FIFA World Player of the Year

eirebhoy

1. Ronaldinho (956)
2. Frank Lampard (306)
3. Samuel Eto'o (190)
4. Thierry Henry (172)
5. Adriano (170)
6. Andriy Shevchenko (153)
7. Stephen Gerrard (131)
8. Kaká (101)
9. Paolo Maldini (76)
10. Didier Drogba (65)

Votes by Captains
Votes by Coaches
List of all players that got at least 1 vote

Seaneh

It's not really a respected award, every player wants to win the Balon D'or, never hear Ronaldo, Zidane, Weah or Maldini saying "I really want to win the FIFA WPOY award" do you?

Vokes

Well, the coaches and international captains voted for him - that has to count for something?

I wonder who Cunningham would've voted for....?

MrJoeSoap

No major surprises until you get to number 10... honestly.

eirebhoy

Seaneh wrote:

It's not really a respected award, every player wants to win the Balon D'or, never hear Ronaldo, Zidane, Weah or Maldini saying "I really want to win the FIFA WPOY award" do you?

I don't believe that tbh.

Seaneh

You don't have to.

Search for all Ronaldo, ronaldinho, Shevchenko, Zidane and Figos' Interviews on either subject and see which they hold in higher regard for your self.

Geg124

Wasnt a surprise. I was expected but it proves how good of a player he really is. Two years in a row now.

EDIT your sig or I will ban you from soccer.

eirebhoy

Seaneh wrote:

You don't have to.

Search for all Ronaldo, ronaldinho, Shevchenko, Zidane and Figos' Interviews on either subject and see which they hold in higher regard for your self.

The Ballon D'or is an old award so a player would obviously like to be part of a list of great players but I think a player would prefer to win an award voted by players and coaches rather than journalists.

The Rooster

Some interesting votes:

I like the way the Argie captain had no Brazilian in his top 3

Becks voted Ronaldo ahead of Ronaldinho

Cafu picked Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player the world :eek:

Thats not the first year Cunningham didnt vote. I wonder why?

JJ Okocha - one of the few voters to have no Prem players in his top 3! Must be impressed by the standard

I didnt realise Don Givens was our temporary manager again. He picked Ronaldinho, Lamps, Henry.

Dick Advocaat (SKorea) picked Ruud Van as number 1 !

Scolari picked Kaka first, and didnt have Ronaldinho in his top 3. Makes me guess they've had a run-in at some stage. You wouldnt think there'd be too many Brazilians who'd rate Lamps and Ibrahamovic as better than Ronaldinho.

Roger Lemerre (Tun) has Zidane first and Henry second :rolleyes: (and Essien third who has played most of his football in France).

TheDoc

i cant believe drogba got in there, seriously, drogba no terry. Its unbelievable tbh and its a joke in my opinion.

And I think Frank Lampard is so unbelievably over rated its not even funny, he goes through most games totally un noticed. And allowed to just play up front because of the two tanks hes got with him, essien the dirty player and hard little claud.

I think someone like kaka or gerrard are much better players. You see in the english team how the centre midfield does revolved around first beckham and then lampard, gerrard isnt catered for.

I can understand he is a very good player with a great goal scoring ability but his defensive work leaves alot to be desired and he cant really get a hold of a gma enor majorly influence it when his team are not playing well.

MrJoeSoap

Drogba ahead of Terry is poor form alright.

Big Nelly

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

essien the scum bag

Read the charter

# Outbursts of personal abuse/racism etc, be it directed at other board members or at groups of fans or sports personalities people will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to edit/move/delete such posts as we see fit and issue bans to the poster of such. The basic rule is keeping it civil; you can have friendly banter without resorting to personal abuse.
# Scum is an abusive term, just in case you may have thought otherwise.

Newbies:rolleyes:

TheDoc

im sorry edited, i jsut hate the guy so much he annoys me so much. He always smiles after he breaks someone up =/ Why doesnt the Fa have the nuts to give this guy a 6 match ban or something?

They could give it to cantona for fun..... di canion for pushing over a referee and giving us a lifetime of laughs from it.

Seaneh

eirebhoy wrote:

The Ballon D'or is an old award so a player would obviously like to be part of a list of great players but I think a player would prefer to win an award voted by players and coaches rather than journalists.

