Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball)

Who will be the winner of Golden Ball this Year ?

  • Kaka'

    Votes: 27 39.7%
  • Andrea Pirlo

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • Leo Messi

    Votes: 12 17.6%
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Francesco Totti

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Ronaldinho

    Votes: 3 4.4%
  • Luca Toni

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Frank Ribery

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Riquelme

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Francesc Fabregas

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Gigi Buffon

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cristiano Ronaldo

    Votes: 9 13.2%
  • Didier Drogba

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Steven Gerard

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Genaro Gattuso

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Wayne Rooney

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Paul Scholes

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Ruud van Nistelrooy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • David Villa

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Paolo Maldini

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Deco

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Thierry Henry

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Diego

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Ricardo Quaresma

    Votes: 1 1.5%
  • Clarence Seedorf

    Votes: 2 2.9%
  • Miroslav Klose

    Votes: 1 1.5%

  • Total voters
    68

manutd fan

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drucurl said:
I hate haters talking about this isn't worth it and that isn't worth it because the player they like gets an award or the player they don't like gets it etc....CR& deserved this and any other award he got for last season simply because he was on fire and his teams' successes were heavily reliant on his performances.

Michael Owen also deserved his award. He was simply on fire and it saddens me to see they way the Brits are going crazy over Rooney when really the talent Owen had was really unmatched. I doubt Rooney will ever win this award because he can never be as devastating as Owen was. Height and Strength aside....a fully fit Owen (provided that he still has his speed wich is doubtful) owns Rooney in every imagineable way

Owens finished. Injuries have taken there toll and he is now fairly slow, probably as fast as Tevez.

He is still an wesome finisher though and he has bulked up a lot recently to make up for his loss of pace.

Though Rooney, when on form, is better IMO. He can be the best English player since Gasgoine, aslong as his finishing improves.

I can't believe Gerrard got in that list. There were many better players IMO last year.
 

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drucurl said:
Michael Owen also deserved his award. He was simply on fire and it saddens me to see they way the Brits are going crazy over Rooney when really the talent Owen had was really unmatched. I doubt Rooney will ever win this award because he can never be as devastating as Owen was. Height and Strength aside....a fully fit Owen (provided that he still has his speed wich is doubtful) owns Rooney in every imagineable way
Word. I think Owen had a lot more goalscoring talent, and was a MUCH better prospect for the future than Pooney is right now or probably will ever be. Owen's talent though was limited to being the goalscorer - he was never the assist man, never the guy that creates the goal. Booney is just a different sort of player to that, but if i was given a choice between Michael Owen in 2001 or Gayne Loony in 2004-2008, there is just no contest.



Owen wins it hands down as far as end result goes. He was an absolute GUARANTEE for goals at his peak - very few strikers are ever a guarantee for goals - of course rotundo was one of those.....Crespo in the late 90s/early 2000s, Batistuta, Vieri and Adriano at their peak. Owen was up there with the best of them, and Wayne Drooley isnt anywhere near the top striker in the world right now. I dont think anyone apart from Man U fans would really think he was.


Edit:
And on a slight on-topic note

I dont see why the hell Messy is ranked 2nd. He has done nothing last year, apart from dribble through people. His team won NOTHING, in fact had a rather rotten year. If trophies are that important to this 'award', then wtf happened there? :o
 
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radioactivenerd said:
I dont see why the hell Messy is ranked 2nd. He has done nothing last year, apart from dribble through people. His team won NOTHING, in fact had a rather rotten year. If trophies are that important to this 'award', then wtf happened there? :o
Somebody isn't informed what Argetines won last year?

Somebody[undirected] should also copy/paste the goal.com LOL-votes here :)
 

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Jasper said:
Somebody isn't informed what Argetines won last year?
Don't tell me you think the Olympics, which is officially an under 23 tournament should count for deciding who the best player in the world is?
 

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radioactivenerd said:
. I dont think anyone apart from Man U fans would really think he was.


:o

Even they/we don't. BUT if he was able to finish then I'd put him right up there. He has everything else in his game. Its just he couldn't hit water if he fell off a boat.
 

