Messi and his ever growing awards

splashthecash

Wins his fifth Balon Dor award - unprecedented and still breaking records

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2016/0111/759276-ballon-dor/

Andre 3000

The GOAT.

GavRedKing

I was actually more surprised he didnt win the Puskas award too.

Other than that theres no more superlatives you can use to describe him that havent already been repeated countless times before, hes undoubtedly the greatest of his generation and very possibily the greatest of all time.

augustus gloop

What was yer man who won the puskas award waffling on about? Something lost in translation there

brevity

Amazing really.

Andersonisgod

To steal a quote that I saw on Twitter, this is the 6th time Messi was voted the best player in the world, this is his 5th Balon D'or.
I've stated many times that I am not enamored with the Balon D'or, the process in which the voting is done or the political nature of it. That being said, it is always nice to see Messi honored on a world-wide stage.

In the pantheon of greats, Lionel Messi stands alone. This might be his best award yet, not because he was any more instrumental this past year to Barcelona and Argentina than any of the previous years in which he won it, but because of the challenges which Messi had to overcome in order to win this award. The Messi of 2015/2016 is different to the Messi of 2010, the Messi of 2011 and the Messi of 2012. The first and most noticeable thing that has changed is his position. Gone is the false 9 of Pep, which confuddled many a team, back is the right inside forward position (sort of), while Messi may start from the right, he is liable to end up anywhere, often in a deeper position behind Luis Suarez. Gone too is the obsession for goals, yes he still scores at an incredible rate but goals are not what define Lionel Messi and his hunger for them does not outrank his hunger for team glory. That extraordinary burst of pace which we saw terrify many a defender has diminished.

At 28 years old Messi has adjusted, he has managed to modify his game and improve other aspects of his play to make him as devastating a player as he was previously, just in a different way. His successful dribbles stat last season shows that, while he may not display that awesome burst of pace as much anymore, with his flawless technique and rapid feet he still finds a way past his opponents. 28 year old Messi has evolved his game to become not only a key source of goals for his team but he has also become what Iniesta was to this team too, he is both scorer and playmaker. Only a year ago many speculated that we had already seen the best of Messi, that he could not change, that he may even never lift the Balon D'or again, that his powers were waning. 1 year on and we are looking at the most complete version of Lionel Messi that we have ever seen, possibly the most complete player we have ever seen in football. At 28, Messi is lean, he is fitter than he has been in many years, in a team built around him, as part of a dream forward line, the hunger has returned for Messi, the smile is back.

Ulysses Gaze

Ronaldo did not look impressed but really, what did he expect?

He went missing from January 2015 until now whilst Messi has been in imperious form.

Wendell Lira looked shocked to win the Puskas and tbh I thought Messi would win that as well.

bucketybuck

Ulysses Gaze wrote: »

He went missing from January 2015 until now whilst Messi has been in imperious form.

Went missing? Did he not score more than Messi? 57 goals in 2015? Hardly "missing" is it.

I have no real opinion on which of the two usuals should have won but why the need to put Ronaldo down so as to praise Messi, he doesn't seem to need the help.

astonaidan

Honestly Im sure Im not alone in saying this, but my interest in the Balon D'or has been gone for the last few years. As long as Messi and Ronaldo are playing for Madrid-Barcelona no other player is going to win it, the year that really confirmed this first is when Sneijder should have won it but didnt. Again at the world cup Messi won player of the tournament which was a joke. Its now just a popularity contest between the two. This years best two players shouldnt have either of them again. Neymar and Suarez have been far more influential,
Messi won best player in Copa America which was a farce at least he had the humility to turn it down.
These awards arent for player of the year which is a pity

Too Tough To Die

Really feels like the end of an era, seeing Ronaldo up there for the last time alongside Neymar who's going to be up there a lot over the coming years.

bucketybuck

astonaidan wrote: »

Honestly Im sure Im not alone in saying this, but my interest in the Balon D'or has been gone for the last few years. As long as Messi and Ronaldo are playing for Madrid-Barcelona no other player is going to win it, the year that really confirmed this first is when Sneijder should have won it but didnt. Again at the world cup Messi won player of the tournament which was a joke. Its now just a popularity contest between the two. This years best two players shouldnt have either of them again. Neymar and Suarez have been far more influential,
Messi won best player in Copa America which was a farce at least he had the humility to turn it down.
These awards arent for player of the year which is a pity

Messi winning world cup player of the tournament was a complete joke but I can't agree with your main point. Messi and Ronaldo are the best two players in the world and they play like it year after year, until that changes they deserve the award, giving it to lesser players just for a change would be far more of a mockery.

