Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? - Sports - Nairaland
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| Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by tunero1010(m): 2:12pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
Cristiano Ronaldo is a worldwide superstar. According to FIFA he is also, officially, the "best player in the world". After another prolific 2014, most football fans are once and for all concluding that Ronaldo has taken over as the best player in the world and it would be inconceivable to see anybody else lift the Ballon D'or in Zurich this upcoming January. Most people think Ronaldo is taking football to a new level with his goalscoring whilst a much smaller following believe that Ronaldo is nothing more than a goal machine and needs to improve before he is a deserving winner of the Ballon D'or. After many arguments and a few requests, I decided to write a blog on why I don't think Ronaldo has been the best player in 2014. I did want to save this for a few weeks but I have a lot of people who, I think, are keen to see me crash and burn on the topic. For those interested in having a look at this blog, then I must warn you it is going to be quite the read and I don't say that lightly. In order to get all my points across successfully, I had to do some serious research and some serious writing. * If you do read it, I guarantee it will be well worth it and if you're one of my friends, you can no longer question why I think Ronaldo is overrated. I wanted to compare Ronaldo to 5 or 6 of the best players in the world as I thought the gap in the quality wasn't too dissimilar. Unfortunately due to injuries, suspensions etc., the only player worth comparing Ronaldo to was, as always, Lionel Messi. It's hard to argue he's not the best player in the World when he's scored 51 goals so far isn't it? Well of course, I'm going to start by adding some further context to his goal scoring achievements. 1. He scores a lot of goals against poor teams: Pretty much the only argument that people use to justify their belief that Ronaldo is the best player in the world follows a very select and similar few lines. "He's got 275 goals in 264 games for Real Madrid, he's clearly the best in the world" or something to that effect. Ronaldo scores an insane amount of goals. That is a fact. A player seen as the ultimate goal machine who for this reason and this reason alone is believed to then be the cream of the crop in his generation. Without context, this goal tally seems phenomenal, in fact, even with context it's still fantastic. But the truth is, once you get down to the bare bones of it, Ronaldo scores a lot of his goals against poor sides. So far in this 2014/15 season, Ronaldo has scored 25 goals in 20 games (18 in 10 La Liga games). But when you see who the goals have been scored against, they become slightly less impressive. Out of those 18 league goals, 15 have come against teams in the bottom half of La Liga, with 11 of those coming against sides in the bottom 5 including a hat-trick against newly promoted Deportivo and 4 against 18th placed Elche. He also bagged a hat- trick against a struggling Bilbao who only in recent weeks have climbed out of the bottom 6. So what about the other 3 goals he's scored? A penalty against Barcelona, a penalty against Atletico and a goal against 8th placed Villareal. I'm going to stray as far away from bias as possible in this blog and to be fair to Ronaldo, he can only score against what is in front of him and he still has to take advantage of the defences he is playing against so it would be very harsh to completely judge him based on this. After all, all top strikers fill their boots against the smaller sides.... 2. A lot of his goals hold no relevance: Ronaldo scores so many goals that it can be hard to keep up them. But if you take the time (and god knows I have) to analyse them all, you suddenly start to realise that the influence of Ronaldo's goals on games is quite minimal. Of course, when you score so many goals, they're not all going to be match winners or goals to break the deadlock but looking back to 2014 another prolific year for Ronaldo, you realise a lot of these goals haven't made much difference. I had a look at how many times Ronaldo scores for Real Madrid or Portugal to either give his team the lead or equalise, regardless of the final score. Of Ronaldo's 51 goals so far this year, 24 (47%) of them have either given his team the lead regardless of the score or have been equalisers during the match, again, regardless of what score the game finished up as. For the purpose of the blog we're going to call these "significant goals". So how impressive is that? Well luckily for Ronaldo it's pretty impressive and any team in the world would get a huge boost from this but in comparison to some of Europe's other top strikers, Ronaldo doesn't fare as well. Lionel Messi, has scored 42 goals in 2014 with 25 (60%) of them being "significant" with players such as Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa both scoring a slightly higher percentage of significant goals than Ronaldo also. This is still impressive. But the fact remains that Lionel Messi outscores Ronaldo in terms of the number of significant goals scored and dwarfs him in relative percentages, despite scoring 9 less than the Portuguese superstar this year. 3. Ronaldo has a higher proportion of penalty goals: Simple point here. When determining whether a player is the best in the world, you have to look at all angles, unfortunately, most do not. Ronaldo has outscored Messi is general this season but he also scores a higher portion of penalty goals than Lionel Messi. In 2014, Ronaldo has scored 51 goals, 10 (20%) of these were penalties compared to Messi who's portion of penalty goals was just 6 in 42 (14%). These aren't huge differences between the two players but it is still a difference that closes that apparent "gulf" between Ronaldo's goalscoring in 2014 and Lionel Messi's. This point is also a handy one to remember for when we come to tackle conversion rates in point 6. 