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Earlier today, reports broke that the Ballon d'Or vote counting is halfway through. As per reports from Sportsbible and Radio France, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not even in the top 3.
Luka Modric is the current leader, followed by Raphael Varane and Kylian Mbappe. Radio France is a source that can be trusted, but this is an utter disgrace on the part of France Football.
Luka Modric is being pushed as a heavy favorite for a long time now. Ever since he scored the stunner against Argentina in the World Cup, he has been on the radar for winning the Golden Ball.
While it is all right to award Luka the Golden Ball, it makes little sense to give him the Ballon d'Or, and even the FIFA TheBest, for that matter.
There are reasons for it. Modric is not among the top goal-scorers or top assist makers. This can be excused, the reason being, a midfielder would not be at the top of stat charts.
But then again, why is he not in the top for passing percentage, through balls and key passes?
Modric is a playmaker, whilst Messi is dropping deep from the forward position. Comparing both of their playmaking stats, it is Messi who is superior.
Maybe Modric outperformed everyone in the World Cup. But this is a calendar year award. From the day the year starts to the day the voting ends, you have to be on top of your game. Where has Luka Modric been since the new season started?
He is invisible in the midfield. His controlling skills are missing, his through balls are missing, and his vision is missing.
Ask yourself this, is Modric the best midfielder right now? No, he isn’t. Axel Witsel, Arthur Melo, Bernardo Silva, all of these guys have outperformed him as of late.
This type of voting shows that the so-called experts are spitting on the consistency offered by Messi and Ronaldo.
Both the fanbases seem to partially agree with the decision only due to the fact that the other one won’t win it.
Please understand this, guys, individual awards mean nothing in terms of the player’s legacy. No matter who wins, this debate will not be settled by silverwares won or individual awards won.
Last season Ronaldo was the part of the team which won five trophies out of 6. He was the top scorer and assist maker.
Didn’t he deserve to win? This season, Messi has the highest average rating among all players.
He has an equal number of goals as Ronaldo and more assists in 2018. He is the leading the charts for every possible stat. From passing to shooting accuracy to chance created to key passes, he leads in everything. Doesn’t he deserve to win?
It would be much better if both sides kept their personal rivalry aside in terms of these awards. Luka doesn’t deserve it. A player who goes missing for the whole of three months in a calendar year cannot be the best player in the calendar year.
Why is Varane in there? Because he won the World Cup and the UEFA Champions League because he was an integral part of both the teams. Is Varane consistent? Real Madrid’s defensive record in LaLiga was not the best.
The start to the new season for Varane hasn’t been the best. He has been sloppy at the back since September started for that matter. Samuel Umtiti was equally good at the back in the World Cup winning team.
Does anyone know Varane’s average match rating for 2018/19? According to Whoscored.com, 6.67, which is worse than Koulibaly, Van Dijk and Laporte as well. That too having played less number of games.
When we look at the top 3, Mbappe seems like the only player who deserves to actually be there. Varane and Modric, who have been rusty for the majority of the new season don’t have a place.
It is a surprise as to why Ronaldo and Messi are being excluded.
When France Football created a poll for choosing our favorite for Ballon D Or, Messi led the way with about 57% votes.
Later they deleted the poll, stating fake account creation as a reason. Doesn’t France football have the resources to identify real accounts and adjust the poll accordingly?
Even if they don’t, how come Modric and Varane were stuck at 0%? If even one of the people would have voted for either of them, the poll would show at least 0.01%. They deleted the poll possibly because it wasn’t going according to their plan.
Later they replaced the link with Messi’s tax fraud case. What is the meaning of that? A case that has been long closed resurfacing all of a sudden, means that they want to degrade the player. Why didn’t they post the fresh tax case of Luka Modric? They are biased.
There have been many incidents in the past that were controversial. This is completely unacceptable.
If the news from Radio France is really true then there is no meaning speaking about this award again. It isn’t like Messi and Ronaldo got outperformed. It is just that they are being ignored on purpose.
That is why slowly yet surely individual awards seem to be losing their meaning. A loss for football and nothing else.
Note: Stats stated are via Whoscored.com and Squawka.com
