The Worst Ballon D'or Winner

Discussion in 'Players & Legends' started by Dearman, Oct 21, 2014.

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The Worst Ballon D'or Winner

  1. Stanley Matthews (1956)

    16.1%
  2. Allan Simonsen (1977)

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Paolo Rossi (1982)

    29.0%
  4. Ihor Belanov (1986)

    12.9%
  5. Michael Owen (2001)

    35.5%
  6. Fabio Cannavaro (2006)

    6.5%
  1. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    My 2 cents:
    1- 1956: Mathews was there for his great performance after few years (but not absolute best) I have no problem with either Puskas or Mathews in TOP 3 *as long as not the winner

    2- 1957: not quite sure with Angelino but you may be right ...

    3- 1958: this year definitely belonged to either Pele and/or Didi!
    I would give to Didi *for his consistency great since 53, and Pele #2, Kopa #3.
    For me , Didi was always underrated for his "deeper role playing style" - which was well appreciated with Zidane in 2000's.
    (NOTE: at time before 80's most great names did well in attack with goals, not by possession and passing until late 90's)
     
  2. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Now let's go to the opposite end:

    TOP10 best players who never won Ballon D'or?


    ==================================================================
    1- source http://www.sportlobster.com/news/67719/best-players-never-to-win-the-ballon-dor.html

    [​IMG]Top Tens Best Players never to win the Ballon d'Or

    10. Kenny Dalglish

    9. Patrick Vieira

    8. Xavi Hernandez & Andres Iniesta

    7. Franco Baresi

    6. Bobby Moore

    5. Eric Cantona

    4. Paolo Maldini

    3. Raúl González

    2. Thierry Henry

    1. Ferenc Puskás


    ========================================================
    I agree with the names in bold, other names are also deserved but like many other names missing ...
     
  3. Dearman

    Dearman Member

    Argentina
    Feb 24, 2010
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Nat'l Team:
    Thailand
    I'd not consider Puskas because his peak has been passed at the time of the establishment of awards.

    I list three players who performed in very high or even highest peak in specific year but not able to win Ballon’Dor because they lacked of an opportunity to participate in some parts international football.

    Dzajic in 1968 is arguably one of the highest peak performers among Ballon'Dor runner-up and was supported by a notable statement of Beckenbauer that Dzajic is more deserved to win Ballon’Dor than George Best probably due to a favor of international country tournament, the 1968 Euro, where Dzajic made a magnificent jobs. However, Red Star did not participate in the 1967 – 1968 European club competition and moreover it was defeated 5-1 by a former champion Celtic 5-1 in the 1968 - 1969 European cup.

    Uwe Seeler in 1960 made a phenomenon individual record of domestic scoring (13 goals in 7 German Championship games). Unfortunately, Hamburg did not participate in the 1959 – 1960 European competition. In the next season, Hamburg was highlighted for achieving semi-finalist but it was 1961 already.

    Michael Laudrup in 1992 : It is easy to imagine he could win Ballon’Dor, has he played in the 1992 UEFA Euro where is the biggest miss of his career. As a phenomenon performer in the 1992 European Cup and La Liga plus the factor of the weaker performance profile of Ballon’Dor candidates than many other years, some even name him as a Ballon’Dor winner in their personal list.

    Aside from these three players, Baresi in 1990 and Maldini in 1994 is a strong contender if not too underrated defender position.
     
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  4. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    I agree 100% with the names you put like Dzajic, Seeler and M Laudrup
    However Puskas from late 50's was still among the TOP5 bests tin Europe with Di Stefano and Kopa - even though he was passed his best
     
  5. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    If that is the key achievement (and the only thing you mention), how does that compare with top scorer in Spain, Italy, England, France and also Yugoslavia at 1960? The 1960 UEFA country (league) ranking of Germany was #9 (of 27 UEFA members). Aren't you giving him a free ride?

    How would you asses the general strength and depth of Oberliga Nord? I guess/think it's third best of the lot, behind Süd and West, but probably ahead of Südwest and certainly Berlin.

    In previous 1958-59 national championship Eckehard Feigenspan scored 12 goals in 7 for Eintracht Frankfurt.
     
  6. Dearman

    Dearman Member

    Argentina
    Feb 24, 2010
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Nat'l Team:
    Thailand
    UEFA Coefficient is derived from only top club’s result, is a minor factor to determine the strong level of the league. Even so, the 1959 – 1960 German Championship has the highest average ratio goal per game among those mentioned leagues in the same season. As the style of German football was not offensive-minded, the high ratio can be analyzed as the tendency in the negative direction of standard of the competition.

