Why the Ballon d’Or and Individual Awards are Problematic and Sometimes Plain Stupid - My Opinion

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Why the Ballon d’Or and Individual Awards are Problematic and Stupid - My Opinion
Luka Modric wins the 2018 Ballon d’Or, but did he deserve it? In this video I’ll be going over the 2018 Ballon d’Or including potential miscounts of the votes. As well, I’ll be talking ab out how it’s stupid to compare a player from one position to another, why don’t defenders win many individual awards, how we quantify talent and who “deserves” the award, and much more!
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[@MX.CENTRAL]

Scrap the Ballon d'or just make a individual award for the best Attacker Midfielder Defender Goalkeeper

[@lsupreme9763]

AMEN

[@officialobunga8912]

No

[@Alan-eb6zi]

Messi would win attacker and midfielder

[@therandomcommentor6228]

Yes !!! Defenders are so underrated.

[@sammybosak10]

And seperate for cr7 for best tap in player

[@vikrantshetty4275]

The sad part about Modric winning the award is.. That people in the future might believe that Modric was a better footballer than the likes of Xavi and Pirlo.. Or even Iniesta...

[@ZergCheco]

can you blame them? messi and Ronaldo were at their prime when Xavi and Iniesta were flourishing!

[@Ask35720]

Exactly

[@dumbdumber7203]

He is...

[@dumbdumber7203]

@forza juventus And Modric is and has always been better than both of them together.

[@Theojoe190]

Exactly!

[@wasp3192]

If Modric was first, Rakitic should’ve at least be top 10. He was AS instrumental as Modric was in the World Cup. He was definitely the critical part of Croatia’s success

[@crist3809]

i mean look at the list benzema even on the top 20 its fucking rubbish ,benzema in top 20 but david silva is not is just dumb

[@theobuniel9643]

Yeah, and look at how Croatia fell apart during the Nations League. Lost to Spain 6-0 and blew a 1-0 lead against England.

[@bhaskargogoi650]

Toni kross is bettr thn modric

[@manoah938]

I agree with what you said but still cant believe that messi was ranked 5 despite his incredible stats

[@RabonaTV]

Me neither. Messi the 5th best player in the world? It's a farce.

[@insertname8506]

@@RabonaTV 442oons quote it best FIFARCE not FIFA

[@SplitTheBeat]

insert name France Football is in charge of the Ballon d’Or, not FIFA. So “Farce Football” would be more appropriate.

[@ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣΚΑΡΑΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ-η9π]

@Random Guy Maybe its because football is a team sport and no matter how good you are or how well you want to play, belonging in a bad team that suffers a great crisis can diminish your chances of creating greatness. Apart from that, Messi did produce the best touch of the world cup that was combined with a goal. In my opinion it was the best goal if you don't count two amazing power shots that needed a little bit of luck to end up as goals.

[@benban8055]

@@RabonaTV not?

[@sayantandas2403]

Ronaldo was robbed. Messi was disrespected. That's it.

[@tulipstore260]

@@LK-ji8be me too. I hate them .

[@bisamthebeast3747]

Yeah so let's say the ballon d'or is only for messi and Ronaldo. Other positions and other players simply don't exist.

[@soonenteradi5784]

Messi was robbed best player for the past 12 years no one comes close

[@itzshadowz7467]

Sayantan Das no Milner was robbed. He’s so underrated. Better passing than pirlo. The intelligence of xavi and ability which can exceed the likes of iniesta. Ok I’m joking. Iniesta isn’t that good....

[@dumbdumber7203]

Modric has been robbed for the last 7 years. Glad he won it this time

[@ilocosmetro]

Just because Andre gomes did NOT win does not mean you should freak out?

[@RabonaTV]

IT'S A F*%^ING DISGRACE. /Drogba

[@insertname8506]

Everybody calm down

[@dr.swapnilbhoyar2206]

His not freaking out I guess his simplifying the facts.

[@insertname8506]

Messi is somehow 5th smh

[@dumbdumber7203]

yeah, he's not even in top 15

[@insertname8506]

@@dumbdumber7203 your name suits your personality.

[@insertname8506]

@@dumbdumber7203 i definitely know you are an internet troll

[@sulimanmustafa69]

@@insertname8506 😂😂😂😂

[@influencerrrrrr]

@@dumbdumber7203 Looking for attention? Here, have my 11 words directed to you.

[@bisamthebeast3747]

It didn't make sense when Messi win ballon d'or in 2010 ahead of Xavi, Iniesta and Sneijder. It didn't make sense when Ronaldo won the ballon d'or in 2015 ahead of Ribbery, when Real Madrid went trophyless and Bayern won the treble. You know, individual trophies cannot satisfy everyone. Messi wins, Cr7 fans get dissatisfied and vice versa. Now that Modrić has won, many people are dissatisfied. It's totally normal.

