Ballon d'Or race 2016

Early prediction on the three finalists:
Cristiano
Griezmann
Suarez

Griezmann to win it.

 

CR7 will win it, no doubt. It is going to be his second controversial ballon d'or for those fans who watch most of the games. The 2013 one when FIFA changed the rules in the end in order to help him was the other. At that time, I must say, I even understood FIFA point, as the dominance of Messi was even make people lost interest for the award. More than this, people were afraid of a phenomenon as CR7 end his career with only one ballon d'or. Who would have predicted that he would end up with 4 ballons d' or?

 

Sorry, only now I saw this post. I would give it to Messi so far, followed by Suarez and Griezmann. He still is the best in the world. He was arguably the best player in La Liga second half and the best player in Copa Centenario far ahead of the second. But we know that people got used to Messi level, so he need to win a lot of trophies or break some record to win it again.

 

The length of time Ronaldo misses at the start of the season could be quite crucial, also a purple patch from Messi, Suarez or Griezmann just prior to the voting could tip the balance in thier favour.

I really can't see any others with the exception of perhaps Bale, who needs a crazy purple patch, to come out on top, Neymar hada good end to 2015 but not a great 2016 and Olympics carries little weight and this will effect his club season too for 16/17.

 

Weakest Balon D'or race in a while. We have:
Ronaldo who dissapeared in the CL semis and final. However without him they would not have made it that far. Also was sadly injured in the Euro final
Griezmann led Atletico to the final of the CL, kept them in the La Liga race, and led France past Germany in the semis of the Euros. However he choked in both the CL and Euro finals.
Messi and Suarez lead Barca to a La Liga and Copa Del Ray. However Messi choked in the Copa America final (though he a great tournament) while Suarez missed the copa through injury. Messi also did not perform in the quarters vs Atleti.

Other than those four no one else really has a chance.

 

-I agree Messi had an amazing tournament. Though I disagree on him being the best player in the final.
-Messi may have been involved in both goals but first the first it was just a simple ball out wide to Alves and for the second it was another build up pass to Suarez. He was mediocre in the second leg imo.
-Messi definitely delivered in the final vs Sevilla. That assist for Alba's goal was class.

 

I go with these three as well but Cristiano wins it.

 

Griezmann has already stated the Ballon race is done. If the player himself doesn't even have confidence he will win, I doubt voters will.

 

Nah. Looks like he'll only miss the first two weeks of the Spanish season. Plus we just learned recently that CR7 being injured doesn't prevent his stock from rising.

 

You're lucky you got that much from me in the first place.
But since you said "please"...
- Griezmann because Euro Golden Shoe and Euro Golden Ball, also had very good club season.
- CR7 because he scored CL winning penalty and scored the opener against Wales. Not good enough for you nor I but look who does the voting on the award.
- Suarez because Pichichi with many of those goals being crucial.
Messi? His penalty miss and failure to win that Centenario thing in New Jersey will hurt more than help.
I know you probably feel offended that I left Messi out because of those numbers you love to post but, oh well.

 

Regardless how we think it should be evaluated (as that's irrelevant to who actually wins it), are you at all vaguely familiar with how the Ballon d'Or works in practice? Obviously Messi is better than Griezmann, CR7 and Suarez and played better too this year (so far) as the stats bear out. But its a popularity contest and if you don't live under a rock you must be aware that on the popular front CR7 is ahead this year. It's for largely silly reasons like getting full credit for big wins he barely contributed to, if at all, but it is what it is.

That said, I still think Messi is favored to finish #2. The Griezmann hype will simmer down between now and December. And Suarez is not well-liked in general.

 

No one's opinion on this forum really matters since we don't have a vote on the award.
If you wanted a count of who Big Soccer thinks will win you probably should have had a poll going. But, as always, it will simply be a popularity contest between two players and the thread will inevitably get locked for a brief period and/or members will be red carded.

 

That is just an outrageous sentence in all regards. "Getting full credit" is obviously hyperbole although naturally the biggest star on the team, who is arguably the most popular athlete in the world, will be talked about more than his teammates. This happens to both Messi and Ronaldo virtually all the time, win or lose, but you seemed surprised.

Also, I really hope when you say "barely contributed to, if at all" refers solely to the final game in each respective tournament or else you're full-fledged crossing into @Bada Bing territory.