4. Ronaldo often doesn't produce enough goals when his team is up against it: It's easy for Ronaldo to run around banging in hat-tricks every other weekend against his opposition when Madrid and Portugal are battering teams by 3 or 4 goals and playing well. But what about when Ronaldo's teams aren't playing well? Well in 2014, there have been 21 (competitive) games for club and country where his team have struggled to squeeze out a result and have either scraped through by a single goal or not won the match. In these 21 games, Ronaldo scored 11 goals (0.52 per game) with all 11 of those goals being significant goals. More importantly, of those 11 goals, 4 of them were winners (37%). In comparison, Messi found himself during 2014, taking part in 28 games where his team either scraped through by a single goal or didn't win the game, in those games, Messi scored 15 goals (0.54 per game) with all 15 of them being significant and 6 (40%) of them being winners. Some say it's a little bit harsh to judge Ronaldo on this area seeing as football is a team game and there are 10 other world class players on the pitch with Cristiano. The same could be said about Messi, Aguero and any other footballer for that matter, but when a player tries to make himself the centre stage as frequently and obsessively as Ronaldo then he deserves both adulation and heavy criticism when Madrid win or lose (which I will touch upon in point 10). However minute the differences may be, Lionel Messi, across 2014, has still scored more goals per game and more winners in difficult fixtures than Ronaldo. .................Asantehenedehyekronkron Ernest-coutinho Pytha |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by chuksila(m): 2:14pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
He still remains the best |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by simplemach(m): 2:17pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
This crap is just too long, but in summary, just give it to him (CR7) 5 Likes |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by otbliz(m): 2:45pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
Is that a question ? |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Baddestguyp(m): 3:11pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
op, first of all, we all know the ballon d or is not based on performance but on goals, yes someone might mention d golden boot but we all know most people vote cos of goals. we keep hearing headlines about ronaldo bagging hat tricks but how many people care how those hat tricks are scored. just like a particular game this season where Madrid were having a tough game but ronaldo dived to win a penalty and converted it, he got a hat trick in that game with a crooked penalty and two tap ins. note: Hw wasn't even involved in the build up of those goals. just like most of his goals this season. messi on the other hand is involved in the build up of over 80% of his goals. messi has played half the games this year barely fit but still managed a good record. messi gets very little space due to barca's tiki taka game. as for Neuer, no keeper in the world hasn't conceded goals but Neuer has the best save rate in the world, his saves has helped his teams (bayern and Germany win cups) but how often does a keeper make headlines. he is underrated, even his many criticizers don't watch bundesliga. finally, my ballon d'or opinion is that Neuer deserves to win it cos he has been consistent all through. with messi in second place cos of his performance even without goals. ronaldo gets 3rd place cos he has scored a lot and won trophies. but I'm not the one voting, let those voting decide (tho politics has a large effect on the award) 2 Likes |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Ograke(m): 4:00pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
Rubbish. When FIFA gives him the accolade on Sunday, snatch it from him and give it to whom you think is more deserving. Haters everywhere. 3 Likes |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by chusks(m): 4:13pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
Baddestguyp:@bad-belle-guyp dis is 2015 for Christ sake, flee 4rm ur badbelleism... 1 Like
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| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by HenCq15: 10:14pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
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| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by thegoodjoehunt3(m): 10:38pm On Jan 04, 2015 |
Baddestguyp:[b] Manuel Neuer's Ballon D'or Nomination Is A Joke Time and time again, we get this strange Ballon D'or nomination that does not make sense. First time I noticed this was in the 1998 Ballon D'or crowning of Zidane which was absolutely ridiculous. Ronaldo De Lima was clearly the best player in the European Leagues and in the European tournaments. Ronaldo scored the winning goal and he was rightly named the best player in Europe by UEFA. In the World Cup, Ronaldo De Lima was the best player of the tournament. His magical performance against Netherland was a crowning achievement. FIFA gave it to Zidane because it was a World Cup year. The question is was Zidane the best player of the year? Was he the best player of the French side that conquered France '98? Zidane was given a red card in that tournament and did not play all the games. He scored two goals in the final but Thuram scored two goals in the quarter finals, being a