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It’d be worth it just for the tears of City fans moaning that Rodri didn’t get it.

Has to be said, whilst Rodri and Vini Jr are fantastic players, world class in fact, the post Messi/ Ronaldo era of contenders just feels a tad level below of what previous Ballon d’Or winners were.

The Ronaldinho’s, Zidane’s, R9’s, Kaka’s etc were a different breed of baller.

I would agree. We were very lucky to see those two in their prime and will most likely not see their like for a long time to come. Possibly not in my lifetime I suspect...
 
I would agree. We were very lucky to see those two in their prime and will most likely not see their like for a long time to come. Possibly not in my lifetime I suspect...

Yeah I highly doubt I’ll see better than Messi or Ronaldo.

I actually came back for 24 hours when on my holiday to go to the CL game against Barca a few years back at Wembley just so I could see Messi in the flesh.

He tore us to pieces and bagged a brace but I wasn’t even mad <laugh>
 
Romano confirming Utd have approached Sporting for Amorim… ****.

Are you that concerned?

He's got a solid track record but the Premeira Liga is a huge step down from the PL, and it's not as if he led one of the smaller clubs to glory.

I'd be far more concerned by an approach to Alonso, for example.
 
Are you that concerned?

He's got a solid track record but the Premeira Liga is a huge step down from the PL, and it's not as if he led one of the smaller clubs to glory.

I'd be far more concerned by an approach to Alonso, for example.

He won their first league title in 20 years, the Portuguese league has generally been dominated by Porto and Benfica during that period and now it’s back to being a three horse race largely because of him.

After Alonso he’s probably the hottest managerial property around at the moment. You can never be sure if he’ll adapt or not but he’s one of the best possible options Utd could get.
 
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Vini Jr and Madrid acting like petulant brats over him not winning the Ballon d’Or makes it that bit better he didn’t win it.

I’ll again say, he’s a fantastic player - as is Rodri - but he isn’t as good as many of the previous winners and not even better than some of the players who basically couldn’t have won it thanks to the Messi-Ronaldo dominance:

Neymar
Iniesta
Xavi
Busquets
Suarez
Pirlo
Ribery
Robben
Bale
Hazard
De Bruyne
Salah

It’s kind of mental just how good some of the players were in that period and yet there were two freaks of nature that were just a level above them. We currently don’t have anywhere near the amount of world class players playing right now as we did in the 2000s and 2010s.
 
Vini Jr and Madrid acting like petulant brats over him not winning the Ballon d’Or makes it that bit better he didn’t win it.

I’ll again say, he’s a fantastic player - as is Rodri - but he isn’t as good as many of the previous winners and not even better than some of the players who basically couldn’t have won it thanks to the Messi-Ronaldo dominance:

Neymar
Iniesta
Xavi
Busquets
Suarez
Pirlo
Ribery
Robben
Bale
Hazard
De Bruyne
Salah

It’s kind of mental just how good some of the players were in that period and yet there were two freaks of nature that were just a level above them. We currently don’t have anywhere near the amount of world class players playing right now as we did in the 2000s and 2010s.

Vini should have won it though.

He’s probably not as good as some on the list above but you can only compete against your own era and he’s been the best this year or two.
 
Vini should have won it though.

He’s probably not as good as some on the list above but you can only compete against your own era and he’s been the best this year or two.

Rodri probably did deserve it though, excellent and had success for club and country. Vini gets a lot of extra hype because he’s a flair player. Quite a few players actually bettered Vini for goals and assists too.
 
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Rodri probably did deserve it though, excellent and had success for club and country. Vini gets a lot of extra hype because he’s a flair player. Quite a few players actually bettered Vini for goals and assists too.

Rodri’s the best player in the world in his position and I can see why he was a contender but I just think Vini Jr deserved it as Real won the Chanpions League.

Vini Jr won the League and Champions League. Rodri won the League and Euros so guess it was close between the two of them.
 
Rodri’s the best player in the world in his position and I can see why he was a contender but I just think Vini Jr deserved it as Real won the Chanpions League.

Vini Jr won the League and Champions League. Rodri won the League and Euros so guess it was close between the two of them.

I think that’s why Rodri won as international success often trumps club success in the voting. Think back to Messi, Cannavaro etc.

The bloke is so ridiculously consistent too, almost never has a bad game. Just look at Madrid the other night, battered at home in an El Classico. Doubt Rodri has ever lost 4-0 at City, especially at the Etihad.
 
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Vinicius Jr scored 15 goals and got 8 assists in La Liga last season. Son scored 17 and got 10 assists in the Premier League.
The man had a decent season, but it's hardly sacrilege to suggest that someone else had a better one.

Kane scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga and got 8 assists. He also scored 8 in the Champions League and got 4 assists.
I don't see how Real Madrid doing better than Bayern is the basis for someone winning an individual award.
 
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Obviously I didn't watch this ****show, but that miss.... ****ing hell.
 
Vinicius Jr scored 15 goals and got 8 assists in La Liga last season. Son scored 17 and got 10 assists in the Premier League.
The man had a decent season, but it's hardly sacrilege to suggest that someone else had a better one.

Kane scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga and got 8 assists. He also scored 8 in the Champions League and got 4 assists.
I don't see how Real Madrid doing better than Bayern is the basis for someone winning an individual award.
Rodri was immense by every metric applied to midfielders of his type. It’s not all about attacking players - although the history of the award would generally suggest that it is. And it’s a team game. So individuals play a part, but they are limited by the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates, the team itself and their opponents.
 
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Rodri was immense by every metric applied to midfielders of his type. It’s not all about attacking players - although the history of the award would generally suggest that it is. And it’s a team game. So individuals play a part, but they are limited by the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates, the team itself and their opponents.
City also won virtually every game that he played, IIRC. His record was silly.
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It is a team game, but Real Madrid were a very good team.
It's an individual award. They won the team one and Ancelotti got the manager's one.
Surely someone doing arguably better in a worse team deserves it more?

I suspect that all of this Madrid bullshit is to distract from the sex scandal, anyway.
What sex scandal? Exactly.
 
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