FIFA World Player of the year..No Arsenal??

[akofman12345]

Today, FIFA came out with the shortlist of the players up for the FIFA World player of the year. However, not one Arsenal player was on the list. Can anyone really argue that Vieira, Gerrard, Riquelme, or even Deco had better year in 2007 then Cesc? Or that Cannavaro, Thuram, Marquez played better then Toure? I know that these awards don't mean anything, but i feel like Cesc, Toure, and maybe even Gilberto got robbed.

Thoughts?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7037382.stm

[FabregasTED]

Henry has played MAYBE 10 games and is on the list. It's all in your name, not your season. Fabregas is becoming more well known, so he'll probably be on the list next year. It's just how it works. Why else would Deco be on there?

[Guy Fawkes]

These awards are, right now, a contest to see who can suck off Cristiano or Messi the most efficiently. They are not to be respected whatsoever.

[CRASH 4 ARSENAL]

Is it just me or do they do the Player of the Year awards like four times a year?

[belhavenback]

i don't know about you but i am loving the fact that we are playing some of the best ball in the world and yet can't single out a superstar to make the shortlist...

let them overlook us as we run right past em.

(that being said, for the players sake it would be good to be recognized for their talents)

[Skizz]

WTF no Alex Song? :p

This award has been a joke for a long, long time. Most awards are sadly. Most footballers say the individual awards that matter most are top scorer or Fan's player of the year at their individual clubs. At least with the latter people who can be critical of the team vote so you know you've earned it if you win.

[Gooner_for_Life]

This award is a joke. The fact that they start out with 30 people is too many. Granted there are some very good people on the list who have done some wonderful things, 3 of them having won a WC and the CL. These are great achievements on their own. But the people at the bottom of the list have done no more or less then some of our players.

It says that "fifa experts" choose the original 30, then international team coaches and captains narrow it down to 3. After that i dont know who decides but i think to give this award more credibility then it needs to be decided by the coaches and captains all the way through. Have coaches and captains nominate players to form a list of 20. In this first stage a coach or captain can nominate up to 2 people. 1 of which can be from their own team but the other has to be from another team. After the list of 20 is decided have another round of voting. Any coach or captain from any international team or club team throughout the world can vote. If you dont want to vote that is fine, if you do then fax in your pick to FIFA. The only rule is you cant vote any team member from club or country. Thats it, have it be done. FIFA will know who the winner is but can still invite 3 to the gala and have their big event and what not. Sounds a lot better way to do things to me.

[alain_9510]

Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cech (Chelsea, Czech Rep), Ronaldo (Man Utd, Portugal), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Henry (Barcelona, France), Juninho (Lyon, Brazil), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Klose (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lampard (Chelsea, England), Marquez (Barcelona, Mexico), Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Rooney (Man Utd, England), Terry (Chelsea, England), Tevez (Man Utd, Argentina), Thuram (Barcelona, France), Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), Vieira (Inter Milan, France).

:confused::confused::confused:

[Skizz]

Bar purseboy (pains me to say it) not one of those players had an outstanding season for club or country.

[G dot Ozo]

About half those players shouldn't be on that list...and no Totti??? Shocking. The guy was unstoppable for Roma last term. Anyway the only award of this type that matters is the Ballon d'Or. Kaka should win it, but it certainly has more weight than this.

[yaz2k1]

Bar purseboy (pains me to say it) not one of those players had an outstanding season for club or country.

Obviously some of the names on the list didn't belong and were based on name and reputation rather than performance. I'd take 5 or 6 names out but the rest is okay IMHO.
However, saying the whole thing is rubbish because none of our players in it, is inaccurate. Most of the players on the list are from clubs that won leagues, cups, went far in the CL (with few exceptions i.e. "super stars"). So players from Inter, Real, Man U, Milan etc were on the list. Unfortunately we didn't win anything last season. Hopefully next year's awards list will have Cesc, RVB, Toure after we win the double :)

Again, some of those players had an outstanding season. Kaka, Pirlo, and Nesta were the main reasons Milan won the CL. RVN and Cannavaro led Real to win La Liga. Messi had a breakthrough season. In the EPL, obviously (I hate to say it too) Ronaldo was the best player. Drogba had a good season and was the second best player in the EPL.
As far as our players, I think Toure could have been on the list. He probably suffered from our many defence lapses last season. Cesc had a good season but he didn't start for Spain much. Whether we like it or not, it's hard to put him in the best players list if he can't command a starting place for his country! Obviously RVP was out for a long time. But surely Toure, Cesc, and RVP will be on the list for next year. (cross fingers for no injuries).

