cup.
 

RedRonaldo

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Don't think so.

Ronaldo
CL (1st) - 15 goals 3 assists in 13 games (avg rating:8.12) - Top scorer, highest rating in competition
La Liga (3rd) - 26 goals 5 assists in 27 games (avg rating:7.94) - 2nd top scorer, 2nd highest rating in competition
WC (last 16) - 4 goals in 4 games (avg rating:7.73) - 4th top scorer

Modric
CL (1st) - 1 goals 1 assists in 11 games (avg rating:7.02)
La Liga (3rd)- 1 goals 6 assists in 26 games (avg rating:7.29)
WC (2nd) - 2 goals 1 assists in 7 games (avg rating: 7.48) - Golden Ball winner

*Avg rating source from whoscored. Its worth to note Real Madrid avg rating in CL and league is 7.09 last season, Ronaldo is by far their best player, Modric is just above average.

Modric is best player in WC, Ronaldo is best player/top scorer in CL, 2nd best player/2nd top scorer in league, and had far better individual season at club football overall.
 
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Pink Moon

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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?
Ronaldo wasn't the best player in the domestic league or world cup either so who do we give it to?
 

Kazi

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Don't think so.

Ronaldo
CL (1st) - 15 goals 3 assists in 13 games (avg rating:8.12) - Top scorer, highest rating in competition
La Liga (3rd) - 26 goals 5 assists in 27 games (avg rating:7.94) - 2nd top scorer, 2nd highest rating in competition
WC (last 16) - 4 goals in 4 games (avg rating:7.73) - 4th top scorer

Modric
CL (1st) - 1 goals 1 assists in 11 games (avg rating:7.02)
La Liga (3rd)- 1 goals 6 assists in 26 games (avg rating:7.29)
WC (2nd) - 2 goals 1 assists in 7 games (avg rating: 7.48) - Golden Ball winner

*Avg rating source from whoscored. Its worth to note Real Madrid avg rating in CL and league is 7.09 last season, Ronaldo is by far their best player, Modric is just above average.

Modric is best player in WC, Ronaldo is best player/top scorer in CL, 2nd best player/2nd top scorer in league, and had far better individual season at club football overall.
Seriously how you can compare Modric and Ronaldo with stats ffs

Bad enough when stats are used to compare Messi and Ronaldo
 

Peyroteo

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If Ronaldo wins it, it'll be a joke. I don't think he will
Well, he’s the massive favourite on every betting agency... given no one has had a better 2018 and he’s scored 1 goal every 70 minutes in 2018 with no one getting close to those numbers I’m guessing no amount of different campaigns for Mbappe and the likes will make it a joke if he wins.
 

kouroux

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Well, he’s the massive favourite on every betting agency... given no one has had a better 2018 and he’s scored 1 goal every 70 minutes in 2018 with no one getting close to those numbers I’m guessing no amount of different campaigns for Mbappe and the likes will make it a joke if he wins.
It'll be a joke for me. Give it to Varane I say, a nice change it would be.
 

P-Nut

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If this was Ronaldos first season hitting the numbers he has, and putting in the performances he has everyone would be clamouring for him to win it. As it stands, because we're so used to it, it seems like it's not that great.
 

jeff_goldblum

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Ronaldo wasn't the best player in the domestic league or world cup either so who do we give it to?
Over the whole season probably not, the Balon d'Or is calendar years though and since January he's been as good as ever domestically.
 

JPRouve

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It'll be a joke for me. Give it to Varane I say, a nice change it would be.
Apparently they want to go back to the original purpose of the award, so the ideal candidate is a player that marked exceptionally this season. For me, Salah fits well.
 

Peyroteo

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It'll be a joke for me. Give it to Varane I say, a nice change it would be.
Varane should make the top 10 imo but he definitely hasn’t played at a high enough level to get it. He’s not the best Real Madrid centreback, it would be putting way too much stock on trophies won.

I think Ronaldo, Messi, Salah, Modric and Griezmann should be the top 5. Mbappe, Varane, Marcelo, Hazard and Kante to finish the top 10. De Bruyne, Ramos and Neymar just missing out.
 

