Historic World Wide Balon d'Or 23 player short lists

So for now I'll skip my continuous all-time list and wait for the last two decades to be completed and then go on with a comprehensive revision. Can't wait for that but at first let's look at the 2000's.

2000's assessment:
2000:
1. Figo, Luis (FC Barcelona/Real Madrid, Portugal): 5.5 points
Zidane, Zinedine (Juventus, France): 5.5 points
3. Shevchenko, Andriy (AC Milan, Ukraine): 4 points

2001:
1. Raul (Real Madrid, Spain): 5 points
2. Figo, Luis (Real Madrid, Portugal): 4.5 points
Owen, Michael (FC Liverpool, England): 4.5 points

2002:
1. Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, Brazil): 5 points
2. Zidane, Zinedine (Real Madrid, France): 4.5 points
3. Kahn, Oliver (Bayern Munich, Germany): 4 points

2003:
1. Henry, Thierry (Arsenal, France): 5.5 points
Nedved, Pavel (Juventus, Czech Republic): 5.5 points
3. Zidane, Zinedine (Real Madrid, France): 3.5 points

2004:
1. Shevchenko, Andriy (AC Milan, Ukraine): 5 points
2. Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona, Brazil): 4.5 points
3. Henry, Thierry (Arsenal, France): 4.5 points

2005:
1. Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona, Brazil): 6 points
2. Lampard, Frank (Chelsea, England): 5 points
3. Adriano (Internazionale, Brazil): 3 points
Gerrard, Steven (FC Liverpool, England): 3 points

2006:
1. Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona, Brazil): 6 points
2. Henry, Thierry (Arsenal, France): 4.5 points
Cannavaro, Fabio (Juventus/Real Madrid, Italy): 4.5 points

2007:
1. Kaka (AC Milan, Brazil): 6 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal): 5 points
3. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 4 points

2008:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Portugal): 6 points
2. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 5 points
3. Torres, Fernando (FC Liverpool, Spain): 4 points

2009:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. Xavi (FC Barcelona, Spain): 4.5 points
3. Iniesta, Andres (FC Barcelona, Spain): 3.5 points

Full 2000's:
Top 10 ranking:
1. Henry, Thierry: 23 points (7 nominations, 3 podiums, 1 win)
2. Ronaldinho: 21.5 points (6 nominations, 3 podiums, 2 wins)
3. Zidane, Zinedine: 21 points (6 nominations, 3 podiums, 1 win)
4. Cristiano Ronaldo: 16.5 points (5 nominations, 2 podiums, 1 win)
5. Messi, Lionel: 16 points (4 nominations, 3 podiums, 1 win)
6. Shevchenko, Andriy: 15.5 points (5 nominations, 2 podiums, 1 win)
7. Kaka: 15 points (6 nominations, 1 podium, 1 win)
8. Roberto Carlos: 13.5 points (5 nominations, 1 podium, 1 win)
9. Lampard, Frank: 12.5 points (5 nominations, 1 podium)
10. Raul: 11.5 points (4 nominations, 1 podium, 1 win)

Actually a quite interesting top 10 here tbh, with Henry and Ronaldinho profiting from the right timing similarly to Baggio in the decade before. In the beginning of the century, there is Zidane of course, who is able to collect a huge amount of points. I wasn't quite expecting that, since I always felt like he does not have that great reputation on this forum. Some argue that he wasn't consistent enough on club level and profited very much from his clutch moments in WC 1998 and CL 2002 for example, as well as an overinflated WC 2006. I have the feeling that this is somehow exaggerated, even though still right to some extent. However there's an own thread on this issue, so I won't go into detail too much. Of course, by the end of the 2000s, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi arise and we all know how this continues in the next years.
For the annual votings, I feel like there's some serious uncertainty in the first half of the decade. We've seen no undisputed winner from 2000 to 2004 with various options coming into play and I'm honestly not able to figure things out for myself at all. Meanwhile, in the second half of the decade it's the exact opposite. There's for each year a default option that totally seems right. I've never seen anyone arguing that Messi 2009, CR7 2008, Kaka 2007 (maybe carlito did though) or Ronaldinho 2005 was not the best player in the world. Ronaldinho 2006 is another story due to the World Cup, but on club stage, he's also quite clearly the standout player. Quite bizarre, but I guess that's simply owed to the unreal quality that at least Messi, CR7 and Ronaldinho reached in their peak (even though Messi and CR7 did not even reach that yet).
Overall, I also noticed that Peru's and Ariaga's votings tend to converge in the 2000s (obviously that trend already existed in the previous decades since sources become more clear and easily available in good quality). However with the emergence of ESM votes and the concentration of top club football in Europe, I feel like the positional best players are highlighted quite commonly, which makes it less subjective to select a 23 player list. All in all, I think ESM votes are a great thing, but in this case this leads to less variety in nominations and consequently to more points obtained by the players. For that reason, even players of the calibre of Frank Lampard or David Beckham collect a decent amount of points that opens up their possibility to make it into an all-time top 100 by that approach. For me, that feels wrong at first sight, but otherwise I often noticed that recently active players are pretty underrepresented in that kind of ratings. So it's maybe ime to overthink those prejudices and give them a fair chance (same applies for players like Sergio Ramos, Dani Alves, Toni Kroos, Arjen Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, etc.). Nonetheless, I don't want to tell you that these ratings are sacrosanct, but in my opinion they give a reasonable systematic approach for historical comparison.

Team of the decade:
Kahn (10)
Cafu (5.5) - Nesta (8.5) - Maldini (10) - Roberto Carlos (13.5)
Messi (16) - Zidane (21) - Lampard (12.5) - Ronaldinho (21.5)
Henry (23) - Cristiano Ronaldo (16.5)

Not much words needed here. Unfortunately, the team ends up a bit too offensive, however I wasn't willing to exchange Lampard by e.g. Xavi (9 points) just for the tactical fitting. Otherwise, the spots were not that much contested (except the offensive ones of course) and especially the right-back position was hard to occupy once again.

 

CR is predictably cheated out of a podium placement in 2009
I've seen it countless times on this forum

It doesnt register for some inexplicable reason that he was the actual best player of the 2008/09 champions KO stages
MOTM vs inter in the R16
MOTM vs Porto in the QF
MOTM vs arsenal in the SF
Highest rated Manchester United player in the final vs Barcelona
All Facts not opinion

The best player of the 2009/10 champions league groupstages
https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2...rStatistics/Europe-Champions-League-2009-2010
All Facts not opinion

I'd go as far as saying there was a consensus on Ronaldo being 2nd best in the world in 2009 for the duration of that year




He was tearing shit up in spain as soon as he came
In pre season

GOAT level wing play in his first match for los blancos

and in the season proper becoming the first real Madrid player in history to score in his first four league matches
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/f...stiano-Ronaldo-makes-Real-Madrid-history.html

The record breaking goal was against Villarreal on 23rd September 2009

a solo goal as superb as any solo goal of R9 1996/97


In the next match vs tenerife(Sept 26 2009) he almost scored one of the greatest goals of all time



We're talking about literally 0 time to make the transition into a completely different league

La liga got torn up in the same way the PL did (as did the champions league KO stages)
In the same year

Some legendary players entire career highlights are not as great as what Ronaldo did in the 2009 calender year

And that includes Andres iniesta who magically finds himself 3rd place on the podium

 

Thierry Henry was nominated for PFA PotY for 6 straight years. Most people don't even get nominated 6 years in their entire career, let alone 6 consecutive years. I'm assuming that's 6 of the 7 Ballon d'Or nominations. What's the 7th?

The only one I can think of is maybe 2009, when he was part of that treble winning team. If that's the 7th, he should really be on the edge of it, as I didn't think he was anything special that season. In Barcelona alone, the likes of Puyol, Alves, Xavi, Iniesta, Eto'o, and Messi surely ranked above. Does Barcelona really deserve 7 nominations? Maybe. I'm not so sure.

2004 is one I would argue Henry deserve to have won.

Against Shevcheko's case
1. Shevchenko's 24 league goals in 32 goals wasn't that impressive. Alberto Gilardino of the far weaker Parma finished at 23 goals. Totti finished with 20.

2. Shevchenko's team was completely stacked. In addition to Shevchenko, Milan had 5 other player nominated for the (real life) Ballon d'Or: Kaka (received vote) Maldini (received vote) Nesta, Pirlo, and Seedorf.

