Does Michael Ballack deserve criticism for not winning major titles?
Former Major League Baseball pitcher Anthony Young once lost a record 27 straight decisions before finally recording a win. The Buffalo Bills went to four straight Super Bowls - and lost each one. In 1986, Greg Norman led each of the four majors after the third round only to end up losing each one, a feat that was dubbed “The Norman Slam.” In 2004, tennis star Lleyton Hewitt pulled off a similar feat when he lost to the eventual champion in each of the four Grand Slam events.
When pitcher Brian Kingman lost 20 games in one season for the Oakland A’s, he said that you have to be pretty good to lose 20 games. Similarly, for those aforementioned athletes, you have to be pretty good to even be in a position to lose like that in the first place.
I’m sure that’s not much consolation to Michael Ballack.
Michael Ballack has been in great form ever since the start of 2008. After health problems and personality clashes that made it seem as if his Chelsea career was in doubt, Ballack bounced back and was arguably the best player in the Premiership after the New Year.
Still, 2008 will rank as a year of incredible disappointment for Michael Ballack. After losing in the finals of the Carling Cup, the Champions League, and Euro 2008, as well as finishing second in the Premiership, Ballack’s 2008 could hardly have been worse, though it may not be appropriate to dub his “accomplishment” as “the Ballack Slam” since the Carling Cup is not the top domestic cup in England.
Plus, you could argue that he’s already accomplished the Ballack Slam. In 2002, his Bayer Leverkusen squad came in second in the Bundesliga, and lost in the finals of both the German Cup and the Champions League. On top of that Ballack’s Germany squad lost in the World Cup finals to Brazil (although he was suspended for that game - not sure whether that helps or hurts his cause).
There’s no question that Ballack is a world-class player. Plus, soccer is a team sport, meaning that it’s exceedingly possible for someone like Ballack to play well despite his team coming up short.
Still, Ballack’s tendency to finish second raises an important question. Is he merely unlucky? Or is he a choke artist?
Let’s look at his 2001-2002 season. Ballack wasn’t the captain of that Leverkusen team, but he was a rising star. In the Champions League Final, Leverkusen lost 2-1 to a loaded Real Madrid team that consisted of the two most expensive players in the world in Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, along with several other noteworthy players like Raul and Roberto Carlos. Meanwhile, Leverkusen put out a team that included the likes of Oliver Neuville, Carsten Ramelow, Marko Babic, Bernd Schneider, and a young Dimitar Berbatov. Leverkusen had a quality side in their own right, but Real were undoubtedly superior.
As for the other competitions in 2002, a lot can happen during a course of a season, so it’s not fair to put the blame on any one player as far as the league title goes. As for the German Cup, Leverkusen were beaten 4-2 by Schalke. Again, it’s not like you can put it all on Ballack. Anytime a team gives up 4 goals, there’s plenty of blame to go around.
In the 2002 World Cup final against Brazil, he may have made a difference had he been allowed to play, or he could have disappeared the way he did in the Euro 2008 Finals (more on that below). Still, he was one of the guys who helped that underdog German team get to the Finals, and there’s no shame in losing to a team that consisted of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho (back when they were fit and gave a crap). So it’s not like Ballack was the reason why his teams lost in 2002. Nor was it the case that he played brilliantly and his teammates let him down.
Now let’s look at the 2008 “Slam.” He was unjustly dropped from the starting lineup in the Carling Cup final against Tottenham for Frank Lampard, who was coming off a lengthy injury-related layoff. He did what he could to help Chelsea win the Premiership (including a Man of the Match performance in a must-win match against Manchester United near the end of the season) and came up short in the Champions League in a shootout.
Then, in the Euro 2008 final against Spain, he was injured and rendered a non-factor, so you can probably use that against him. Still, you could argue that it really didn’t make a difference since Spain was simply the better team and that Germany wasn’t as good as we thought they were. Plus, he would have been vilified and criticized even more had he sat out the match, so it’s not like he had much of a choice.
Wow. That’s a lot of excuses for a world-class player like Ballack. It certainly seems as if he has been extremely unlucky when it comes to winning the biggest trophies. Who knows? Maybe Germany would have won the World Cup in 2002 if Ballack hadn’t picked up that yellow card against South Korea. Maybe Bayer Leverkusen would have won the Champions League if their last-minute free kick in injury time had gone in. Maybe Chelsea would have won the Champions League if John Terry hadn’t slipped on the pitch during the shootout.
But it’s not like his trophy cabinet is completely bare. He won the domestic double with Bayern Munich three times. Then again, winning German league competitions with Bayern Munich hardly qualifies as anything special. Not when it’s bigger news in Germany if Bayern doesn’t win than if they do.
