Ballon d'Or 2023

[Andresito]

Nominees have been presented. Messi remains the big favourite with 1.20 odds, Haaland second with 4.50.

André Onana - Manchester United/Cameroon
Josko Gvardiol - Manchester City/Croatia
Karim Benzema - Al Ittihad
Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich/Germany
Mohamed Salah - Liverpool/Egypt
Jude Bellingham - Real Madrid/England
Bukayo Saka - Arsenal/England
Randal Kolo Muani - Paris Saint-Germain/France
Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City/Belgium
Bernardo Silva - Manchester City/Portugal
Emiliano Martínez - Aston Villa/Argentina
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia - Napoli/Georgia
Rúben Dias - Manchester City/Portugal
Nicolo Barella - Inter Milan/Italy
Erling Haaland - Manchester City/Norway
Yassine Bounou - Al Hilal/Morocco
Martin Ødegaard - Arsenal/Norway
Julián Álvarez - Manchester City/Argentina
Ilkay Gündogan - Barcelona/Germany
Vinícius Júnior - Real Madrid/Brazil
Lionel Messi - Inter Miami/Argentina
Rodri - Manchester City/Spain
Lautaro Martínez - Inter Milan/Argentina
Antoine Griezmann - Atletico Madrid/France
Robert Lewandowski - Barcelona/Poland
Kylian Mbappé - Paris Saint-Germain/France
Kim Min-jae - Napoli/South Korea
Victor Osimhen - Napoli/Nigeria
Luka Modric - Real Madrid/Croatia
Harry Kane - Bayern Munich/England

 

[malvolio]

Don't get the point of nominating 30 players for an award where max 5 players would be really in contention to win it.

Wtf is Benzema doing there for example? Or Salah?

 

[L3v1s]

The most realistic outcome is probably Haaland, if we look at trophies and whatnot. Although, it does feel a bit weird seeing how he disappeared since the UCL semi-finals.

 

[malvolio]

The most realistic outcome is probably Haaland, if we look at trophies and whatnot. Although, it does feel a bit weird seeing how he disappeared since the UCL semi-finals.

All bookies have Messi as the overwhelming favourite. And tbf he is still a better player than Haaland at this point in time.

 

[Rory]

Rodri should be 2nd place behind Messi. Did Haaland's job for him in the ucl final, as well as doing his own.

 

[soul24rage]

LM8

 

[MagIX]

The most realistic outcome is probably Haaland, if we look at trophies and whatnot. Although, it does feel a bit weird seeing how he disappeared since the UCL semi-finals.

Maybe he will win it.
But for me, just putting Haaland and Ballon d'Or in the same sentence makes me laugh

All bookies have Messi as the overwhelming favourite. And tbf he is still a better player than Haaland at this point in time.

Not only Messi is a better player than Haaland.
There's a huge difference between being a great player and a great scorer.
In this day and age, there is often a tendency to confuse the concept

 

[Horatio]

In this day and age, there is often a tendency to confuse the concept

There is less confusion about this than there was ever before with terms like "poacher" "tapinmerchant" and "pure goalscoring machine" having become more prevalent.
I think the Messi vs Ronaldo debate has contributed to this. Due to their fame and contrast in style people are now quicker to recognize players that are limited but very good at one thing specifically(recognizing more of Ronaldo than Messi in a player) instead of just looking whether x players has more goals than y player and thus conclude he must be doing a better job.

It's interesting to think what different of an impact it would have had on perception of football and development of players if Ronaldo had won the debate.

Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[L3v1s]

Maybe he will win it.
But for me, just putting Haaland and Ballon d'Or in the same sentence makes me laugh

Yeah, I get that. You're someone who appreciates footballers that can create something out of nowhere. Magicians like Messi, Maradona, Cruyff, Baggio, Iniesta etc. They do seem like a dying breed unfortunately. I don't think the future looks too bright in terms of football that's pleasing to the eyes. And it feels weird knowing that in the future only robots/athletes could have a shot at this prize, and not footballers. But who knows, I could be gossiping right now .

Dont get me wrong, I don't hate Haaland, he's more likeable than most new football stars.

 

[malvolio]

There is less confusion about this than there was ever before with terms like "poacher" "tapinmerchant" and "pure goalscoring machine" having become more prevalent.
I think the Messi vs Ronaldo debate has contributed to this. Due to their fame and contrast in style people are now quicker to recognize players that are limited but very good at one thing specifically(recognizing more of Ronaldo than Messi in a player) instead of just looking whether x players has more goals than y player and thus conclude he must be doing a better job.

It's interesting to think what different of an impact it would have had on perception of football and development of players if Ronaldo had won the debate.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Very hard to win a GOAT debate in football when you are a poacher. You can't influence the game as much when you're waiting on the offside line.

Guys like Messi, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo etc could influence games because they were better allrounders and played in a 10 position. They had performances where they pulled the team behind them. Not saying that what CR did was easy or it's something comparable to what Inzaghi was doing. But there were less moments in his career when he turned a game on its head by virtue of his overall play. Yes, he was decisive/clutch many a times. Just not the kind of guy you bring on the field at 0-3 down and he gets you the draw or even the win.

At least that was my perception from watching him. And I really liked him as a player in his early Man Utd days.

 

[soul24rage]

Messi has the very very rare combination of Magic + Results/Efficiency + Longevity which is the reason why he's the GOAT for me.

 

[Andresito]

Messi has the very very rare combination of Magic + Results/Efficiency + Longevity which is the reason why he's the GOAT for me.

Not only has the combination, but he's probably the very best, or at least top 3 in all those categories with Magic being a bit diffuse to rank. Genius would probably be another factor to add if not included in Magic.

He also has the best trophy cabinet of all. I'd probably not want to trade with anyone if I was him. Only thing he'd probably want is 1-2 more CL's, but in the end it matters little if there are 4 CL's or 6 as long as it's more than 1.

 

[Fati_Future_BallonDor]

Very hard to win a GOAT debate in football when you are a poacher. You can't influence the game as much when you're waiting on the offside line.

Guys like Messi, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo etc could influence games because they were better allrounders and played in a 10 position. They had performances where they pulled the team behind them. Not saying that what CR did was easy or it's something comparable to what Inzaghi was doing. But there were less moments in his career when he turned a game on its head by virtue of his overall play. Yes, he was decisive/clutch many a times. Just not the kind of guy you bring on the field at 0-3 down and he gets you the draw or even the win.

At least that was my perception from watching him. And I really liked him as a player in his early Man Utd days.

It depends whichs player you have in your team, if you have enough guys who can create chances and you just need a guy who scores them airnaldo can be useful...

 

[Xtroverto]

I could not care less who win the award, to me it has no objective criteria and you see every year players on the list who has done nothing and even spending a large part of the year injured still making the list.

Still if Messi do win it I will go down to the local supermarket and get me some popcorn for the complete meltdown by the Real Madrid based media, he does not even live in Spain anymore but they just can not let go of him. It is a level of jealous obsession bordering insanity.