    In this context, Seeler’s scoring statistics will be compared to top scorer from other leagues as providing ;

    1960 European Domestic Individual Scorer Table.png

    In the summarization of the table, If only German Championship is considered in comparison to top scorers from other league, Seeler obtains the unanimous highest goal ratio per league goal ratio and also the highest ratio between individual goal and team goals. Definitely the high ratio is come from the advantage of a fewer number of samples (only 7 games in German Championship) and would be an erroneous comparison in statistical theory. Thereby I’ve add his record in Oberliga Nord and statistics shows that he even had a much lower goal contribution against his team goal and league goal and he get the lowest ratio between his goal ratio and league goal ratio in overall German Competition.

    Anyway, I mentioned he has a phenomenon scoring record in German Championship because a very few player could achieve (as refer to Eckehard Feigenspan).
     
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  7. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    rightly so for 2012 and 2011, but 2010 was an arguable case!

    FIFA Ballon D'or 2012:
    1st Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 65.41%
    2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 23.68%
    3rd Andrés Iniesta Spain Barcelona 10.91%

    FIFA Ballon d'Or 2011
    1st Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 47.88%
    2nd Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal Real Madrid 21.60%
    3rd Xavi Spain Barcelona 9.23%

    FIFA Ballon d'Or 2010 (a tight race)
    1st Lionel Messi Argentina Barcelona 22.65%
    2nd Andres Iniesta Spain Barcelona 17.36%
    3rd Xavi Hernández Spain Barcelona 16.48%
     
  8. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    On what is this based? Don't be fooled by Stoichkov his 1991-92 and 1992-93 stats; he has a 'golden spell' in the calender year 1992 as a whole. In the 1991-part of 1991-92 he scored 5 goals. In the remainder of the season, thus in 1992, he scored 16. In the 1992 part of 1992-93 he scored 17 goals, in the remainder (thus in 1993) he scored 6 goals. It means his production for both 1991-92 and 1992-93 is heavily concentrated in the 1992 calender year.
    Meanwhile, Van Basten scored an amount of goals in Serie A that wasn't seen since the early to mid 60s (among other feats).

    Btw, I also got the 1977 France Football issue. I will post some comments from that issue later.
     
  9. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    that's right -
    however one should not forget that Stoitckov was a winger (not a striker/FW) in his team - only at Barca dream team he had more freedom to roam into the box.

    If one compares his with Bale, Robben, Ribery ... his stats were quite similar or even better in his best peak year (92-93)
     
  10. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Here are Stoitchkov position at two teams:

    At Barca dream team 90's of Cruyff - Stoitchkov played like Robben/Bale on right.
    [​IMG]

    At Bulgaria NT (WC1994) he was playing as left FW/winger (like Ribery/Giggs on left)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  11. Dearman

    Dearman Member

    Argentina
    Feb 24, 2010
    Bangkok, Thailand
    Club:
    FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
    Nat'l Team:
    Thailand
    I never said to underrate Stoichkov due to his scoring stats but he also did not participate in Euro likes the elder Laudrup. When consider many other years with existence of major tournaments, top players were great and arguably world-class in both club and international country. The list will include only European players for post-1993 Ballon'Dor.

    1976 : Franz Beckenbauer, Rob Rensenbrink
    1980 : Rummenigge
    1984 : Michel Platini
    1988 : Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard
    1990 : Matthaus, Baresi
    1994 : Baggio, Romario, Stoichkov, Maldini
    1996 : Matthias Sammer
    2000 : Luis Figo, Zidane

    In 1992, Bergkamp also played well in both club and NT but only club performance is inferior to Laudrup and Van Basten. So, my "weaker' word refer to the important of the entire performance based on all competition levels.
     
  12. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Issue 1655 of France Football, which has the results of the 1977 Ballon d'Or had a profile for each of the top 5 finishers. I'll post the title of those profiles below.

    Simonsen - "The good little devil" ('le bon petit diable')
    Keegan - "King of pop-foot" ('roi du pop-foot')
    Platini - "All the talents" ('tous les talents')
    Bettega - "Golden head of football" ('tête d'or du Calcio')
    Cruijff - "The eternal return" ('l'éternel retour')


    Comments by the journalists who had Simonsen, Keegan, Platini at #1 (most commented on each of their five choices, or a few of them, but I only show the comment for their number one - if named Simonsen, Keegan, Platini):

    Simonsen as #1 (7 persons):
    "I think Simonsen has wrenched his ceiling in a difficult championship and European competitions that become harder and harder. He is quick, he is effective, very complete. Yes, a good number one."
    "A Dane at number one! Yes, I do without chauvinism, noting simply how his merits has been praised in all colours by the European press."
    "I think the bell for Simonsen has rang. He expresses a marvellous talent, both in the West German league and the Champions Cup. What a timing."
    "The number one is the little Dane to whom Monchengladbach owes a lot. A player who bases it on instinct, a scorer of pedigree. He shows one can have a brilliant career in German football without possessing an impressive size."
    "The 'golden place' belongs in my opinion to the tiny phenomenon who is the Dane Simonsen. He creates sensations, every weekend, at all levels."
    "The measurement instrument of the Czechoslovakian critic shows the lowest number at his waist but the highest at his talent, [...] who'll benefit from the downfall of Keegan."
    "The spectacle of Simonsen breaking loose at the forefront of an offensive is in any case fascinating. The little Dane merits a Ballon d'Or for his expressiveness in a difficult championship to show."