[@TheJulienne21]

Messi won the ballon d'or in 2015. You mean 2014

[@decentrob8126]

If Modric deserved winning the ballon d'or is not a Yes or No question. There will always be a bigger percentage saying no. Because the No saying side hasn't all one player in mind. For example, lets say Messi wins by 35% of the votes, Modric gets 20%, Ronaldo 15%, Mbappe 15%, Griezmann 15%. If you then have a poll asking, did messi deserve to win? 65% will say no.

[@crazify8887]

Nah I am sorry but almost everyone expected Ronaldo to win with Messi being second, but not in their wildest dreams have they thought that Modrić would do it.

[@decentrob8126]

I never said anything about who should have won, just stating that a Yes or No poll is a bad idea. And besides, I think most people expected Modric to win whether thats right or wrong.

[@linolino9306]

@@crazify8887 and who said ronaldo was better than messi individually last season. If you think ronaldo deserves it then don't question modric winning it. Ronaldo should win it over messi if they are awarding the player in the most successful team cos the UCL is prestigious than League trophy but on an individual level messi almost took barca to an unbeaten league campaign and they lost in a game where messi was rested and left out of the squad. He was also involved in 50% of all the goals barca scored either scoring or assisting.

[@sunnyabrahamkonethe7587]

No one will say Messi didn't deserve to win.. He always deserves that.. I'm a Cr7 fan.. But Messi is an alien like Cr7..

[@juliushmushahary7676]

Like Andres Iniesta before him, Modric cannot be judged solely on goals, assists and other dry statistics; watching him glide across the pitch and making his side tick is a work of art that needs no numerical support.

[@chrismascarenhas1059]

Juliush Mushahary he can dribble all right but that’s alright he barely scores he gives decent passes but he can’t defend for shit he always fails

[@BubblesChika]

Oh my gosh. That Ciro Immobile segment was so funny. I have to agree with you too. It no longer feels like an award handed out to the best player in the year, but rather the most successful and popular player. It's too heavily favoured toward the attackers. You can see that in 2010. Iniesta arguably should've won the award, but because he didn't score he was overlooked despite being a key part of Spain's World-Cup winning squad. Ugh, what's even the point? They might as well change it from the *Best Player of the Year* award to the *Best Team of the Year* award, because that's what it is now, that and a popularity contest. I can no longer take it seriously, especially when they have two of the most overrated in football history in Mbappe and Griezmann so high on the list.

[@callbal392]

Could have gone to Iniesta, Xavi or Sneijder that year tbf

[@123go-n1f]

i see u every where man in the one football to here damn .... how is the anime in uor pro pic..is it good😂😂??

[@shawnradke]

messi was doing unreal things in the attacking sense is why. people act as though he was scoring 20+ like regular world class forwards, man was clocking 40+ so pipe down

[@manbirchadha7012]

It's been the same thing every year tbh. Only people who even cared about it were messi and ronaldo fanboys but now since it changed from those 2 everyone's complaining because it's not an attacker so you can't track how good the player is by stats.

[@chikomomayumbelo703]

Griezmann played better than modric

[@manbirchadha7012]

@@chikomomayumbelo703 Well we all know that but maybe modric did more behind the scenes.

[@shawnradke]

round of applause for you logic backfiring on you cuz by that case messi should win it lol does everything in the attacking 3rd and better than players who specialize in each aspect. Top goals/assists/dribbles/chances created.

[@manbirchadha7012]

@@shawnradke notice how u said attacking third, that means attacker. Defense is important too and those stats u listed can be counted.

[@gautham3771]

i personally think its absolute bullshit that karim benzema was 17th where as David Silva wasnt even in the shortlist. i also think its bullshit that Mbappe got ranked higher than messi based on a 7 game stretch where as throughout the year messi had a goal involvement of more than 1 per game where as mbappe got less than 1 per game. i know the point of this video is that goal scoring is not always the way to measure a greatness, in this case we are comparing two forwards so goals and assists matter most.

[@crist3809]

the fuck benzema on top 20 lmao this is rubbish

[@thomasthorsen5462]

there's no way messi was worse than griezmann or mbappe mbappe is going to be a legend, maybe an all time great even, but his age is hyping him up and making him seem better than he really is and griezmann... griezmann didn't deserve to be anywhere near the top 5. he only got there because france won the WC, he didn't do anything noteworthy the whole season other than being in a world cup winning team messi was dominating ALL the attacking stats but "only" won a double (la liga and copa del rey) so he didn't make it close to the ballon d'or i won't argue against ronaldo and modric because ronaldo was really close to messi in terms of attacking stats and modric dominated the midfield if you watched him but stats can't show. he did a lot of the same things that made people love iniesta and xavi, even though they don't have crazy stats to back them up as all time greats people still know that they are

[@saiyerugara2629]

Griezmann won the Europa League, finished second in La Liga and won the World Cup. He scored a total of 27 goals in all competitions last season.