3. Shevchenko was only a goal-scorer. He wasn't a team leader in any other department. Not the creative-leader (Kaka). Not the style leader (Pirlo.) Not the leader-leader (Maldini) Not even the vice-captain.

4. Shevchenko wasn't even Serie A's best player. His teammate Kaka won the award in 2004. Considering his bid for Ballon D'or was mainly based on his league form, this was interesting.

Henry's case
1. Henry scored more goals in the league. 30 goals in 37 games. That is 0.81 GPG superior to Sheva's 0.75 GPG. In fact, Henry scored more goals than anyone in the top 6 leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Portugal.)

2. Henry's gap from 2nd place was 8 goals. Also highest in the top 6 league, showing his dominance over his peers. Compared to the gap of ONE of Sheva in the Serie A.

3. The Arsenal team was no where near as stacked as the Milan's team. Compared to the 6 Ballon d'Or nominees of Milan, Arsenal had 2: Henry and Vieira. The latter didn't receive any vote. Although, I would argue, Pires was equally as good as Vieira that season, so either Arsenal should have had 3 (both get nominated) or just 1 (neither one get nominated.)

4. Arsenal suffered many injuries to their attackers that season. Bergkamp didn't play as many games as before, and Wiltord and Kanu were pretty much washed up. Reyes was brought in January and still made more apps. It was Henry's sheer dominance, Pires support, and the defense (whom all started 30+ games) that carried the season.

5. As we all know, Henry offered creativity as well as goals. He scored more goals and made more assists than Shevchenko. So he did Sheva's main job better, while adding playmaking as the cherry on top.

6. Henry, unlike Shevchenko, was named his league's best player. There was also the small matter of the Arsenal Invincibles run.

7. Henry scored more UCL goals as well, while both teams got knocked out in the same stage. In fact, Henry league goals alone was more than Shevchenko's goals in all comps. In all comps, Henry scored 11 more goals.

National Teams

Ukraine wasn't even in the EURO 2004. Henry scored a couple goals and was knocked out in the quarter finals.

 

"Shevchenko didn’t win more, didn’t score more goals, and contributed less in assists,” objected the impartial Arsene Wenger in the wake of the Shevchenko’s victory. That might be statistically true, but again, with Europe being the barometer, Henry falls short. It’s not just how many goals you score, but also when you score them.

Both Arsenal and Milan exited the Champions League at the same stage in 2003-04 - the quarter-finals - but Shevchenko scored more goals in the knockout rounds than Henry (three to two). Furthermore, in the four-year period from 2002-06, when both were contesting for the Ballon d’Or regularly, Henry only scored five times from 13 games in the knockout rounds, compared to Shevchenko’s 11 in 20.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.footballcritic.com/amp/article.php?uid=838

It's the reputation of being a game bottler on big stages that consistently went against him in ballon dor voting

Hattricks against Liverpool in the league or length of the pitch solo run goals/celebrations vs Tottenham dont win you the ballon dor
The gauge for being a top top player is what you do on the big European nights
Fairly or unfairly these are just unwritten rules

I have the match ratings for alot of his European KO encounters
It is a common theme that literally attaches itself to him for the duration of his career

"This was another night when, apart from one flash of brilliance, the former Arsenal player could not illuminate one of football's big occasions"
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2009/may/27/barcelona-manchester-united-player-ratings
There is no smoke without fire and you can build your own conclusions on his record of 0 goals in 9 major finals



Madrid 2006 is an exception in a European career spanning 3 separate decades
his champions league debut was for Monaco in 1997 And he played few games in 2010

arguably the biggest goal Henry scored in his career was against juventus 1998 in a 3-2 champions league semi final loss
This was 4-5 years before what is typically suggested to be his prime

In his prime Henry was the EPL king but outside of it he was just one of many world class players in Europe

Roma 2002,Inter 2003,Sparta Prague 2005
These are arguably( from my recollection) some of his best European performances
The common denominator being none were in the big Knockout phase matches(R16 - final)

Players who won a ballon dor purely for their league exploits are few and far between
In actuality I cannot recall a single player who achieved that

You have to go above and beyond that if you want the big prize

This a thread on Arsenal mania forum titled
"Is Henry a big game player"?
https://www.arsenal-mania.com/forum/threads/is-henry-a-big-match-player.3997/

First post written on June 2004

So literally at the absolute height of Henry's fame(with the media adulation and invincibles parade just a few weeks previous)
It's worth a read IMO

 

I'll grant all that. I don't need to read them because I watched his entire Arsenal career live.

This is 2003/2004 only. Is Shevchenko's one extra UCL KO goal worth more than all the things Henry did that year?

We're also not really talking about RL Ballon d'Or here, but the rankings by posters here, so narrative doesn't work, because narrative isn't the reason R. Carlos is ranked first in 2003, for example.

 

(van Nistelrooy should be at least 3rd for 2003, just sayin..)

 

Regarding this, I firstly want to stress that Ariaga, as well as Peru intentionally create a seasonal Ballon D'Or turnus instead of an annual. So Ronaldo's first half season at Real is not included in the voting here. Furthermore, CR7 misses out on the podium by the slightest margin here. He equals Iniesta in points, however I went for the player with the more equal point distribution in the case of point equality (I know that's a weak argument, but I had to go for some methodology. Only if two players are equal in points with the same point distribution, they share a podium place in my combined rankings).
Otherwise I see your point that CR7 had a very strong season at ManU, however I would also come up with the conclusion myself that he was at best the third best player in this season behind Messi and Xavi, who had an outrageous season both. Iniesta maybe benefits form his legendary last minute goal against Chelsea, but overall I see him having a great season, although he didn't have the offensive productivity others had (most times that the argument that posters bring up against him in several seasons). He is a big time clutch player with great creativity and dribbling abilities, from which his teammates profited heavily. Anyway, I see the third place pretty much tied between both of them for this season.

I guess you are refering to 2001-2006 re PFA PotY nominations. In fact he is nominated for all of these except 2001. The other nominations come in 2000 and 2009 indeed. In 2009, actually all of Puyol, Alves, Xavi, Iniesta, Eto'o and Messi are nominated too, and I think that's quite fair considering the dominance of that team (altough they struggled against Chelsea). Additonally, it has to be noted that I consider a player nominated if either Ariaga and/or Peru has him on his shortlist. So actually, there are always more than 23 nominations, because both of them vary in their nominations. Anyway, Henry was actually nominated by both for that season.

Regarding his 2003/04 season I would also argue that he was the better player than Shevchenko. Since the CL that season went quite weird, I guess his phenomenal league form should probably be enough to secure the Ballon D'or and I was actually surprised that the rankings went differently.

Again, it's a close case as van Nistelrooy ended up on the ungrateful fourth place with 3 points here.

 

I remember reading a very bitter interview with Franceso Totti from the time where he said he'd have given it to Henry or Ruud. Oh God, how I loved Ruud .. maybe I'm a tad biased



(December 2003)

"I'd have given it to van Nistelrooy," he told Il Mesaggero. "I took it badly.

"As Gennaro Gattuso said, the sponsors have a big weight.

"I haven't been lucky in the world's awards, but I'd put myself in the first three, with van Nistelrooy and Henry."

 

I think this is a harsh way to look at it when you consider the performances in those finals. To give some context to this:

UEFA Cup 99 - arsenals most dangerous player by far, set up an absolute open goal by keown (@ 3:10) and another great chance for overmars (@4:30), and was close to scoring the winner if not for an amazing save (@4:57)

Euro 2000 - France MOTM, toyed with nesta and created danger all game, unlucky not to score but contributed to the victory.

FA Cup 2001 - Overall dangerous, had a goal handballed off the line by henchoz, with no pen or red card given (@2:08). and liverpool somehow snatched it at the end, despite arsenal dominating the entire game. also set up an open goal for cole which he bottled (@5:26) but missed some chances in the game. Overall massively unlucky.

FA Cup 2002 - Average, missed a couple of decent chances.

FA Cup 2003 - MOTM, arsenals most dangerous player. Should've had at least one pen, set up teammates for great chances multiple times

World cup 2006 - Decent performance again against a prime buffon and tough italian defense. His header on to malouda caused the france pen, decent hold up play and danger overall.

UCL 2006 - missed 2 good chances but was playing with 10 men the whole game up front by himself. 1st chance i'd argue is a great valdes save, 2nd (the 1on1) was a good chance, also assisted the arsenal goal. Overall unlucky the game was tainted with lehmanns red, so I always think this one is harsh but I suppose for a "generational" striker the standards should be high.