    Keegan as #1 (11 persons):
    "Keegan is the best achiever of the year for his efficiency and his personality."
    "For me Keegan is number one for his variety and efficiency of his football."
    "Boiling, imaginative, super-technician gifted with an exceptional execution speed. Yes Keegan is, for me, the greatest actor of this year."
    "I've seen Keegan ten times and I always appreciated his hard-hitting style despite the worst difficulties."
    "The downfall of Hamburg, which Keegan cannot curb, doesn't let forget the prominent role by the English attacker in the European triumph of Liverpool. In the European Cup final, to be precise, he marked with his radiance an advantage over the remarkable little Danish winger of Monchengladbach. In fact, Keegan and Simonsen are, in our games, very difficult to separate."
    "Keegan is a personality for all domains of football. Don't tell me he has devalued himself after he moved to Hamburg. Rather appreciate his super-production with Liverpool."
    "Because for being number one there should be talent and international results as well, both with the national team and with the club."
    "Great technique, good shot, remarkable aerial play, brilliant atmosphere creator. Yes, Keegan as champion with Liverpool merits the first place."
    "Cruyff has to be, according to me, content with a third place behind Keegan and his devastating breakthroughs. Behind Heighway [Liverpool] too, who created the misfortune for St Etienne."
    "Keegan possesses a temperament and the class of an exceptional attacker. His European final has left a model to follow for his kind."
    "Yes, it is said that Keegan his star has paled in the last three months. But this deletion is due to the problems in Hamburg. Keegan remains an exceptional championship achiever to which I grant, like the plurality of the Turks in 1977, the number one spot."

    Platini as #1 (5 persons):
    "I considered how the skyrocketing of French football has been closely associated to the name Platini. A player who has all the talents."
    "Platini is confirming his talent and all Polish critics agree on his name. I put him one place ahead of Cruyff."
    "I discussed my ranking with the ones responsible for the Swedish national team. We reached an agreement: Platini is the most amazing footballer of the year."
    "What a class! Yes, Platini is the rising super-attacker of his generation. I've placed 'in paradise' ahead of four other Champions of the all-round offence [Simonsen, Rensenbrink, Cruyff, Causio]."
    "He is together with Cruyff on top, but with the youth as bonus."
     
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  13. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Two more observations:

    1) Simonsen probably benefited from the fact that there wasn't another Dane to share the votes with. Although club team mate Berti Vogts was included in two lists instead of Simonsen (Italy included both Bonhof and Simonsen).

    Belgium voted Emlyn Hughes on first place, with Keegan excluded. Another one included Ray Kennedy (at fifth) and not Keegan. The lists that included Shilton and Heighway (twice) also included Keegan though. The English voter included Trevor Brooking at 2nd place but not Keegan among the first five.

    One included Janvion but not Platini. Another Trésor and not Platini (a 3rd and 4th list combined Platini with Bathenay and Tresor respectively).

    Ruud Geels received one vote, with Cruijff excluded. The Dutch voter had Krol in third, but no Cruijff. Rensenbrink was mentioned five times, three times without Cruijff.


    2) The Danish voter had Simonsen 1, Keegan 2, Platini 5. The English voter had Brooking at 2, Simonsen 3 and Platini 4 (no Keegan). The French voter had Keegan at 1, Simonsen 2, Platini 3.


    What helped Simonsen to win by 3 points? Less countrymen and club mates to share votes with; Danish voter had him at #1 with English voter excluding Keegan.


    -----------------

    As bonus (for who's interested) this are the comments the voters made specifically about Cruijff alone.
    Show Spoiler

    "Cruyff still has the place on top. Needless to say why..." (he voted him in 3rd place)

    "Cruyff remains the nobleman of football."

    "Always lively present and that makes the rain and sunny days at the national team and Barcelona." (2nd place)

    "Once again the Netherlands made the laws in Europe, with Cruijff only equal to himself. That says it all." (1st)

    Sometimes voters only comment on a few players and not all they voted (or they make comments about players they didn't vote, and why).
     
  14. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Simonsen was very good to great in 75-79 (which coincided with a "dry talent" period in Europe (SA are exclude) ... transitioning from Cruyff Beckenbauer to ... later on Platini Basten

    That;s why Keegan and Rummenigge won 2 Ballon Dors each .. in a similar cirscumstance
     
  15. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    I came across something more about that 1977 year. It is just an opinion piece, but anyway.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  16. verde-rubro

    verde-rubro Member+

    C.S.Maritimo + Liverpool FC
    Portugal
    Jan 15, 2005
    LONDON
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
  17. BocaFan

    BocaFan Member+

    Aug 18, 2003
    Queens, NY
    lol Ridiculous! Did anyone over the age of 15 respond to that poll?
     