defender, played all the matches and did not get a red card. So why Zidane? Canavaro in 2006. He was given the award because a defending Italy won the World Cup. Hilarious. First of all, Juventus were caught up in a match fixing scandal. Canavaro was part oof that team and should not qualify for the award. Then, was Canavaro the best player of the Italian side? Andrea Pirlo was clearly the best player. In the opening game, he was named the man of the match by coding the opening goal and setting up Iaquinta against Ghana. In the second match against USA, he set up a goal for Gilardino from a free kick. In the semifinal, he assisted Grosso's goal and was named man of the match a second time. He was named mam of the match the third time in the final. He assisted Materazzi's goal. Goes Canavaro won that Ballon D'or is shocking. He should not have been on the list. Now we have another atrocious one. Manuel Neuer. Why is he on the list? It baffles me. He plays in sides where he hardly gets tested. He does not make much saves. Are we going to say his heroics led Germany to win the World Cup? The stats by Castro shows Toni Kroos was the best player of the tournament. If it was Toni Kroos listed, it would have been better. If I ask what is the criteria that is used to put Manuel Neuer on that list? I doubt anyone will have credible answer. Whether Neuer wins the Ballon D'or or not, the harm has already been done. I do not see why Neuer should be ahead of Yaya Toure in that list. Talk less of the likes of Muller, Kroos, Jerome Boateng who worked hard to keep Bayern and Germany Successful. https://www.nairaland.com/2033905/manuel-neuers-ballon-dor-nomination[/b] 1 Like |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by tuffgongjo(m): 10:21am On Jan 05, 2015 |
I A̶̲̥̅♏ trying to find a good point in the hogwash the op posted. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by datyrone(m): 12:39pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
the ballon dor is for the most outstanding player in 12months.we all know that no player in d world is above messi and ronaldo based on their exploits and consistency in the last 6-5 years.the three finalists are ronaldo,neuer and messi.we all know who deserves it,no need to dissect important or unimportant goals.messi wud have won this ballon dor if he won the world cup and if barcelona had stopped athletico madrid from winning la liga on match 38. ronaldo had a phenomenal year than messi,excluding the world cup.messi ended up as runner up in la liga,copa del rey and the world cup.neuer is a superb revolutionary goalkeeper but its difficult to win the ballon dor being paired against the natural genius of messi and the athletic prowess of ronaldo. yes neuer won the world cup with germany...he is part of the dominant and impressive bayern munich.if he wins it know its the worldcup factor.i think there should be three ballon dors fot the final three outstanding players |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by realestworld(m): 6:41pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
op after all e did in 2014 u still dey ask dis kind question? infact na ur papa deserve am |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by gbeseun(m): 6:59pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
Baddestguyp: Keep writing rubbish,cr7 is d best,its all over for Ur messing |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 7:33pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
gbeseun:you know one thing i hate about cr7 fans like you? You just dont give reasons why it should be or why it should not. Look at Thegoodjoehunt3, he will give you points and reasons why cr7 shud win it but most of u will come and say cr7 for ballon d'or without looking at the issue logically yet you are bashing a person that gives a very intelligent opinion which may be wrong or right. Waiting for intelligent football analysts that are cr7 fans like krasid that will give me points not guys who crush on cr7 So please....... |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by thegoodjoehunt3(m): 10:46pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma: Cristiano Ronaldo has without doubt had his best ever professional year individually, and has claimed the Champions League, the Golden Shoe and the record for the highest goalscorer in an edition of the Champions League, as well as the Copa del Rey and the top-scorer award in La Liga. In the current season, he has won the European Super Cup, scoring both goals in the match, and is achieving spectacular figures such as his 20 goals in the first 12 matchdays of La Liga, which confirm his great moment of form and ensure that, more than ever. He deserves the Ballon D'or. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by onyeomaonyeoma(m): 10:48pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
As far as 2014 is concerned CR7 remains d best player on dis planet, so Op wot u wrote up der is balderdash. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 10:53pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
thegoodjoehunt3:yes he does but i still feel Messi is better. The argument is always Messi vs Ronaldo but on a logical basis it should be Messi's best form vs Ronado vs Ronaldo's best form. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 10:54pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
