In relation to the bolded, sometimes a world class performance by one player is enough to squeak out a win in an otherwise disjointed performance against Burnley which clocks up three points which may win a league. I agree that people don't really care, but they should.The trophies have to matter though. Nobody gives a feck about how someone plays against Burnley but it matters a lot more in a CL or Euro final and leading the team to success (or being a big part on the road to it). Unless someone has a phenomenal individual season despite a team not being successful, I'm very OK with giving the award to the most impactful player on the most successful teams across the year. Ronaldo and Messi have broken it the past 13 years of course, but you look at Modric in 2018. He was phenomenal in the World Cup and deserved it IMO. That competition means more than any other competition and he performed when others didn't.
Lewandowski should've for sure won it last year but they canceled it for some reason. This year he had a great league performance and I'd still possibly lean him, but he got knocked out of the group stage in the euro, and they got knocked out early in the CL. Not all his fault, but getting injured sometimes robs you of winning personal awards. It is what it is. There has to be a balance of individual performance, but tbf, Jorginho had a fantastic euros, and was excellent since Tuchel took over Chelsea and played a massive part for both Chelsea and Italy. It's fair that he has a shout as he had a fantastic season, better than De Bruyne's, better than Kante's, better than Ronaldo's.
If I had to pick a top 3, it'd be between Messi (usual individual great season, plus won the Copa), Lewandowski (record breaking league campaign and for last year being screwed out of one), and Jorginho (CL and Euro winner while playing a key role in both).
But how to determine they are the best player? Wouldn't their numbers be inflated facing corresponding low level opponents? While another player is facing more difficult opponents at the highest stage, under more pressure and still delivering. I think just looking at a players stats in a 2nd tier league or competition it is really difficult to evaluate his greatness.Yes it totally has, these awards should be completely unrelated to trophies won. If the best player in the world is playing for Bradford or Genk one season, then they should still be recognized otherwise the award is basically meaningless.
Football is always going to be subjective. Having a voting system based on professionals opinions of their peers seems much fairer than anything stat based to me.But how to determine they are the best player? Wouldn't their numbers be inflated facing corresponding low level opponents? While another player is facing more difficult opponents at the highest stage, under more pressure and still delivering. I think just looking at a players stats in a 2nd tier league or competition it is really difficult to evaluate his greatness.
As an attacker If you want to prove that you are truly the best in the world move to a more competitive team where your talent can be measured against the best defences. So yes if you play for bradford you can't win the ballon dor because you can't sufficiently demonstrate your level.
That said, I don't agree it should necessarily go to someone in one of the teams that won something.
A small anecdote about Ginola, I saw an interview where he said that SAF had told him that the majority of the United players had voted for him for POTY. Which is a good thing obviously, the best player on a winning team isn't necessarily better than the best player on a losing team.In fairness - was it better 20 years ago when winning didn't matter as much and you had situations where David Ginola won awards ahead of our players who just won the treble ?
Even for manager award, it’s a bit unfairSpot on - it's an 11 vs 11 sport. Winning/Trophies should be a factor for manager awards. Not player awards.
By any logic, Jorginho should be nowhere near any of the best players of the year award.The trophies have to matter though. Nobody gives a feck about how someone plays against Burnley but it matters a lot more in a CL or Euro final and leading the team to success (or being a big part on the road to it). Unless someone has a phenomenal individual season despite a team not being successful, I'm very OK with giving the award to the most impactful player on the most successful teams across the year. Ronaldo and Messi have broken it the past 13 years of course, but you look at Modric in 2018. He was phenomenal in the World Cup and deserved it IMO. That competition means more than any other competition and he performed when others didn't.
Lewandowski should've for sure won it last year but they canceled it for some reason. This year he had a great league performance and I'd still possibly lean him, but he got knocked out of the group stage in the euro, and they got knocked out early in the CL. Not all his fault, but getting injured sometimes robs you of winning personal awards. It is what it is. There has to be a balance of individual performance, but tbf, Jorginho had a fantastic euros, and was excellent since Tuchel took over Chelsea and played a massive part for both Chelsea and Italy. It's fair that he has a shout as he had a fantastic season, better than De Bruyne's, better than Kante's, better than Ronaldo's.
If I had to pick a top 3, it'd be between Messi (usual individual great season, plus won the Copa), Lewandowski (record breaking league campaign and for last year being screwed out of one), and Jorginho (CL and Euro winner while playing a key role in both).
Yep I agree they matter, particularly for more defensive players, for example if your team wins a big trophy without conceding a goal, it's one of the biggest ways for a defender to "prove" he's a great player, because they don't have the same goals and assists stats etc to go off.The trophies have to matter though. Nobody gives a feck about how someone plays against Burnley but it matters a lot more in a CL or Euro final and leading the team to success (or being a big part on the road to it). Unless someone has a phenomenal individual season despite a team not being successful, I'm very OK with giving the award to the most impactful player on the most successful teams across the year. Ronaldo and Messi have broken it the past 13 years of course, but you look at Modric in 2018. He was phenomenal in the World Cup and deserved it IMO. That competition means more than any other competition and he performed when others didn't.
Lewandowski should've for sure won it last year but they canceled it for some reason. This year he had a great league performance and I'd still possibly lean him, but he got knocked out of the group stage in the euro, and they got knocked out early in the CL. Not all his fault, but getting injured sometimes robs you of winning personal awards. It is what it is. There has to be a balance of individual performance, but tbf, Jorginho had a fantastic euros, and was excellent since Tuchel took over Chelsea and played a massive part for both Chelsea and Italy. It's fair that he has a shout as he had a fantastic season, better than De Bruyne's, better than Kante's, better than Ronaldo's.
If I had to pick a top 3, it'd be between Messi (usual individual great season, plus won the Copa), Lewandowski (record breaking league campaign and for last year being screwed out of one), and Jorginho (CL and Euro winner while playing a key role in both).
A star can perform in a big match like the Champions League final and still have his team not win. There have been a myriad of examples of superstars playing extremely well in losing efforts. I'm not sure I see the link between your first sentence and the second because there's an implicit premise that performances go hand in hand with team results, and I don't think that's necessarily accurate.The trophies have to matter though. Nobody gives a feck about how someone plays against Burnley but it matters a lot more in a CL or Euro final and leading the team to success (or being a big part on the road to it). Unless someone has a phenomenal individual season despite a team not being successful, I'm very OK with giving the award to the most impactful player on the most successful teams across the year. Ronaldo and Messi have broken it the past 13 years of course, but you look at Modric in 2018. He was phenomenal in the World Cup and deserved it IMO. That competition means more than any other competition and he performed when others didn't.
Lewandowski should've for sure won it last year but they canceled it for some reason. This year he had a great league performance and I'd still possibly lean him, but he got knocked out of the group stage in the euro, and they got knocked out early in the CL. Not all his fault, but getting injured sometimes robs you of winning personal awards. It is what it is. There has to be a balance of individual performance, but tbf, Jorginho had a fantastic euros, and was excellent since Tuchel took over Chelsea and played a massive part for both Chelsea and Italy. It's fair that he has a shout as he had a fantastic season, better than De Bruyne's, better than Kante's, better than Ronaldo's.
If I had to pick a top 3, it'd be between Messi (usual individual great season, plus won the Copa), Lewandowski (record breaking league campaign and for last year being screwed out of one), and Jorginho (CL and Euro winner while playing a key role in both).