Yeah, it's possible rsssf mis-labelled the top 50 on their page as being drawn up by Bortolloti (maybe because he did the one in 1997, although I'm not sure it's likely that'd cause them to mix things up really) when it was a result of the readers poll, but I suspect not, especially with the descriptors alongside each name that he could have provided and especially as the top 10 is at least still very similar to his 1997 list (so it seems like it can come from the same person). I guess, unless you found a result of a readers poll that showed the same top 10 or top 50 in some edition, that it is just that like with World Soccer there was a readers poll running alongside selections of correspondents (with it being the end of the century that makes sense I think too). I guess individual perception of whoever makes the lists will be the decisive factor, and the play of Cruyff for the Netherlands and Maradona for Argentina for example will contribute to the thought process, but I could imagine (even with a readers poll) the difference in that direction can be more likely with Don Balon than with Marca for example (while not being impossible it can go the other way according to some individuals eg I remember finding a top 30 players ever video set on Youtube made by a Real Madrid fan that had Cruyff placed as number 1, and I think it was Maradona at 2 ahead of Pele too, but then two Real Madrid players in Di Stefano and Zidane unless I'm mistaken).
Compared to all other major Spanish football publications Don Balon was clearly the most neutral of the lot, and also one of the least tainted by the multi-faceted legacy of the Franco era or the civil war divisions (it was founded in 1975). Sadly, that 'neutrality' is also one of the reasons why it didn't survive the financial crisis. I stick my hand in the fire it was a more 'accurate' publication than that 1982 Goles dictatorship thing or El Grafico around that time, where the press was always under tight control or anxious to score brownie points (like in all dictatorships there wasn't an article-by-article review or stipulation, but employees knew exactly what they should do; 'working towards the leader' in Kershaw's terms). In terms of 'popularity vote' it needs to be said Don Balon had also a circulation in South American countries, an office in Argentina (not uncommon; see also the largest Spanish press agency EFE opening their first foreign office in Buenos Aires) and later also an Argentine edition. That is not to say they are perfect, there are no blind spots, and that cannot be expected where the press freedom is still sub-optimal (3rd last of Western Europe), but compared to all other major Spanish publications they were the most neutral and there was (as always) also a gravitational pull towards the Argentine narrative and point of view. The 'neutrality' can be seen as well by who they picked as best referee (or least worst) for each season. That Di Stefano finishes below Maradona might well just be that the magazine only started in 1975 - that's not a wild hypothesis - and also that Di Stefano's grades by 'his' partisan Marca weren't that spectacular back in the days if we have to believe what msioux75 posted (unlike the grades for Cruijff later on, and to a lesser but still notable extent Maradona). In the century vote among 'experts' the difference was only one point (1215 vs 1214 points): http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/iffhs-century.html
But with that criteria why would Pelé be ranked number 1 by Don Balón ? After all, he had retired from international football in 1971, never played in Spain, had no ties with Barcelona, never was rated on a Spanish club, and according to Guerin Sportivo’s columnist Mr Bartolloti, he never proved himself on a European team outside the confines of his comfort zone in Brazil.
Interesting, that in the inmediate review, DB considered Maradona, who wasn't rated in the issue published in 1993. According BDF, Maradona in the season 1982-83, played 20 Primera Division matches, one of them with 16'. So, Maradona was rated in 19 out of 34 games (56% of the games, looks few matches)
Sí, he comprobado que en los años en los que conté las calificaciones partido por partido no se correspondía con el promedio final. Yes, I have verified that in the years in which I counted the scores match by match it did not correspond to the final average.
I have calculated Maradona’s ratings based on the 20 league matches and the final ranking seemed correct. The article I provided was right at the end of the season after all rounds had been concluded. I cannot say why years later there was some variations and omissions. You have all the ratings and were able to confirm what I posted, mate ?
In some seasons I calculated the average of quite a few of the major players. This is not the case of the 92-93 season for which I do not have too many copies.
I just checked the Maradona ratings of each game, which I have, and there seems to be an issue. In 20 games he received 37 total points but was not rated in one game due to insufficient minutes played. So in the 19 games where he was rated his average was 1,94, making him the top foreign rated player above Juan Alberto Barbas. It is questionable why this discrepancy with this publication and their final ratings across different years, which puts in doubt the rest of the information that has been posted on this board in regards to Don Balón. How many more errors may there be ?
I don't know if Don Balon had a minimum of matches required to be part of the Team of the Season, just like El Grafico, for example, 2/3 or 67% of the total matches. In Maradona's case for the 1982-83 season, the Primera Division consisted of 34 rounds. Diego played 20 games, in one of them (4th round) was subbed after 16 minutes of play (so, he can't be rated that game). Then, from december 1982 to march 1983, he missed 14 games. So, overall, Maradona only can had match ratings for 19/34 rounds. That's 56% of the total games. So, he can have an Honorable Mention, but can't be part of the Team of the Season, for insufficient number of games played, IMO
Yes, that’s an understandable view, but my issue is with the discrepancy of the final calculation of player ratings. They seem to not align with the ratings of each game, according to some of my observations, which puts in question the credibility of the information that was printed.