UCL 2009 - Hardly involved, had 1 good chance where he spun ferdinand but overall poor by his standards on the wing.

Whats the other one, the club world cup 09? no idea how he played but he didn't score, but i'd also argue if you're counting this as a major final the 2003 confederations is at least equally relevant, which henry was MOTM in and scored the golden goal winner.

Leverkusen H, Panathinaikos H 2001/02, PSV A 2002/03, Celta vigo H 03/04, juve H 2005/06 some other elite Champions league performances from henry.

scored in the 01 quarter 1st leg vs valencia, in the final match of group 2 in 03 vs valencia, in the 05 quarter 2nd leg vs bayern, also had a goal incorrectly ruled offside in the 06 semi Home leg vs villarreal.( @0:52)

I'd say his biggest letdowns were 01/02 when he missed a pen away at juve to go in the quarters, but our whole team was poor vs a very weak juve team, we just bottled it completely. And 03/04 second leg vs chelsea, he had a stinker and we couldn't kill chelsea off in the 1st half when we should've, and they punished us for a sloppy 2nd half.
I can't really blame him for not showing up in most of our other big games in our prime years particularly, we were behind tactically on many occassions and struggled to transfer our league form in the biggest european games as a team

His whole 05/06 champions league run was fantastic really. Matchwinner vs sparta prague away after coming back from injury, 1st goal in the home game too. Then amazing performance at the bernabeu, decent in the other leg too setting up some great chances. QF vs juve goal an assist, again decent in away leg causing problems all night. SF vs villarreal had a goal incorrectly offside , was pretty anonymous in the 2nd leg but villarreal played well. And then in the final had to play with 10 men most of the game working upfront by himself, set up the goal but missed a good chance unfortunately. Unfortunate that his biggest arsenal game was tainted like that.

 

Here we go. A hundred years worth of nominees completed.

2010-2020

10-11:
Aguero, Sergio
Alonso, Xabi
Alves, Dani
Bale, Gareth
Benzema, Karim
Casillas, Iker
Cavani, Edinson
Cristiano Ronaldo
Eto'o, Samuel
Fabregas, Cesc
Forlan, Diego
Iniesta, Andres
Messi, Lionel
Muller, Thomas
Neymar
Rooney, Wayne
Schweinsteiger, Bastian
Sneijder, Wesley
Suarez, Luis
Vidic, Nemanja
Villa, David
Xavi
Özil, Mesut

TotS:
Casillas, Iker
Vidic, Nemanja
Hummels, Mats
Alves, Dani
Marcelo
Xavi
Iniesta, Andres
Özil, Mesut
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Rooney, Wayne

Podium:
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Xavi

11-12:
Aguero, Sergio
Alonso, Xabi
Buffon, Gianluigi
Busquets, Sergio
Casillas, Iker
Cristiano Ronaldo
Drogba, Didier
Falcao, Radamel
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
Iniesta, Andres
Kompany, Vincent
Messi, Lionel
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Pirlo, Andrea
Ramos, Sergio
Ribery, Franck
Rooney, Wayne
Silva, David
Toure, Yaya
Van Persie, Robin
Xavi
Özil, Mesut

TotS:
Casillas, Iker
Ramos, Sergio
Kompany, Vincent
Alves, Dani
Marcelo
Pirlo, Andrea
Xavi
Iniesta, Andres
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Falcao, Radamel

Podium:
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Iniesta, Andres

12-13:
Bale, Gareth
Cavani, Edinson
Cristiano Ronaldo
Falcao, Radamel
Hazard, Eden
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
Iniesta, Andres
Lahm, Philipp
Lewandowski, Robert
Messi, Lionel
Muller, Thomas
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Pirlo, Andrea
Ribery, Franck
Robben, Arjen
Schweinsteiger, Bastian
Suarez, Luis
Toure, Yaya
Van Persie, Robin
Vidal, Arturo
Xavi
Özil, Mesut

TotS:
Neuer, Manuel
Dante
Silva, Thiago
Ramos, Sergio
Lahm, Philipp
Pirlo, Andrea
Iniesta, Andres
Ribery, Franck
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan

Podium:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi, Lionel
Ribery, Franck

13-14:
Bale, Gareth
Benzema, Karim
Costa, Diego
Courtois, Thibaut
Cristiano Ronaldo
Di Maria, Angel
Godin, Diego
Götze, Mario
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
Kroos, Toni
Lahm, Philipp
Messi, Lionel
Muller, Thomas
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Pogba, Paul
Ramos, Sergio
Robben, Arjen
Rodriguez, James
Schweinsteiger, Bastian
Suarez, Luis
Toure, Yaya
Vidal, Arturo

TotS:
Neuer, Manuel
Ramos, Sergio
Godin, Diego
Lahm, Philipp
Alaba, David
Toure, Yaya
Kroos, Toni
Robben, Arjen
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Muller, Thomas

Podium:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi, Lionel
Neuer, Manuel

14-15:
Aguero, Sergio
Alonso, Xabi
Benzema, Karim
Buffon, Gianluigi
Costa, Diego
Cristiano Ronaldo
De Bruyne, Kevin
Fabregas, Cesc
Hazard, Eden
Iniesta, Andres
Kroos, Toni
Mascherano, Javier
Messi, Lionel
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Pogba, Paul
Rakitic, Ivan
Robben, Arjen
Rodriguez, James
Sanchez, Alexis
Suarez, Luis
Toure, Yaya
Vidal, Arturo

TotS:
Neuer, Manuel
Ramos, Sergio
Pique, Gerard
Ivanovic, Branislav
Alaba, David
Toure, Yaya
Iniesta, Andres
Messi, Lionel
Neymar
Cristiano Ronaldo
Suarez, Luis

Podium:
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Neymar

15-16:
Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick
Bale, Gareth
Benzema, Karim
Buffon, Gianluigi
Cristiano Ronaldo
De Bruyne, Kevin
Dybala, Paulo
Godin, Diego
Griezmann, Antoine
Higuain, Gonzalo
Ibrahimovic, Zlatan
Kroos, Toni
Lewandowski, Robert
Mahrez, Riyadh
Messi, Lionel
Modric, Luka
Muller, Thomas
Neymar
Pepe
Pogba, Paul
Ramos, Sergio
Suarez, Luis
Vardy, Jamie

TotS:
Buffon, Gianluigi
Pepe
Godin, Diego
Ramos, Sergio
Marcelo
Pogba, Paul
Modric, Luka
Griezmann, Antoine
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Suarez, Luis

Podium:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi, Lionel
Griezmann, Antoine

16-17:
Bonucci, Leonardo
Buffon, Gianluigi
Cavani, Edinson
Courtois, Thibaut
Cristiano Ronaldo
De Bruyne, Kevin
Dybala, Paulo
Dzeko, Edin
Hazard, Eden
Isco
Kane, Harry
Kante, N'Golo
Kroos, Toni
Lewandowski, Robert
Marcelo
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Mertens, Dries
Modric, Luka
Neymar
Oblak, Jan
Ramos, Sergio
Suarez, Luis

TotS:
Buffon, Gianluigi
Ramos, Sergio
Bonucci, Leonardo
Alves, Dani
Marcelo
Kante, N'Golo
Modric, Luka
Messi, Lionel
Neymar
Cristiano Ronaldo
Mbappe, Kylian

Podium:
Cristiano Ronaldo
Messi, Lionel
Buffon, Gianluigi

17-18:
Aguero, Sergio
Bale, Gareth
Cavani, Edinson
Courtois, Thibaut
Cristiano Ronaldo
De Bruyne, Kevin
De Gea, David
Griezmann, Antoine
Hazard, Eden
Kane, Harry
Kante, N'Golo
Marcelo
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Modric, Luka
Neymar
Oblak, Jan
Pogba, Paul
Ramos, Sergio
Salah, Mohamed
Silva, David
Suarez, Luis
Varane, Raphael

TotS:
De Gea, David
Varane, Raphael
Pique, Gerard
Ramos, Sergio
Marcelo
Kante, N'Golo
Modric, Luka
Griezmann, Antoine
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo
Mbappe, Kylian

Podium:
Modric, Luka
Cristiano Ronaldo
Griezmann, Antoine

18-19:
Aguero, Sergio
Alba, Jordi
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Alisson
Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick
Cristiano Ronaldo
De Bruyne, Kevin
De Jong, Frenkie
De Ligt, Matthijs
Hazard, Eden
Lewandowski, Robert
Mane, Sadio
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Pique, Gerard
Pogba, Paul
Reus, Marco
Salah, Mohamed
Silva, Bernardo
Silva, David
Sterling, Raheem
Ter Stegen, Marc-Andre
Van Dijk, Virgil