onyeomaonyeoma:okay oh....oboy e don tey since i see u for this section oh....wetin happen? |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by thegoodjoehunt3(m): 11:00pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:Messi was not at his best last year. The World Cup golden ball was a joke. CR7 tore his ligament last year. He also played with the worst team to play for Portugal. That was why he did not have an amazing World cup. Apart from that, he was phenomenal than Messi. Also the fact Tata Martino saved Messi for the World Cup at the expense of Barca shoes Messi could not go the whole lap. This was evident in one of the Champions league games against Athletic Madrid where he almost covered the least distance on the field. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by thegoodjoehunt3(m): 11:04pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma: BARCELONA KEEPER PINTO ALMOST RAN MORE THAN MESSI IN ATLETICO MADRID DEFEAT Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto almost ran more than Lionel Messi during last night's Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid. Messi was hardly spotted during the 90 minutes as Barca tumbled out of Europe at the Vicente Calderon. The Argentine managed to run 6.8km during the game - while Pinto, in Barca's goal, managed 5.3km - a difference of only 1.5km! Messi also averaged almost 64 touches per Champions League game this season - but last night he managed to take possession just 39 times. http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/barcelona-keeper-pinto-almost-ran-more-messi-atletico-madrid-defeat-4016616#.VKsKWGYo_xA This is not the kind of performance we expect from a Player to lift the Ballon D'or. Give it to CR7. 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 11:13pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
thegoodjoehunt3:Messi's worst year and he is nominated in the top 3, i remember cr7 worst year, he wasnt in the top 3. That portugal worst team is a big excuse, what of costa rica and the USA that progressed? |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by thegoodjoehunt3(m): 11:18pm On Jan 05, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:If CR7 has a terrible year, he does not deserve the Ballon D'or. Messi did not perform better than CR7 last year and so he does not sides serve the award. Concerning Messi vs CR7. Messi peaked early but I do not see him being explosive in the next three years. I still see CR7 performing on this level in years to come. So I take CR7. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by tuffgongjo(m): 7:13am On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:Clinton,we are talking about a year(season)not their best form$even Ray Charles can see that Ronaldo had a better year than Messi. 1 Like |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by tuffgongjo(m): 7:16am On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:Because he it was his worst doesn't mean he won't make the top 3 because it is better than most players best year,but CR7 had a better year than him. 1 Like |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Elcapo(m): 11:52am On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:Why don't Ɣ٥u give us †Ϟε reason why Messi was †Ϟε world's best player in †Ϟε year 2010? When he never scored a goal in †Ϟε world cup not even talk °ƒ reach †Ϟε finals and neither did he won †Ϟε champions league or reach †Ϟε finals one °ƒ his lowest form in his career 'trophy wise' yet he was crowned †̥ђƺ best player in †Ϟε world! 2 Likes |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 12:03pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
Elcapo:if ronaldo is going to win it this year because he ended as top scorer, messi also deserved it that year since he did the same. Or if u wanna use world cup as a criteria, Toni Kroos, Messi or Robben will win it. |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Elcapo(m): 12:24pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:No that's not what I'm trying to say... If Messi won it without winning †Ϟε world cup, Or even without winning †̥ђƺ champs league xcept for la liga "maybe" and †̥ђƺ goals he scored.... Ronaldo deserve it than any other player in the game! He's won it all 'xcluding world cup'!!! 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 12:40pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
Elcapo:Did u know dat messi was being saved for the worldcup by tata....have u ever seen messi been knocked out of CL without showing sign of sadness? |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Elcapo(m): 12:59pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:So if he wasn't rested would he av prevented u guys from crashing out °ƒ UCL? And since he was rested... Why did he not win it all for argentina?? But to be frank he doesn't deserve to be in †Ϟε 3 final list. Gbam!!! He is sure going to be †Ϟε 3rd anyway. And as for †Ϟε O.P Messi gets his high scoring records against struggling sides as well! Remember †Ϟε 5 goal thriller record in †Ϟε champions league? 3 Likes |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by ClintonNzedimma(m): 1:18pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
Elcapo:doesnt to be in the top 3? Thats the most crappy thing i have i heard this year so far. 5 goal thriller against Bayer Leverkusen, a struggling side? Chai...i dont want say that you know nothing of football |
| Re: Does Cristiano Ronaldo Really Deserve The Ballon D'or For 2014? by Elcapo(m): 2:34pm On Jan 06, 2015 |
ClintonNzedimma:Ooh seems I'm arguing with jim beglin in here... What does struggling mean? Į̸̸̨§ Dortmund not struggling right now?? C'mon check †Ϟε books °ƒ records and see how Leverkusen have been playing lately before †Ϟε messi's 5 goal thriller in 7-1 rout.! T̶̲̥̅̊ħƹƔ later got into dia form tho! And did i hear u say Messi Į̸̸̨§ ryt to be up dia? This same 2010 Final nomination was barcelona's trio Xavi, Iniesta and Messi any reason why †Ϟε wesley isn't dia despite winning it all?? I guess that was †Ϟε worst decision FIFA ever made! + Fifa favours messi over any other player in †Ϟε world 2 Likes |
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