Author: Stretford_End
Wayne Rooney and Luis Nani have been nominated for FIFA’s prestigious Ballon d’Or award, whilst Sir Alex Ferguson has been shortlisted for the manager of year award. Cristiano Ronaldo was the last Manchester United (and English based player) to win the award back in 2008, following is incredible 42 goal season where United won the Premier League and European Cup. Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law are the other three Manchester United players to have won the award. In recent years, Barcelona – and Lionel Messi – have dominated the voting. So, can you see Rooney or Nani picking the 2011 trophy up?
In a sense, no, Lionel Messi is surely – yet again – the recipient of an award that acknowledges the superb achievements of a player over the past twelve months. In the grand scheme of things, personal awards really do not matter at all – having said that, the list of great players from Di Stefano to Franz Beckenbauer to Kaka have been a joy to watch for all of those lucky enough to have seen them play. We are very lucky to have such great talents in Nani and Rooney in our squad and I think that the inclusion of both players is justified following their performances since January, although Nani’s late 2010 performances may well still be fresh in the mind of some.
Just for the record, three other United players (who haven’t won the award) have come in the top three over the years in voting; David Beckham – who came 2nd – in 1999 (who lost out to Rivaldo), Eric Cantona – who came 3rd – in 1993 (lost out to Bergkamp and Baggio) and Duncan Edwards – who came joint 3rd in 1957 (behind Billy Wright and Alfredo Di Stefano). Surely Duncan Edwards would have been the first United player to have picked up the award had he not lost his life in the Munich air disaster.
So, who do you think will pick up the award? But more importantly, do you care? Below is a full list of the nominations:
Player nominees: Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).
Coach nominees: Vicente Del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC), Rudi Garcia (France/Lille OSC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jurgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Low (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid), Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay/Uruguay national team), Andre Villas-Boas (Portugal/FC Porto, Chelsea), Arsene Wenger (France/Arsenal).
Feel free to discuss this further in our forum.
Can’t see anyone else winning the award other than Lionel Messi.
How is Abidal there?!
How are Rooney & Nani nominate is beyond me!
I think there might have been slight misunderstanding with the Rooney nomination. He was meant to be nominated for toupee of the year.
Ramon – who would you replace Nani and Rooney with?
strange, were is 13 people who reckon nani or rooney has any chance to win it considering barcelona thrashing, but in fairness to nani he was excluded by fergie for a final
Hi Stretford-End, Van Persie would be a good starter, and Vidic would also be a good shout! What you think?
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I think Nani and Rooney should be in there ahead of Benzema and Abidal to be honest, but I think so should Robin Van Persie and Vidic. Good shout.
guardiola and messi will win for sure
I agreed with you about Benzema, but Abidal actually saved Barca on several occasion last year when their defends was shaky to say the least, he was the rock more often than not, especially without the injure Puyol. I guess you convince me tho, that both Nani & Rooney should be there in their own right. But it is all irrelevant, King Leo will sweep all before him.
rooney is by far the most COMPLETE player in the world……his strength and stamina is far greater than messi…….messi predominantly uses his left leg while rooney is awesome using both……rooney doesn’t have a xavi or iniesta to support his butt…..rooney an’ manu forever…….
as for the others ….i think van persie should’ve been nomiated…he has been terrific this season ….virtually carrying the burden of an entire team
KM, that’s your opinion and I can imagine most of ManU fans, but, the rest of the world football fans, and pundits alike beg to differ. Rooney is probably 1 or 2 levels below Messi. That’s not my opinion, but most people outside of the Uk. Tho Xavi & Iniesta create chances for Messi, Messi is a one man show, and if you don’t believe me, just look up his assist statistics. So, not only is he a goal scoring machine, but he also provides scoring opportunities for his teammates in abundance. You stated Rooney’s strength & stamina is far greater than Messi? Where in the world did you get that from?? I think you got blinkers on mate, but then what would anyone expect from a ManU fan, an objective view? Not a chance in hell.
