Hello friends, positive vibes to everyone.
Over the past few days, I know many of us in this community have shared our opinions about the Ballon d'Or. I didn't want to express mine until now, waiting for this specific moment to share my thoughts here. Last Monday night in Paris, the debate about who deserved the prestigious award finally came to an end—a debate that had been raging on social media for quite some time. A few weeks ago, we discussed how this award had lost much of its prestige and value, and how it seemed like no one really cared about it anymore. I still think that's true, but I also believe that last night, football felt a little more fair.
Not considering Dembélé as a winner of this award was unthinkable and absurd. There's no need to list the statistics he achieved last season or the titles he won, but in terms of individual performances, the Frenchman was far superior to the rest. My issue isn't with the actual winner, but with the rest of the top 10, which seems utterly ridiculous given the incredible lack of judgment shown. "They messed it up with their feet after doing well with their hands." Let's start with some unpopular opinions. Lamine Yamal wasn't a top 2 contender; that spot belonged to Raphinha, who had better numbers than the Spaniard. And to make matters worse, these supposed football experts who voted decided to place Salah above the Brazilian, who ended up in an inexplicable 5th place.
In no universe did Mohamed Salah have a better season than Raphinha, considering that the Liverpool player only won one trophy, scored fewer goals, and had fewer assists. It's complete nonsense and utter absurdity. Having said that, my top 5 would be: Dembélé, Raphinha, Lamine, Vitinha, and Salah. Sometimes I wonder what kind of football these journalists who vote in these awards actually watch. Continuing with this list, I think Pedri at number 11 is a bit unrealistic; the way this midfielder plays and his importance to Barcelona deserve at least a spot in the top 10. I can understand that this might be debatable, because players like Nuno Mendes and even Hakimi have better stats than the Spaniard, but if we compare him to Palmer, the Barcelona player has more trophies. Just something to think about.
There's no question about the Yashin Award; I think Donnarumma is the rightful winner of this category. He is undoubtedly the best goalkeeper in the world right now. The impact the Italian player had on PSG's success, helping them win all those titles, is something that many people still don't fully appreciate. PSG was the best club in the world, and I agree with that assessment. Perhaps Chelsea could have challenged them for that title, but ultimately, the work done by Luis Enrique's team was extraordinary; there was no way they could have lost this recognition. With these two awards, there are no issues; both winners were deserving.
Another point of contention arising from this awards ceremony was the Gerd Müller Award, which was given to Gyökeres instead of Mbappé. The Frenchman won the European Golden Boot, but the Swede scored more goals. How is this possible? The criteria for the Golden Boot are straightforward: scoring goals in the top five European leagues is considered more valuable because, theoretically, those leagues are more competitive. This explains why one player received one award and the other the Gerd Müller Award. Is this incomprehensible? – perhaps. Is it really more difficult to score goals in Spain than in Portugal? – in my opinion, that's debatable, but I understand that it's a valid question to ask and to question the relative difficulty levels.
In general, this year's Ballon d'Or didn't generate much controversy because it was awarded to what many considered the rightful winner. However, this doesn't mean that there aren't still many questions about the criteria used to evaluate and rank the players. Many shouldn't even have been in the top 30, but that's a much broader issue. As long as these kinds of things continue to happen—issues that have nothing to do with bias or favoritism, but rather with a lack of objectivity—this award will continue to raise a lot of questions every year.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en la próxima!
Well, that's all for today, folks. I hope you enjoyed it.
¡Take care everyone, see you next time!