TotS:
Alisson
Van Dijk, Virgil
De Ligt, Matthijs
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Alba, Jordi
De Jong, Frenkie
Pogba, Paul
Salah, Mohamed
Mane, Sadio
Messi, Lionel
Cristiano Ronaldo

Podium:
Messi, Lionel
Van Dijk, Virgil
Cristiano Ronaldo

19-20:
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Cristiano Ronaldo
Davies, Alphonso
De Bruyne, Kevin
Di Maria, Angel
Fernandes, Bruno
Gnabry, Serge
Haaland, Erling Braut
Henderson, Jordan
Immobile, Ciro
Kimmich, Joshua
Lewandowski, Robert
Lukaku, Romelu
Mane, Sadio
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Muller, Thomas
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Ramos, Sergio
Salah, Mohamed
Thiago Alcantara
Van Dijk, Virgil

TotS:
Neuer, Manuel
Ramos, Sergio
Van Dijk, Virgil
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Davies, Alphonso
Thiago Alcantara
De Bruyne, Kevin
Messi, Lionel
Neymar
Cristiano Ronaldo
Lewandowski, Robert

Podium:
Lewandowski, Robert
De Bruyne, Kevin
Messi, Lionel

 

Truely a great affort mate. Congratulations!
I will go on with my statistical reviews in the next days. However I noticed that Peru only published his Ballon D'Or shortlists until 2018. So I thought I may come up with my own lists for 2019 and 2020 in order to complement yours. Since they are still fresh in my mind I feel like I'm qualified enough to give these without huge amounts of research needed.
I stuck with the Tom- and Peru-like style of ranking and tried to balance them as much as possible positionally.

Here they are:

2018-19:

Agüero, Sergio
Alba, Jordi
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Alisson
Cristiano Ronaldo
de Ligt, Matthijs
de Jong, Frenkie
Fernandinho
Hazard, Eden
Kane, Harry
Kante, N’Golo
Kimmich, Joshua
Mane, Sadio
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Oblak, Jan
Pique, Gerard
Pogba, Paul
Salah, Mohamed
Silva, David
Sterling, Raheem
Van Dijk, Virgil
Ziyech, Hakim

Podium:

1. Messi, Lionel
2. van Dijk, Virgil
3. Hazard, Eden


2019-20:

Alaba, David
Alexander-Arnold, Trent
Benzema, Karim
Casemiro
Courtois, Thibaut
Cristiano Ronaldo
Davies, Alphonso
De Bruyne, Kevin
Di Maria, Angel
Immobile, Ciro
Kimmich, Joshua
Lewandowski, Robert
Mane, Sadio
Marquinhos
Mbappe, Kylian
Messi, Lionel
Müller, Thomas
Neuer, Manuel
Neymar
Ramos, Sergio
Robertson, Andrew
Thiago
Van Dijk, Virgil

Podium:

1. Lewandowski, Robert
2. Messi, Lionel
3. De Bruyne, Kevin
4. Kimmich, Joshua

 

coole$t tems in eurup

ajax
arsenal
porto

 

+ fc copenhagen

 

For the last time I will share my statistiacl deacde review for the 2010's now (inlcuding 2020). Although this is pretty much the most pointless decade, because well you know...
I collected a huge amount of data now altogether and I'm going to share with you the most interesting insights overall soon (including the all-time top 100), so stay tuned.

2010's assessment:
2010:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. Xavi (FC Barcelona, Spain): 5 points
3. Sneijder, Wesley (Internazionale, Netherlands): 4 points

2011:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5 points
3. Xavi (FC Barcelona, Spain): 4 points

2012:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5 points
3. Pirlo, Andrea (Juventus, Italy): 3.5 points

2013:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5.5 points
Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 5.5 points
3. Ribery, Franck (Bayern Munich, France): 4 points

2014:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 6 points
2. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 5 points
3. Robben, Arjen (Bayern Munich, Netherlands): 3.5 points

2015:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5 points
3. Neymar (FC Barcelona, Brazil): 4 points

2016:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 5.5 points
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5 points
3. Suarez, Luis (FC Barcelona, Uruguay): 4 points

2017:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal): 5.5 points
Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 5.5 points
3. Modric, Luka (Real Madrid, Croatia): 3.5 points

2018:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 4.5 points
2. Modric, Luka (Real Madrid, Croatia): 4 points
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Juventus, Portugal): 3.5 points
Salah, Mohamed (FC Liverpool, Egypt): 3.5 points

2019:
1. Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 6 points
2. van Dijk, Virgil (FC Liverpool, Netherlands): 5 points
3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal): 3 points
Hazard, Eden (Chelsea, Belgium): 3 points

2020:
1. Lewandowski, Robert (Bayern Munich, Poland): 6 points
2. De Bruyne, Kevin (Manchester City, Belgium): 4.5 points
Messi, Lionel (FC Barcelona, Argentina): 4.5 points

Full 2010's (+ 2020):
Top 10 ranking:
1. Messi, Lionel: 60.5 points (11 nominations, 11 podiums, 9 wins)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo: 48.5 points (11 nominations, 9 podiums, 3 wins)
3. Neymar: 19 points (9 nominations, 1 podium)
4. Lewandowski, Robert: 14 points (6 nominations, 1 podium, 1 win)
5. Suarez, Luis: 13.5 points (7 nominations, 1 podium)
6. Neuer, Manuel: 13.5 points (7 nominations)
7. Ramos, Sergio: 13 points (8 nominations)
8. Xavi: 12.5 points (4 nominations, 2 podiums)
9. De Bruyne, Kevin: 12.5 points (6 nominations, 1 podium)
10. Iniesta, Andres: 12 points (5 nominations)

First of all, I have to admit that the pure dominance of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo pretty much demolished my whole points system. As you can see, previous records are totally pulverised by them. And no surprise, they will end up first and second in the all-time assessment with ease. I mean in 12 years from 2009 to 2020, Lionel Messi got an enormous 66.5 points. That's an average of about 5.5 points per season, while the maximum achievable is 6 (that is equivalent to being voted first by Peru and Ariaga). He won 10 virtual Ballon D'Ors in these years (two of them shared with CR7 though)! That's way beyond everything we have seen up to this point. However, I think that the rating system is favouring them pretty much due to its approach of summing up club seasons and big international tournaments in a seasonal cycle. Since both of them delivered consistently on club level, and World Cup significance decreases in the modern rankings, they do not get punished for their relative underachievement in these tournaments. Meanwhile, in the previous decades a player would have to excel in a World Cup to at least make the podium in the respective seasons. In a club-based assessment, I think only few people would doubt that Messi and CR7 are the two greatest players of all time when regarding peak and consistency combined. However, the other few all-time greats up there also built a phenomenal reputation in World Cups or Euros (or at least CAs) in addition. Messi and CR7 arguably had one world class campaign each, while Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Platini showed some legendary performances on these stages. That is why they are lifted up in the same spheres in the never-ending GOAT discussion. And this point system does not reflect that really well I think. Neither do Messi and CR7 suffer from their lack of performance, nor do the others get rewarded for doing so other than winning one Ballon D'Or, which they would have possibly won anyway if it was a non-WC year. Anyway, that's it for the moment on that discussion, I may come back to this later.

Here are some other things I noticed while going through the years though:
I feel like Neymar is fairly overrated here, especially in direct comparison to his compatriot Suarez. Suarez' 2014 season would have been a podium guaranteed (cf. Salah 2018) normally, but somehow he gets totally lost in this year and ends up with two nominations (2 points) only. In 2015 he ranks straight behind Neymar on 4th and only in 2016 he is able to make the podium. On points, Neymar ranks well above him in total thanks to being nominated consistently from 2011 onwards. Honestly, I feel like every nomination until 2015 is questionable. A very close call however. Nonetheless, he finishes with a comfortable margin above the top 100 all-time margin of 14 points. And I think that makes him somehow overrated seing how he realtively underachieved for his unique abilities until today.
Another myterium is the 2018 season. That might even have been the first time at all, that both posters' podiums are completely different. While Peru totally focusses on club football (Messi, Salah, De Bruyne), Ariaga has a more WC-centric podium (Modric, Ronaldo, Griezmann). Same old problem of World Cup years here.
Another thing that really caugth my eye is the lack of defensive players for this decade. There have been hardly more than 3 defenders in shortlists in any year. A fair share would be like at least double that amount. However, I also came across the problem of excluding prolific offensive players when going for defenders in my two shortlists myself. A pity it's only 23 players. Still, it really blew my mind that players like Chiellini and Boateng haven't been nominated even once. No wonder that some other defenders ended up with very few points too. And this brings me to my last point, which is the sheer discrimination of Sergio Busquets. He stands at one nomination in his whole career (2012 by Ariaga). Seriously, I have seen sources that rate him the best player in the world like three times. That's some kind of exaggerated, but I feel like at least 7 nominations (2011-2017, including some teams of the seasons) would be kind of fair. For reference read this or this. Both sources are in German unfortunately but Goggle Translator will do I guess. Seriously, this guy is one of the most underrated players in the history of the game and maybe even on the level of a top 100 all-timer in my opinion (shame he lost his magic somewhat in the last years).