Andre 3000

How were Suarez and Neymar more influential than Messi?

astonaidan

bucketybuck wrote: »

Messi winning world cup player of the tournament was a complete joke but I can't agree with your main point. Messi and Ronaldo are the best two players in the world and they play like it year after year, until that changes they deserve the award, giving it to lesser players just for a change would be far more of a mockery.

But they dont play the best every year as I said already, do I think they are the best, yes without a doubt, do I think a player who didnt play well at all for 3 months in the year deserve best player no I dont.
Like Barcelona are playing dominant this year not because of Messi, Suarez and Neymar were carrying the team
Trying to convince my Argentine wife is actually a lot harder than ye guys though :pac:

AdamD

Messi was incredible in the Champions League. His performance against Bayern in the semis was worthy of this award alone.

ERG89

Thought Neymar had a fantastic year. 15 months ago I wasn't too high on him he was very good against PSG, Bayern and Juve.
As for the XI. Iniesta was the least consistent of the Barca midfield for me the last year....i'd argue about Ramos, Marcelo & Silva but who cares tbh

bucketybuck

astonaidan wrote: »

But they dont play the best every year as I said already, do I think they are the best, yes without a doubt, do I think a player who didnt play well at all for 3 months in the year deserve best player no I dont.
Like Barcelona are playing dominant this year not because of Messi, Suarez and Neymar were carrying the team
Trying to convince my Argentine wife is actually a lot harder than ye guys though :pac:

There simply weren't any players better than Messi or Ronaldo in 2015, and I include Neymar and Suarez in that.

57 goals for Ronaldo, who bettered that? Unless I am misinformed Neymar has less goals and less assists than Messi in 2015, so why do you call him more influential?

If there were better players playing better then there might be a debate, but there weren't.

SantryRed

Jesus, I don't think the Puskas winner was all that great. Messi's was definitely better than it and I haven't even looked at the others. I can't see how it'd be the best in the whole year though.

Too Tough To Die

bucketybuck wrote: »

There simply weren't any players better than Messi or Ronaldo in 2015, and I include Neymar and Suarez in that.

57 goals for Ronaldo, who bettered that? Unless I am misinformed Neymar has less goals and less assists than Messi in 2015, so why do you call him more influential?

If there were better players playing better then there might be a debate, but there weren't.

More influential in that he turned up to some big season defining games and played well and won trophies.

Andersonisgod

ERG89 wrote: »

Thought Neymar had a fantastic year. 15 months ago I wasn't too high on him he was very good against PSG, Bayern and Juve.
As for the XI. Iniesta was the least consistent of the Barca midfield for me the last year....i'd argue about Ramos, Marcelo & Silva but who cares tbh

That Pogba is in it and Busquets isn't is crazy. Pogba is an excellent player with fantastic potential but I'm not even convinced he was the most consistent midfielder at Juventus last season. The most ludicrous one though is definitely James Rodriguez, I have no words at all for how he made it in.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Andersonisgod wrote: »

That Pogba is in it and Busquets isn't is crazy. Pogba is an excellent player with fantastic potential but I'm not even convinced he was the most consistent midfielder at Juventus last season. The most ludicrous one though is definitely James Rodriguez, I have no words at all for how he made it in.

James Rodriguez wasn't in the team.

Andersonisgod

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

James Rodriguez wasn't in the team.

Haha that's my bad, I was too focused on Rodriguez being nominated for something or other. Just substitute the name Rodriguez with the name Modric in the post above and you have my feelings on that.

ERG89

Andersonisgod wrote: »

That Pogba is in it and Busquets isn't is crazy. Pogba is an excellent player with fantastic potential but I'm not even convinced he was the most consistent midfielder at Juventus last season. The most ludicrous one though is definitely James Rodriguez, I have no words at all for how he made it in.

