Ronaldo Award Exposes The Bias In Ballon d’Or
Sir Alex Ferguson today spoke of his pride in Cristiano Ronaldo for winning Ballon d’Or, which crowns him as the best player in Europe. Of course, it could have been a very different story had Ronaldo pushed for a move to Real Madrid in the summer, where he would have likely still won the award as a Real player, despite having the blinding year in the shirt of United.
The United manager said his club had been waiting forty years for this award, which might have gone over the heads of the French journalists he was speaking to at first. You see, the last time a United player was recognised as the best in Europe was in 1968, with George Best receiving the accolade in the same year his club became the first English side to win the European Cup.
When you think of some players United have had in the past four decades, from Bryan Robson to Roy Keane, Eric Cantona to David Beckham, Ryan Giggs to Paul Scholes, it’s hard to believe that it has been so long since one of our players was given such recognition on the European stage.
Whilst Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton join Best and Ronaldo as former winners, it is remarkable to see not just how few United players have been named the best on the continent, but how few players from this league have. Michael Owen in 2001 and Stanley Matthews in 1956 are the only other winners from clubs in the English league, which certainly suggests all is not right in the way English football is perceived on the continent.
When Cristiano Ronaldo lost out to Kaka the season before, I wrote in frustration, yet still not surprised, over how our player had been overlooked. Ronaldo had scored more than Kaka, had assisted more than Kaka, played for a team that won the English title as well as reaching the FA Cup final and European Cup semi-finals, whilst Kaka played for a team that finished fourth in Milan, but won the Champions League, so scooped the award.
The emphasis is clearly always put on this competition as though it is the be all and end all. Whilst I would never shun the European Cup, I’d always far rather my team win the league title. Winning the Premiership proves beyond any doubt that you are the best team in the country. The Champions League does not prove who is the best team in Europe. There have been teams who have been crowned Champions of Europe, yet who have finished behind their local rivals in the league. How can you be the best side in Europe whilst also not being the best side in your own bloody city??
It is because of the emphasis on this competition that so many players from this league have missed out. As well as the United greats, Gary Lineker, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Dennis Bergkamp, Robbie Fowler, to name a few, have all struggled to get a look in where the top awards are concerned.
Henry’s highest ranking was second in the World, on one occasion, and third on another, the year Arsenal reached the European Cup final. Lineker’s highest was second in the World, on one occasion, the year he left Everton for Barcelona, with the Spanish club winning the European Cup. Shearer finished third, on one occasion, the year of Euro 96 and where Shearer was the competition’s top scorer.
To think that before Ronaldo, in 51 years of the competition, only five players from this league were named the greatest in Europe, it certainly does suggest something isn’t right. To think out of the total 156 places up for grabs, including first, second and third place, and only 23 of them have gone to players from the English league, the inequality is striking. Is it because we haven’t produced the best players? Or is it because we haven’t won enough European Cups?
18 winners have come from Italian teams, 12 winners have come from Spanish teams, and 6 winners from English teams. Italian teams have made the European Cup final on 25 occasions (47% of all finals), Spanish teams have made the final on 20 occasions (38% of all finals), English teams have made the final on 16 occasions (30% of all finals).
It appears as though players from Italian and Spanish teams are rated more highly because of their impressive past in the European Cup. Just looking over the past winners, there are plenty of years when you can see better candidates for England than the players who won, usually playing in Italy or Spain. Before Ronaldo, the last winner from this league was Michael Owen in 2001, before him, George Best in 1968!
The fact that English clubs are starting to dominate the Champions League is reflecting in the likes of Ronaldo, Torres, Lampard, Gerrard and Henry getting a mention in the Ballon d’Or top three. It is now more acceptable to vote for players in the Premiership and with the dominance of the likes of United, Chelsea and Liverpool set to continue, I’m sure it won’t be another thirty years before we see two Premiership winners within the same decade!
Read more of the same at Republik of Mancunia – Manchester United fan blog.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, English Premier League, Features
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got to agree with u alot, however i think that those that voted are very much biased to the media, u dont really get much shocks on who is going to win it, hence the media had already had some idea who should the “winner” be.
with that said, some will like to argue the English league have alot of hype and make even Tim Cahill look like he was in the league with Kaka.
hopefully we will see a change in the next few years to come.
