Ballon d'Or 2023 | Messi wins for 8th time
- Thread starter Samid
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Haaland or Messi
Haaland surely
It's a given
Messi is still the best player in the world.
End of topic.
End of topic.
Messi I presume, for the World Cup win and as a perfect last hurrah moment for one of the game's greatest players ever.
Would be epic (being Norwegian) if it was Haaland though.
Would be epic (being Norwegian) if it was Haaland though.
Haaland? I dunno. Bookies favour Messi, but as far as a striker goes Haaland had a near perfect season. Also i think there is Messi fatigue with him winning it.
I think Haaland is a given. I've been wrong before. Countless of times
Messi showed up in the most important final he has ever played, Haaland didn't in any of the finals he played.
Messi should take it.
Messi should take it.
Haaland's team is shite though. Best player? Haaland. Most prestigious? Messi
I'd rather Haaland, Messi could do with not buying another IKEA cabinet for yet another Bd'O.
Enough with the Old Guard already.
Enough with the Old Guard already.
Haaland deserves but the Messi world cup wouldn't shock.
Haaland has been the best player on the planet over the last 12 months which is what the award should be based on. Not a 4-weeks tournament even though that tournament is the biggest around. The Golden Ball has been awarded to recognize achievement in that tournament.
I personally would hope Rodri is atleast in the top 3. He has been sensation for the last 12 months.
It has to be Ronaldo
City? Haaland played 3 finals plus a couple of Super Cups and has 0 goals and 0 assists in them.
Manchester United forum advocating for a City player to win the Ballon d'Or. Jesus wept.
Damn straight. We should be campaigning for the most sublime goat of goats.
Well obviously we all know it's Fred.
Almost feels a bit wrong Messi getting it for achievements that are almost a year old but if you're to judge it historically, he had arguably a top 3 World Cup in history and any player in history that was eligible that had as good a World Cup as he did would 100% get the award.
Haaland will probably be second then and third will be between De Bruyne and Mbappé for the same reasons - CL vs a distant memory World Cup.
Haaland will probably be second then and third will be between De Bruyne and Mbappé for the same reasons - CL vs a distant memory World Cup.
It's not only the World Cup, but Messi also had a really good season with PSG in terms of end product. It's just that it shows itself up in the form of goals and assists, not just goals. I think it's because Messi's domestic season wasn't as good as it was in his prime, but for any normal player it would be their best season ever. Granted there was like a small period where Messi wasn't performing well for PSG.
And hoping one of their players finish top 3, what a sad state of affairs. Bluecafe strikes again.
Haaland great goal scorer, definitely not the best player in the world.
He had an impactful tournament and a fitting culimination for his international career, but I really wouldn't rank Messi's performances in 2022 anywhere near a top 3 of all time at the World Cup.
Haaland is a brilliant goalscorer, but a very average footballer. I'd prefer the winner of this award to be someone who is both an impactful player and a brilliant footballer.
Except that Haaland was anonymous at the business end of the season. Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne and Dias were more important players for City's success than Haaland in the end if we're being honest. Performances in the biggest games is part of being one of the greatest, M'bappe and Messi showed up big time in the World Cup and were plenty productive aside from that.
People will remember Messi's and M'bappe's performances at the World Cup for years, nobody will remember Haaland stat padding against Forest, Burnley, Leipzig or Palace.
I don't remember many advocating for Van Nistelrooy to win the Balon d'Or ahead of the likes of Zidane or Nedved, because the highest goalscorer isn't always the best player. City scored the same amount of goals the season before Haaland joined and had more points in the league so it's not like he made some massive difference to them.
Yeah, but that was in the fifth best league in Europe. If he gets it, it's the world cup that does it.
Lukaku.
The World Cup puts him over the top and it's the main argument. But it's important to put into context that he just didn't perform well over that month and that was that.
I don't think it's that outlandish to suggest it.
You could argue it. If not top 3, I think top 5 is fairly appropriate. Hard to think of 5 WC campaigns that were clearly better.
Messi should win it.
Modric won it in 2018 and his WC + club season wasn't as good as Messi's.
Messi's club season was actually very good. For Messi standards, he's had much better. For normal standards, it'd be a career year for a majority of attackers.
Modric won it in 2018 and his WC + club season wasn't as good as Messi's.
Messi's club season was actually very good. For Messi standards, he's had much better. For normal standards, it'd be a career year for a majority of attackers.
Can't look past Messi. He rolled back the years in the World Cup and produced a monster of a tournament.
Football is about more than just goal tallies and stats.
Emotions and narratives are what drew many of us to become addicted to the game at some point, and there is no narrative more compelling than Messi signing off his career winning the world cup that always eluded him. I think most people will be thinking along these lines as well.
Football is about more than just goal tallies and stats.
Emotions and narratives are what drew many of us to become addicted to the game at some point, and there is no narrative more compelling than Messi signing off his career winning the world cup that always eluded him. I think most people will be thinking along these lines as well.
I mean on the basis of 98, 02, 06, and 18. It should be Messi, and if he didn't have 7 already, there would be no moaning.
It's only his and Ronaldo's fault they the system of rewarding it for the World Cup, more or less on it's own was broken. So it's only fitting one of them gets it for doing what they broke by ludicriously brilliant and consistent. If any other nation had won, Haaland was that brilliant and almost as consistent enough to pull it off too.
It's only his and Ronaldo's fault they the system of rewarding it for the World Cup, more or less on it's own was broken. So it's only fitting one of them gets it for doing what they broke by ludicriously brilliant and consistent. If any other nation had won, Haaland was that brilliant and almost as consistent enough to pull it off too.
That’s not even remotely close to the truth.
Draft forum kings: unite and disprove
How often are the bookies correct on this?
My immediate thought was Messi because of the world cup, but logically the player who stood out most to me over the last 12 months has to be Rodri.
Like De Bruyne, I think he's taken the role he plays to a new level and has some of the best attributes of predecessors rolled into one. He's got that Alonso/Carrick passing range. He's got a top quality goal out of nothing in him. His speed of thought is up there with the best I've seen in that position. And he's not afraid to take one for the team and just completely haul someone down.
It's just a shame he plays for City because then I wouldn't absolutely hate it.
If Haaland wins it's understandable, it's been a numbers game for years. It's weird to say he never really felt outstanding, but he is of course currently the absolute best at putting the ball in the net which is the aim of the game and ultimately his goals helped City achieve a treble, even if they weren't considered definitive goals. So if he wins, it's perfectly justified.
Like De Bruyne, I think he's taken the role he plays to a new level and has some of the best attributes of predecessors rolled into one. He's got that Alonso/Carrick passing range. He's got a top quality goal out of nothing in him. His speed of thought is up there with the best I've seen in that position. And he's not afraid to take one for the team and just completely haul someone down.
It's just a shame he plays for City because then I wouldn't absolutely hate it.
If Haaland wins it's understandable, it's been a numbers game for years. It's weird to say he never really felt outstanding, but he is of course currently the absolute best at putting the ball in the net which is the aim of the game and ultimately his goals helped City achieve a treble, even if they weren't considered definitive goals. So if he wins, it's perfectly justified.
Surely Morocco deserves it above Messi if we're using the WC as a benchmark.
Messi will get it 100%