Team of the decade:
Neuer (13.5)
Lahm (7.5) - Ramos (13) - Pique (8) - Marcelo (8)
De Bruyne (12.5) - Xavi (12.5) - Iniesta (12)
Messi (60.5) - Cristiano Ronaldo (46) - Neymar (19)

Another pretty easy selection in a modern 4-3-3. Closely missing out in defense is van Dijk with 7.5 points, while the eternal Buffon (9.5) is close to the goalkeeping spot. Another player hard to leave out is Modric at 11 points. And of course, I was forced to leave out some of the extraordinary attacking players. However I think this team is deadly enough anyway, having the enormous creative force in midfield and the purest end product in the attack.

 

The goalposts keep on changing


Sneidjer objectively wasn't even the best playmaker in serie A
He was outscored,outassisted and outdribbled by Ronaldinho gaucho
https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/1...3277/PlayerStatistics/Italy-Serie-A-2009-2010




He wasnt even the best Dutchman when you have someone like arjen Robben putting on one of the all time seasons in bundesliga history

This list doesn't follow any particularly consistent criteria
Ronaldo categorically should not be first place on the 2013 podium if it's a seasonal ranking
If it's a calender year ranking that is something else

There is no consistency which is my objection
Either it is a seasonal ranking or it is a calender ranking

Neymar reached highs in the 2017 domestic year that arguably no French player in history ever reached let alone Antoine griezmann



I think you would find with more thorough research that many of the players in the 2010-2020 era were considerably dominant then is portrayed here
Some others like iniesta(did he he have a world class season after 2012/13?) And griezmann are overrated

 

Preach, brother! I've been carrying the Busquets flag for years. Even threw his name in the all-time XI thread. The man is severely underappreciated.

 

And you overall points table?

 

The number of defenders included in each era is an interesting phenomena that probably warrants more research. I noticed the relative lack of defenders in BdO votes in this era, too. I made a course correction myself, because I had the feeling more defenders had been slipping into my 90-00 lists than were included in official ones. It might not be a bad idea to come up with a set number of defenders to include each year and try to stick as close to that as possible for every era.

Suarez is clearly hurt in official polls by his cannibalism incident in 2014. Another thing I'll have to fix when making revisions. Busquets is probably a victim of his position.

 

Closing my work for now, I'll share the all-time top 100 that the combined historical Ballon D'Or rankings bring up. First of all, all merits belong to @Tom Stevens, @Ariaga II and @Perú FC who put together a tremendous work backed up by a huge amount of research and expertise. They really contribuited to my knowledge of football history, so I could set up a systematic approach for rating historical football players. After all, I would even say that the result is a top 100 list that is far more valid and balanced than most of the other lists by other sources that do not rely on a seasonal rating scheme but more on individual awards and subjective evaluation of skill. Still, there are severe weaknesses in my approach that I'm going to discuss later. However I first want to show you the results of 100 years of BigSoccer historical Ballon D'Ors.

The point system explained in a nutshell:

1 point for a shortlist-nomination by either Tom (post 1994: by Peru) or Ariaga.
1 point for a TotS nomination by Ariaga if the respective player is not included in the 23-player shortlist.
1.5 points for a TotS nomination by Ariaga if the respective player is also included in the 23-player shortlist.
1.5 points for a placing outside of the top 3 by Tom (post 1994: by Peru).
2 points for the third place by either Tom (post 1994: by Peru) or Ariaga.
2.5 points for the second place by either Tom (post 1994: by Peru) or Ariaga.
3 points for the first place by either Tom (post 1994: by Peru) or Ariaga.

These points are then accumulated for each individual player in the seasonal ranking. After all, a player can achieve a maximum of 6 points per season (equal to a first-place nomination by both posters).
In the end, I recorded 1187 players that got at least on nomination in any year. If I find the time, I will also post some miscellaneous statistics on that. Anyway, I may also share the Excel-sheet I ended up with, so you can play with the data however you want. It is in German, however this only affects the headers and so on, so this shouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure how to attach a .xls-file to my post, so if anyone is interested, I would appreciate some help on how to do this (maybe I could share it on Google Drive or so alternatively).

The top 100 all-time by points:

1. Messi, Lionel (Argentina): 76.5
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): 65
3. Pele (Brazil): 52
4. Maradona, Diego (Argentina): 47
5. Puskas, Fernec (Hungary): 44.5

6. Di Stefano, Alfredo (Argentina / Spain): 41.5
7. Cruyff, Johan (Netherlands): 40.5
8. Matthews, Stanley (England): 37
9. Beckenbauer, Franz (Germany): 35.5
10. Platini, Michel (France): 32

11. Zidane, Zinedine (France): 31
12. Zico (Brazil): 30
13. Moreno, Jose Manuel (Argentina): 28.5
14. Morton, Alan (Scotland): 28
15. Maldine, Paolo (Italy): 27.5

16. Meazza, Giuseppe (Italy): 27
17. Müller, Gerd (Germany): 26
=17. Pesek, Karel (Czechoslovakia): 26
=17. Sindelar, Matthias (Austria): 26
20. Sarosi, Gyorgy (Hungary): 25

21. Kopa, Raymond (France): 24.5
=21. Matthäus, Lothar (Germany): 24.5
23. Ronaldo (Brazil): 24
24. Sastre, Antonio (Argentina): 23.5
25. Henry, Thierry (France): 23

=25. van Basten, Marco (Netherlands): 23
27. Baresi, Franco (Italy): 22.5
=27. Orsi, Raimundo (Argentina / Italy): 22.5
29. Charlton, Bobby (England): 22
=29. Eusebio (Portugal): 22

31. Ronaldinho (Brazil): 21.5
=31. Suarez, Luis (Spain): 21.5
=31. Xavi (Spain): 21.5
34. Bican, Josef (Austria / Czechoslovakia): 21
=34. Rummenigge, Karl-Heinz (Germany): 21

36. Gallacher, Hughie (Scotland): 20.5
=36. Nordahl, Gunnar (Sweden): 20.5
=36. Roberto Carlos (Brazil): 20.5
39. Lawton, Tommy (England): 20
=39. Zizinho (Brazil): 20

41. Andrade, Jose Leandro (Uruguay): 19.5
=41. Best, George (Northern Ireland): 19.5
=41. Raul (Spain): 19.5
44. Didi (Brazil): 19
=44. Kocsis, Sandor (Hungary): 19

=44. Neymar (Brazil): 19
=44. Scarone, Hector (Uruguay): 19
=44. Shevchenko, Andriy (Ukraine): 19
49. Ademir de Menezes (Brazil): 18.5
=49. Gullit, Ruud (Netherlands): 18.5

=49. James, Alex (Scotland): 18.5
=49. Leonidas (Brazil): 18.5
=49. Rivera, Gianni (Italy): 18.5
54. Baggio, Roberto (Italy): 18
=54. Pedernera, Adolfo (Argentina): 18

56. Falcao (Brazil): 17.5
=56. Ibrahimovic, Zlatan (Sweden): 17.5
=56. Schiaffino, Juan Alberto (Uruguay): 17.5
=56. Sivori, Omar (Argentina): 17.5
60. Buffon, Gianluigi (Italy): 17

=60. Laudrup, Michael (Denmark): 17
=60. Orth, Gyorgy (Hungary): 17
63. Figo, Luis (Portugal): 16.5
=63. Jackson, Alex (Scotland): 16.5
=63. Mazzola, Valentino (Italy): 16.5