December 5th, 2008 @ 09:15I think that Man U and Ronaldo bith deserved that award!!
December 5th, 2008 @ 15:04While I kind of agree with the overall sentiment, I think a few of your points are a bit wide of the mark, or just biased. Yes there is definitly a bias and it is without a doubt that alot of continental journalists seem to begrudge the english league, but if you look at the actual winners there is not too much to complain about. For a start, almost half of the awards are given to the star players at major tournaments, which one way or another have never come from the premier league. Additionally while you seem to argue that the premier league should carry more weight than the champions league, shouldn’t this mean at the same time that other league winners should have players in contention? Why aren’t you complaining about Ibrahimovic or Casillas not winning it or talking about their league form? The champions league one way or another is probably the fairest measure, and the season Kaka won it it was fully deserved.
Also while I understand that it must have been baffling that no member of uniteds great team of the mid and late nineties was up for contention, while it was a truly great team with many top players there was no stand out superstar, apart from Cantona, and he never performed as well in high profile matches and tournaments. In addition at the time the English league was seen as not even the third best league in europe in terms of overall quality, so its quite understandable. Now that English teams are finally starting to dominate in Europe, I think that the competition is now reflecting this a bit better, as you mention.
December 5th, 2008 @ 16:13Is there a doubt that English players and clubs are suffering form a Bias? If there are any doubts just listen to Michel Platini and his rants…………..
December 5th, 2008 @ 16:32Brilliant article!!! I personally cant stand C Ronaldo, but you make a very good point. If anyone truly believes the likes of Bergkamp, Alan Shearer, Henry, Rush, Canton and so on where never at one point the best players on the continent… they should be burned at the stake.
December 5th, 2008 @ 19:54I think there is a legitimate argument for bias against English players, but at the same time I would argue that the fact that very few players from the premier league (relatively) is more due to the fact that overall competition and player quality is superior in England. Whereas a player like Kaka, in the absence of other real legitimate international stars (or at least certainly having nowhere near the overall supporting cast quality of the top teams in England – Man U Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, now Berbatov, etc) has far more profound an effect on the overall success of his own club. Certainly through no fault of Ronaldo’s, but if he were to move to a club anywhere with less of a supporting cast, even within the Premier League, and maintain his own high level of success, his case for more acclaim would be more warranted. It’s simply much more difficult to isolate an “MVP” so to speak, on any team containing so many players with a legitimate case for the same honor, that all enhance eachothers’ performance, and distort the perception of any particular players’ dominance.
December 5th, 2008 @ 23:47but that argument does not pertain to why Cantona, Beckham, Giggs, Henry, Bergkamp, and Shearer did not win the award earlier… Who did Henry have on his team that biased his performances? 17 years old Fabregas, 36 year old Bergkamp.
When United won the Treble in 1999 it should have been the United 11 that were european players of the year on all fronts… not a single United player won an award – that is not sour luck but bias.
I don’t know why this is happenning except for the fact that FIFA has no top english men near the top… which of course begs the question – is FIFA corrupt?
December 6th, 2008 @ 00:21Sorry, but no.
December 7th, 2008 @ 15:19Milan VS. United in the champions league match both at old trafford and at sansiro show how much Kaka is better than Ronaldo..
its not just about goal scoring or assisting, its also about the impact on the game and, the pace, the control, the possession, how he affects the players spirit….
Ronaldo is a big game flop however we must admit that the entire season is far more important that the 3 big matches Man U plays in the EPL (Liverpool,Chelsea and Arsenal) and he deserves the ballon d’or this year..
Trust me on this though, on the long run.. Kaka will be like Zidane whilst Ronaldo would turn out like seedorf or so
December 8th, 2008 @ 03:12ITS FUNNY HOW THE PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW MANY CAPS BECKS IS GETTING.IS NOW PLAYING UP AN OUTSIDER AS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD.IF BECKHAM COULD NOT WIN THIS AWARD IN 1999 THEN NO ENGLISHMAN WOULD.
December 9th, 2008 @ 19:58