By Joel Lushington.
Its that time of year again where all the football superstars gather for the biggest sports annual award in the calendar. Players arrive with family and friends, journalists pile up, and the greatest sporting achievements of the previous year are celebrated. Some love it, some hate it, but collectively, every year it divides football opinion all over the world.
This year was no different. Manchester City star Rodri, 28, was crowned the 68th Ballon d’Or winner after a flawless season winning the Premier League and European Championship with his national side Spain. He is the key to Manchester City’s success in the last few season and their record without him proves that.
Stats from the Premier League show that with Rodri, City’s win rate from 174 games was at 74% and their loss rate was at 11%, but without the midfielder, their win rate is 62% and their loss rate is tripled at 33%. Not to mention last season he lost just one game for both club and country, an accolade to his outstanding influence on the pitch.
The award comes bittersweet for Rodri, however, as he suffered an ACL injury last month in his side’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal that will see him out for the rest of the season. It’s a huge loss for City, and time will soon tell how much his presence is missed at the club. Rodri is known as a top professional and role model for kids everywhere; his speech after winning the award is a credit to his human nature.
He spoke modestly about other candidates who could have also won: “ I received a call from Dani Carvajal, who was very happy for me. I wanted to remember him because he also deserved it. He has similar values to mine of teamwork, of loving a club, and of giving everything.” His national teammate finished 4th in the ranking but was quick to congratulate Rodri on the award.
The award divided a lot of opinion over the fact a central midfielder won it, with this only happening 3 times before with Josef Masopust, Lothar Matthaus, and Luka Modric since the award began in 1956. Is it such a travesty that Rodri won? The Spaniard lost just 1 game and won the most important trophies at both club and country level. He is not the typical flash footballer and has even labelled himself a “normal kid with values who tries to do things right.”
This might be what the competition needs, but his win angered many, who suggested Vinicius Junior deserved it more and that the Ballon d’Or is a popularity contest rather than a fair award for the greatest footballer that year. The award was famously shared between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo between 2008 and 2017, but their incredible reign has now come to an end, so the next generation must take over.
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior was runner-up, and the football consensus is that he deserved it more. He bagged 24 goals and 11 assists last season, scoring a brace in the quarterfinals against Manchester City and another brace in the semifinals against Bayern Munich. He had arguably a better season than Rodri, and the reaction of his Madrid teammates sparked outrage in the media.
The whole Real Madrid team as well as the manager, Carlo Anchellotti, snubbed the awards, refusing to show up on the day after finding out the news Vinicius hadn’t won it. Rodri winning it on the basis of his international performance shows the rabbit whole the award could be going down, with the same happening last season with Lionel Messi, who won it mostly based on his international achievement with Argentina, winning the Copa America in July.
Both Vinicius and Real Madrid felt robbed. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence of the award, and they have crowned the wrong winner on countless events. There was the case of Thierry Henry in 2003, losing out to Pavel Nedved. Henry achieved 34 goal involvements in 37 league games and was involved in 50% of Arsenal’s goals that season. Nedved attained 19 goal involvements in 29 league games, but due to winning the Champions League that year, voters thought that this trumped Henry’s individual achievements.
Over 20 years later, it seemed Vinicius was a victim of the same factor, having won fewer trophies. The Ballon d’Or, or “Golden Ball,” is meant for the player deemed to have had the greatest performance of that previous season, so why are players being awarded it for trophies? The award is also voted for by an international jury of specialised journalists, so how do we ensure it is fair and doesn’t become the victim of a popularity contest?
Inconsistency has become the heart of the award, and this is causing distrust with fans, who are labelling it a fraudulent and unfair award. Rodri had a sublime season at Manchester City, being at the heart of a team that achieved the treble (Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League). Whilst he was the key for Pep’s side, is he a better individual player than Vinicus Junior? Who scored twice in both the semi-final and quarterfinal of the Champions League whilst registering 35 goal involvements in 39 games at club level?
The award seems to be veering off from an individual award to a popularity award that is more based on trophies than individual performance, which is a complete contradiction from the focus of when the award began. Votes should be fairer and consider club level stats as of higher importance than international level to prevent the award from losing its credibility, having been an integral part of football for nearly 70 years.