[@l.b.101]

Saiye Rugara It’s an individual award. I don’t care what a player won. If we go by that logic, then Morata is better than Firmino and Aubameyang and Kane because he won the UCL thrice. But he’s not. Top 3 last season were 1. Messi 2. Salah 3. Ronaldo. Griezmann barely makes the top 10 last season, in my opinion. Again, individually. I’m looking at the player and the player alone.

[@saiyerugara2629]

@@l.b.101 I don't think you're opinion is too egregious because I have him around where you have him. I have him 5th.

[@l.b.101]

Saiye Rugara Saying Modric was better than Messi last season is controversial. I don’t agree, but fairs. I guess.

[@saiyerugara2629]

@@l.b.101 Griezmann is in the top 5.

[@Ok-iz2qu]

2003: Henry robbed by Nedved 2010: Sneijder robbed by Messi 2013: Ribery robbed by Ronaldo 2018: Messi + Ronaldo robbed by Modric

[@angeldn10]

griezmann also robbed by modrić

[@metamofia]

You nailed it. Not disrespecting Messi or anything but I don't know how Messi won the Ballon d'Or in 2010 over Sneijder or Robben. The latter duo were instrumental in their respective clubs and their country in 2010 World Cup.

[@louisclark6051]

@@metamofia Don't even start me on Nedved beating Henry .... Henry was by FARRRRRRRRRRRR the best player on the planet at the time he was unplayable .

[@MIXEDUPTHROWNTOGETHR]

I like the individual awards but the problem is that if one or two people have a monopoly on it, we’ll find a reason to give it someone else because we get tired of the same faces. Lebron should have more MVPs but there is fatigue over him so it gets handed to someone new every season. Messi and Ronaldo have traded it the last 10 so we have Modric to give it to after his WC performance and Golden Ball Award there. Modric winning it is just everyone being tired of Ronaldo and Messi

[@ThePF2001]

Nope. Check the list of winner before 2010, before FIFA changed rules, it always be achived by someone who won a UEFA Competition or the World Cup or at least that reach a Final (like Baggio in 1993, Cannavaro in 2006, Paolo Rossi in 1982, Cruiff in 1974, Platinì in 1983, Di Stefano in 1959, exc.)

[@Jsebas289]

Even if people are tired of these two, balon d'or should be awarded based on who was the most impactful and who achieved the most the previous season in their respective teams.

[@zakariadjouzi7570]

@@Jsebas289 but then it become more of a team award instead of an individual one.

[@Thatguyneek]

@@Jsebas289 If that's the case then it should definitely be given to James Rodriguez.

[@Jsebas289]

@@Thatguyneek i wouldnt mind James Rodriguez as a proud Colombian 😁

[@chandlersmith796]

Not a great fan of awards like the Ballon D'or. They always seem to shun the great players of non-winning teams, or teams that have less successful seasons.

[@isheanmmo9357]

football is mostly about scoring goals...team with more goals wins so it kinda makes sense that attackers / goal scores are the most important players in a team .it kinda doesn't matter how many goals you stop you win just as long as you manage to out scoring the opponent. so I can see why lm10 or cr7 should have won instead of you kno who

[@fwaaaee]

Modric is the worst ballon d'or of all time!

[@tulipstore260]

@@jackmellor5536 But nobody would talk much about him because he is CR7!!

[@mikaelalm9333]

lol, you must not have watched football for long then

[@fwaaaee]

Owen and Modric are both the worst ballon dor of all time!!!

[@footballnotsooccer600]

@@tulipstore260 or on 2010 when it could be sneijder but instead it was messi..... yet nobody talks about it....

[@tulipstore260]

@@footballnotsooccer600 Yeah its weird these players are very famous so even if they get awards unfairly nobody would say a thing but modric is not a famous player like them so everyone is hating him for the award he got .

[@foalengtoussaintfoaleng7291]

They should do it by position

[@yogeshbajracharya5331]

Man Cdm players will be pissed

[@ejajuddinahmed7342]

Biggest robbery was Not awarding Neuer back in 2014-15. He won the world cup, 2 motm performance,captain, golden glove,domestic titles...what else he could have done!!!

[@ikki_1]

Iniesta deserved it more,Ribery deserved it more in his prime who else got someone recent?

[@RabonaTV]

Thierry Henry!

[@RafaelFerreira-bo1ld]

sneidjer

[@insertname8506]

Zlatan

[@callbal392]

Bendtner

[@RafaelFerreira-bo1ld]

@@RabonaTV Mantorras!!

[@saifchowdhury3581]

Clearly papa perez did his trick. :)

[@daniyalkaleem3752]

How about Using Man of the Match to quantify the Performance of an individual over the year.