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manutd fan said:
Even they/we don't. BUT if he was able to finish then I'd put him right up there. He has everything else in his game. Its just he couldn't hit water if he fell off a boat.
YET you'd rank him above Owen :rolleyes: Owen has to walk on stilts just to reach Rooney's waist and is STILL better at headding the ball than Rooney. Not meaning to take a piss out of him (you know I have a lot of respect for most of the team but I was in perpetual PMS mode after EA rated him 92 and gave Ronaldo 84 :mad: )
 

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drucurl said:
YET you'd rank him above Owen :rolleyes: Owen has to walk on stilts just to reach Rooney's waist and is STILL better at headding the ball than Rooney. Not meaning to take a piss out of him (you know I have a lot of respect for most of the team but I was in perpetual PMS mode after EA rated him 92 and gave Ronaldo 84 :mad: )

Rooney and Owen are about the same height, Rooney might be an inch taller or so.

But Rooney and Owen are two different players. Rooney's finishing isn't a patch on Owens, but Owens all round play and creativity aren't a patch on Rooney's.
 

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manutd fan said:
Rooney and Owen are about the same height, Rooney might be an inch taller or so.

But Rooney and Owen are two different players. Rooney's finishing isn't a patch on Owens, but Owens all round play and creativity aren't a patch on Rooney's.
Rooney is 5'-10" Owen is 5'-8" ask any woman what 2" difference makes :o

At their peak, Owen was faster, better control better dribbler and had a great footballing BRAIN. Plus he never got sent off for doing dumb shit. Owen was a monster at Real Madrid....even though he was sparingly used. Rooney ass has been shined ever since he wore red for ManU or White for england
Anyway Owen won the golden ball and Rooney didn't and most likely won't.....add that to the fact that Owen never even won the cl and it's no contest really
 
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drucurl said:
Rooney is 5'-10" Owen is 5'-8" ask any woman what 2" difference makes :o

At their peak, Owen was faster, better control better dribbler and had a great footballing BRAIN. Plus he never got sent off for doing dumb shit. Owen was a monster at Real Madrid....even though he was sparingly used. Rooney ass has been shined ever since he wore red for ManU or White for england

beckham + owen = goal :D

 

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drucurl said:
Rooney is 5'-10" Owen is 5'-8" ask any woman what 2" difference makes :o

At their peak, Owen was faster, better control better dribbler and had a great footballing BRAIN. Plus he never got sent off for doing dumb shit. Owen was a monster at Real Madrid....even though he was sparingly used. Rooney ass has been shined ever since he wore red for ManU or White for england
Anyway Owen won the golden ball and Rooney didn't and most likely won't.....add that to the fact that Owen never even won the cl and it's no contest really
Rooney has/had a MUCH greater footballing brain. Your comparing to completely different players. Owen is a goalscorer. Rooney is a creator of goals.
 

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radioactivenerd said:
Don't tell me you think the Olympics, which is officially an under 23 tournament should count for deciding who the best player in the world is?
I'm saying he wasn't empty-handed.
 

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Now FIFA World Player of the Year Award awaits him. As far as FIFA World Player of the Year is concern, for me nothing beats what the Barcelona did. They got 4 winners, all Brazilian and their names all started with letter R: Romario, Ronaldo Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

If Roque Jr moved to Barca he will certainly continue the tradition :D or maybe Kaka will go there and do it using Ricardo as his name.
 

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radioactivenerd said:
Word. I think Owen had a lot more goalscoring talent, and was a MUCH better prospect for the future than Pooney is right now or probably will ever be. Owen's talent though was limited to being the goalscorer - he was never the assist man, never the guy that creates the goal. Booney is just a different sort of player to that, but if i was given a choice between Michael Owen in 2001 or Gayne Loony in 2004-2008, there is just no contest.



Owen wins it hands down as far as end result goes. He was an absolute GUARANTEE for goals at his peak - very few strikers are ever a guarantee for goals - of course rotundo was one of those.....Crespo in the late 90s/early 2000s, Batistuta, Vieri and Adriano at their peak. Owen was up there with the best of them, and Wayne Drooley isnt anywhere near the top striker in the world right now. I dont think anyone apart from Man U fans would really think he was.


To be honest with you, i had the exact same opinion about Owen until last season. I never really followed his progress in a complete season and was restricted to watching him play about 6-8 matches a season. I always thought he was a class above others and probably one of the best strikers in the world Well my opinion change last season when i found out that Torres was the first player to score more than 30 goals a season for Liverpool for many years. I did a research and found out that Owen (who like you mentioned his talent is limited to his goal scoring ability) scored 28 goals. In 2006, Rooney scored 23 goals. Since his ability is not only restricted to scoring goals, he also managed to get somewhere between (13-15 assist) that season. For me that record alone is better than what Owen did in 2001. And to be honest, i don't even think that is good enough to win the Ballon d'Or. Players like Torres, Adebayour and a few others have scored more but did not win it. The only reason he probably won it was because Cesspool won a crappy version of a treble (Carling Cup, Uefa Cup and FA Cup) that season.
 

