Then I would go with Matthews. I could be wrong, but at that age I doubt he would be the best player in the world and he did not have the best season/year either when it came to titles. I am not so sure anymore after those two. I would maybe add Keegan 1978 to your list, though.
Yeah, If any player could be the best player in the world at 41 years old, his body will be much higher standard than most human's potential. A player who are considered one of the best player in the World in professional era at highest ages are Puskas (1960, 33 years old). Other oldest players who was also considered by some sources to achieve world-class are Matthaus (1999, 39 years old) and Romario (2000, 34 years old) won South American footballer of the year but both were still out of considered group of one of the best players in the world. 1978 is considered as one of the least competitive Ballon D'or when Keegan got votes result equal to Krankl and lower places at 6th Hellstrom who has a highest rate bu kicker in that season but lack of international success. If consider seasonal year (1977 - 1978), I'd have named him in a poll but Ballon D'or is a calendar annual awards and Keegan had a very good performance in the first part of the 1978 - 1979 season.
I'd go with Owen in 2001. Rivaldo and Raul were better that year or atleast in 2000-01 season. 2nd is Cannavaro in 2006. Despite a poor World Cup, I still think Ronaldinho should have won it.
I agree with you. Ronaldinho should have won in 2006.His world cup wasn't good but his club was performance was awesome.Cannavaro won in 2006 is something i can't absorb
Looking retrospectively (could have obviously felt different had I been there witnessing things happen) I would give the 1978 Ballon d'Or to Rob Rensenbrink. As a matter of fact, Keegan was rather well rated by kicker already in 1977-78 (then even better in the following season indeed), but his Hamburger feel from 6th place in 76-77 to 10th in 77-78 and was eliminated in second round of the Winners' Cup by no other than Rensenbrink's Anderlecht. Then the 1978-79 season began, Keegan played very well and would lead the team to win Bundesliga. But he was unable to qualify with England to the WC while Rensenbrink reached the final of it with a notable overall participation. Was Keegan's individual level that much superior it justifies him taking the award despite all this (no WC, no titles collective or individual, eliminated by his main competitor for the award -in my view- in European competition...)? Maybe, but I have my doubts. In any case, it is an absolutely unique case: in a WC year the award went to a guy that not only had not qualified for it playing for a country that is very far from being a minnow, he also had no continental level action during the calendar year in question whatsoever with his club.
2010,not 2012. Could score 72 goals in just one season,a lot of assits(i don't remember).And overall 91 goals in just one year is something very hard can break
What about it? They are world's apart. 2010 Messi won La Liga, Spanish Supercup, Uefa Supercup, Fifa Club World Cup, European Golden Shoe and Best Player in La Liga and played great in World Cup. Crynaldo didn't win anything in 2013. Scored 3 1on1's in World Cup Qualifying, wait for it, Playoffs ffs. This vote is pointless without Cronaldo 2013, as that's easily the worst winner of it's history. And it's not even close.
No more stuff about Messi and Ronaldo in here. The OP didn't include them. Neither are credible suggestions as the weakest ever. Mention it again and people are going to get infracted.
Owen assisted Gerrard with a through-ball on the 2nd goal in the UEFA Cup final, as well as restoring the 2 goals lead when he drew a (justified) penalty kick, making it 3:1. So that are two assists in the UEFA Cup final. He was subbed out in the 82th minute though. Owen did not play in the 2nd leg of the League Cup semi final, and not in the League Cup final. He played in the 1st leg but was subbed out after 64 minutes (Liverpool made the final scoreline a 2:1 loss by a Smicer goal, assist Litmanen). In the 2001 calender year he scored for club and country 37 goals in 54 official games. 2 of those goals were penalty kicks (a few Ballon d'Or winners score 15-20 penalty kick goals in a calender year...). That's not an error. I think the basic numbers and trophies won look OK. Maybe Owen didn't deserve it, but all sources I was able to find don't show a win for Rivaldo, for sure. Rivaldo might have been more skilful (I'd say so) and have more fans/lemmings backing him, but for the 2001 year as whole he isn't among the front runners IMHO. Rivaldo in 2001 calender year: NT: 3 goals in 8 games UCL + UEFA Cup: 9 goals (2PK) in 13 games Primera Division: 15 goals (2PK) in 29 games CDR: 2 goals in 5 games = 29 goals (4PK) in 55 games 2001 Ballon d'Or Owen 1st, Rivaldo 7th http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy01.html 2001 RSSSF player of the year: Owen 1st, Rivaldo 9th http://www.rsssf.com/rssbest/rsspoy01.html 2001 ESM team selections Owen three times elected, Rivaldo 2 times http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/esm-xi.html#0001 [Owen elected in 2000-01 team of the year] 2001 L'Equipe team of the year Owen included, Rivaldo not http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2001/12/30/pagina-25/465834/pdf.html# 2001 FIFA World player of the year (NT managers voted, 130 in total) Owen 61 points (4 first place votes), Rivaldo 92 points (11 first place votes) http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2001/12/18/pagina-19/465052/pdf.html# 2001 Onze Mondial team Owen included, Rivaldo not http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/onze-awards.html 2001 World Soccer vote Owen wins, Rivaldo 5th http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/wsoc01.html 2001 El Pais (Uruguay) vote Owen 2nd (Zidane 1st), Rivaldo 8th http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/sam-eupoy01.html 2001 UEFA team of the year (internet vote) Both nominated/pre-selected, but neither of them included. Rivaldo lost with 4.16% of the votes against Zidane and Del Piero. Owen lost with 4.80% of the votes against Henry, Trezeguet, Tristan, Larsson, Jardel and Shevchenko. Raul Gonzalez, who was 2nd in 2001 Ballon d'Or, ended behind Owen with 4.44% of the votes. http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/uefa-awards.html#year http://en.toty.uefa.com/history=2001.html Don't have more sources at the moment, but I'm genuinely not cherry-picking here. If I forgot a major source, give a shout...