[@kingkingf]

Would be a good start, although it's still biased towards attackers

[@itsjonny1744]

Then Messi would blow all out of the water as he does if we consider any stat

[@AdamM7796]

The ballon dor started as a football writers player of the year and hence has always favoured more exciting and attack minded players world player of the year on the was the most consistently great player

[@insertname8506]

Hear me out on this it should not be an award that is voted but should actually be decided by critics of the game like pundits. With various stats like trophies,individual performances,impact,team's reliance on the player,key moments,unique footballing abilities(eg. Messi's dribbling,Ronaldo's positioning, Modric controlling the tempo etc) accounting to a set number of points. Like trophies account for less value than impact and way less than performances.

[@RabonaTV]

I would be interested in seeing the outcome of this. I feel like it would make more sense than this year's iteration did.

[@insertname8506]

@@RabonaTV love your channel mate found it only a month ago binging your vids since then

[@insertname8506]

@adeternitamn fair arguments about pundits but creating panel is not that hard just take footballers with in depth knowledge of the game and managers from all around the world.

[@insertname8506]

@adeternitamn I said not voting a points based system like cricket

[@insertname8506]

@adeternitamn but still a panel system would be better than the voting system imo. Football is subjective imo I want an award it might not be absolute but it will be helpful nonetheless. Your opinion is more radical and you want no award perfect example of football being subjective. #peace

[@silvesta5027]

Tbh any individual awards in team sports just don’t work all that well. For football I think a solution would probably be to have a best player by position: ie. best attacker, best defender, best midfielder, best goalkeeper

[@Youeube]

Since when did Matteo Darmian start doing KZbin?

[@FunkyMonkey-ip4xy]

Me and most of my mates have liked football for years. We don't all support the same teams but generally get along well and don't try and kill each other. Often. We can have disagreements over certain things but generally we can tell good teams from bad and good players from bad, but I don't recall a single one of us ever giving a shit about the Ballon d'Or. We all want our teams to do well. Players come and go, managers come and go but clubs are more permanent. It's a team game. Win together lose together. That's why I couldn't give a shit about this award. If you do fair enough but too many people are get too wound up and care way too much about who wins it. It seems to me some of the more vociferous are the types that probably used to be Real Madrid fans but are now die hard Juventus fans. The sort that maybe don't get football in a traditional sense. Great for Modric but does the award make him play any better, and more importantly does it make his team play any better? Seeing as by all accounts he's been very quiet this season and his team has lost several times and sacked a manager I think the answer is obvious. If you get all excited by arguing who is currently the best player good for you. Personally I'm more concerned about my club winning their next games and doing well.

[@admontblanc]

Think of it this way, what impact would Ronaldo's move to Juventus if he was just another good player, vs him being who he is? Say what you want about the permanence of clubs and whatnot but if your team has a player of such impact there's a lot of positive things to be gained by the club too.

[@machiavelli8379]

In my opinion it’s like no footballer had an amazing standout year, it wasn’t like Messi when he scored 91 goals in a year or like Ronaldo in 2016 and 2017 honestly I don’t know who really deserved it this year, but this doesn’t make Modric better than Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo, etc.

[@sriramnatarajan5026]

You can see in other sports like NBA in US where the eqivalent of ballon dor which is MVP is given based on the performance of the individual no matter which position he/she plays rather than just giving it to a championship wining player with most points or assists. Hell it is given to players who did not even qualify for the playoffs of NBA.

[@insertname8506]

Agreed

[@seanwalsh7542]

ehh not really anymore. now its a team based award kinda.

[@Tactyoh]

This is why AD, Giannis, Simmons, Embiid will all win it most likely at some point. They play different positions on the court(yes AD and Embiid are centers but they are very different) and don’t always make playoffs but they are recognized for their individual greatness

[@seanwalsh7542]

The Tactition harden won because first seed. Westbrook because of triple double. Steph twice first seed and his unreal year. Lebron. Every time was first seed. Individual brilliance matters, but first seed holds an equally important factor

[@ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣΚΑΡΑΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ-η9π]

@Sriram Natarajan If they did that, Messi would have monopolized the award for almost every year. But people got bored of Messi winning the award every time and they wanted a change, even if it meant the complete drop of the value/importance/fidelity of the award

[@filipstojanovski5244]

2 years later and its just worse and worse. Just get rid of the Ballon Dor and start something new.

[@mohammedalsalhi3338]

The golden ball is made for the best player in the world cup (modric) and the ballondor is made for the best player around the season In addition to that before the world cup nobody would have guseed that Modric would have one

[@homosapien5156]

Individual awards other than stats based awards like golden boot, golden gloves don't make any sense. None whatsoever.

[@sahulgill6528]

There should be a different award for every position, as there is no way to judge how good a goalkeeper was against an attacker.

[@chrispeacock1257]

They should scrap the individual award and just have a top play from each position. 4-3-3 Top XI of the year.

[@jonpool9030]

The balon d'ore ISN'T about the best player, it's never been. It always been about the most impactful player of the year.

