Ballon D'Or shortlist

Blatter

http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/media/newsid=1798663/?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_media_statements

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012:

Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Xabi Alonso (Spain),Mario Balotelli (Italy), Karim Benzema (France), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Gerard Piqué (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy),
Sergio Ramos (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).

The only inclusions I take real issue with are Piqué, Drogba and Balotelli. Yeah Piqué won the Euros but had a pretty poor season for Barca and was nowhere near the level of Kompany. Drogba scored 13 goals for Chelsea last season, played well in a few important Champions League matches but should that really propel you above the likes of Huntelaar and Gomez? Balotelli is the same. Had a decent season for City and a couple of really good games in the Euros for Italy. Shouldn't be on the list imo.

MrStuffins

23 man shortlist?

21 names too many IMO!

cgpg5

Agree, Pique should be nowhere near that list

_blank_

No Philly Hughes?

Outrageous.

Rayne Wooney

Blatter wrote: »

http://www.fifa.com/ballondor/media/newsid=1798663/?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_media_statements



The only inclusions I take real issue with are Piqué, Drogba and Balotelli. Yeah Piqué won the Euros but had a pretty poor season for Barca and was nowhere near the level of Kompany. Drogba scored 13 goals for Chelsea last season, played well in a few important Champions League matches but should that really propel you above the likes of Huntelaar and Gomez? Balotelli is the same. Had a decent season for City and a couple of really good games in the Euros for Italy. Shouldn't be on the list imo.

Does it really make a difference who's on it Sepp?

We all know who's going to win

G.K.

Delighted to see Busquets there.

tayto lover

How is Rooney on that list?
The man has no control at all and gave away the silly free which led to Chelsea's equalizer yesterday. Not for the first time either.
There are only two real contenders, Messi and Ronaldo, and they are miles ahead. It's Messi for my money.

cgpg5

Kompany's omision is poor as well, along with van Persie he was in the top 2 players last season in the Premier League imo

Eathrin

tayto lover wrote: »

How is Rooney on that list?
The man has no control at all and gave away the silly free which led to Chelsea's equalizer yesterday. Not for the first time either.
There are only two real contenders, Messi and Ronaldo, and they are miles ahead. It's Messi for my money.

Rooney is easily in the top 23 players in the world.

ahnowbrowncow

Is it just me or is Balotelli extremely overrated? What has he done to get anywhere near the top 23 players in the world?

cgpg5 wrote: »

Kompany's omision is poor as well, along with van Persie he was in the top 2 players last season in the Premier League imo

He is on it

klose

tayto lover wrote: »

How is Rooney on that list?
The man has no control at all and gave away the silly free which led to Chelsea's equalizer yesterday. Not for the first time either.
There are only two real contenders, Messi and Ronaldo, and they are miles ahead. It's Messi for my money.

He was 1 goal shy of top scorer in the pl. had a stinker in the euros, how balotelli is there is mind boggling tbh. Would have Gomez/huntelaar there instead maybe

Blatter

cgpg5 wrote: »

Kompany's omision is poor as well, along with van Persie he was in the top 2 players last season in the Premier League imo

van Persie's there!

homerjay2005

Eathrin wrote: »

Rooney is easily in the top 23 players in the world.

as a united fan, i think he is lucky to be there.united poor in Europe so he didnt get a chance to shine in the CL, didnt have a great euros and was largely poor from feb to may, despite scoring goals.

his goal scoring hid alot of poor performances, he said so himself.

Blatter

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Is it just me or is Balotelli extremely overrated? What has he done to get anywhere near the top 23 players in the world?

On his day he's a class player and if he continues to train hard and avoid serious injury, he'll be one of the best players in the world soon enough.

But no, he should be nowhere near this list at the moment.

Pj!

tayto lover wrote: »

How is Rooney on that list?
The man has no control at all and gave away the silly free which led to Chelsea's equalizer yesterday. Not for the first time either.

What utter drivel. His second yellow card in almost 50 games or something?


Unfortunately opinions are indeed like arseholes...

Oat23

Rene Girard not being nominated for COTY is a bit baffling. Montpellier might not be doing well this season but come on, he led them to the title last season against all odds FFS.

x43r0

Serious lack of Suarez. Of course he wouldn't have come near winning it but I would have thought he might make the 23-man list

cgpg5

Blatter wrote: »

van Persie's there!

I know but I'm just saying Kompany should be. I was pointing out that he was up there as PL player of the season imo, with Van Persie

Jimmy Iovine

Where's Les Davies?

Blatter

Edinson Cavani is another who may be a little disappointed not to make it.

tayto lover

Pj! wrote: »

What utter drivel. His second yellow card in almost 50 games or something?


Unfortunately opinions are indeed like arseholes...

Maybe there's some other reason for the lack of bookings then :rolleyes:
He is completely over-hyped in my opinion.

Red Crow

x43r0 wrote: »

Serious lack of Suarez. Of course he wouldn't have come near winning it but I would have thought he might make the 23-man list

lol

Blame David Gill

klose

x43r0 wrote: »

Serious lack of Suarez. Of course he wouldn't have come near winning it but I would have thought he might make the 23-man list

NotSureIfSerious.jpg even as a Liverpool fan he is nowhere near that list for last season. Doing the business this season though.

EdenHazard

Pj! wrote: »

What utter drivel. His second yellow card in almost 50 games or something?