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  18. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    This below is taken from the soccernostalgia.blogspot.com website, and not uploaded by me. This journalist made annual team of the years (though not in 1970, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1988). Some choices are, as said previously, very odd like the exclusion of Maradona in 1986 and the exclusion of Cruijff in 1971, 1973 and also 1974. Anyway:

    [​IMG]

    See further for more context:
    http://beyondthelastman.com/2013/11/07/eric-battys-world-xis-the-seventies/
     
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  19. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    I just saw that Paolo Rossi is leading the votes. I'll post here some of the comments in France Football (#1916) by the journalists who had him as #1. It shows some of the 'themes' the voters had in mind:

    "The year 1982 was one of the World Cup. It is as a start necessary to respect the achievements obtained by the stars, especially in this tournament, the most important for all countries. For me, Rossi is the best since he was at the base of the victories - especially those against Brazil and West Germany - that assured the world title for the Italians."
    [there are quite a few that respond along these lines - I do not type all responses because that becomes repetitive and boring]

    "Rossi and Conti were the great personalities, the craftsmen of the success by Italy in the Mundial."

    "One can become Ballon d'Or winner for a two week long state of grace: the evidence."

    "Rossi, the topscorer of the World Cup, is the most authentic representative of this modern football based on the counter attack, possessing the indispensable punch and foil of the great goal creators. His expulsion during two seasons just helps to confirm his high class and technical qualities."

    "Paolo Rossi received quite some attention before the World Cup was played, which became his own personal triumph. He continues to create excellent performances with his club, Juventus, and he is the whooping cough [repetitive chant] of the Italian tifosi."

    "If we speak about the Mundial, and think about Rossi, the one who marked the tournament with his presence and his class. Although he played very little in 1982, he deserved it to be revived after his very long purgatory." (the Italian voter; Berbinni)

    "If Rossi had not been there, Italy had not won the tournament."

    "Rossi, player of class in the World Cup, has also distinguished himself thus far in the European Cup. Most notably against Standard Liege."

    "With, in addition, something that resembles the traits of Macchiavelli." [sic!]

    "Best footballer in the World Cup, best footballer by Adidas [sic], the Ballon d'Or is for he who has assigned it as the most beautiful trophy"

    "However, I do not forget the assignment delivered by Totonero: to have at once both footballing qualities and moral qualities."


    Countries that didn't have Rossi as #1: West Germany, England, Denmark, Scotland, Belgium. Among those, there were only two countries that didn't have Rossi among their five names: Scotland and Belgium. The Scottish voter (Alex Gordon) explicitly said that "three matches in a year" can't be a reason to vote for a player.
     
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  20. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Finally, to conclude, I found this too:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
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  21. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    #146 JamesBH11, Feb 15, 2015
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2015
    Yeah we all know that WC best perofrmance driven hard on Ballon Dor by older rule !


    Rossi had a great WC (3 great games) but post WC, he was barely among the top players in SerieA season (to be mentioned) 82/83 (at least before the Ballon D'or votes end of year = well if not saying he had a "POOR season" post WC

    At least Kempes was well deserved with his very good "pre WC form" and good Post WC78
    At least Simonsen had a consistent very good club level
     
  22. tony-soprano37

    Dec 5, 2008
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    England

    how about robbie rensenbrink in 1978 ????
    he finished third place behind hans krankl at nr 2 and kevin keegan at nr. 1

    but in 1978 rensenbrink should have won it..
    reachign wc 78 final and scoring 5 goals in the wc.
    winning the europeancup winners cup also scoring 2 times in the final..
    also winning the european supercup beating the mighty liverpool and scoring 1 time..

    overall rensenbrink performeed very well in 1978... scoring many goals and giving many assists..

    personally i don't see why keegan and krankl are rated higher that year then rensenbrink....

    rensenbrink is many times underrated but he was an all tiem great player
     
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  23. JamesBH11

    JamesBH11 Member+

    Sep 17, 2004
    Good call, Rensenbrinks had a good year 1978:
    - won Cupwinners (scored 2goals in final)
    - won UEFA supercup (scored in final)
    - WC 2nd place (5goals)

    yeah it was a mystery that how Keegan won it in 1978 (his best should be 1977 or 1979)
     
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  24. bandwagongooner

    bandwagongooner Member+

    Dec 9, 2006
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Was Nedved a worthy choice over Henry in 2003?
     
  25. Pipiolo

    Pipiolo Member+

    Jul 19, 2008
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    Yes, by all means.
     

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