FIFA Ballon d'Or and Panchina d'Oro [P+R]

[Xifio]

Ballon d’Or 2014:

Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Goetze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Mueller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Côte d’Ivoire).


Coach of the Year 2014:

Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team), Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC).

I think the Balon d'Or final 3 are obvious: World Cup winning MVP, Champions League winning MVP, and Messi ...

if Sepp Blatter is to be believed, Neuer -- or "Noiner", if you want the FIFA-certified pronunciation -- is not just top 3 for the year, but top 3 of all time ... so surely he's a shoe-in for the first ballon d'or keeper this year?

seriously, though, his performance against Algeria was a Sweeper Keeper Masterclass:

---


the coach award finalists are also obvious (bolded): World Cup winner, and Champions League winner ... I expect the former to pip it ...

I've also highlighted Klinsmann and van Gaal ...

if LvG had had success at club level too, then he'd actually be an outside candidate; however, trouncing the World Champions en route to a World Cup bronze medal won't trump the cards the winners are holding ...

Jürgen's not really in contention, but I wanted to draw attention to the fact that he's cemented the USA as a serious nation on the footballing world map ... it's not that he guided The Von Trapps to a 2nd round Extra Time World Cup exit; it's that the USA, as a nation, were ready to embrace soccer, and he delivered unto them that elusive win against perennial foes Ghana, and followed it up with a rousing, belief-inducing performance against Portugal ... his quality as a manager is not the point; his role in US soccer's wendepunkt year is ...

 

[yoyo913]

8 massive gifs to start the thread. lol

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Ronaldo and Low. Very obvious. I'd probably vote Neuer and Simeone.

 

[yoyo913]

I give it to Simeone. Lowe won with the team with the best players.

 

[chygry]

If i had to choose, i'd exclude both Ronaldo and Messi this time. Some German player probably deserves it. Which one? Difficult to say, since they play good as a unit. Müller and Lahm? Both are irreplacable for both Bayern and Germany (well the latter retired from international football, but before that). Those would be my honorable mentions.

I'd like if Robben would win it, they guy has been consistant all the time during this year and the past few. Had a great world cup (was probably the best player there), came back stronger than ever after his poor season when Dortmund and Chelsea thriumphed over Bayern. If someone deserves the award, it's him. He seems to be getting even better with age, one of the best players in the world for sure. Neuer also deserves a mention. But this ballondor thing is mostly bullshit, Sneijder not getting it in 2010? Fuck 'em.

Manager? No question about it, his charisma, attitude, dedication and everything. I don't even need to say this. Diego Simeone.

 

[Filipower]

lol at Mourinho, van Gaal and Klinsmann.

 

[Mandieta6]

I'd like Muller/Neuer. Ronaldo is the expected choice given how winners have been chosen in the past. Couldn't care less about managers.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

LOL at Muller being "irreplaceable" for Bayern. He could be gone tomorrow and Bayern would be fine. I love him as a player, but he's not a critical piece by any means. He is for Germany though.

 

[Mus]

The top 3 could be Ronaldo, neuer and lahm

 

[kp41]

Neuer and Simeone

 

[Jaboldinho]

lol @ Suarez not being on the list

 

[Mus]

lol @ Suarez not being on the list

He scored like 10 goals and spent the rest of the year choking away a title, flopping against big teams and being suspended wow

 

[Dytza]

I've always said that Ballon d'Or is for the best individual player. Put Muller or whatever player you're talking about in Madrid's team and he'd pull a James Rodriguez or Gareth Bale performance at best. Put Ronaldo or Messi in Bayern's team or imagine even the perfect German NT with him, and they would be the star player right from the next day.

As much as you don't like it, the football world is still divided in Ronaldo+Messi and the others.

 

[TomBeck]

I've always said that Ballon d'Or is for the best individual player. Put Muller or whatever player you're talking about in Madrid's team and he'd pull a James Rodriguez or Gareth Bale performance at best. Put Ronaldo or Messi in Bayern's team or imagine even the perfect German NT with him, and they would be the star player right from the next day.

As much as you don't like it, the football world is still divided in Ronaldo+Messi and the others.

thats very true, but seems like "being in the right place at the right time"-Müller gets a lot of cheers. So I think he is a serious thread for messi and ronaldo to win it

 

[ShiftyPowers]

I don't know if Ronaldo would work at Bayern or Barca. He's selfish as fuck and even Robben has had to work very hard to earn the respect of his teammates.

 

[Xaviesta]

It's good to have 1 selfish player, especially if that's Ronaldo.

 

[Dytza]

How much do you care that he's selfish if he scored 30+ for your team every season?

And this season there's a different Ronaldo with the same obsession for goal.

 

[Xifio]

I've always said that Ballon d'Or is for the best individual player. Put Muller or whatever player you're talking about in Madrid's team and he'd pull a James Rodriguez or Gareth Bale performance at best. Put Ronaldo or Messi in Bayern's team or imagine even the perfect German NT with him, and they would be the star player right from the next day.

As much as you don't like it, the football world is still divided in Ronaldo+Messi and the others.

I agree ... the question for me is: could this also apply to a keeper for this year?

 

[Dytza]

No, that's why I don't think a keeper will win such a Trophy in the near future

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Neuer may have just had the best season for a GK in world history. That deserves to be honored. I'm not saying he absolutely should win the Ballon d'Or, but he is in the discussion. Yes Ronaldo is a great player, but he is not significantly better than Messi, nor is he a lot better than some of his contemporaries who do the similar things (Robben) or different things (Di Maria). I think you can make a VERY legitimate argument that the best player on last season's Real Madrid team was Di Maria, who had a great world cup (when healthy) and has continued to be fantastic at Manchester United, turning their fortunes around. At the end of the day this is a team game, and Ronaldo perhaps does not contribute to his team's success as much as other players do for theirs and that is what really matters. Not all the hat tricks against Levante.