How does he compare to Raul? Only thing I checked is his ESM selection in '01. 3 just like Owen. 1st half 2001 (2000/01) Liga: 22 games 17 goals CL: 7 games 5 goals 2nd half 2001 (2001/02) Liga: 18 games 9 goals CL: 7 games 4 goals I can't find the site yet again which has all the CL and League assists in the early 00s. Owen had 2 assists in 00/01 and 3 in 01/02.
That's mostly true in comparison with Owen. Generally speaking: Owen played behind one other forward (Heskey) while Rivaldo played behind - or next to - two forwards in a 4-3-3 like set-up. http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2001/12/10/pagina-5/468678/pdf.html# http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2001/06/21/pagina-13/1463090/pdf.html# And this one has a summary for the whole 2000-01 season: http://hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com/preview/2001/06/16/pagina-14/443344/pdf.html# Rivaldo as striker, Rivaldo as trequartista in a 3-4-3 etc. The most used formation was '4-3-3ish' though. One sees a few variations but one thing remained the same: Rivaldo had mostly a minimum of three midfielders and (on paper) four defenders behind him. When playing in a 3-4-3 he had players like Gabri, Xavi, Cocu and Luis Enrique behind his back; all of them having the mindset to think restrained and defensive (Gabri + Luis Enrique the stamina guys). It's easy to forget that Rivaldo did little to no work without the ball (even with own team in possession), provided little work-rate or defence, and he was Barcelona their main scorer in the 2000-01 season. BDfutbol has him listed as forward for this season. http://www.bdfutbol.com/en/t/t2000-011.html ---- It's very often with players a debate whether they were a forward or midfielder. In comparison with Owen (who perhaps worked harder when necessary) he is a midfielder, but what if we compare with aforementioned '1996 version Litmanen'? Then I'd say Rivaldo was more of a forward, because Litmanen played behind three forwards while Rivaldo played generally behind two (if not alongside or ahead to them). Litmanen had two midfielders behind him, Rivaldo had three (also within a 3-4-3 kinda formation). Litmanen his work-rate with and without ball was enormous, Rivaldo saved his energy for the magic... Point is that even a player in 'prime Litmanen' his mould is regularly bracketed as a 'forward'. I myself used the word "borderline midfielder", and following this callsign I don't see a reason to call 'Barcelona version Rivaldo' a "full midfielder"...
Didn't comment on Raul because he's better competition and comparison IMHO. Which the links also show. The readers and journalist votes show a closer margin. FIFA World Player vote favours Raul by a margin (10 first place votes, 96 points). Onze Mondial and L'Equipe don't include Raul, with Owen included. EDIT: 2001 Ballon d'Or Owen 1st, Raul 2nd 2001 RSSSF player of the year: Owen 1st, Raul 3rd (Figo 2nd) 2001 ESM team selections Owen three times elected, Raul three times 2001 L'Equipe team of the year Owen included, Raul not 2001 FIFA World player of the year (NT managers voted, 130 in total) Owen 61 points (4 first place votes), Raul 96 points (10 first place votes) 2001 Onze Mondial team Owen included, Raul not 2001 World Soccer vote Owen wins, Raul 3rd (Beckham 2nd) 2001 El Pais (Uruguay) vote Owen 2nd (Zidane 1st), Raul 3rd 2001 UEFA team of the year (internet vote) Both nominated/pre-selected, but neither of them included. Owen lost with 4.80% of the votes against Henry, Trezeguet, Tristan, Larsson, Jardel and Shevchenko. Raul Gonzalez, who was 2nd in 2001 Ballon d'Or, ended behind Owen with 4.44% of the votes. NT: 9 games 5 goals CDR: 2 games 3 goals Spanish Supercup: 2 games 3 goals = 67 games 46 goals (0PK) (not 100% sure about PKs, but it's none or minimal amount) Can you show the site? That would be very peculiar with 2 assists in the UEFA Cup final.