=63. Yashin, Lev (Soviet Union): 16.5
=63. Zamora, Ricardo (Spain): 16.5
68. Bastin, Cliff (England): 16
=68. Da Guia, Domingos (Brazil): 16
=68. Keegan, Kevin (England): 16

=68. Mazzola, Sandro (Italy):16
=68. Piola, Silvio (Italy): 16
73. Batistuta, Gabriel (Argentina): 15.5
=73. Iniesta, Andres (Spain): 15.5
=73. Jairzinho (Brazil): 15.5

=73. Klinsmann, Jürgen (Germany): 15.5
=73. Nasazzi, Jose (Uruguay): 15.5
=73. Planicka, Frantisek (Czechoslovakia): 15.5
=73. Rijkaard, Frank (Netherlands): 15.5
=73. Rivaldo (Brazil): 15.5

=73. Wright, Billy (England): 15.5
82. Beckham, David (England): 15
=82. Dean, Dixie (England): 15
=82. Kaka (Brazil): 15
85. Braine, Raymond (Belgium): 14.5

=85. Garrincha (Brazil): 14.5
=85. Lampard, Frank (England): 14.5
=85. Moore, Bobby (England): 14.5
=85. Ramos, Sergio (Spain): 14.5
90. Albert, Florian (Hungary): 14

=90. Bergkamp, Dennis (Netherlands): 14
=90. Carter, Raich (England): 14
=90. Erico, Arsenio (Paraguay): 14
=90. Gren, Gunnar (Sweden): 14
=90. Lewandowski, Robert (Poland): 14

=90. Zsengeller, Gyula (Hungary): 14
97. Koeman, Ronald (Netherlands): 13.5
=97. Krol, Ruud (Netherlands): 13.5
=97. Neuer, Manuel (Germany): 13.5
=97. Rivellino (Brazil): 13.5

=97. Stoichkov, Hristo (Bulgaria): 13.5
=97. Suarez, Luis (Uruguay): 13.5
=97. Vogts, Berti (Germany): 13.5

Honorable mentions:
=104. Martino, Rinaldo (Argentina): 13
=104. Nedved, Pavel (Czech Republic): 13
=104. Romario (Brazil): 13
=104. Walter, Fritz (Germany): 13

Other players that may surprise to miss out:
=108. Figueroa, Elias (Chile): 12.5
=115. Netzer, Günter (Germany): 12
=115. Passarella, Daniel (Argentina): 12
=124. Finney, Tom (England): 11.5
=131. Charles, John (Wales): 11
=131. Facchetti, Giacinto (Italy): 11
=149. Bozsik, Joszef (Hungary): 10
=149. Monti, Luis (Argentina / Italy): 10
=149. Zoff, Dino (Italy): 10
=162. Kubala, Laszlo (Hungary / Spain): 9.5
=162. Neeskens, Johan (Netherlands): 9.5
=178. Seeler, Uwe (Germany): 9

Breakdown of the top 100 (+3):

Positional:

Goalkeepers: 5
Defenders: 12
Midfielders: 17
Attackers (incl. Wingers): 69

Continental:

Europe: 71
South America: 32

National:

Brazil:17
England: 11
Italy: 10
Argentina: 9
Germany: 7
Netherlands: 7
Spain: 7
Hungary: 6
Uruguay: 5
France: 4
Scotland: 4
Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic: 3
Portugal: 3
Sweden: 3
Austria: 2
Soviet Union / successors: 2
Belgium: 1
Bulgaria: 1
Denmark: 1
Northern Ireland: 1
Paraguay: 1
Poland: 1

All-time XI by points:

Buffon (17)
Baresi (22.5) - Beckenbauer (35.5) - Maldini (27.5)
Cruyff (40.5) - Di Stefano (41.5) - Maradona (47)
Messi (76.5) - Pele (52) - Puskas (44.5) - Cristiano Ronaldo (65)

Benefits of the seasonal points system:

- A really nice balance between the weight of peak performance against consistency in the rankings. Players that stood out in only a very short period of time (e.g. Garrincha) are still able to break into the top 100, but are prevented from entering the top ranks. On the other hand, a player that delivers world class consistently over about 7-8 seasons may also slip into the ranking. Overall, I'm very satisfied by how this balances out here.

- The rankings indeed have a really solid foundation of two knowledgeable posters from this forum that put a lot of effort and research into them. They set different focusses, which makes the rankings more balanced and widespread. Accordingly, there are rarely players that miss out in seasons in which they stood out, no matter from which part of the world they are from.

- Historical coverage. I think the 1919-20 season is a good starting point for these kind of all-time assessments. The English football league resumes after WW1, which occupied the world for the previous five years. South American football is starting to emerge with the third edition of the Copa America and after that season, the first serious Olympic football tournament is held. 5 years later, the offside rule is adapted, which has a huge impact on the game. From this time onwards, we can talk of 'modern football' I guess. A game that has been pretty much limited to Great Britain before the war now becomes a global sport with global stars. Of course there were notable players already before, but in my eyes, the 1920's are when the action really begins.

- Historical balance. You rarely see any '20s players in those kind of rankings apart from the Uruguayans that shone in the first World Cup edition. Here, this is totally different and I really like that. My understanding of the best players of all-time was always to evaluate each period of the game equally. Of course, modern football is much more contested and professional, but it is only fair to reward historical players for their achievements relative to possibilities. Otherwise these kind of ranings would be pointless anyway. Ideally, there would be like 10 players from each decade, but indeed, there are deviations in the standard of competition and the level of dominance which brings me right to my critics.

Critics of the seasonal points system:

- The rigid system of annual points. This is a huge issue that even covers different dimensions:
1. There is no indication on the relative level of performance. The annual best player receives 3 points, no matter how dominant he really was relatively to his competitors. And same applies for the second best, etc. Of course, Messi 2014/15 was a whole other dimension than let's say Blokhin 1975, and same goes for the second place Cristiano Ronaldo. That's one major point of critique and in a revised approach of seasonal rankings, I would propose some kind of a "Rangliste" system instead. This means that players are ranked into classes that indicate their relative level of performance compared to the competition.
2. The lists are always limited to 23 players. Apart from the few top performers in a season, there is a pool of players that I consider as "world class". Those are the few best players in their respective position and the standard of performance is comparable to what the kicker-magazine defines as "world class" in their semi-annual "Rangliste". So 23 players are quite a good fit, because this is equal to 2 players per position approximately, but this is way to static indeed. All of the posters (me included) might have experienced the bad feeling of excluding some top performers simply due to the strict limitation to 23 players. That's the point of the honorable mentions that Tom and Peru have introduced. I would however propose some strict requirements for a "world class" ranking, however no strict limitations on inclusions. This may bring up 30-40 players for a contested season, or maybe even less than 20 in a weak season.

- The World Cup issue. As I have mentioned already before several times, the World Cup, and to an extent the Euros and CAs completely mess up the seasonal rankings. I mean, a season does not cover less games or less tournaments in the event of a subsequent international touranment, so it should have the same value as any other regular season. World Cups, Euros and CAs are however of such an importance, that they need to be evaluated separately. The reputation of several all-time players is vastly built on these tournaments, so they need to have a major influence on the rankings, but definitely not at the expense of the predecessing season in my opinion.

- Positional imbalance. Football is played by eleven players, but most of the time, only the attacking players earn the merits and this is reflected by the rankings quite obviously. I think that this is due to different reasons. 1. Dominant historical attacking players are more easy to identify simply by their number of goals. 2. Attacking players are naturally the stars of the game and thus more decorated in media votes, individual awards and reports. Accordingly, I don't want to blame the posters for the lack of defensive players, but this is simply owed to the way how football works. Actually, Ariaga's TotS nominations saved some all-time defenders from being left behind, because this was more or less the only way to collect a notable amount of points for them. Quite interestingly, the number of defensive players did not increase in the course of time, even though there is much more information on dominant defensive players in modern times thanks to ESM and media votes. One simply tends to go for the offensive option if there is a choice. Hence, I would combine this issue with my previous thoughts on a more dynamic "Rangliste" approach. One would not be limited in options and additionally, world class defenders are identified by definition, since world class is always refered to the level of performance on the individual position.

 

Nice work mate,

I'd have liked to see another defensive player in your AT-XI (even if he got less points or he's not a fancy name)

 

Fair point, mate. The team is indeed very offensive minded, even though Di Stefano and Cruyff proved their qualities as ball carriers and organisators in midfield. Anyway, I would propose to exchange Puskas either by J. L. Andrade as right-back (4-3-3 formation) or by Pesek as holding midfielder (3-4-3 diamond) if you want to go for a more balanced team.

