Ballon d'or 2018 watch

Messi won't be in the top 3,which is a shame because he is the only reason barca won anything in a season where we were supposed to flop hard.

Robespierre wrote:Ronaldo deserves it absolutely, who cares of WC

Of course when he 'll sign with Juve I 'll say that it must be won from Modric or Mbappe tbh

Yea this really. He deserves it more than anyone else.

Depends on who wins the WC tbh.

People forget that for much of the season Ronaldo was bad, it's the reason they were out of contention before Christmas.

Also all the important goals in the final and semi final had nothing to do with him.

If someone who had a very good club season wins the WC i can see a legit argument for them winning it.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:Depends on who wins the WC tbh.

People forget that for much of the season Ronaldo was bad, it's the reason they were out of contention before Christmas.

Also all the important goals in the final and semi final had nothing to do with him.

If someone who had a very good club season wins the WC i can see a legit argument for them winning it.

I don't think his performances before Christmas would count considering the award is calendar yearly not seasonal. Or did they change it again?

It's calendar year Mole... not season.  So the BdO scope is Jan through Dec.

Besides, it has nothing to do with performance. It's a popularity contest nowadays and CR/Messi are clearly the most popular players.

sportsczy wrote:It's calendar year Mole... not season.  So the BdO scope is Jan through Dec.

Besides, it has nothing to do with performance. It's a popularity contest nowadays and CR/Messi are clearly the most popular players.

It became one when the awards got combined.

France Football has said the WC would take Precedence over every other award now that it soley owns it but I'm skeptical.

It's calendar year but let's not act like it really is calendar year only.. ultimately it's people deciding who deserves the award and I highly doubt that everyone will be like "Ok let's look only at what player A has done between January 1st and [whenever they have to cast their vote]".

People care about trophies and titles are not won during a calendar year but over a season. If you had a poor first half of the season and a good 2nd half of the seas and don't win the league because of that you ultimately didn't win a trophy that year despite performing. Just one example.

I'm pretty sure it was even less of a calendar year thing when all the captains and everyone was allowed to vote.. you think they check stats for the year and know if Ronaldo scored in December or January or shit like that?

ronaldo varane modric top 3,easy pick

Ronaldo wasn't great enough to win the BdO. His stats are amazing (they always have been amazing) and he single-handedly won many key games for Madrid, but overall he wasn't stellar to win it. Same goes for Messi.

I think the WC is going to play a major role in breaking the Ronaldo-Messi BdO dominance. Whoever goes God Mode in the semi-finals and final will have a pretty good chance of winning it.

Harry Kane for instance, if he sinks Croatia and demolishes whoever is standing against England in the final will have a pretty good chance of winning it.

Modric as well, he was amazing for Madrid and is arguably the best midfielder in the world. If Croatia wins it, he'll have a pretty good shot as well.

I thought Griezmann would be in contention as well, but so far, he still hasn't produced a Ballon-d'Or-esque performance with France. He still has time though for the semis and possibly the final.

Ronaldo would've had a really strong claim if he had reached at least the semis with Portugal. But he failed, and I think he'll regret it...unless he scores 25 goals from September to December.

And Messi was an utter disappointment in the WC and virtually invisible in almost all the big games last season, and winning the league shouldn't be enough to win you the individual accolade, especially when there's a WC winner ahead of you.

Modric has the best chance imo. So far he's been great for Madrid and doing strong performances for Croatia as well.
If he somehow manages to make another 2 excellent performances and probably lift the trophy he will 100% win it.
If Modric or other candidates left in WC won't do anything special for their NT then I can see Cristiano winning it again.

No French player is winning it if they win the World Cup(which looks likely atm)

Even if France wins the WC and one of their stars really shine in the final, dont feel thats enough to really merit. Ronaldo moving to Juve and how he starts there will be important I think, since its the calendar year until end of November or so which is when votes a cast right? And of course the other contenders how they start the season will be a factor too. This year it just feels more like no one really standing out if you take it at this point in time.

S wrote:No French player is winning it if they win the World Cup(which looks likely atm)

If Mbappe makes a Zidane 98 I expect to win it.
Otherwise it will be of Ronaldo.

Modric will take this one

Seriously if Croatia wins then Modric, but will need to see, they could still give it to Ronaldo and that would really show how much the award is now about PR probably

More likely though its gonna be France win with Ronaldo getting it again....

Modric deserves it imo, but I think right now the most likely order is 1) Ronaldo; 2) Modric; 3) Messi

So where do we stand with this?

trophy is now attributed by journalists as in the past before FIFA started meddling.

CR still favourite but having left madrid, he also lost an important lobby

Varane won CL and World cup

Modric won CL and world cup best player

perfectly set up to have a new name winning this. I would love to see Madrid put their weight behind Varane and Modric, see how far that can take them.

Please don't act shocked when Ronaldo wins it again because you continuously underestimate how corrupt the process is

No chance Modric or Varane win this

Maybe they make the podium at best

i wont act shocked, i fully expect CR to win. I just wondered if Madrid putting their weight behind another player can make a difference because club lobbying to get someone to win is a real thing

Ronaldo front runner, Modric 2nd, Messi not even in the top 3

It is known

Thinking about it, Mbappè or Griezmann IMO stand  a better chance of winning the Balon d'or from the French contingent over Varane.

Mr Nick09 wrote:i wont act shocked, i fully expect CR to win. I just wondered if Madrid putting their weight behind another player can make a difference because club lobbying to get someone to win is a real thing

Put their weight behind Benzema tbh, not that he needs it though imo.

S wrote:Thinking about it, Mbappè or Griezmann IMO stand  a better chance of winning the Balon d'or from the French contingent over Varane.

They don't really, they both had pretty meh club years.

If this happened during Mbappè's Monaco season then sure.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:i wont act shocked, i fully expect CR to win. I just wondered if Madrid putting their weight behind another player can make a difference because club lobbying to get someone to win is a real thing

Put their weight behind Benzema tbh, not that he needs it though imo.

benzema doesnt need any help to put weight on

No chance Varane is even in top 5. He has no hype.

Ronaldo still deserves it over anyone so he'll win it.

Modric should be top 3. Other? most likely Messi for formality since it's Messi. No chance they have him outside top 3.