Lmao Ballon d'Or has always been against Messi, they barely gave him 7 when he should've had at least 11 if it was based on actual performances. They didn't include Messi because it generates more media buzz than Benzine being outright favorite. Just for giggles, Messi guides PSG to titulero with 7,77 performance, Cronaldo takes ManU out of CL with 7,11 performance.

halamadrid2 wrote:

BarcaLearning wrote:Very strange list, many strikers like Vlahovic, Haller, Nunez n not Messi whos still like 10 times the footballer anyone of these guys Basically its Benzemas win than, wow, congrats already.

What time frame does the award count nowadays? I guess next yrs' will be influence mainly by the WC n also this season's trophy winners?

So you mean Messi would've won if he'd been nominated? It doesn't make a difference if he's there or not because he wouldn't have won it anyway but it serves as a humiliation to the Messi fanboys. Ronaldo and his PR team can rest easy, he'll have more nominations than Messi now which is a consolation price.

Haller had an excellent CL. Nunez did well there too. Vlahovic scores alot in Serie A and is there for the same reason Kane, Ronaldo and Son are there.

I should have said next yrs will count the WC n this coming season's trophies Im guessing... this yrs Ballon D'or is pretty much decided already by last seasons trophies I imagine?

Messi dont deserve it of cos, he moved to PSG n took a long while to settle n he also had Covid. Just saying in comparison I would still include him in front of quite a few on that list, hes just that good. Next yr he will definitely be back on the list, hes always on fire in WC yrs n he should be settled in fully this coming season at PSG.

BarcaLearning wrote:Very strange list, many strikers like Vlahovic, Haller, Nunez n not Messi whos still like 10 times the footballer anyone of these guys Basically its Benzemas win than, wow, congrats already.

What time frame does the award count nowadays? I guess next yrs' will be influence mainly by the WC n also this season's trophy winners?

Okay terrible take.

Ballon DOr is based on merit not what the player is.

Messi was bang average for Paris. No one around that. He was rightfully excluded.

farfan wrote:Is this the biggest drop in the history of the BO? Barring retirement, I don't think anyone went from winning it one year to not even making the list the next year.

Moving to PSG should count as retirement imo

But jokes aside I was actually interested so I looked it up. As far as I can tell the last time this happened was in 1987, when the holder was someone named Igor Belanov and he wasn’t nominated. So it does happen, but yes very rare.

As a Messi fanboy I’m not too bothered though, this won’t even be a footnote in history. People will talk about it for a few days and then move on.

Luis Diaz

You can argue that there are 30 players that had a better season than Messi, but you can't really argue that there are 30 better active players than him. The BdO is supposedly an award for best player, not best year, so he should be included. But no sweat, this year he'll remind everyone what he can do.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:You can argue that there are 30 players that had a better season than Messi, but you can't really argue that there are 30 better active players than him. The BdO is supposedly an award for best player, not best year, so he should be included. But no sweat, this year he'll remind everyone what he can do.

That is absolutely not true as the record of all its winners are players who've had the best year.

If it was the case you're assuming Messi would win it by default each year because indeed he is the most skilled relatively speaking.


Last year he didn't produce anything of note and had 6 goals to his name which is...yea. Very puzzling statement.

Just read up the criteria up again a bit, this part "The most attentive will have noticed the disappearance of the "player's career" criterion. A way of considering the race for the Ballon d'Or as an open competition, and not as a preserve", think meaning players like Messi will a long successful career history will not be counted nowadays?

Basically more purely based on performance of that yr, no matter who u are. I get the point. Anyway, each yr there are debates n usually certain few who deserves or not to be on the list I suppose. Just still dont agree with eg. Haller on there instead of Messi, just dont feel right

I mean imagine Argentina has a successful WC n PSG a good run in the CL, n Benzema underperforms together with France/Real, he might win it again next yr, it would be pretty weird

BarrileteCosmico wrote:You can argue that there are 30 players that had a better season than Messi, but you can't really argue that there are 30 better active players than him. The BdO is supposedly an award for best player, not best year, so he should be included. But no sweat, this year he'll remind everyone what he can do.

It's a yearly award so obviously it's for best player of the respective year. And quite clearly Messi is not near the top 100 of best player over the last year.

Luis Diaz over Müller however

So apparently no matter how much Haaland & Co. have absolutely outperformed a relatively above average at best Messi last year, Messi should still be above him cause he is Messi and it feels right.

Haaland 7.55 being bundesfodder, Messi 7.77 to titulero.

Most of the list did outperform Messi of cos, bar those few already mentioned... anyway, I guess will just have to disagree, next yr he'll back right back amongst the favs unless Arg flops in the WC

Also its great that they changed from calendar yr to instead counting the league season from Aug-Jul I think...

More: Inter Miami have always known that a move to their city is a source of attraction for Messi’s family, who already own a property there. Miami’s community links with South America are strong, too. @David_Ornstein #Transfers

— Reshad Rahman ✆ (@ReshadRahman_) October 31, 2022

Really? Florida? When you're short enough to drown in waist-high swamp water?

Viva LMFAO

So, this is the proposal Barça will most likely offer Messi soon, pending La Liga’s approval:

Contract until 2025 (1+1)
Wages around €13M net p/y (€25M p/y gross)
Many bonuses and variables
Leo to get a % of what he generates to the club#Transfers  pic.twitter.com/nv6ItEJ066

— Reshad Rahman (@ReshadRahman_) April 20, 2023

Messi already indicated he'll accept, pending league approval

He must accept any reduced salary offered. There should not be any excuse.

I see you're already expecting Dembele to be injured next season too that's fair



lacks a proper DM

Dembele doing a de Maria is the fairytale told since his arrival. Reality is he even struggles to stay on the pitch

barca didnt do enough to keep him imo. no reason the dude should have gone to psg. just as no reason cristiano should have ended up at juve. but hindsight......

Watching PSG quite a lot... Messi (and CR for that matter) can only be effective in a top team if the other 9 field players also defend hard. Without the ball, he is literally useless. That would be ok if he was a constant threat all game. But he doesn't do that anymore... his area of influence is now limited and his speed is diminished. So the opposition doesn't need to spy on him when they have the ball. They can attack all out.

Personally, I would love for Messi to return to Barca. You put him with Lewandowski and Dembele (or Fati or someone like that), the balance is shattered. So unless Barca have a huge talent advantage, they will be in trouble.... and you don't have that gap against other elite teams.

Sportsczy....