Still, all the excuses and justifications in the world don’t make up for Ballack’s lack of results. The lone-star-in-an-empty-sky bit only goes so far, and at some point, you have to hold the player accountable. Is it Alex Rodriguez’s fault why the Yankees haven’t won a title in recent years? No, but as the highest-paid player on the team, and someone who has underperformed in the playoffs, he has to shoulder the bulk of the blame. The same with Ronaldo during the 1998 World Cup Finals. If you want to be seen as one of the best players in the world, then you have to be responsible if you come up short.
Plus, Ballack has had a reputation for being a choker for many years. During his Bayern Munich tenure, Ballack was routinely lambasted by the German media for underwhelming displays in the Champions League.
But to label him a choke artist because of these high-profile losses is a disservice to him and to the game itself. After all, winning takes more than talent. It takes health, hard work, good teammates, and it even takes luck.
For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo had a great season and deservedly cleaned up the various Player of the Year awards (and should win the FIFA Player of the Year Award when it’s announced later in the year). What would we think of him had John Terry converted that penalty kick and given Chelsea the Champions League title? If that had happened, then Ronaldo would have been the goat, since his miss would have been the difference. That, in conjunction with Portugal’s disappointing Euro 2008 campaign, and maybe there would be whispers about Ronaldo’s inability to win the big one right now. Instead, because of an event completely out of his control, Ronaldo is considered to be the best player in the world and a proven winner.
As such, we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss Ballack as a failure. The bottom line is that he’s a great footballer who’s come up short a few times and gotten unlucky other times. Plus, all it takes is one big-time victory to put that “choker” label to rest once and for all.
As Tom Petty once said, “even the losers get lucky some time.” Will that be the case for Ballack? With Roman Abramovich’s money and Germany’s international pedigree, I wouldn’t bet against Ballack getting off the sooner rather than later.
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ballack is a douche bag of the highest order. a part of the axis of tools that are the ballerina drogba and captain england terry.
He is football’s most complete “almost man” in terms of the titles that have eluded his resume. To be part of sides that have finished runners-up in almost every major football competition (either national or club) may put Ballack into the record books, but it shouldn’t have a stain on his legacy. He’s a very technically gifted player who has and can change complexions of matches by himself. His situation reminds me of another German great, once Ballack’s boss at Bayern München, Karl-Heinz Rummenige. Although Rummenige won the European Championships in 1980, he was also a part of the runner-up German side that lost first to Italy in Madrid at the 1982 World Cup and then to Diego Maradona and co. in 1986. A year later Rummenige also came up short as Bayern München lost the 1987 European Cup (today known as the Champions’ League) to FC Porto. I don’t think those results have ever taken away from Rummenige’s position as a household name in German, European and possibly international football. Like Ballack, Rummenige also won a host of domestic championships and other cups. Ballack shouldn’t be criticized… rather, by criticizing him we are looking at the cup half empty, when in reality, I wonder if it’s Ballack’s presence that have taken relatively minnow Bayer Leverkusen to the 2002 Champions’ League finals, or under-performing Germany to the 2002 World Cup final and so on. To be present in so many finals and moreover, to be the player that contributed in getting a team to the finals, is a testament to the player itself. I’m not a fan of Ballack in any way, shape or form. His style of football doesn’t entertain me nor does it inspire the passion I have for this game. But that would never prevent me from seeing Ballack as an influential and gifted footballer.
i think it has a lot to do with his mentality and approach to the big games. if you paid attention to him when you watched the euro semi-final and final, he follows the ref around screaming at him for a good chunk of the time when he should be devoting all his concentration to positioning so he can control the play for his team. add that to the falling on the ground like a girl when he should be a “solid” central player and then starting little fights on the field like an idiot, and you’ve got a man who doesn’t have the mental strength to do what’s necessary to be a good leader in a big match.
Good points Keno and Dan. I agree that Leverkusen were lucky to have even gotten as far as they did in 2002. I think you can justify the yelling and screaming to a point. After all, as captain, you’re the one that gets to talk to the ref (even though everyone else does it, regardless of who’s wearing the armband). Plus, there’s the “firing up the troops” aspect to it, as well.
I think he would have been better off going to Manchester United instead of Chelsea. I’m a little biased, sure, but his versatility would have been perfect for Old Trafford. It took him about a year-and-a-half to establish himself in Chelsea, and he probably would have been gone in the January transfer window if Jose Mourinho had still been in charge. Both Carrick and Hargreaves complement him better than Lampard does (I think Ferguson still would have gone after Hargreaves even if he had signed Ballack - Ferguson’s wanted Hargreaves for years).