Ronaldinho shows up to the Balon D'or ceramoney with half his family, friends from his home city in Brazil wearing a Flash suit and cries on stage with his mother when he is given the throphy.

Ronaldinho shows up at the FIFA WPOY press conference in jeans and a tracky top, hair in a baseball cap, making jokes with reporters, holds throphy for a second, hands it to a PA and walks out...


Must love that award!

eirebhoy

Seaneh wrote:

Ronaldinho shows up to the Balon D'or ceramoney with half his family, friends from his home city in Brazil wearing a Flash suit and cries on stage with his mother when he is given the throphy.

Ronaldinho shows up at the FIFA WPOY press conference in jeans and a tracky top, hair in a baseball cap, making jokes with reporters, holds throphy for a second, hands it to a PA and walks out...


Must love that award!

Seanah, I can't believe how biased you are toward the Ballon D'or. I want links to all this you're talking about. He showed up with half his family and friends and cried. No player shows up to the FIFA award ceromony in a tracksuit:
http://img1.eurosport.com/imgbk/footbl/all/big_md-i214327.jpg
http://www.geo.tv/news_images/sport/20-Dec-05-6040bed2-9ad9-449b-8a48-232956d82ccfronaldinho_lpic.jpg

I watched last years awards and he looked chuffed to have won.

Maybe players do think more of the Ballon D'or but I can guarantee you if both awards were 10 years old players would prefer the FIFA award. Of course a player is going to want to be on a list with the likes Di Stefano, Eusebio, Best, Cruyff, Platini, etc.

blastman

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Drogba ahead of Terry is poor form alright.

Drogba ahead of just about anyone is poor form. Were they watching the same player I was?

Necronomicon

There's a poll on SSN asking which Ronaldinho goal was his best out of 2005; the wonder goal against Chelsea, one against Real Sociedad, the two against Madrid and the one against Udinese.
I will never get sick of watching the one against Chelsea, it's still amazing every time I see it. The guy is not human!

mchurl

Ronaldinoho was a desrving winner as he is head nd shoulders above everyone else. But drogba as no. 10?? come on:p

The Clown Man

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

i cant believe drogba got in there, seriously, drogba no terry. Its unbelievable tbh and its a joke in my opinion.

And I think Frank Lampard is so unbelievably over rated its not even funny, he goes through most games totally un noticed. And allowed to just play up front because of the two tanks hes got with him, essien the dirty player and hard little claud.

I think someone like kaka or gerrard are much better players. You see in the english team how the centre midfield does revolved around first beckham and then lampard, gerrard isnt catered for.

I can understand he is a very good player with a great goal scoring ability but his defensive work leaves alot to be desired and he cant really get a hold of a gma enor majorly influence it when his team are not playing well.

I hate this attitude on Lampard.

Clearly you are drawing this conclusion from your RTE1 premiership highlights experience because you couldn't be watching Lampard play his "quiet games."

Of course he has quiet games, EVERYONE has quiet games. The difference is that only 3 shots on target in a match is a quiet game for Lampard. For everyone else that is a fine midfield performance.

But when he has a "quiet match" he is still a hell of a worker defensively. Some people just cannot see that he is probably more solid defensively than most premiership midfielders. He is constantly harrassing players on the ball anywhere near his area, left of Makalele. Is the Chelsea left when Lampard is there any weaker than the right where Essien plays? He breaks up play constantly, he intercepts passes, he covers more area on the pitch in one match by far than any other player in the Chelsea team and probably more than anyone in the premiership.

His problem is that he has one of the best defensive midfielders in the world playing behind him and he will never get the praise he deserves for his defence.

The reason he gets forward is because on breaks, where the majority of open play Chelsea goals are scored, he is always belting it up the field to try and get to a goalscoring position between the oppositions defense and their slow to react midfield. Watch any of his open play goals. Most of them he is unmarked because there is no-one picking him up because his opposite midfield marker is on the halfway line. The defence simply don't expect him. They are busy concentrating on the forwards/wingers. And if the move breaks down he is sprinting back.

It's his work-rate that scores him goals. He is by no means relying on a strong defense to meander forward and leaving it to them when he is wandering back.

Add that to his impressive number of open play goals from outside the box and his dead-ball specialties and you have the reason he is seen as a goalscorer.