 

Hey,
well done for the big big job you did, it must have taken a long time but it's a pleasure to read it !
Moreover, I noticed (if I'm not mistaken) that players like Carlos Alberto or Vava (Brazil), had not even been preselected a few times..
I also wanted to know how, in a simple way, you did this ranking and these points ?
At the same time, can you summarize, since 1920 (have you thought of before, by the way?), the number of wins per player. ?
To have a clearer ranking on the players who have won this title the most times.

Regards,
IceBlood34.

 

2004

Modifications on the previous top 23:

> IN

AÍLTON (Brazil & Werder Bremen [GER])
COLE, Ashley (England & Arsenal [ENG])
DROGBA, Didier (Ivory Coast & Olympique de Marseille [FRA])
PIRLO, Andrea (Italy & AC Milan [ITA])

< OUT

CAFU (Brazil & AC Milan [ITA])
TERRY, John (England & Chelsea [ENG])
VALERÓN, Juan Carlos (Spain & Deportivo La Coruña [SPA])
ZIDANE, Zinedine (France & Real Madrid [SPA])

Top 23

ADRIANO (Brazil & Parma [ITA]/Inter Milan [ITA])
AÍLTON (Brazil & Werder Bremen [GER])
AYALA, Roberto (Argentina & Valencia [SPA])
CARVALHO, Ricardo (Portugal & Porto [POR])
COLE, Ashley (England & Arsenal [ENG])
DAVIDS, Edgar (Netherlands & Juventus [ITA]/Barcelona [SPA])
DECO (Portugal & Porto [POR])
DROGBA, Didier (Ivory Coast & Olympique de Marseille [FRA])
GIULY, Ludovic (France & AS Monaco [FRA])
HENRY, Thierry (France & Arsenal [ENG])
KAKÁ (Brazil & AC Milan [ITA])
LAMPARD, Frank (England & Chelsea [ENG])
MALDINI, Paolo (Italy & AC Milan [ITA])
NESTA, Alessandro (Italy & AC Milan [ITA])
PIRES, Robert (France & Arsenal [ENG])
PIRLO, Andrea (Italy & AC Milan [ITA])
RONALDINHO (Brazil & Barcelona [SPA])
RONALDO (Brazil & Real Madrid [SPA])
SHEVCHENKO, Andriy (Ukraine & AC Milan [ITA])
TOTTI, Francesco (Italy & AS Roma [ITA])
VAN NISTELROOY, Ruud (Netherlands & Manchester United [ENG])
VICENTE (Spain & Valencia [SPA])
VIEIRA, Patrick (France & Arsenal [ENG])

Podium

1° HENRY, Thierry (France & Arsenal [ENG])
2° RONALDINHO (Brazil & Barcelona [SPA])
3° SHEVCHENKO, Andriy (Ukraine & AC Milan [ITA])

Contenders

4° DECO (Portugal & Porto [POR])
5° KAKÁ (Brazil & AC Milan [ITA])

Honorable Mentions

AIMAR, Pablo (Argentina & Valencia [SPA])
ALBELDA, David (Spain & Valencia [SPA])
ANDRADE, Jorge (Portugal & Deportivo La Coruña [SPA])
BAGGIO, Roberto (Italy & Brescia [ITA])
BAÍA, Vítor (Portugal & Porto [POR])
BALLACK, Michael (Germany & Bayern Munich [GER])
BAPTISTA, Júlio (Brazil & Sevilla [SPA])
BARAJA, Rubén (Spain & Valencia [SPA])
BORDON, Marcelo (Brazil & Stuttgart [GER])
CAFU (Brazil & AC Milan [ITA])
CAMPBELL, Sol (England & Arsenal [ENG])
CAÑIZARES, Santiago (Spain & Valencia [SPA])
CASILLAS, Íker (Spain & Real Madrid [SPA])
CASSANO, Antonio (Italy & AS Roma [ITA])
CECH, Petr (Czech Republic & Rennes [FRA])
CHEVANTÓN, Javier (Uruguay & Lecce [ITA])
CISSÉ, Djibril (France & Auxerre [FRA])
COSTINHA (Portugal & Porto [POR])
CRISTIANO RONALDO (Portugal & Manchester United [ENG])
DIDA (Brazil & AC Milan [ITA])
ELANO (Brazil & Santos [BRA])
ÉMERSON (Brazil & AS Roma [ITA])
ERNST, Fabian (Germany & Werder Bremen [GER])
ETO'O, Samuel (Cameroon & Mallorca [SPA])
ÉVRA, Patrice (France & AS Monaco [FRA])
FERREIRA, Paulo (Portugal & Porto [POR])
FIGO, Luís (Portugal & Real Madrid [SPA])
GATTUSO, Gennaro (Italy & AC Milan [ITA])
GERRARD, Steven (England & Liverpool [ENG])
GILARDINO, Alberto (Italy & Parma [ITA])
GILBERTO SILVA (Brazil & Arsenal [ENG])
GONZÁLEZ, Luis (Argentina & River Plate [ARG])
HILDEBRAND, Timo (Germany & Stuttgart [GER])
JUAN (Brazil & Bayer Leverkusen [GER])
JUNINHO Pernambucano (Brazil & Olympique Lyonnais [FRA])
KEZMAN, Mateja (Serbia and Montenegro & PSV Eindhoven [NED])
LARSSON, Henrik (Sweden & Celtic [SCO])
LÚCIO (Brazil & Bayer Leverkusen [GER])
MAKAAY, Roy (Netherlands & Bayern Munich [GER])
MAKÉLÉLÉ, Claude (France & Chelsea [ENG])
MANCINI (Brazil & AS Roma [ITA])
MANICHE (Portugal & Porto [POR])
MASCHERANO, Javier (Argentina & River Plate [ARG])
MAURO SILVA (Brazil & Deportivo La Coruña [SPA])
MAX, Martin (Germany & Hansa Rostock [GER])
MICOUD, Johan (France & Werder Bremen [GER])
MISTA (Spain & Valencia [SPA])
MORIENTES, Fernando (Spain & AS Monaco [FRA])
NEDVED, Pavel (Czech Republic & Juventus [ITA])
OKOCHA, Augustine (Nigeria & Bolton Wanderers [ENG])
PELIZZOLI, Ivan (Italy & AS Roma [ITA])
PUYOL, Carles (Spain & Barcelona [SPA])
REYES, José Antonio (Spain & Sevilla [SPA]/Arsenal [ENG])
ROBERTO CARLOS (Brazil & Real Madrid [SPA])
ROBINHO (Brazil & Santos [BRA])
ROONEY, Wayne (England & Everton [ENG])
ROTHEN, Jérome (France & AS Monaco [FRA])
SAHA, Louis (France & Fulham [ENG]/Manchester United [ENG])
SAMUEL, Walter (Argentina & AS Roma [ITA])
SHEARER, Alan (England & Newcastle United [ENG])
STAM, Jaap (Netherlands & Lazio [ITA])
TAMUDO, Raúl (Spain & Espanyol [SPA])
TERRY, John (England & Chelsea [ENG])
TÉVEZ, Carlos (Argentina & Boca Juniors [ARG])
TORRES, Fernando (Spain & Atlético de Madrid [SPA])
TOURÉ, Kolo (Ivory Coast & Arsenal [ENG])
TREZEGUET, David (France & Juventus [ITA])
VALERÓN, Juan Carlos (Spain & Deportivo La Coruña [SPA])
ZAGORAKIS, Theodoros (Greece & AEK Athens [GRE])
ZAMBROTTA, Gianluca (Italy & Juventus [ITA])
ZIDANE, Zinedine (France & Real Madrid [SPA])

All Tops 23
Honorable Mentions (1920-1984)
Honorable Mentions (1985- )

 

Having completed the 2004 list, these would be the statistics of the period of 2 half decades (1995-2004) and from the first half of the 2000's (2000-2004):