@KM, I’m a United supporter, but to say Rooney is more complete than Messi is beggars belief to be honest. Rooney gets pushed off the ball more than Messi, Messi hardly gets rested so where is the strength and stamina coming from? Messi has scored more goals with his right than Rooney has with his left, FACT. Messi made our defence look like a conference league team in May. Messi is being compared to maradona, Roney isn’t close to Messi’s level. If Rooney wasn’t English he would not be this hyped.
@ JoshJibo, sorry for putting all ManU fans in the same pot, you have just come on and proof me wrong. Thanks for bringing KM back to reality. He obviously does not watch Messi, or has any idea the work horse he is.
just to set the record straight i am not a brit……i am not even trying to devaluate messi…..but there’s a reason i prefer rooney…he plays his game against some of the toughest defenders in the world n’ yet manages to be so successful…messi on the other hand is almost revered by his la liga opponents to such an extent that they rarely challenge him on the field…..remember messi against inter milan last year….cambiasso and co. didn’t allow him any time on the ball…..@Ramon try focussing on rooney when watching a manu game n’ you’ll understand why i call him a more complete player (as for the number of assists …rooney is a striker ..while messi plays in a wing or CAM position ….its natural for him to have more assists)
judging from your previous comments Ramon you seem to have got it in your head that messi is wearing a crown and that no one can santch it from him…..messi was
easilly upstaged last year by forlan and david villa but somehow it was messi who got all the rewards ….where was “King Leo” when his national side was being squashed by a young German team…..I have seen messi play in an international friendly vs venezuela …trust me he wasn’t even half the player that he normally is …..Open your eyes Ramon,messi isn’t the only great forward in the world and guess what, they all do their job without an array of telepathic passing behind them……..
@ KM, like I stated before, it is your opinion and I respect that but, it is the reasons that you’ve put forward that are questionable! You state that Rooney plays amongst the toughest defenders in the world, again your opinion, but it just doesn’t hold water considering 99% of teams that face Barcelona more often than not park the bus. The fact that Messi has been top scorer in the Champions League for the 3-year in a roll, and in fact is top scorer as we speak this year as well, make your argument pretty flimsy to say the least. Messi in La Liga is the most foul player there is, teams alter their defends to stop Messi even if it means getting dirty, which they’re usually are. You point out one game against Milan, come on KM, is that your argument?? I watch Rooney every week, and I’m sorry to say, he’s alone with Dave Beckham one of the most over-hyped player in Football. You obviously haven’t been watching Messi under Guardiola to say he plays in the wings. Is quite interesting that Rooney is a striker(your words) and Messi is a winger, yet Messi has score more goals thus far. Here’s are the stats….. Rooney in the PL, appearances 293, goals 127, asst 69. Total for club & country 411 appearances, 175 goals, 89 asst…. Messi in La Liga, appearances 217, 143 goals, 62 asst. Total for club & country, appearances 316, goals 213, asst 84. Now the Champions League where the defense should be more stern, Rooney 65 appearances, 27 goals, 11 asst…. Messi 62 appearances, 42 goals, 12 asst…..Now I’ll let you do the numbers……
In no way are my excuses flimsy…la liga defending getting ‘dirty’ , are you kidding me …..and rooney needs to curb his attacking prowess a great deal….he needs to bear with the shoddy midfield work of carrick and anderson……no such problem for messi….can you please put up the stats of messi’s international career
@ KM, i totally agree with what you’ve stated.
@ Ramon, Messi is a great player but you see he’s not a complete player….on the other hand, Take a look at Rooney ,put him at any position on the field, he’ll show his awesomness !!have you ever seen a striker other than Rooney who comes back to help the defence & also shows his awesomness as a striker too….Messi is great at trickery & Rooney is’nt but then…Rooney’s passing is a lot more classier than Messi’s. Messi may be one of the best strikers but he is’nt as complete & awesome as compared to Rooney !!