Pogba was better the last 12 months than either Modric or Iniesta so I don't see how he'd drop out

martyos121

ERG89 wrote: »

Pogba was better the last 12 months than either Modric or Iniesta so I don't see how he'd drop out

Yet Busquets was miles better than all three and he missed out, which makes the TOTY a joke IMO.

cowboyBuilder

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snoozefest...

The_Kew_Tour

Well done to Messi. Well deserved. How Ramos gets on team year in year out though does not say much for CB

keeponhurling

To really be able to give an opinion in who should win, you'd need to watch all Barca and Real's matches over the year.

And Argentina and Portugal matches

Even then it's probably hard to call

Andersonisgod

ERG89 wrote: »

Pogba was better the last 12 months than either Modric or Iniesta so I don't see how he'd drop out

Debatable. Very debatable. As I said, he's an excellent player but I'm not convinced he was even the most important or consistent midfielder for Juventus. I'm sure other people could make a case for Modric, (personally I wont) but a case could absolutely be made for Iniesta. Would I have him above Busquets for the past 12 months? No, but I'd have no other midfielder above Busquets. However Iniesta has been superb, he's reborn under Enrique, he's taken on the Xavi role with aplomb, and he has found his knack of picking those crazy killer passes and making those insane dribbles again. Without wanting to sound blasé or obvious, Iniesta is Iniesta, he's very special.

Andersonisgod

keeponhurling wrote: »

To really be able to give an opinion in who should win, you'd need to watch all Barca and Real's matches over the year.

And Argentina and Portugal matches

Even then it's probably hard to call

It wasn't, it really wasn't.

StringerBell

Too Tough To Die wrote: »

More influential in that he turned up to some big season defining games and played well and won trophies.

More influential then Messi, in the same big games as him, playing almost as well as him, winning the same trophies as him...not sure how it makes him more influential?

StringerBell

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Well done to Messi. Well deserved. How Ramos gets on team year in year out though does not say much for CB

Tells you a fair bit about how much weight the thing carries though when you strip back the first layer

nice_guy80

did he pay his taxes this year?

cowboyBuilder

Still waiting for Mikel to win it ..

tayto lover

There is nobody ,,, nobody ... even close to the greatness of Messi.
It is doubtful we will ever see his like again.

astonaidan

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Well done to Messi. Well deserved. How Ramos gets on team year in year out though does not say much for CB

Because its a popularity vote, i may be wrong but didnt Casillas not get into the team when he wasnt even reals number 1.

Panthro

cowboyBuilder wrote: »

Still waiting for Mikel to win it ..

If his shooting skills are anything to go by....he'd miss the fcukin ceremony!!!!

Optimalprimerib

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Debatable. Very debatable. As I said, he's an excellent player but I'm not convinced he was even the most important or consistent midfielder for Juventus. I'm sure other people could make a case for Modric, (personally I wont) but a case could absolutely be made for Iniesta. Would I have him above Busquets for the past 12 months? No, but I'd have no other midfielder above Busquets. However Iniesta has been superb, he's reborn under Enrique, he's taken on the Xavi role with aplomb, and he has found his knack of picking those crazy killer passes and making those insane dribbles again. Without wanting to sound blasé or obvious, Iniesta is Iniesta, he's very special.

No offense, but your flying low, i can see your bias.

Rezident

Deserved winner, easily the best player in the world, and by a considerable distance. Arguably the best player of all time. Should have won best goal too, his was way harder to do than the one that won.

GreNoLi

This must've been pretty low key, didn't find out until just now.

A player shouldn't be honoured with the balon d'or 5 times is it!?

Spread the kudos around, any one player can only win the award 3 times maximum, if an attacker wins it one year then a gk, def or midfielder should be awarded the following year.

Congrats to Messi though, just wish he played for another team, preferably a middling side who he drags to victory ala 'Roy of the Roasters'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUH40Mgr0N0

martyos121

GreNoLi wrote: »

This must've been pretty low key, didn't find out until just now.

A player shouldn't be honoured with the balon d'or 5 times is it!?

Spread the kudos around, any one player can only win the award 3 times maximum, if an attacker wins it one year then a gk, def or midfielder should be awarded the following year.

The award is given to the best player in the world each year. I think Messi should've won it 6 times tbh. You can't give it to someone else just to be fair, it isn't a joke like the RTE awards.