1995-2004

11.6 - ZIDANE, Zinedine (France)
9.4 - RONALDO (Brazil)
9.1 - ROBERTO CARLOS (Brazil)
8.8 - FIGO, Luís (Portugal)
7.9 - RIVALDO (Brazil)
7.6 - RAÚL (Spain)
6.8 - BECKHAM, David (England)
6.5 - HENRY, Thierry (France)
6.5 - TOTTI, Francesco (Italy)
6.5 - VIEIRA, Patrick (France)
6.3 - NEDVED, Pavel (Czech Republic)
6.1 - BATISTUTA, Gabriel (Argentina)
6.1 - SHEVCHENKO, Andriy (Ukraine)
6.0 - NESTA, Alessandro (Italy)
5.6 - KAHN, Oliver (Germany)
5.5 - DAVIDS, Edgar (Netherlands)
5.5 - DEL PIERO, Alessandro (Italy)
5.5 - MALDINI, Paolo (Italy)
5.0 - RUI COSTA (Portugal)
5.0 - SHEARER, Alan (England)
5.0 - THURAM, Lilian (France)
4.9 - VAN NISTELROOY, Ruud (Netherlands)
4.5 - KEANE, Roy (Ireland)
4.3 - LITMANEN, Jari (Finland)
4.0 - BLANC, Laurent (France)
4.0 - JARDEL, Mário (Brazil)
4.0 - PIRES, Robert (France)
4.0 - VIERI, Christian (Italy)
3.9 - OWEN, Michael (England)
3.8 - RONALDINHO (Brazil)
3.7 - SAMMER, Matthias (Germany)
3.6 - BERGKAMP, Dennis (Netherlands)
3.5 - CAFU (Brazil)
3.5 - GIGGS, Ryan (Wales)
3.5 - HIERRO, Fernando (Spain)
3.5 - KLUIVERT, Patrick (Netherlands)
3.5 - STAM, Jaap (Netherlands)
3.5 - SUKER, Davor (Croatia)
3.5 - VERÓN, Juan Sebastián (Argentina)
3.5 - WEAH, George (Liberia)
3.4 - ZOLA, Gianfranco (Italy)
3.0 - AYALA, Roberto (Argentina)
3.0 - BAGGIO, Roberto (Italy)
3.0 - BUFFON, Gianluigi (Italy)
3.0 - CAMPBELL, Sol (England)
3.0 - CRESPO, Hernán (Argentina)
3.0 - DESAILLY, Marcel (France)
3.0 - EFFENBERG, Stefan (Germany)
3.0 - FERRARA, Ciro (Italy)
3.0 - MAKÉLÉLÉ, Claude (France)
3.0 - ROMÁRIO (Brazil)
3.0 - SCHOLES, Paul (England)
2.8 - KLINSMANN, Jürgen (Germany)
2.5 - AIMAR, Pablo (Argentina)
2.5 - BALLACK, Michael (Germany)
2.5 - BIERHOFF, Oliver (Germany)
2.5 - DE BOER, Frank (Netherlands)
2.5 - GINOLA, David (France)
2.5 - LARSSON, Henrik (Sweden)
2.5 - LAUDRUP, Brian (Denmark)
2.5 - MENDIETA, Gaizka (Spain)
2.5 - PERUZZI, Angelo (Italy)
2.5 - REDONDO, Fernando (Argentina)
2.5 - RIQUELME, Juan Román (Argentina)
2.5 - SALAS, Marcelo (Chile)
2.5 - SCHMEICHEL, Peter (Denmark)
2.5 - SEEDORF, Clarence (Netherlands)
2.5 - TOLDO, Francesco (Italy)
2.4 - MIJATOVIC, Predrag (Yugoslavia)

2000-2004

7.7 - ZIDANE, Zinedine (France)
6.0 - HENRY, Thierry (France)
5.5 - TOTTI, Francesco (Italy)
5.3 - ROBERTO CARLOS (Brazil)
4.8 - FIGO, Luís (Portugal)
4.8 - NEDVED, Pavel (Czech Republic)
4.8 - RAÚL (Spain)
4.5 - NESTA, Alessandro (Italy)
4.5 - VIEIRA, Patrick (France)
4.4 - VAN NISTELROOY, Ruud (Netherlands)
4.2 - SHEVCHENKO, Andriy (Ukraine)
3.6 - KAHN, Oliver (Germany)
3.5 - BECKHAM, David (England)
3.5 - DAVIDS, Edgar (Netherlands)
3.5 - PIRES, Robert (France)
3.4 - RONALDO (Brazil)
3.3 - RONALDINHO (Brazil)
3.0 - AYALA, Roberto (Argentina)
3.0 - CAFU (Brazil)
3.0 - RIVALDO (Brazil)
2.5 - AIMAR, Pablo (Argentina)
2.5 - BALLACK, Michael (Germany)
2.5 - KEANE, Roy (Ireland)
2.5 - MAKÉLÉLÉ, Claude (France)
2.5 - MALDINI, Paolo (Italy)
2.5 - VIERI, Christian (Italy)
2.4 - OWEN, Michael (England)

All statistics

 

Nice work Peru, you are doing a good job continuing Tom's project as thoroughly as you can, continuously (and being open to adjustments)!

I guess you already summarised the points for the 1995-1999 part of that? It's easily worked out in terms of the top places at least from what you posted above anyway though I guess, even if you didn't do that previously.


That 1995-1999 period is the one where I can do the same exercise, but only with 9 HMs per season (if I add in Petit and Cannavaro for the 99 HMs list, and include players I'd originally mentioned on the 95 one to take that to a definitive 9 players too).

This is what the result would be in my case as long as I made no mistakes in looking back at my posts and which were the most recent ones for each year (I guess for you it's not too different but certainly with a few changes as I remember vaguely where there were differences with what you finally went with compared to my own selections):
Luis Figo - 6.1
Ronaldo - 5.5
Rivaldo - 4.6
Dennis Bergkamp - 4.3
George Weah - 4.3
Matthias Sammer - 4.1
Gabriel Batistuta - 4
Davor Suker - 3.9
Paolo Maldini - 3.8
Jari Litmanen - 3.6
Rui Costa - 3.5
Raul - 3.2
Alessandro Del Piero - 3.1
Juan Sebastian Veron - 3.1
Jurgen Klinsmann - 3
Patrick Vieira - 3
Zinedine Zidane - 3
Laurent Blanc - 2.6
Brian Laudrup - 2.6
Andriy Shevchenko - 2.6
David Beckham - 2.5
Marc Overmars - 2.5
Fernando Redondo - 2.5
Dejan Savicevic - 2.5
Gianfranco Zola - 2.3
Michael Owen - 2.1
Alan Shearer - 2.1
Ronald de Boer - 2
Marcel Desailly - 2
Ryan Giggs - 2
David Ginola - 2
Juninho Paulista - 2
Michael Laudrup - 2
Edgar Davids - 1.7
Danny Blind - 1.5
Zvonimir Boban - 1.5
Fabio Cannavaro - 1.5
Bixente Lizarazu - 1.5
Steve McManaman - 1.5
Lilian Thuram - 1.5
Gianluca Vialli - 1.4
Dwight Yorke - 1.3
Roberto Baggio - 1
Franco Baresi - 1
Lars Bohinen - 1
Cafu - 1
Sol Campbell - 1
Eric Cantona - 1
Andy Cole - 1
Hernan Crespo - 1
Enzo Francescoli - 1
Ruud Gullit - 1
Fernando Hierro - 1
Andrei Kanchelskis - 1
Roy Keane - 1
Henrik Larsson - 1
Matt Le Tissier - 1
Predrag Mijatovic - 1
Pavel Nedved - 1
Luc Nilis - 1
Ariel Ortega - 1
Sergey Rebrov - 1
Roberto Carlos - 1
Romario - 1
Marcelo Salas - 1
Paul Scholes - 1
Mehmet Scholl - 1
Clarence Seedorf - 1
Christian Vieri - 1
Krassimir Balakov - 0.5
Mario Basler - 0.5
Peter Beardsley - 0.5
Oliver Bierhoff - 0.5
Enrico Chiesa - 0.5
Stan Collymore - 0.5
Ivan De la Pena - 0.5
Didier Deschamps - 0.5
Youri Djorkaeff - 0.5
Steffan Effenberg - 0.5
Ciro Ferrara - 0.5
Paul Gascoigne - 0.5
Georgi Kinkladze - 0.5
Jurgen Kohler - 0.5
Rob Lee - 0.5
Luis Enrique - 0.5
Andreas Moller - 0.5
Alexandr Mostovoi - 0.5
Emmanuel Petit - 0.5
Rai - 0.5
Peter Schmeichel - 0.5
Paulo Sousa - 0.5
Jaap Stam - 0.5
Dragan Stojkovic - 0.5
Francesco Totti - 0.5
Ivan Zamorano - 0.5