[@yousefal6695]

Jon Pool basically the best

[@joshuakrishnan3356]

The lev yashin award is the goal keeping ballon dor basically

[@salmanessar]

Perez can even buy camp nou so let's not talk about it he will buy you too

[@IamSteda91]

I think at the moment the people watching sports in general care way to much about stats. Because stats make it easier to compare people(doesn't matter if u are knowledgeable about the sport) even though stats need context. Like we can compare 2 similar attackers, but people will look at goals. But there is so much more like the systems they play in, the amount of shots they needed to score those goals, how many penaltykicks were involved, etc ... So comparing different positions is only making this that much harder. This year i think voterfatigue kicked in and they wanted someone new to win it and the only real options was Modric, won the CL and was player of the tournament at the WC. If we keep following this trend with stats, i think individual awards become meaningless. I think at this point we better create an algorithm that can calculate which player had the best statistical season.

[@siu281]

The thing is Ronaldo and Messi have scores of fanboys waiting to defend their idol should anyone point a finger at their Ballon dOr win. Modric doesnt have a lot of fanboys which is why he is at the receiving end right now. But in my honest opinion, he fully deserved it this year. UCL win and World Cup final with Croatia. I think that already outdoes the other players on the Ballon dOr shortlist.

[@madridistapokemonmaster1888]

If Griezmann was In real madrid he would have won 100 percent

[@Ask35720]

We all know that individually MESSI was the best player in the last season, that's all I am gonna say.

[@mohamedadan6678]

Yes n no Ronaldo had more goals

[@mnark6725]

Listen I'm a Messi fan but I think Ronaldo deserved the balland'or this year bcuz he had a better season

[@Hunts1i]

@@mnark6725 how he had better season? Messi played much better Ronaldo just won UCL

[@mnark6725]

@@Hunts1i I just feel that Ronaldo played better than Messi this year

[@davidkariu2330]

How many goals did Messi save? How many defensive tackles did he make?

[@seanwalsh7542]

you all do realize three of ronaldos 5 balon dors were because he was the best goalscorer on the ucl winning team. he was never really top 3 in my opinion past 2014. only balon dors he deserved were 2014 and 2008

[@draaatmoll9039]

Sean Walsh how many awards did you win in your life ?

[@seanwalsh7542]

Draaat Moll how is that relevant? And btw, I’ve won plenty awards. Could I say the same for you??

[@SA-pj3fz]

Sean Walsh Enlighten me on who should have been the top 3 from 2015 onward.

[@ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣΚΑΡΑΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ-η9π]

@@@seanwalsh7542 What Draaat Moll said was relevant, because this is the only possible kind of answer that one with no logical arguements can give

[@seanwalsh7542]

ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ ΚΑΡΑΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ or maybe you just don’t understand the sport

[@anshumanabhishek5177]

Rightly said....I think they should change the name of the award if they wanna keep its tradition. In that way it will be given lesser importance by the players and the fans. So that no body, who wants to prove their favourite footballer to be better than others, can put forward the number of Ballon d'Or or any other individual awards won by that player. I still believe that Pele is always regarded as the best ever simply because he (his team) won three FIFA world cups. There are a lot of legends (like Jeorge Best, my favourite), who can be compared or rated more than him in terms of overall football. Again, not saying Pele was less talented than any player. But clearly this comparison between individual players are for just our satisfactions. They don't make any sense. Yes, you can compare upto a level like putting one player above another if he/she can contribute more to his/her team or comparing players with the same position. In simple words, enjoying great players while they play should be enough for satisfaction not comparing them to someone. (Legendary players have a level though, but not necessarily they will always be the "Best Player" statistically 😊)

[@nicolash3847]

I think that there should be four Ballon d'Ors, one for attackers, one for midfielders, one four defenders, and one for goalies

[@angeldn10]

should’ve been griezmann messi ronaldo salah

[@angeldn10]

Chrixstopher realistically his season was better then modrić’s. and to be fair his season wasn’t average, he won 3 trophies and was the best player for france and atletico

[@sebastiansr4732]

There should be a ballon d’or for Attackers Midfielders And Defenders to make it fair

[@lukegaulke8755]

I don't think individual awards themselves are bad, but they should be awarded on smaller scale. It's always nice to see MOTM awards and the like given out, but awards like the Ballon D'Or are held in such high regard that players feel inadequate when they don't win them.

[@UZEETM]

honestly you've done the best video post Ballon D'or

[@exploitmambulu2203]

they should make four award player of the year for each position such as forward, midfield, defence, and goalkeeper.

[@clinicalsnicker1025]

Goalkeepers and Defenders are underrated

[@GendoFM]

In my opinion, if anyone was going to break the Messi-Ronaldo stronghold, it was going to be Mbappe. He's so good, and getting better

[@nishilbright2007]

Gendo FM Nope. Nowhere close. Too early to judge so early. Need another season at the very least at the prime.

