Ballon d'Or Shortlist

[Wonderwall]

Ballon d'Or shortlist:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales) = WTF WHY?
Edinson Cavani (Paris St Germain/Uruguay),
Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia),
Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium) ?REALLY
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain/Sweden),
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain),
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany),
Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund/Poland),
Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina),
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany),
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany),
Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil),
Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany),
Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy),
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/France),
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Netherlands),
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal),
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich/Germany) = WOULD LIKE HIM TO WIN, ALWAYS PLAYS EXCELLENT
Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Uruguay),
Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain/Brazil),
Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast),
Robin van Persie (Manchester United/Netherlands),
Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).

Coach of the year shortlist:
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid/ex-Paris St Germain),
Rafael Benitez (Napoli/ex-Chelsea),
Antonio Conte (Juventus),
Vicente Del Bosque (Spain),
Sir Alex Ferguson (ex-Manchester United),
Jupp Heynckes (ex-Bayern Munich) = WINNER FOR ME HANDS DOWNC
Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund) = VERY CLOSE 2ND
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea/ex-Real Madrid),
Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil),
Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).

[Slim]

You'd prefer Schweinsteiger to win rather than Yaya?

Some fucking loyalty.

[Original Dub]

Let's turn this thread into - Which of these players would you rather have than Gareth Bale? Arf.

OT - This list gets more like the fucking English awards we're subjected to every year. You move to a big club and you're up for an award after half a year of playing top league football.

Fuck off.
















(not you Bob - sneaky pat on the bum for you, wink wink, continental double-peck)

[halnone]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

[Breks]

Why isn't Javi Garcia on there? He is so versatile surely he is good enough to be on there.

[nottsblue]

Why isn't Javi Garcia on there? He is so versatile surely he is good enough to be on there.

More likely to win fellon d'floor

[Twobob]

You'd prefer Schweinsteiger to win rather than Yaya?

Some fucking loyalty.

But what does Yaya do?

In all fairness cant believe that Bale got in there, just shows what an over inflated price tag does for you - has he played 90 minutes yet for RM?

Dont expect Messi to be in the running this year for once, girl boy Ronny seems is still doing what he does best - expect it will be any from the Bayern side though - tough call even Lahm's playing a blinder now he's moved roles.

[aaron bond]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

He was excellent last season, and had been playing very well in the seasons before, gradually improving each year. He deserves his place in the list.

It's not his fault Real Madrid spent such a ridiculous fee on him, and the press constantly write about him.

He's done what very few British players do and taken a chance to play abroad. In typical British fashion, the majority of the media and supporters want him to fail. I hope he goes on to be a success for Real Madrid because he is a fantastic player to watch. If the fee was more sensible, he would have been my first transfer target last summer for City.

(He should ditch the celebration though!)

[Sideshow Bob]

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

it could be the fact that he is an overrated, cheating and diving monkeyfaced shitbag?

[Twobob]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

He was excellent last season, and had been playing very well in the seasons before, gradually improving each year. He deserves his place in the list.

It's not his fault Real Madrid spent such a ridiculous fee on him, and the press constantly write about him.

He's done what very few British players do and taken a chance to play abroad. In typical British fashion, the majority of the media and supporters want him to fail. I hope he goes on to be a success for Real Madrid because he is a fantastic player to watch. If the fee was more sensible, he would have been my first transfer target last summer for City.

(He should ditch the celebration though!)

He played excellently the season before also - but didnt feature in the Bd'O so why now? Simple answer really - and if he'd moved to us he probably wouldn't be on this list. I also dont see it as hatred, but apart from once or twice against us at ours when we were already beaten last season - he could look very ordinary against clever defenders.

Good player - and hope he does well at RM, but it smacks of 'big money move = dick slapping award' - of course he's only nominated and doubt he'll get past any of the Bayern players who are up for it.

[mr_nool]

What are the odds of Sir Bacon getting the manager award as retirement present? That's a nice gold watch ...

[aaron bond]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

He was excellent last season, and had been playing very well in the seasons before, gradually improving each year. He deserves his place in the list.

It's not his fault Real Madrid spent such a ridiculous fee on him, and the press constantly write about him.

He's done what very few British players do and taken a chance to play abroad. In typical British fashion, the majority of the media and supporters want him to fail. I hope he goes on to be a success for Real Madrid because he is a fantastic player to watch. If the fee was more sensible, he would have been my first transfer target last summer for City.

(He should ditch the celebration though!)

He played excellently the season before also - but didnt feature in the Bd'O so why now? Simple answer really - and if he'd moved to us he probably wouldn't be on this list. I also dont see it as hatred, but apart from once or twice against us at ours when we were already beaten last season - he could look very ordinary against clever defenders.

Good player - and hope he does well at RM, but it smacks of 'big money move = dick slapping award' - of course he's only nominated and doubt he'll get past any of the Bayern players who are up for it.

He stepped up a gear significantly last season - scoring 26 vs. 12 the year before, plus plenty of eye-catching goals too. He carried the Spurs team on many occasions. Even if he stayed in the Premier League, I think he would have been in the shortlist. He cleaned up the awards domestically, and he became increasingly well-known across Europe.