In the accompanying image you can see the comparison between the real averages (those resulting from recording all the qualifications day by day, except for errors on my part) and those published in numbers 396, 523 and 931 of Don Balón. Although it may seem that the differences are a few hundredths, a correct calculation would have supposed that the best national player would always have been Lord and the best foreigner (in the event that scoring in only 19 games did not eliminate him from that possibility) , Maradona. I don't remember reading anything about it; in fact, in some seasons soccer players with fewer games than those played by Maradona were placed in the XI season ... As I said yesterday, I had already realized that to make sure of the final averages there is no choice but to check it day by day ...
That’s what I have as well, mate. The final rankings don’t align with the match grades. Don Balón failed to get the averages right. I assume that’s an issue across many other years that have been published. And speaking about Don Balón as the most ‘neutral’ of Spanish sources, they not only got their numbers wrong in various years, but omitted decisive information, with the most glaring omission of Maradona as top ranked foreigner, despite only featuring in 20 league matches.
What I find strange is the discrepancies with Don Balón and their retrospective ratings. The original ratings of this season were ranked using the formula of 0 to 10 and the final rankings varied with this list. It is not the first time I have come across several errors with Don Balón.
That’s it, mate. I came across this one recently and it varied from the method of the 0-3 ratings from the first page on this thread.
It is true, these results that appeared years later do not correspond to the real ones. I was able to verify it because I have all the copies corresponding to the 1975-76 season. Even, I think I remember that there was some small difference with those that I calculated by noting the ratings game by game ...
The truth is that when I calculated the ratings of the different press media to which I had access, I immediately realized that Maradona would not be, in any case, among the group of the best of the season. In the case of Don Balon, he did not appear in the ranking and in the other newspapers I was writing down in an excel table and neither did he obtain a significant average. Now I do not remember if I got to the end in the case of Maradona (I would have to review my data). If so I will tell you and if it were not so, and if you are very interested, I would do the calculations again magazine by magazine. Although the DBScalcio averages are not far from mine, it is possible that the one given to Maradona (6,077) is somewhat higher than what would come out of my calculations. When I leave work I try to give you a better answer to your question. Lo cierto es que cuando calculé los ratings de los diferentes medios de prensa a los que tuve acceso, enseguida me di cuenta de que Maradona no estaría, en ningún caso entre el grupo de los mejores de la temporada. En el caso del Don Balón no aparecía en el ránking y en los otros periódicos fui anotando en una tabla excel y tampoco obtuvo un promedio significativo. Ahora no recuerdo si llegué hasta el final en el caso de Maradona (tendría que revisar mis datos). Si es así te lo digo y si no fuera así, y si estás muy interesado, volvería a realizar los cálculos revista por revista. Aunque los promedios de DBScalcio no se alejan de los míos, es posible que el que le dan a Maradona (6,077) sea algo superior al que saldría de mis cálculos. Al salir de trabajar intento darte una mejor respuesta a tu pregunta.
According to @Vegan10 , Maradona got a 6.00 avg in Don Balon for the 92-93 Liga. Right mate? So why Diego is not here? He played 26 games, more than enough i think... Did they really (again!) forgot to add Diego in the Don Balon ratings like they did in the Barca years? I have collected Diego ratings for Marca & Mundo Deportivo...but i miss the Don Balon rankings...
Well, I will look for that information, although I do not have the Don Balon corresponding to the 17th day (I take the opportunity to ask if anyone has the copy nº 898). What I do have very clear is that this year, Maradona had a very bad year at Sevilla. Give me a few days and I'll provide you with the data. Bien, buscaré esa información, aunque no conservo el Don Balón correspondiente a la 17º jornada (aprovecho para preguntar si alguien tiene el ejemplar nº 898). Lo que sí tengo muy claro es que este año, Maradona tuvo un muy mal año en el Sevilla. Dame unos días y te proporciono los datos.