[@GendoFM]

@@nishilbright2007 which is why I would've been ok with either of those two to win again. Modric wasn't the choice this year, and Mbappe could/will overtake them in the future

[@nishilbright2007]

Gendo FM agreed 👍

[@nishilbright2007]

Gendo FM but that would apparently create a huge fight between their Fandoms and I guess they just wanted to avoid all of that given they're even now. Stupid thing to do but that must be one of the thing plus now it's all about popularity and things these two do is just so good that we've gotten used to it n don't appreciate it just as much.

[@gargola1887]

Luka modric performance in the world cup was definitely ballon de or performance. When the world cup is around, whoever performs godly will earn the ballon.

[@ddelimar]

I agree with you, but seems like most of us are forgetting one simple fact. This is a popularity contest, because, however you present the "rules" of choosing the best player (which, as you stated, and I agree with you, is problematic by itself), we still have individual people voting on their own. And even if we had no problem with choosing an individual in a team sport, we'd still have subjective votes because that's how this is setup. Based on all of that (mainly not having a scientific method of choosing the "best"), there simply is no best player in the world, objectively, if you think about it. Now, there are subjectively picked "best" players, that's for sure. And this caters more to the younger population, than the reality. You know, folks who can argue about something so utterly unimportant for their lives, yet not really understanding half of what you said.

[@ddelimar]

Also, don't get me wrong, but you simply setup your polls wrong. Others are commenting on it as well. This being a fan based subjective voting, you know you can't have probably even more than 50% of people agree on who should have won it, let alone the first 5 let's say. And giving a poll like this to all those Messi, Ronaldo, Salah, Mbappé, Griezmann etc. fans, of course they will all "unitedly" vote "NO". And in that case, you've simply got a flawed research, because if you put any of those players in a poll like you put Modrić, you'd have them all lose by a majority. And this tells you nothing about whether Modrić should have won. ;)

[@malligrub]

The whole concept is stupid. The "best" footballers are always strikers or attacking midfielders - it's how they came to occupy these positions in the first place, by being the kid that took the ball and ran the whole pitch beating everybody to score. To even suggest that a goalkeeper is a "better footballer" is preposterous. If they mean most valuable player as every other sport does-that makes more sense, and anybody could win it

[@kelvinwang2485]

i think that there seems to be a confusion between 'MVP' and 'best player'

[@royroci2303]

Trust me the award things, ANYWHERE are frequently abused as a political tool. But this football award which happens at a worldwide audience scale is a massive shame.

[@mylesgordon877]

I loved this video so much much But it still annoys me that people in comments basically had all this info and logical reasoning go in one ear and out the other and still making the same inane comments

[@swapnanilkundu8948]

I have a different solution to the issue, count all the official score of each players playing in the top 5 leagues+ UCL/UEL+EURO(if applicable) +Copa America (if applicable) +WC(if applicable), calculate the average score, it's the score a player gets every match, the player with maximum score wins irrespective of his onfield position, in case of a tie, priority should be given to more no. of man of the match/team trophies

[@momofrr251]

Midfielders are mostly underapprecieted :(

[@aidenfrost10]

This

[@louisdelvallebrown3818]

If you look at the stats messi should win it every year yes modric has won the cl and made the wc final but that's a team award like imagine if lovren won the cl he should of got the ballon dor then. Messi had the most goals, most chances created and more he deserves to win it

[@MarkanVaran7]

How come cannavaro won it in 2006? He didnt have the most goals that year lmao

[@louisdelvallebrown3818]

@@MarkanVaran7 i agree if thats the case why didnt varane win it then

[@MarkanVaran7]

@@louisdelvallebrown3818 because he's garbage and I'm a Real Madrid fan

[@louisdelvallebrown3818]

@@MarkanVaran7 i agree tbh aha. For me van dijk, Koulibaly and umtiti are better rn

[@MarkanVaran7]

@@louisdelvallebrown3818 add Ramos,Lovren and Stones to that list as well

[@adamschreiber4749]

This could be the worst popularity award out there. Also fifa is a joke and has enough history of corruption. This award should go to the player that has the biggest impact to their team(s).

[@adarshinginshetty484]

Why do all attackers win the ballon d'or?Poor defenders can't win a single individual award.On that they also get humiliated by the likes of Messi and Ronaldo.

[@e-dawg8749]

It s insulting to football , simple as that ! He s not even better then rakitic , come one. This should be awarded to the BEST INDIVIDUAL player in the world !

[@insertname8506]

@Kanye West blasphemy is not a word for it.

[@e-dawg8749]

@Kanye West Really ??? Do you even hear yourself ??? You actually think real madrid won the CL because of modric ???

[@aarushparvataneni3249]

I'm a Barca fan but Modric is better than Rakitic Did you see the WC

[@e-dawg8749]

@@aarushparvataneni3249 That was a TEAM effort !!! Did he play just by himself ??? Yes , he was an important piece in that team, but that doesn t make him stand out , doesn t make him special...Put modric on a shit team and see how his doing.