I agree that it could well be a Bayern player - they have been superb this year.

From a City perspective, I'm not sure Yaya could be considered one of the best 23 players in the world over the last year. He's started this season well, but the only City players who could claim to have played excellently last season were Zab and Milner. Obviously it's great we have a player in the shortlist, but in reality, do any of City's players deserve to be in the list?

[Original Dub]

I didn't say bale shouldn't be on that list. In fact, I don't believe many did.

What I'm asking is, how many players on that list would you put ahead of bale?

[aaron bond]

I didn't say bale shouldn't be on that list. In fact, I don't believe many did.

What I'm asking is, how many players on that list would you put ahead of bale?

Well the opening post asks why Bale is on the list, then there's another post below it which says 'can't believe Bale is on the list'.

I honestly couldn't say where I would place Bale on the list if we were to rank them - there are some phenomenal players on that list. I wouldn't put him near the top - Messi and Ronaldo are streets ahead of everyone, then you have the Bayern team playing some of the best football we've ever seen. Perhaps mid to lower half of the group based on the last year???

I'm not one of those people who thinks he's the 3rd best player in the world if that's what you're getting at. But he has played some excellent football over the last few years, particularly last season. Whether he can do that consistently at one of the top clubs in the world, only time will tell. But I think he's earned his chance to try and I'm interested to see how he gets on.

[Sideshow Bob]

I didn't say bale shouldn't be on that list. In fact, I don't believe many did.

What I'm asking is, how many players on that list would you put ahead of bale?

i would take every single one over bale, except maybe pirlo due to his age.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

He was excellent last season, and had been playing very well in the seasons before, gradually improving each year. He deserves his place in the list.

It's not his fault Real Madrid spent such a ridiculous fee on him, and the press constantly write about him.

He's done what very few British players do and taken a chance to play abroad. In typical British fashion, the majority of the media and supporters want him to fail. I hope he goes on to be a success for Real Madrid because he is a fantastic player to watch. If the fee was more sensible, he would have been my first transfer target last summer for City.

(He should ditch the celebration though!)

Me neither. It's become fashionable to dislike him for some reason.
He scored 26 goals last season. Including goals against big teams. Coming from a player who's not even a recognized striker. He really was wonderful last year. I'm not going to argue he is or isn't the best or top 5 in the world etc. But he definitely deserves to be on the shortlist. Can we really say Yaya had a better season than Bale last year? I really doubt it.
I really just don't understand the bitterness towards him. It seems a lot on here are almost willing him to fail just so they can be 'proven right'. There already seems to be people taking glee about the fact he hasn't set the world on fire in his first 5 games.

[Wonderwall]

Bale was premier league player of the year and young payer of the year, scoring 20+ goals to make spurs look a halfway decent side and broke the all time transfer record.

I'm not saying he should win but it's fairly obvious that he should be included in the shortlist.

I really don't get the hatred for Bale from so many.

He was excellent last season, and had been playing very well in the seasons before, gradually improving each year. He deserves his place in the list.

It's not his fault Real Madrid spent such a ridiculous fee on him, and the press constantly write about him.

He's done what very few British players do and taken a chance to play abroad. In typical British fashion, the majority of the media and supporters want him to fail. I hope he goes on to be a success for Real Madrid because he is a fantastic player to watch. If the fee was more sensible, he would have been my first transfer target last summer for City.

(He should ditch the celebration though!)

Me neither. It's become fashionable to dislike him for some reason.
He scored 26 goals last season. Including goals against big teams. Coming from a player who's not even a recognized striker. He really was wonderful last year. I'm not going to argue he is or isn't the best or top 5 in the world etc. But he definitely deserves to be on the shortlist. Can we really say Yaya had a better season than Bale last year? I really doubt it.
I really just don't understand the bitterness towards him. It seems a lot on here are almost willing him to fail just so they can be 'proven right'. There already seems to be people taking glee about the fact he hasn't set the world on fire in his first 5 games.

Right on Cue

[Tokyo Blue]

Why is Wenger on the list? What did he win?

[Original Dub]

Me neither. It's become fashionable to dislike him for some reason.
He scored 26 goals last season. Including goals against big teams. Coming from a player who's not even a recognized striker. He really was wonderful last year. I'm not going to argue he is or isn't the best or top 5 in the world etc. But he definitely deserves to be on the shortlist. Can we really say Yaya had a better season than Bale last year? I really doubt it.
I really just don't understand the bitterness towards him. It seems a lot on here are almost willing him to fail just so they can be 'proven right'. There already seems to be people taking glee about the fact he hasn't set the world on fire in his first 5 games.

Oh we're having this debate until the end my friend. ..

And the reason "some people" are happy that he is performing at exactly the level we presumed he would, is because some of us don't fall for media bullshit propaganda and celebrate when it is shown up for what it really is.

[Breks]

can't believe Manuel Neur is on there and not Joe Hart.