Unfortunately opinions are indeed like arseholes...

Maybe he means his control is cat?

Vurnon San Benito

The following 23 men (in alphabetical order) are in contention for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2012:

Sergio Agüero (Argentina), Xabi Alonso (Spain),Mario Balotelli (Italy), Karim Benzema (France), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Côte d’Ivoire), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Gerard Piqué (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy),
Sergio Ramos (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).

How on earth is Mario Balotelli on that list? Absolutely shameful.

Melion

Messi, Ronaldo and Falcao. The rest needn't bother getting excited

klose

Melion wrote: »

Messi, Ronaldo and Falcao. The rest needn't bother getting excited

Iniesta? It'll probably be messi, ronaldo and iniesta.

Melion

whippedcream wrote: »

Iniesta? It'll probably be messi, ronaldo and iniesta.

One of my favourite players in the world but Falcao has been the best striker in the world for over a year now

Blatter

Melion wrote: »

Messi, Ronaldo and Falcao. The rest needn't bother getting excited

Iniesta should be mentioned in the same breath as Falcao at least!

Surely Messi will win it anyway.

klose

Melion wrote: »

One of my favourite players in the world but Falcao has been the best striker in the world for over a year now

Indeed he's surely the best out and out striker in the work at the moment but the award isn't just giving on goals scored

Fight_Night

I think this has been the closest year between Ronaldo and Messi and if ever there was a year for Ronnie to win it this is it.

Melion

whippedcream wrote: »

Indeed he's surely the best out and out striker in the work at the moment but the award isn't just giving on goals scored

That should count Ronaldo out of the running too so

Sgt Pepper 64

Wow, that really is shocking that Rooney is on it.
He won nothing last season

Blatter

Melion wrote: »

One of my favourite players in the world but Falcao has been the best striker in the world for over a year now

van Persie has 46 goals since the beginning of last season, Falcao has 49 but van Persie gets significantly more assists. Obviously stats aren't everything, but I can't honestly say that I think Falcao's general play is better.

Genuine question, do people think Falcao is clearly better? He seems to be all the rage now with lots of people claiming he's up there with Ronaldo and Messi. I wouldn't say there's a whole lot between himself and RVP based on current ability tbh.

Hulk Hands

x43r0 wrote: »

Serious lack of Suarez. Of course he wouldn't have come near winning it but I would have thought he might make the 23-man list

He wasn't in the best 23 players in the Premier League last season, never mind the world

Vurnon San Benito

Falcao is a completely different player to van Persie, Ronaldo, Messi, or indeed anyone else on that list!

niallo27

homerjay2005 wrote: »

as a united fan, i think he is lucky to be there.united poor in Europe so he didnt get a chance to shine in the CL, didnt have a great euros and was largely poor from feb to may, despite scoring goals.

his goal scoring hid alot of poor performances, he said so himself.

I wouldnt mind a few liverpool players hiding bad performances with goals.

niallo27

Hulk Hands wrote: »

He wasn't in the best 23 players in the Premier League last season, never mind the world

Bollox is all i can say to that.

The_Kew_Tour

On his form overall during the year Rooney does not deserve to be there.

Saying that you could say same for couple of more.

ahnowbrowncow

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Wow, that really is shocking that Rooney is on it.
He won nothing last season

It's not really, he scored more than drogba and balotelli combined last year. And only for aguero popping up at the end he would of won the league.

This is coming from a fellow chelsea fan

Hulk Hands

niallo27 wrote: »

Bollox is all i can say to that.

He's been very good this season. Last season he was a mixture of fancy touches and lack of end product wrapped up in an 8 game suspension

Mr.Nice Guy

1. Messi
2. Ronaldo
3. Iniesta

Fairly straightforward this year imo.

Hulk Hands

The betting for this is interesting. Ronaldo can be got at 7/2 with Messi a best priced 5/6. Worth a bet on Ronaldo anyone think?

kitakyushu

Hulk Hands wrote: »

The betting for this is interesting. Ronaldo can be got at 7/2 with Messi a best priced 5/6. Worth a bet on Ronaldo anyone think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqma7f7ecxk

niallo27

Hulk Hands wrote: »

He's been very good this season. Last season he was a mixture of fancy touches and lack of end product wrapped up in an 8 game suspension

Hi suspension is the only think keeping him out of that 23 i think when you look at some of the other players in there.

Sgt Pepper 64

Amazed John Terry isnt on it - maybe next year eh?!

*Hank Scorpio*

Strikers, strikers everywhere!

No good defenders out there?

niallo27

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Amazed John Terry isnt on it - maybe next year eh?!

Im sure he will be there when the award is being given out, i'm here all week.

The_Kew_Tour

Sgt Pepper 64 wrote: »

Amazed John Terry isnt on it - maybe next year eh?!

Im sure he will celebrate with whoever wins anyway, just like he won it himself.

double GG

Hulk Hands wrote: »

The betting for this is interesting. Ronaldo can be got at 7/2 with Messi a best priced 5/6. Worth a bet on Ronaldo anyone think?

Definitely worth a bet from me anyhow.

bullvine

Hulk Hands wrote: »

The betting for this is interesting. Ronaldo can be got at 7/2 with Messi a best priced 5/6. Worth a bet on Ronaldo anyone think?

I think Ronado shades it this year being so instrumental in breaking the Barca Dominance, really think he should get it, alas Messi will probably get it though.