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manutd fan said:
Rooney has/had a MUCH greater footballing brain. Your comparing to completely different players. Owen is a goalscorer. Rooney is a creator of goals.
Doesn't matter....is Eto'o better than Di Natale? Sure he is! Even though Di Natale is more of a 2nd forward and Eto'o is more of a #9, Eto'o is better at what he does. At their peak Owen could be mentioned in the same breath as the very top strikers in the world.

Could Rooney really be classed with Aguero, Messi, Zlatan, ADP, Van Persie ?(all second forwards, #7)
 

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drucurl said:
Doesn't matter....is Eto'o better than Di Natale? Sure he is! Even though Di Natale is more of a 2nd forward and Eto'o is more of a #9, Eto'o is better at what he does. At their peak Owen could be mentioned in the same breath as the very top strikers in the world.

Could Rooney really be classed with Aguero, Messi, Zlatan, ADP, Van Persie ?(all second forwards, #7)

Definately Van Persie. But right now, no, the likes of Zlatan, Aguero ect are probably better - but if/when Rooney learns how to finish (he is now spending more time on his finishing after training) he will be up there.

I would say though that although I don't watch Athletico that much (except when there on Sky Sports) I read somewhere that Aguero is a bit of a big game bottler, might not be true but I definately read that somewhere.

Ibrahamovic is also fairly poor in the big games.

Messi has the potenital to be on higher level than anyone playing at the moment, so he's definately better.

Rooney is often our best player. He also sets the tempo of matches, despite being a CF.

If Rooney can find consistancy in his finishing he can be the best striker in the world, and I honestly believe thats true, even when I take off my manutd hat.

He's only 23 and if you look at Henry - his finishing was terrible up until he was around 26 - then it became incredible. Rooney's finishing could go on a similar path
 

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Perhaps Rooney should play as a midfielder :D
 

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Imahomobitch is not fairly, but terribly poor in big matches... Aguero seemed to be quite good on those, however.
 

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^ I'd take Ibra in a heartbeat.
 

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Bravo 4 CR7.
Ppl who vote 4 this award r as stupid as ppl in this forum who voted 4 Kaka :D
Messi is a great player but I can name 4-5 players easily who v done better : Zlatan , Torres ......
 

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N3d0 said:
^ I'd take Ibra in a heartbeat.
So would I. Love him or hate him, some of the things he does are amazing. I always think he is a rich mans Berbatov. (in other words, very similar only better in every department and a lot more pace)

N3d0 said:
Perhaps Rooney should play as a midfielder :D
Actually there has been a lot of talk about him replacing Scholes when he retires.
 

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manutd fan said:
So would I. Love him or hate him, some of the things he does are amazing. I always think he is a rich mans Berbatov. (in other words, very similar only better in every department and a lot more pace)


Actually there has been a lot of talk about him replacing Scholes when he retires.
f**k no :mad: you guys already f**ked over Alan Smith after the guy sweat blood in any shit position Fergie put him.....Leave Rooney alone! He mightn't (ever :D ) win the golden ball but he is still a damn good striker!
 

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drucurl said:
f**k no :mad: you guys already f**ked over Alan Smith after the guy sweat blood in any shit position Fergie put him.....Leave Rooney alone! He mightn't (ever :D ) win the golden ball but he is still a damn good striker!

Lol to be fair that was forced due to injuries. Smith was a bit of a shocker at CM, except vs Chelsea when he beat them single handedly :D http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FglHqd8pBUw :D
 

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I don't find that funny at all. Smith worked his ass off for United. His "injuries" really weren't because he was injury prone...but he broke his foot (if I remember correctly). Fergie used him and spit him out...just like he did with many other players.....the sad thing about it was that Smith loved United...He wasn't a bad striker either...just needed a bit of tweaking.

Manutd will never be as classy as Milan. People can shit on Carlo as much as they want but he is a real gentleman and is as classy as they come.
 

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drucurl said:
Manutd will never be as classy as Milan. People can shit on Carlo as much as they want but he is a real gentleman and is as classy as they come.
roger that

when you add fergie or manu in the sentence carlo seems like a angel for me.
 

