Comments on: Ronaldo Award Exposes The Bias In Ballon d’Or

By: jackie

jackie — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 18:58:26 +0000

ITS 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.

By: snake

snake — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:12:14 +0000

Milan 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

By: Ruud van Nistelrooy

Ruud van Nistelrooy — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:19:07 +0000

Sorry, but no.

By: Madschester United

Madschester United — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 23:21:26 +0000

but 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?

By: Will D

Will D — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 22:47:03 +0000

I 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.

By: Ghost writter

Ghost writter — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:54:45 +0000

Brilliant 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.

By: iqnadirshah

iqnadirshah — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:32:04 +0000

Is 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…………..

By: MDH

MDH — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:13:03 +0000

While 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.

By: dave stopher

dave stopher — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:04:47 +0000

I think that Man U and Ronaldo bith deserved that award!!

By: Hamburg

Hamburg — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:15:31 +0000

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.