@ KM, I can throw the same questions to you about Rooney!!!! You don’t seem to understand the criteria for the Ballon D’or do you? Is not just for playing in a world Cup year if there’s one, or just the Champions League, but is about which player has been the most consistent thru out the whole season, in their league, and Europe! Last year and the year before no one was more consistent than Messi, pure and simple. Your arguments are pretty childish when you keep bringing up one game as an example, you need to be more critical if you want argue your point. I’m not talking about other forwards, the discussion was about Rooney & Messi and who was the better player, and the Consensus point to Messi as the best footballer in the world 3-years running. Rooney does NOT even come into the conversation to be honest. There are more worthy recipients, the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldo, etc. Messi is by far the most incredible player( if we can use that word) in world Football, but like most great player he will be scrutinize every time he has a poor game. The standard he has set is so high, that if he doesn’t get a hat-trick in every other game people will say he is going thru a crisis. Yes KM, most people out there call him King Leo, and who am I, or you for that matter to argue that point? Deal with it mate, Rooney wouldn’t even get into the Barca first 11, never mind take Messi’s position.
@ KM, Messi’s international stats are 65 appearances, 18 goals, 20 assists. Considering he plays a deeper role with Argentina, and they have Higuain, De Maria, and Aguero as their main striker, as would say that’s a decent return from Messi. On the other hand, Rooney who’s the main striker for England( 73 Appearances, 28 goals) is not really mind blowing record is it?
you don’t get me do you?…..messi is not a “one man show” like you said…messi is surrounded in a galaxy of stars called barcelona….and i don’t have a problem with that…but you have accpt that it helps messi’s game to a great extent…manu despite being a good team doesn’t have quite the same pedigree of barca and thats precisely the reason why i talk about messi’s international record to even the playing field to an extent…..
Lads. Great that you’re both passionate about the issue – and the two players in question – but make sure we stick to the subject at hand. Both amazing players that we’re lucky to watch. Messi for me is head and shoulders above anyone else in the world right now, an absolute genius.
@ KM, there is nothing to get my son! Your arguments do NOT make sense! You state he plays in a galaxy of stars right? But yet, Messi for the last 3-year is their top scorer, and I believe but not sure, their top assist player. Wouldn’t it go to reason, that if you’re playing with so many stars, that the goals and assist would be spread out more evenly amongst the forwards and midfield?? When Ronald was playing at ManU who was the star in that squad,and who was the top scorer? It is NOT my words that he is a “one man show”, but, the professional pundits, and experts. Surely they know more about it than you or I??? Yes Barcelona is the best League squad on the planet, and it happens that for the last 3-years they also have the best footballer in the world, and they both compliment each other like hand in glove. Yes, Barca help make Messi the player he is, but it is a 2-way street, and because of Messi, Barcelona will go down in History as one of the best club squad ever!!!! Can you see Rooney doing that with ManU…… I very much doubt it, reasons, Rooney does NOT have the natural skills, the touch, the dribble or the reading of the game like Messi has……. Simples.
@ Stretford-End, being trying trust me! But KM is all over the place. Bring out the world club, one game incidents, etc.
@ Stretford-End, World Cup that is!
@IJS …great point made……”he should be nominated for the toupee of the year”-this is called sticking to the subject …eh @Ramon
@ KM, I tho it was funny, but you’re right….. Low blow I guess.
@Ramon I know that @KM has let out his views in a rather hot-headed manner but some of his views are indeed true ,messi (apparently a magician) has been poor in his performance for argentina thus reflecting how important a good midfield support is.I saw the semi-final of the champions league last year and he does seem a little vulnerable against strong defending.Defending in la liga is a piece of trash .I don’t particularly like rooney (i am a liverpool fan) but even if he doesn’t win ,his nomination is fully justified.
Peace!!!! With so many people contradicting me i formally accept defeat(I hear marching bands performing)……@Ramon nice fighting with you mate!!!! Ciao….
@ KM and Marco, we’re all just airing are opinions, we’re not getting paid for it, and in the big scheme of things nobody gives a hoop anyways…… So lets enjoy the rest of the day and keep the Peace.
@Ramon, your analysis is top notch!!
I just cant believe anyone can even compare messi to Rooney just unbelievable coz he does not even make the top 10 by any standards, Eto, Ibra, David Villa,iniesta,ronaldo,kaka,xavi, van persie,cesc,Higuine…are all better than him the list is so long,even Giggs is better.