Ballon d'Or

[Zomp]

The 23 man Ballon d'Or shortlist was announced today.  Here are the nominees:
 
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid), Ángel Di María (Real Madrid/Manchester United), Mario Götze(Bayern Munich), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid), Philipp Lahm(Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Barcelona),Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar(Barcelona), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Arjen Robben(Bayern Munich), James Rodríguez (Monaco/Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Yaya Touré (Manchester City).
 
So no Luis Suarez, who obviously suffered from his biting and overall shit headedness.  
 
The list goes down to 3 on December 1st then a winner is announced on January 12th.
 
I'd go with Ronaldo, Messi, and Muller as my final 3, with Ronaldo winning it for the second year in a row.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

So this is for soccer performance from December 1 2013- November 30, 2014?
 
It's not, right, it's the calendar year?, seems weird to have 3 finalists before December?  There are games in December.
 
Someone please clue me in, what am I missing?

 

[Zomp]

No its for 2014 only.

 

[Dan to Theo to Ben]

This seems really unfair to the 4th, 5th etc. place guy. What if Costa, for example, has the same December that he had in September? Even if he doesn't deserve to win, it seems unfair.

 

[mikeford]

Should be Neuer.
 
It won't be, but it should be.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Ronaldo, Messi, Di Maria.

 

[Schnerres]

Should be:
 
1-Ronaldo
2-Neuer
3-Di Maria
 
Will be:
1-Ronaldo
2-Messi
3-Di Maria

 

[Billy R Ford]

Not that it really matters, but I'd argue the two best central midfielders in the world aren't on the list- Luka Modric and Arturo Vidal. What case is there to be made for Pogba over Vidal?
 
Anyway, my top three as of now would be 1) Ronaldo, 2) Messi, 3) Neuer (need a German on there, and he's probably been the best of their many greats).

 

[swiftaw]

So this is for soccer performance from December 1 2013- November 30, 2014?
 
It's not, right, it's the calendar year?, seems weird to have 3 finalists before December?  There are games in December.
 
Someone please clue me in, what am I missing?

According to FIFA: sporting performance as well as general behaviour on and off the pitch from 30 November 2013 until 21 November 2014.

 

[PedroSpecialK]

Agreed, Vidal and Modrić should be on there. I love Masch but I don't think he should be on this list.

My money is on CR7 but agree Neuer should be in the final 3.

 

[Zomp]

From the beginning of last season to until he got hurt, Vidal was the best midfielder in the world in my opinion.  But his injury cost him a good world cup and he really hasn't done anything this season.  He's worthy of being on the list, as is Modric, but Pogba definitely deserves to be there after the season he had in Serie A and the World Cup.

 

[Stanley Steamer]

How is it Lee Cattermole didn't make the list?

 

[mikeford]

Also: Sergio Ramos? Pfffffft

Suarez is a lunatic but he should be on there. He had 31 goals in like 33 games or something insane.

 

[coremiller]

Short list by current club:
 
Bayern Munich: 6
Real Madrid: 6
Barcelona: 4
Chelsea: 3
Manchester City: 1
Manchester United: 1
PSG: 1
Juventus: 1
 
 
1. Ronaldo
2. Messi
3. Robben
 
Ronaldo will win, and properly.  A lot of the other contenders either struggled with form and injuries (Messi, Vidal, Costa) or struggled to stand out from their peers in a loaded Germany/Bayern team -- it's really hard to pick one of Muller, Schweinsteiger, Lahm, Gotze, or Neuer as significantly better than any of the others.  Neuer is probably the best, but I'm also unconvinced that the marginal value added from a top goalkeeper really approaches that of a top field player.  
 

Also: Sergio Ramos? Pfffffft

Suarez is a lunatic but he should be on there. He had 31 goals in like 33 games or something insane.

 
It's a calendar-year award, not a season-year award, and because of his suspension he has contributed zero in the second half of the year.  His performances were also stronger in the first half of the 2013/14 season: after getting 19 goals and 5 assists in only 15 appearances in Sept-Dec of 2013, he had 12 goals and 8 assists in 22 appearances for Liverpool in 2014. 
 
Btw, because I'm a Messi fanboi I'll put this here:  in what was considered a "down" year for Messi in which he "struggled" with form and injuries, he still had 32 goals and 14 assists in 39 appearances for Barcelona in calendar year 2014, while also dragging Argentina to the World Cup Final, in which he had 4 goals and 1 assist and won the Golden Ball.  And that is his worst season since 2008.  

 

[Zomp]

Its Ronaldo.  He becomes the 5th 3-time winner.

 

[coremiller]

Some interesting Ballon D'Or trivia from looking at the historical results on wikipedia:
 
From 1990-2009, there were no consecutive winners and 19 different winners in 20 years, with only Fat Ronaldo winning more than once.  
 
Since 2008, every award has been won by Messi (4) or Ronaldo (3).

 

[bosox4283]

I really like looking through the voting to see who makes the odd choice. 
 
Ancelotti over Simeone? Por favor. Ancelotti was about one minute, thirty seconds away from being on the hot seat. 

 

[twoBshorty]

David Luiz in the World XI? You have got to be kidding me. 

 

[Schnerres]

So the final three are just released, but there isn´t a final voting between them? That´s what i thought, but when Ronaldo+Messi+Neuer add up to 67% of the votes, it can´t be that way...
 
There are 33% of the votes who could be added up to any of the three and not to some guy like Kroos, Müller, Robben, Neymar, et al. In some other years, this number could even approach 50%.
 
I have no problem with Ronaldo winning, his year was absolutely superb. Can´t say something bad for the WC of Portugal, he dominated for Real, won the CL and is on his way to a superb and record-breaking season again. But you have to wonder, if there ever will be a goalie winning this award. It´s not as if Neuer had been dominating matches for Germany or Bayern like Kahn did 10-15 years ago, for sure (because he isn´t facing as many shots as other keepers). But he still broke some records, won the WC and is the best keeper. So to win this thing as a keeper, you have to be Olli Kahn 2002, face 20 shots a match against dominating teams, lead your team to the league title, on a long european run and your nation to the WC title while being the heavy underdog. Additionally, you break some records like 1500 minutes without a goal conceded, 8 goals against in 34 league matches and pitch a WC shutout in 7 matches. Then you could win it, if Ronaldo or Messi don´t win the CL.. :blink:

 

[Zomp]

I think Neuer could have won it this year but he's playing in an era with 2 of the greatest players of all time.  He's the best I've seen since a young Buffon.

 

[Zomp]

http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/ballon-dor/playeroftheyear-men/02/50/58/45/fboaward_menplayer2014_neutral.pdf
 
Full voting above.

 

[Phil Plantier]

I'm not a fan of individual awards in a team game, but at least the Ballon d'Or gives us the Fallon d'Floor awards.
 
http://fallondfloor.com/
 
These are breathtaking in their execution, both from the players involved and from the designers of the movie poster tie-ins.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU8-uj3mHBE[/media]