[NorthBank74]

Sounds about right to me.

We're a great team not a bunch of great stars. Yeah you might argue Cesc should be on the list or maybe Toure as a stretch, but at the moment I think it's nice that we don't have anyone who'd make this list.

See if I still feel this way if we go on a goal-drought like last year!

[Gittle]

RVN and Cannavaro led Real to win La Liga.

Erm, Real went down last year, and now Cookie Coleman's the manager there. :p

Sorry, I had to do it. It's one of my pet peeves. "Real" is la Real, or Real Sociedad. The club that plays at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Chamartín is "Real Madrid" or simply "Madrid" or "el Madrid." Therefore, I am going to fix your post.


So players from Inter, Madrid, Man U, Milan etc were on the list.:D

[Teso Dos Bichos]

Can anyone really argue that Vieira, Gerrard, Riquelme, or even Deco had better year in 2007 then Cesc?

Easily.

Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany),Rooney (Man Utd, England).

:confused::confused::confused:

Both clearly merit inclusion. There are far worse problems with the list. Of course, it is to be expected with FIFA and their joke awards. There is not a single football award that I give any legitimacy to. However, FIFA have really done themselves proud with this shortlist.

[vonni]

About half those players shouldn't be on that list...and no Totti??? Shocking. The guy was unstoppable for Roma last term. Anyway the only award of this type that matters is the Ballon d'Or. Kaka should win it, but it certainly has more weight than this.
i agree, i couldn't believe he didn't make it in. they probably took into account that he isn't playing international football thesedays

i guess what hampered fabregas' chances in making the shortlist was arsenal's indifferent season.

[Barton8]

Buffon (Juventus, Italy), Cannavaro (Real Madrid, Italy), Cech (Chelsea, Czech Rep), Ronaldo (Man Utd, Portugal), Deco (Barcelona, Portugal), Drogba (Chelsea, Ivory Coast), Essien (Chelsea, Ghana), Eto'o (Barcelona, Cameroon), Gattuso (AC Milan, Italy), Gerrard (Liverpool, England), Henry (Barcelona, France), Juninho (Lyon, Brazil), Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil), Klose (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lahm (Bayern Munich, Germany), Lampard (Chelsea, England), Marquez (Barcelona, Mexico), Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Nesta (AC Milan, Italy), Pirlo (AC Milan, Italy), Ribery (Bayern Munich, France), Riquelme (Villarreal, Argentina), Ronaldinho (Barcelona, Brazil), Rooney (Man Utd, England), Terry (Chelsea, England), Tevez (Man Utd, Argentina), Thuram (Barcelona, France), Torres (Liverpool, Spain), Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid, Holland), Vieira (Inter Milan, France).

:confused::confused::confused:


you forget to highlight Torres. As brilliant as he is, he shouldn't have been picked ahead of Totti, Zlatan or Villa to name a few.

[johan neeskens]

What a completely nonsensical list that is. There's players in there that were injured for much of the season!!!!!!! Obviously chosen purely on reputation and reputation alone.

Also, from the Dutch point of view, respect to Van Nistelrooy, brilliant striker and all that, fully deserves to be in world top 30, but there's better Dutch footballers than him. Van der Sar for starters.

[Barton8]

Also, from the Dutch point of view, respect to Van Nistelrooy, brilliant striker and all that, fully deserves to be in world top 30, but there's better Dutch footballers than him. Van der Sar for starters.

:confused:
Strikers and Goalkeepers are two completely different players and there is no way one can say one is better than the other based on that. One saves goals and the other scores goals. Saying VDS is better than Van Nistelrooy is absolutely ridiculous.
Besides that RVN had an excellent season and Real wouldn't have won La Liga without him. He was clearly the best dutch player last year.

[Guy Fawkes]

Van Nistlerooy is WELL better than van der Sar.

[thebigman]

lol whod have thought teso would come in with his nonsense

probably thinks cesc is still over rated and not playing well this season compared to carrick or some other utd lesser player