[@e-dawg8749]

@Kanye West Yes off course, cause now , madrid since ronaldo left is just kickin ass and taking names. All that because they have modric. Oh boy....

[@shingainindi2921]

The stats are there, they're just not widely considered. Like successful tackles, aerial battles, 1 on 1s, clean sheets and saves on shots on goal. Feel me?

[@juniorolumide]

this dude understands football. its what i've always said, these awards should be for the team, i mean, yes messi and ronaldo have been brilliant but ffs they haven't been playing alone, there have been defenders breaking their waste to save a point, midfielders playing 3 roles on the pitch, even in the front you have teammates playing 1-2 with you to set up the goals on create chances. xavi, robben, ribery, sneijder, pirlo, iniesta, i mean the list goes on forever. players who had a year as good as messi and ronaldo's and never won it. just a pity. hope they do something better with these awards, its losing credibility

[@prashantjha1087]

Immobile example was not correct Women b'dor won by a player who is playing for lyon what can you say about that

[@genocidejoe]

"fotboll is not just about goals goals goals " modric

[@insertname8506]

It is not even only about one tournament deciding how good a player is.

[@genocidejoe]

@@insertname8506 what?

[@agitacademy]

By individual performance standards, Messi remains the best player for both last season and this season.. The trophy should only be used as a tie breaker when two players are a very close match

[@admontblanc]

Agreed which means Messi and Ronaldo would be logically the main contenders last time as well.

[@oi2simon]

You're absolutely right. But my vote goes to cristiano 😂

[@Danledz]

France football did not want Messi to win. They had a voting site for fans where they asked the voters to vote on who was the best in 2018 for them. Messi was 1st after a few hours with over 40% of all votes, with Ronaldo being 2nd, Salah 3rd, Neymar 4th and Griezmann 5th... A few hours later France Football shut down the site, with Messi being still first with almost 70% of all votes. They never released the final votes and there was a reason

[@pinealdreams1064]

'Central midfielders don't get a shout' Whole video is about Modric winning.

[@mancity8069]

should just throw out the ballon dor and give a best forward, midfielder, defender and goal keeper award, its only fair way to do it imo you cant compare statistics based performances with STR and DEF

[@emersonsorto227]

Where is Real Madrid right now? 5th? 7th?

[@scaramri782]

Champion

[@dylanrosenkrantz4474]

The guy on Lazio outscore deveryone besides Messi on the shortlist I believe

[@niteshacharya6987]

And it's non sense, not in a disrespecting way to the players but to the Federation it's like only a marketing scheme to highlight their tournaments like champions League and world cup. No eyes goes on the hard working good player in other tournaments.

[@RabonaTV]

Just looking at your profile pic... have you read the new Targaryen prequel book 'Fire & Blood' yet? I've been considering it lately. It's not Winds of Winter, but it's something, I guess...

[@insertname8506]

@@RabonaTV cue GOT theme

[@niteshacharya6987]

@@RabonaTV yay I'm looking forward to it bit haven't got chance to read it not available in my region yet. But have some knowledge about the targaryen the regimes just from the tube. 😅

[@lordmill4572]

It was so disrespectful to put Leo Messi as 5th . That was a disgrace to soccer

[@aspebb]

The Ballon d'Or needs a system where *ALL* players have a chance of winning it if their individual performance is good enough. If one looks at just goals and assists then it would be impossible for a defender or a goalkeeper to win the award even if they've been beyond exceptional in their position and have silverware to show for it.

[@hmckl99]

Agree 100%. We can do without these individual awards forever!! Just leave us to enjoy the players at their own best!

[@insertname8506]

Definitely should be for talent not results.

[@e-dawg8749]

Exactly, that s what i m sayin. Otherwise this award is meaningless , they might as well call it " THE AWARD FOR THE PLAYER WHO WON THE MOST TROPHIES OFF OF HIS TEAMMATES TALENT ! " SMH....

[@insertname8506]

@@e-dawg8749 like Ciro deserved it more than Griezman and Salah deserved it more than Modric

[@mrfab4383]

should be for performances in the year, talent is subjective

[@insertname8506]

@@mrfab4383 still Messi or Ronaldo deserve it tbh w/o bias Messi deserved it more.

[@Juliandav0908]

Talent is subjective.

[@Thomas-nv3sn]

why does everyone forget about harry Kane, breaking English premier league records, PFA young player of the year, back to back golden boots (in EPL) and a world cup golden boot and scoring more goals every season and still being young and full of potential. he's forgotten because Tottenham didn't win anything, but like what he said, its an individual award right? im not saying harry Kane should have won, I just think UEFA hates English, and ignore his achievements, I think harry Kane deserves more respect and a higher world ranking, he's underrated even though he has loads of personal achievements to back him up.