It's from that PDF file in the intersting links thread. The assist numbers are just PL. What's the name of the site with the La Liga and CL assists though? I always forget to bookmark it.
Here it is: http://soccer-europe.com/Biographies/Raul.html Personally became curious about how the 'EPL20' book has counted the assists. I saw passing by that OPTA lists Andy Cole with 13 assists in 1993-94 and Hasselbaink with 13 too in 1998-99. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/12038/9206088/chart-toppers [someone asked the question which players have led both the EPL goals and assists chart] But EPL20 book says: 6 assists (1 penalty assist) for Cole in 1993-94 and 9 assists (1 penalty assist) for Hasselbaink in 1998-99.... That's apparently a discrepancy with the OPTA numbers and would like to know why.
Me (and Dearman) forgot to mention the 2001 European Supercup. In this match Owen had a goal and assist. That makes for 2001 calender year: UEFA Cup final: won 5:4, 2 assists FA Cup final: won 1:2, 2 goals European Supercup: won 3:2, 1 goal + 1 assist League Cup final: won 1:1 a.e.t (pens), Owen didn't play Charity Shield: won 2:1, Owen scored winning goal Raul Gonzalez is a good shout too though. Raul: 46 goals (oPK) in 67 games (0.687), Owen 37 goals (2PK) in 54 games (0.685). Figo looks good too. http://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/391
http://soccer-europe.com/Archives/UCL/UCL0001/Performers.html 5 assists in the UCL according to this. Usual stuff with different interpretations what counts as an assists and what doesn't would be my guess. You could ask the guy who did the pdf file on twitter.
very good summary for them Winning Ballon Dor or other prizes are due to "titles" for their team - Rivaldo was very very good in 2001 and ofcourse more skillful player than Owen but the Reality is that it's "hard" for the voters to vote for a "looser" = his team won nothing in 2001 - Owen in other hand was regarded as a "golden boy" (for English football) back in WC98, and he did very very good (not great) for Liverpool in 2001: He was KEY for team that won QUADRUPLE: UEFA cup EPL FAcup and Supercup - to make his case more appealing (than Raul and Rivaldo) I do not disagree with his winning ballon Dor in 2001 (I think he was deserved but not like 80% or 100% deserved), and ... ... indeed he was among the "weakest" winners of such prizes in history - no doubt. ============================================== Always there is some (degree) of controversy (and depends on how big it is) like James was clear the best player at WC2014 ... but it's "HARD" to give him the WC goldenball when his team LOST in SF (or not even in last 4)
He didn't win the EPL. He won the English League Cup which is basically worthless in the context of Ballon d'Or. In fact, none of the 4 trophies can be considered "major" that's why it's such a relatively weak case. I mean if they want to give it to him for individual brilliance fine. But not for team accomplishments. A single EPL title is worth more than all 4 of those trophies combined.
Beckham also did well in the polls (Ballon d'Or, FIFA world player, World Soccer, El Pais, RSSSF player...) but didn't make the shortlist for the PFA player of the year, and was for the Football Writer's award pipped by team-mate Sheringham (with Vieira third and Roy Keane fourth). Didn't make the Premier League team of the season (PFA team of the year), no 'Premier League player of the month' trophies and was one time in the ESM team of the month (September 2001). He was the 'sports personality of the year' though. EDIT: DBScalcio has Owen as 9th best rated player of 2000-01 EPL season (6.60) and Beckham 10th best (6.58). Dyer (1st, 6.79) and Merson (4th, 6.62) are listed at the same role/position as Owen ('second striker', that is). I doubt it's correct. Merson had 6 goals and 6 assists in 38 games. Dyer 5 goals and 3 assists in 26 games. Beckham listed 2nd in his right-midfielder role behind Hutchison (6.64) who had 5 assists and 8 goals in 32 games. Beckham 14 assists, 9 goals (1PK) in 31 games. Apart from maybe the UEFA Cup they all fall short in importance but those games are on the other hand also of greater weight and importance as a drubbing against a low table side. Who would be your choice?
The worst period was the end of the 70's and the begin of the 80's. The players now ( Messi, C. Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Suarez, ....) are the giants in comparison with the best European players of that era.
I disagree. You mentioned Messi and Suarez, who are both South Americans. If you include South Americans for the current era, then you must do the same for the late-70s and early-80s, which would add Zico, Maradona to Platini, Rummenigge etc. Messi, C.Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and Suarez are hardly "giants" compared to Zico, Maradona, Platini and Rummenigge...
i assume that it was only related to ballon d'or candidates. but i agree that zico was all the giant. for the early 80's krol, platini etc are all the comparison.