Because people just look at goals these days, they can’t see beyond it. I would love to see this award being given in separate categories, there needs to be one for goalies, full backs, CBs and CMs. As it stands they might as well rename it goal scorer of the year award. Outside of Cannavaro I can’t remember the last non offensive player that won the ballon d’or and I find that to be garbage. You’d get some that’d say “ well goals win you games” yes they do but if you concede more than you score you will lose, the people behind the likes of CR are the ones who make sure that doesn’t happen.
Completely agree, no one player can win games on their own, always been my thought, it’s why I have zero interest in who wins individual awards, without a doubt, in the biggest games, they are huge performances all over the pitch, and throughout every season they are consistently great performers all over the pitch as well, for instance , I think Varane was great for us in the CL, had a decent season and was great for France at the WC and he had a huge hand performing credibly in winning two of those trophies, why not him?
The thing is I think Ronaldo would be a world class midfielder or defender if he were asked to play those positions. He hasn't been asked to do anything except score goals in a long time so that is what he is measured by and mastered. If we asked Modric or Varane to play striker I don't think they would be very effective. On the other hand I think players like Ramos or Marcelo could play as forwards and score a lot more goals. Also @Digital I don't think Varane, although a world class player, is nearly as important to club or country as Ronaldo and Modric. It is what it is and as far as pure footballing ability (technique) he's just not as good as Ronaldo or Modric.
Interesting view , as far as his importance well I can’t say for sure, I think he’s very important for both club and country, but that’s just me, as for football ability, well that’s all subjective IMO, I don’t think at any point either Luka or Ronaldo have the ability to defend like Varane, the technique that he posseses as a defender to do his job properly neither Luka or Ronaldo have, it’s a skill set, just like being able to be in the right place at the right time to score goals and the ability to control a midfield and direct the play, he is better as a player than both of them at doing his equally important job, no comparison, that’s how I look at it, it’s why I can never say who is the absolute best player on a “team” popular or famous maybe but “best” so many different parts have to work well to make the whole great to win.
Ronaldo showed up for 2 CL games entire season. That was it. His awful form killed our league chances early on so those 30 goals he scored in February and March mean absolutely nothing. Forget Modric. There's other players on the team that was just as important in our CL campaign as two of them. Last season was in reality bad on the pitch and our CL title was a scrappy one (not that I care). No one should get the plaudits. Modric get's those stupid player awards because he captained little Croatia to the WC final. That's what sets him appart.
The awful form of a guy we demand to score +50 goals a season killed our chances at winning the league? Lol Damn him! He should have scored 70!
Technique, is just a fancy word for ball control (although a lot of other relevant and intricate factors come into play such as bringing a ball down out of the air at full speed while simultaneously coming to a stop, keeping balance, turning, and shielding the defender). Good defending requires awareness decision making, and positioning (tactics) to go along with grit and determination. I think Ronaldo and Modric have the football intelligence and work ethic to succeed as defenders but it would be a waste of talent. It's not a knock on Varane who is class through and through, but in the end I just don't think he contributes as much as Ronaldo or Modric; and if they all switched positions I don't think Varane would perform as well as Modric or Ronaldo. WOW. I guess I can agree.
No, it is not a "fancy" word nor does it mean "ball control". It is a word which describes a mechanism to perform certain movement / action. In case of defending there are numerous techniques with and without the ball. Clearly good defender must master them besides three subsets of tactics: individual, group and team tactics. As for Luka Modrić. Dude is great at defending - for a midfielder. While trying to draw a correlation with defender ( in terms of position ) Varane, well it is strange.
Fierro is really just making up crap at this point. Ronaldo can be a great defender? Did someone stick a flower in your head or something?
He’s been a World Class midfielder in the past. Playing on the right side of a 4-4-2 for Man Utd. Check his performances in the 06/07 season when he first won player of the year. He was primarily a winger.
I know and for a period he was the best right winger in the world, by the end of his last season at ManU he was playing as a CF and if he was the best player in the world by then he had to be the best CF. I remember how much he reminded me of Raul wearing the no. 7 leading the line that last season. He went from a classic winger to out and out striker to a hybrid wing forward at Madrid. People want to rewrite history and make him into this one dimensional player. One of my gripes about him for years is that by becoming 100% focused on goals only, he was wasting all these other attributes that would have made him the best player in any position (he's was a great passer and crosser and could do the tiki taka stuff, was strong and fast enough to be two way player).
Be that as it may I always felt like if he had been a little bit more unselfish and more of a team player and our attack had a little more variety and unpredictability, they would have won even more trophies.
Lionel Messi is the best CB if he played there. He would also be the best Goal Keeper if he was asked to play that position. Punto final.
He was still a winger most of the time till he left United from what I remember. The games you probably saw him playing CF were the big champions league games like against Arsenal in the semis and Barca in the final where they benched Berbatov and Tevez and pushed Rooney out wide to make him the focal point. In most games he was still playing out wide like a midfielder.
Ronaldo is such a sore loser and crybaby. Can't even bother to show up just because he didn't win the prize. He was bothering to show up at ceremonies where Messi won it, but can't even do that for a former teammate. My respect for him has significantly diminished. G.O.A.T. or not, as a human being he's seeming like a sour puss.