Nominees for Balon D'Or

[Foye]

37 european.cups? you sure count the intertoto cups too do you?

im talking.about.current level of.play and.you come up with European cups from pre world war ii

right now we have 7 of 7 teams qualified.for.the next round in Europe.

we didnt do great in Europe in recent years but much.better than italian teams overall in the last 3 years or so. yes inter won.the cl but overall bundesliga teama had.more success

[and1GS]

Messi's suit was awful. C'mon maaaaaaan.

[Massimo]

What success? Except Bayern Munich, there is no success. You are again talking about of your dream world.

[Foye]

What success? Except Bayern Munich, there is no success. You are again talking about of your dream world.

Well considering the poor play of Italians we didn't need to do much to overtake Italy in the 5 year coefficient.

2009/10
CL:
Inter and Bayern in the final, Inter won.
Fiorentina, Milan and Stuttgart in the round of 16

2010/11:
CL:
Schalke semi final, beat Inter in the quarter final.
Other Italian teams & Bayern Munich eliminated in the round of 16

2011/12:
CL:
Munich runners up
Milan quarter final
Rest of Italian teams & Leverkusen eliminated in round of 16
Dortmund flop

So despite the fact we have had less starters in the CL we have actually had more appearances in the final/semi final in recent years. Whereas other than Inter in 2009/10 (which is a long time ago now - and they have regressed a lot) Italian teams tend to set their eyes on departure very soon.
Juve 2012/13 is the first strong Italian team in the CL competition since 2009/10...whereas a German team has at least reached the semi final three consequtive times.


Europa League:
2009/10:
Hamburg made it to the semi final.
Wolfsburg quarter final
Juve only Italian team to reach round of 16

2010/11:
All Italian teams eliminated prior to round of 16, Leverkusen only German team in round of 16.

2011/12:
Hannover and Schalke both eliminated by later finalists A. Madrid and Bilbao.
Udinese Calcio only Italian team to reach round of 16.

2012/13:
7 of 7 German teams advance in CL and EL, including all three CL teams first in their group.
5 of 6 Italian teams advance in CL and EL, only two in the CL, though.

You can tell me what you want about Italian teams not liking EL competition. Fact is, Italian teams haven't produced in Europe. Neither in the Europa League and certainly not in the CL either (other than Inter of course).

[treiz]

So I'm guessing the FIFPro XI is like the All-Star game now? Never thought I'd see the day, but FIFA has been sucking some Catalan hard ons for few years now

[J-Mezzy]

Massimo, you are right, team success has historically mattered in this award; however, when a player has as dominant a season as Messi had, you have to give him the award.

[Massimo]

Foye;

That's exactly what I am saying though. If you look at the statistics that was given by you; there is not much difference between Serie A teams and Bundesliga teams. But the way you guys are talking is like I am comparing Barcelona with Getafe or something. They are pretty much the same.

Also, don't forget about Calciopoli. That's the reason why Italian teams haven't been their best because of it. Juve relegated and lost so many players. AC Milan was the finalist in 2005's CL but Calciopoli made them being deducted 44 points. Juventus went to Serie B and paid 31 million of pounds fine.

For EL, you already mentioned it. Italian teams don't give a god damn thing about EL. For CL, despite the fact they had so many problems(economy, calciopoli etc) they still won the CL once where Bayern Munich were the two finalists for last two of total of 3 years.

As a result, you can't say Bundesliga is much much better than Serie A because even though all the problems that Serie A had, they still won the CL. Italian teams will get better and once they are back to their normal form; they will dominate it again. Even though, they have been sucking with every aspect of football(star players, economy etc.) they are still equal to Bundesliga. Once they get their power and strength back; for sure they will be much better than other leagues.

[Foye]

No.Massimo. Dont.tell me.they.did equal.There is a difference between having a team in the semi final/final three seasons in a row rather than winning it once three years.ago. The difference is.consistency.

[MaliBrah]

rumour going around that thiago silva voted ronaldo , but his vote was tallied as a vote to messi.. lmao

[5DOM]

apparently Buffon and Gabon's coach too

[MaliBrah]

oh wow , seems a little odd , wonder if true

i hate the ballon d'or anyways , in 2010 so many people got confused between xavi and xabi and xabi alonso received some of xavi's votes and it might have been enough for him to have won if I remember correctly.

wesely sneijder was robbed of the 2010 ballon d'or though , such a shame.

[Man of Steel]

rumour going around that thiago silva voted ronaldo , but his vote was tallied as a vote to messi.. lmao

Any idea where it' coming from? Saw a quote floating around from Buffon saying CR deserved it for his La Liga season and Euro 2012 run but it wasn't sourced or anything. Doesn't seem to agree with his votes as FIFA shows them (Pirlo 1st makes sense, but why would he put Messi ahead of CR if he thought CR deserved it?)

I think CR is really the only one who cares about losing, most Madrid fans are plenty happy with the way he plays regardless of the award, and he's working his way up the list of Madrid's greatest.

[TheAdmiral]

wesely sneijder was robbed of the 2010 ballon d'or though , such a shame.

I couldn't have agreed more, Wesley was a beast that year. This award has become a joke.

[TheAdmiral]

rumour going around that thiago silva voted ronaldo , but his vote was tallied as a vote to messi.. lmao

Source?