Who knows? Maybe Man. U wouldn’t have won those titles with Ballack in the squad. Or, maybe he’d be a two-time league champion with a Champions League winner’s medal to his name.
First of all winning German league competitions with Bayern Munich is definitely something special. If you think otherwise just look at the way the players and fans celebrate whenever we do, so u people need to stop talking shit.
Keno, that’s one of the dumbest comments I’ve ever seen on this site. There is hardly a better big game player than ballack. That y Chelsea brought him in, so that he would finally take them to cl victory and he went pretty close to doing it this season. To say that there is a problem with his mentality in big game is nonsense. If that was the case he wouldnt be the ‘nearly man’ he would be the ‘not even close man’.
Ballack is a class player, certainly one of the best there is in the EPL and that’s y he has achieved more than most player can ever dream off.
On every occasion that he can close and lost, he lost to the better team (with the exception of the 2008 cl finals). That alone speaks to the class of ballack because he has caused ordinary teams to overachieve - he certainly has not underachieved, and anyone who thinks differently is a jackass.
i agree with keno, ballack does spend too much time when playing for germany, just arguing with refs and kicking opposition players, perhaps he thinks this is how you win with an inferior side. i think he committed about 12 fouls in his short time on the pitch in the final of the euros if he had concentrated on the game maybe things would have been different… as for his chelsea team maybe he gets lost from time to time in general but with chelsea he can almost afford to do that every now and again cos he knows the likes of drogba and terry with pick up the mantel, (champions league final aside)against bolton this wouldn’t matter, but this article raises the interesting point that he always seems to do this in bigger games.
another quick example, demetrio albertini missed both champions league final and world cup final through suspension in the same season too…
Take it or leave it, that man, Michael Ballack is not a push-aside. He’s a great man with commendable talents.I agree with the writer of this article that winning a cup goes beyond abilities( Luck and team mates count too).You can hardly see Ballack play without making an impact in a match, unlike C.Ronaldo that greatly fumbled at the Euro 2008.
Take it or leave it. Michael Ballack is not a push-aside. He’s a great man with commendable abilities. You can hardly see him play a match without making a positive impact, unlike C.Ronaldo that fumbled severally in the EURO 2008.
I agree with the writer of this aricle that it goes beyond abilities to win a cup(Luck and Team mates play a big role too).I believe in him, and i strongly bgelieve that he’ll break the ice someday!
“Even losers get luck sometimes ;)” well come on you can’t just post this phrase for Ballack ;), he is a world class player.
Yelling at the referees, kicking other players, thats all part of the game and comes up with the heat of the game. When you are a goal down, and you are a captain of German team its your job to engage all the activities well.
Germany was playing better in the beginning of the game, it was ballack who came up with a dangerous move, (maybe the cup’s celebrations made people to forget this ;))just that goal and onwards, things just changed, there was too much pressure, of the final, of the opponents and of course of the goald down, and within some moments Germany was looking threatening but that much enough, the others reached finals not to concede goals with the likes of errors of Lahm and Lehman. Lahm did such a paradise for turkish players as well. But Lahm still is one of the best ones.
Well I think now he knows from which ways one can lose in the finals ;), thats a big experience if i just start count there are more than 6 major event full of such nightmares for him ;).
World Cup 2010 is just 2 years away, lets hope he come up with all of his experiences and learnings and lead with a solid foundations and surely he is capable of it.
have oodles of best wishes for German Football in 2010. Especially for this man Ballack :).
Thanks for your thoughts Victor. I’ve problems reading words like “loser” or mentality problems in big games when somebody talks about Ballack. I watched Ronaldo missing important goals from the point, but the majority says (as I do as well), that he is today the best player in the world. What would the worldpress title, when he would have been in the euro 08 final and would have lost it? What if Terry had scored in the champion league final against Manu (where Ronaldo missed scoring)?
Nobody says Ronalda is a loser, apart from the aspect that he and his teamates lost against Germany with a real bad performance from the Manu-star.
Its not the titles you win or not, its the performance with your team, the strength you need by taking the most important penalty in the season against Manu. Its the will to win when you are almost fighting with Drogba to take the shot - if you take responsibility and with it you take critical thoughts from fans and press on your shoulders, because youre tough enough. That is a big player, a winner - thats in my opinion Skipper Michael Ballack.
See you in 2010! Good Luck
Ballack’s a thorough professional and very talented footballer. Would have liked him to win something but with him at Chelsea and England hopefully going to South Africa 2010, I just don’t see it happening