[@rishabhhemani2721]

Dude how about you make a video voicing your opinion on who SHOULD'VE won the ballon dor keeping in mind the individual performance of the player

[@tyrkun1624]

When Benzema makes the shortlist and Lewandowski doesn't, you know someone fucked up...... Or that Benz has CDs of them.

[@LucianC137]

Karius deserved to get the award...smh....

[@AatVandelay]

Metrics like goal impact, WAR, and raw win rate are better for sussing out 'best footballer', and those usually point to mids & defenders at the very top rather than Messi or Ronaldo. The only problem with that is that football team economic and overall quality parity is so high that without shared continental competitions it becomes very difficult to compare players across leagues. There are league effects on positional responsibilities & performance in positions too.

[@obamacare4345]

It should be best player, not best player and team!

[@ngoduy3110]

Unless the award is built on stats, it will always be subjective. People may say stats does not show everything but that is because they didn't use enough stats. Using sufficient stats will even allow us to decipher performance hybrid of players such as Messi who has a free role as both a midfielder and a forward. Moreover, if we separate the award into best attacker, best controller, best defender and best goalkeeper, performances can be assessed pretty straightforward. Awards based on voting will always be biased.

[@lebogangcampbell3478]

The real question is why are we glorifying an award given by France Football? What's so special about them?

[@crystalracing4794]

I think you're over-complicating this: most voters got bored of voting for Ronaldo & Messi because they are simply in a league of their own. Scoring 30+ goals and assists per season is the bare minimum for them. Luka Modric winning the Ballon d'Or proves a Lifetime Award should be instead because this year's award reminds me of Ryan Giggs winning BBC Sports Personality in 2009 since there were no real outstanding British sportsman/woman that year.

[@fm-dk9dn]

I generally find this awards ok, specially if one of those nominated players is from my country. But all of this showbiz around the ballon d'or and the "oscar" ceremony annoys me so much!

[@Jota_F20]

IMO individual awards like The Best or the Ballon dor are just pointless. The Team of the Year or FIFPro XI, however you call it, is a much more sensible award that takes all players and positions into account.

[@ericfisher7113]

The voters for the Ballon d'Or in my opinion care too much about team success when choosing individual awards. I understand that team success is ultimately all that matters, but if that's your only argument, then individual awards shouldn't even exist. Goals are also too universally used as a metric. Pretty soon you'll be able to hear an argument along the lines of "De Gea is a great goalkeeper, but he doesn't score as many goals as I would like." I think Modric was a fine choice. He doesn't have the goal totals that Ronaldo or Messi do, but that's not his game. He completely controls the center of the pitch and is a huge part of Real Madrid and obviously Croatia. It's almost like players who play up front will get more goals and assists than a central midfielder. Imagine that.

[@Amar-pu3ph]

I don't care for Ballendor, We all know MESSI was the best player last year!!

[@davidkariu2330]

No we don't.

[@he-man7718]

Nope. He flops in champions league crunch stages

[@shawnradke]

@@he-man7718 that explains why he has 4 UCLs i guess ;)

[@shawnradke]

@@he-man7718 including 2 TREBLES while madrid never came close to 1 lol

[@he-man7718]

Simon Elyptica lol dude stop hiding behind trebles. It’s 3 champions league in a row. Messi can’t do that ever

[@jeanpierremzulwini5663]

i agree with you, but i think the award to should go to the most impactful/influential player of the pitch throughout the year, with that being said, modric deserved it, sneijder in 2010 deserved it, ribery in 2013 deserved it. ronaldinho in 2004/05 deserved it despite being an attacker that didnt score scoring many goals.

[@louisclark6051]

Stopped caring about the ballon d'or when henry never won it , and to top it off lost to Nedved 0_o

[@typicalprocrastinator_1395]

Average rating of every game played should be something to look at! Forget goals assists clean sheets and tackles! Try being 8+ on an average across all competitions! Then talk about being the best player of the year!

[@twistedoracle1144]

In my opinion, stats should be the number one thing to look at. Yes, other things matter, but stats are the only thing that we can objectively look at. His stats are not that the best for midfielder.

[@achillesheel4906]

Modric won it this year because it’s a World Cup year, and the World Cup takes precedent. Messi came fifth because he was terrible this World Cup. Despite the skills we know he has, he wasn’t able to show it when it counted the most, but Luka Modric was.

[@soonenteradi5784]

Then call it the award for the best player at the world cup

[@achillesheel4906]

@@soonenteradi5784 No... he also showed it when it counted by winning the champions league... Modric deserved this award.

[@chikomomayumbelo703]

what about Griezmann then? Second top scorer, won the World Cup?

[@achillesheel4906]

Chikomo Mayumbelo yeah but his role in the French team wasn’t nearly as key as Modric’s role was. France could’ve won the World Cup without him

[@SA-pj3fz]

Achilles Heel490 Griezmann was probably the best in the World Cup final.