But watch where he sits when the ball is played back or Chelsea are sitting back with possession. Right beside or slightly in front of Makalele. Watch as his team-mates pass it to him when they can't see any approach to set up.

He sets up the majority of Chelsea attacks and performs solidly in his defensive role left of Makalele. What the hell more could he do?

Mourinho calls him the most complete midfielder in the world because that's exactly what he is. He does his job superbly, scores goals and holds his ground defensively.

Clearly the football world can see this too. Ronaldinho is a Pele/Cruyff/Best/Maradonna-esque talent but after him certainly comes Lampard. Not becasue he is a rare talent but because he is a class footballer.



Wow that rant went longer than I intended.

MrJoeSoap

Have to say I'm with clown man on this one. Not as spectacular as some midfielders (Ronaldinho etc...) but all-round he is a great player. The fact that he came second to Ronaldinho must count for something.

eirebhoy

The Clown Man wrote:

But when he has a "quiet match" he is still a hell of a worker defensively.

No he doesn't. Lampard is a Scholes type player, he's an attacking midfielder. Its this conception that he's a worker off the ball and on it that has me always arguing against him. I liked Scholes when he was at his best, I think Lampard is just as good as that. If people realised he's a Scholes type player I wouldn't mind. If Lampard and Gerrard swapped roles and clubs Gerrard would be the player in everybody's fantasy football team.

Actually, Mourinho does have him doing that bit more defensively but the same can be said about Cole, Duff and Robben. His work off the ball against Denmark was disgraceful.

MrJoeSoap

eirebhoy wrote:

His work off the ball against Denmark was disgraceful.

Can't remember the game itself too well so what you are saying may well be true, but Lampard was taken off after 64 minutes, with the score 2-0. Gerrard played 84 minutes and came off with the score at 3-0. Surely if Lampard is going to take some of the blame then Gerrard can't get off scot-free either?

eirebhoy

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Can't remember the game itself too well so what you are saying may well be true, but Lampard was taken off after 64 minutes, with the score 2-0. Gerrard played 84 minutes and came off with the score at 3-0. Surely if Lampard is going to take some of the blame then Gerrard can't get off scot-free either?

Gerrard works as much off the ball as he does on it when playing in the centre from what I've seen. He wouldn't allow himself to stroll around the park. Can you get the goals? There's one goal I want to see where Lampard just stood there before they scored (it was a bit before the goal though). I can't really remember it fully but I know Lampard could have chased back.

damienom

For a man that's won it in the past Zidane really took the piss with his number 1

radiospan

Why does it say "invalid votes" for American Samoa, Iran and Somalia's votes and for Australia's (Guus Hiddink's) Number 1 vote?

MrJoeSoap

Can't find a link unfortunately. Found a highlights torrent but not surprisingly it has no seeds.

I personally do think Gerrard is a better player than Lampard, but don't think that game was a good indication of what either player is capable of.

TheDoc

nosorry i believe i watch all of chelseas games live, and i always watch football first, the last opinion i take is RTe cause they are so biased for the irish players its not even funny.

I watch lampard all the time, he never shows any sign of flare or anything. He connectns and links a few moves a game but seriously i think he is power over rated.

His defenseive work DOEs leave alot to be desired. Already ive read somene say somehting bout scholes aswell. Scholes could never tackle for his dinner, defensivly he was really really poor. But these players weakness was backed by tremendous backing, aka Roy Kean for scholes and claud and essien for lampard.

Yes he scores plenty of goals but i do question people who sya he is the best and most complete midfielder in world football i really do, midfielders fundamentally have two main jobs, A) Decide the pace of the game by passing and distribution of the ball Being the first line of defense in every attack mounted by the opposing team.

Really though from watching chelsea this I must say yes for goalscoring from a midfielder it is pretty good, but like you kinda expect your attacking midfielders to score, im just saying i think he has so much more to show us yet, midfielders get better with age =D

And i like to think i can talk intellegently and knowingly about goalkeepers and midfielders cause i have played both positions and high levels. And when i was in midfield i was expected to score atleast 11 goals a season

MrJoeSoap

eirebhoy wrote:

I want links to all this you're talking about. He showed up with half his family and friends and cried.

http://files.filefront.com/Ronaldinhoavi/;4538300;;/fileinfo.html

He certainly didn't wear a tracksuit to the FWPOTY but he did get a bit teary-eyed receiving the Ballon D'Or.