I have written down Maradona's game-by-game ratings. In addition, I have also done it for Fran, Djukic and Zubizarreta to verify that the average published results were correct, since on other occasions I have noticed numerous errors. Unfortunately, and although I am missing the data for the 17th day, this season there are errors, and I am afraid they are quite important. Djukic obtained an average rating of 7.15; It throws me 7.19. The difference is not very significant; If I consider that on the 17th day he was qualified with 5 and taking into account that on the 6th day he was not qualified, this assessment would coincide with mine. Fran got an average grade of 7.02; It gives me 6.97, but if on the 17th day he had achieved a grade of 9, it would agree with my calculations. Zubizarreta adds 244 points in the 37 games that controlled his assessment. This assumes an average rating of 6.59. Regardless of how he was valued on the 17th day, he would never come close to that 6.96 that the magazine gave him. I have checked several times in case I was wrong, but no. The mistake was made by the magazine. And finally Maradona. This season he participated in 26 games. As I am missing a magazine, I cannot know what his assessment was in that missing game. Regarding the other 25 games, these were his ratings. In parentheses, the corresponding day. 6 (5th), 6 (6th), 7 (7th), 8 (8th), 5 (9th), 6 (10th), 7 (11th), 6 (12th), 4 (13th), 5 (14th), 9 (15th) 5 (16th), 8 (18th), 10 (19th), 7 (20th), 7 (21st), 6 (22nd), 5 (23rd), 4 (24th), 4 (26th), 5 (27th), 4 (28th), 7 (33rd), 5 (34th), 4 (37th) In total there were 150 points; the average is exact: 6.00, which could be a little more or a little less depending on your qualification on matchday 17. A progressive deterioration is observed, being his calamitous end of league. The average of the first round was 6.57, but that of the second 5.27. Don Balon had other qualitative qualifications to his quantitative qualifications. The 10 meant "great"; 9 excellent; 8 very good; 7 good; 6 correct; 5 loose; 4 very loose. It was never valued below 4. "Translating" Maradona's numbers into words, the Argentine's season for "Don Balon" would be: Great: 1 match. Excellent: 1 game. Very good: 2 games. Good: 5 games. Correct: 5 matches. Lazy: 6 games. Very weak: 5 games. ?: 1 match. This indicates that in 44% of the matches his performance was weak or very weak, while his performance was really outstanding (or at least for the evaluators) in 16% of his matches. Now I just need someone to fill in the information I am missing to give the exact data. He anotado las valoraciones partido por partido de Maradona. Además también lo he hecho para Fran, Djukic y Zubizarreta para comprobar que los resultados promedios publicados fueran correctos, ya que en otras ocasiones he advertido numerosos errores. Desgraciadamente, y aunque me falten los datos de la 17ª jornada, en esta temporada hay errores, y me temo que bastante importantes. Djukic obtuvo un rating promedio de 7,15; a mi me arroja 7,19. La diferencia es poco significativa; si considero que en la 17º jornada fue calificado con 5 y teniendo en cuenta que en la 6ª jornada no fue calificado, esta valoración coincidiría con la mía. Fran obtuvo una calificación promedio de 7,02; a mi me da 6,97, pero si en la 17º jornada hubiera conseguido una calificación de 9, coincidiría con mis cálculos. Zubizarreta suma 244 puntos en los 37 partidos que controlo su valoración. Esto supone un rating medio de 6,59. Independientemente de cómo fuese valorado en la 17ª jornada, jamás se acercaría a ese 6,96 que le dio la revista. He revisado varias veces por si me hubiese equivocado yo, pero no. El error lo cometió la revista. Y por fin Maradona. Esta temporada participó en 26 partidos. Como a mi me falta una revista, no puedo saber cuál fue su valoración en ese partido faltante. Respecto a los otros 25 partidos, estos fueron sus ratings. Entre paréntesis, la jornada correspondiente. 6 (5ª), 6 (6ª), 7 (7ª), 8 (8ª), 5 (9ª), 6 (10ª), 7 (11ª), 6 (12ª), 4 (13ª), 5 (14ª), 9 (15ª) 5 (16ª), 8 (18ª), 10 (19ª), 7 (20ª), 7 (21ª), 6 (22ª), 5 (23ª), 4 (24ª), 4 (26ª), 5 (27ª), 4 (28ª), 7 (33ª), 5 (34ª), 4 (37ª) En total fueron 150 puntos; el promedio es exacto: 6,00, que pudiera ser un poco más o un poco menos en función de su calificación de la 17ª jornada. Se observa un empeoramiento progresivo, siendo su final de liga calamitoso. El promedio de la primera vuelta fue 6,57, pero el de la segunda 5,27. Don Balón tenía a sus calificaciones cuantitativas otras cualitativas. El 10 significaba "genial"; 9 excelente; 8 muy bien; 7 bien; 6 correcto; 5 flojo; 4 muy flojo. Nunca se valoraba por debajo de 4. "Traduciendo" los números de Maradona en palabras, la temporada del argentino para "Don Balón" sería: Genial: 1 partido. Excelente: 1 partido. Muy bien: 2 partidos. Bien: 5 partidos. Correcto: 5 partidos. Flojo: 6 partidos. Muy flojo: 5 partidos. ?: 1 partido. Esto indica que en el 44 % de los partidos su actuación fue floja o muy floja, mientras que su actuación fue realmente destacada (o al menos para los evaluadores) en un 16 % de sus partidos. Ahora solo falta que alguien pueda completar la información que me falta para dar los datos exactos.