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You always have to respect Fergie for his tremendous achievements as a manager. The man is a total legend as a manager but I've often found him lacking as a person....it would be interesting what he would say in his defense after everybody was shitting on Wenger for not having more Englishmen in his team when his team eventually has 3 or less
 

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drucurl said:
You always have to respect Fergie for his tremendous achievements as a manager. The man is a total legend as a manager but I've often found him lacking as a person....it would be interesting what he would say in his defense after everybody was shitting on Wenger for not having more Englishmen in his team when his team eventually has 3 or less

Without meaning to sound to aggresive - that his rubbish. If you knew and followed Fergie as a person you'd find a new found respect for him. The things he does for charity are amazing.

There is a massive misconception of him as a person. The manager you see on the touchline every week is completely different to Alex Fergsuon the person.

Thats why he is loved by ALL the other managers for his humility and the way he helps other managers. (bar wenger) All former legends i.e Sir Bobby Robson love him aswell for the things Fergie does for them.

Managers like Lippi also really get on with him for this reason.

Every week there is some sought of show/meal/auction/whatever for people who need help. He personally goes out of his way in his free time to visit hospices for children who's lives are about to be cut short.

He is ruthless for players that don't deserve 100%. Yorke with his partying ways - Becks putting his moddeling over football, RVN walking out ect. But he is loved by all other players. You only need to listen to what Yorke says about him (had a big interview on MUTV the other day)

He is contantly helping managers in lower divisions and sticking up for them. He is always writing hand written letter of congratulations to managers (last season to Redknapp for winning the FA Cup - despite the way in which the nocked us out) and he did the same to Rafa after Liverpool won the CL and Ancelotti after Milan won the CL in 2007.

Fergies reputation for being a fiery scott goes before him. He has tons of class and you'll realise this once you watch/listen/read about him as a person.
Like I said before the Fergie you see on the touchline every week is nothing like the real Fergie.
 

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fergeson is a loyal man. u stay loyal to him and manutd, he'll do anything for you... you cross him he'll cut you off.

btw manutd fan can you explain his deal w/ no interviews w/ bbc. I know it involves his son, but i dont know whole story
 

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Milano84 said:
fergeson is a loyal man. u stay loyal to him and manutd, he'll do anything for you... you cross him he'll cut you off.

btw manutd fan can you explain his deal w/ no interviews w/ bbc. I know it involves his son, but i dont know whole story

Yeah they did a program saying that his son and brother, who are agents - broke the rules and were involved in dodgy dealings.

Then an investigation went underway and they were found innocent, but the bbc refused to apoligised, so Fergie swore to never appear on there program again, except to give sir Bobby Robson a lfetime achievment award which he did out of respect.

Redkhnapp and Allardyce all had similar things happen, albeit not as bad so they boycotted the BBC for a while aswell.
 

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manutd fan said:
Without meaning to sound to aggresive - that his rubbish. If you knew and followed Fergie as a person you'd find a new found respect for him. The things he does for charity are amazing.

There is a massive misconception of him as a person. The manager you see on the touchline every week is completely different to Alex Fergsuon the person.

Thats why he is loved by ALL the other managers for his humility and the way he helps other managers. (bar wenger) All former legends i.e Sir Bobby Robson love him aswell for the things Fergie does for them.

Managers like Lippi also really get on with him for this reason.

Every week there is some sought of show/meal/auction/whatever for people who need help. He personally goes out of his way in his free time to visit hospices for children who's lives are about to be cut short.

He is ruthless for players that don't deserve 100%. Yorke with his partying ways - Becks putting his moddeling over football, RVN walking out ect. But he is loved by all other players. You only need to listen to what Yorke says about him (had a big interview on MUTV the other day)

He is contantly helping managers in lower divisions and sticking up for them. He is always writing hand written letter of congratulations to managers (last season to Redknapp for winning the FA Cup - despite the way in which the nocked us out) and he did the same to Rafa after Liverpool won the CL and Ancelotti after Milan won the CL in 2007.

Fergies reputation for being a fiery scott goes before him. He has tons of class and you'll realise this once you watch/listen/read about him as a person.
Like I said before the Fergie you see on the touchline every week is nothing like the real Fergie.
point(s) well taken.... however I think he could have done better with the aforementioned had he been more patient.

Becks, Stam, RVN and Forlan all went on to achieve gret things elsewhere and Yorke has been inspirational for Trinidad and Tobago. I guess there's a fine line between patience and stupidity and both Carlo and Fergie have crossed it on many occasions.

I maintain that loyalty is not one of Fergie's strengths. Stam, Bosnic, Keane, Yorke, Becks, Smith, RVN and Forlan might all agree though it must be said that he laboured extensively with Forlan prior to selling him.....but the thing is....he sells him when he finally starts scoring. The only player I've seen him keep the faith with was Ole.
 
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