KirkDuyt

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Well, Modric did win the same amount of trophies and did better in the world cup :wenger:

He also looks like Johan Cruyff and isn't a sissy boy cnut.

Yeah, no, it's still Ronaldo's.
 

Nucks

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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?
LOL, wait. What?

Ronaldo won the domestic league? Since when is finishing 17 points behind the actual winner, and coming in third place, barely, winning?
 

kouroux

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Varane should make the top 10 imo but he definitely hasn’t played at a high enough level to get it. He’s not the best Real Madrid centreback, it would be putting way too much stock on trophies won.

I think Ronaldo, Messi, Salah, Modric and Griezmann should be the top 5. Mbappe, Varane, Marcelo, Hazard and Kante to finish the top 10. De Bruyne, Ramos and Neymar just missing out.
As it has always been when journalists "only" were voting (which will be the case this year so who knows).
 

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Well, Modric did win the same amount of trophies and did better in the world cup :wenger:

He also looks like Johan Cruyff and isn't a sissy boy cnut.

Yeah, no, it's still Ronaldo's.
In every PES game, to make Cruyff, you just take Modrić's face and change the hairstyle.

True story.
 

Brightonian

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Dunno about that, Modric is incredible obviously but he's actually had even better years in terms of his football. Peaked under Ancelotti for me.
 

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Ronaldo's achievements in 2018:

An amazing double kick against Juve
An amaizng FK against Spain
Winning the CL while vanishing in both sem legs, the final, and the return leg of the QF

That's pretty much it.
 

Champagne Football

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Modric will win it. I don't think he will be quite deserving of it in the same way Messi and CR7 have been easy choices for the past decade. Can argue Mo Salah and De Bruyne had better seasons at club level despite less silverware. Can argue Mbappe had a more explosive world cup. But Modric is brilliant for sure and when you add the CL winners medal and golden ball to his CV for 2018 then that is going to be very hard to beat.
 

NieThePiet

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Ronaldo's achievements in 2018:

An amazing double kick against Juve
An amaizng FK against Spain
Winning the CL while vanishing in both sem legs, the final, and the return leg of the QF

That's pretty much it.
Scoring 44 goals in 44 matches.

That's pretty much it.
 

Peyroteo

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Scoring 44 goals in 44 matches.

That's pretty much it.
34 in 29 for 2018. 1 goal every 70 minutes which no one else on the planet gets close to. I’d say that’s a good achievement.

He’s the big favourite on every betting agency for a reason and as long as his start at Juve isn’t a disaster he’s going to keep being the big favourite.
 

SteveW

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Ronaldo went on an incredible scoring run at the start of 2018 but it was his disappearing act up to Christmas which pretty much guaranteed Barca the league. I realise the Balon D'or is for the calendar year but I feel his 2018 La Liga run was window dressing on a domestic campaign he'd already blew. He also went missing in the last 4 games of the CL and when Portugal got knocked out of the WC.

Messi along with his goalkeeper dragged a very poor Barca through almost a full La Liga season unbeaten. But they tanked out of the CL because they aren't very good. He single handedly got Argentina to the WC including a vital hattrick in the deciding game but they were absolutely awful defensively in the WC. Still he won La Liga almost single handedly with a team that were greatly unfancied beforehand. It was a stunning achievement which seems to have been almost glossed over.

Modric was Real's best player and led Croatia to the WC final and won the best player award in the WC.


Over the full season:
Messi
Modric
Salah

2018 only:
Modric
Messi
Ronaldo

Feel free to disagree.
 

MichaelRed

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Is this a knee-jerk because of Croatia's presence in the WC final? Because I wasn't remotely impressed with Modric outside of the first 2 group games. There's 5 months to go still but it'll probably be Ronaldo and it'll probably be deserved.
 

Wilt

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Would like to see Modric get it, but annoyingly they'll give it to the Ego.
 

Cait Sith

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It would be an incredible joke if the first player to win the Ballon d'Or outside of Messi and Ronaldo for the first time in a decade would be Luka Modric of all players. An incredible joke.