But none of those matters. It’s about successful dribbles and goals outside the box which is the only measures you are allowed to use!
Ballon d'Or 2021 | Lewandowski robbed again
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) look forward to a new life under Ruben Amorim. What system will we be playing? What players will impress? and how will it all go? We also say goodbye to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and review United's 3-0 win at home against Leicester City.
But none of those matters. It’s about successful dribbles and goals outside the box which is the only measures you are allowed to use!
I want to see those highlight with Lewy and his positioning helping inside the box 
This period also contains CL group stages, where by definition every club has at least 2 games where they play against other knockout stages participants and Bundesliga has multiple clubs that had no problem doing fine in Europe in recent years. Bochum is a massively cherrypicked example.
How are those games something completely irrelevant in comparison to Copa America, where Messi cemented his top goalscorer and top assister status against powerhouses of Ecuador and Bolivia? By what metric these are somehow better and if scores in Bundesliga are somehow settled beforehand how are those not?
And regarding the second point, if people voting for this supposedly most prestigious individual award can't even be bothered to watch anything outside of few months and 2-3 tournaments I feel like this kinda proves a point that it's mostly a popularity contest and not something that is providing any useful insight.
Best forward in La Liga + MVP in Copa + MVP in Copa Del Rey Final + La Liga top goal scorer + Copa most assists + most MOTM awards and significantly better playmaking stats, all with an inferior Barca in a superior La Liga..
What did Lewa do to deserve the award? Being a top scorer in Bundesliga, a one-team league that Bayern has been winning 9 times in a year? Nobody is impressed with that, sorry. Lewa deserved that in 2020 by far with the CL win, but you do not win Ballon D'or by being the top goal scorer in Bundesliga alone, it does not work like that..
Messi competed in a superior league with inferior Barca vs Lewa with superior Bayern in an inferior league.. If Ronaldo was the top candidate against Lewa this year, all those Ronaldo fans would completely ignore Bundesliga achievements saying it is a farmers league. What is really funny is that Ballon D'or results seem to have upset Ronaldo fans way more than Lewa fans.
Lewandowski was a little unlucky, he certainly deserved the 2020 Ballon D’or and France Football should really be awarding him that award retrospectively. He deserved it and it was nonsense to cancel it.
But Messi isn’t unworthy of this years award. It was the best individual display I’ve seen at an international tournament for a couple of decades and he was brilliant in a really poor Barcelona side too. Conversely Lewandowski has put up sensational numbers again but in a league that is a complete one horse race and in a side that is infinitely stronger than its competition; Bundesliga is a bit like a Ferrari (Bayern) racing against a load of Ford Fiestas.
It just seems like there’s an awful lot of bitterness towards Messi with people either getting fed up with him winning it or because they’re too heavily invested in Messi vs Ronnie debate. Best example would be the constant talk of needing to do something with Argentina, this has been said for over a decade, now that he’s done it there are attempts to discredit the Copa as though it’s the Capital One cup. It’s no robbery, he stepped up and captained his side to their first international trophy in nearly 30 years and he did it in Brazil, that was always going to be huge when it came time for the journalists to vote.
But Messi isn’t unworthy of this years award. It was the best individual display I’ve seen at an international tournament for a couple of decades and he was brilliant in a really poor Barcelona side too. Conversely Lewandowski has put up sensational numbers again but in a league that is a complete one horse race and in a side that is infinitely stronger than its competition; Bundesliga is a bit like a Ferrari (Bayern) racing against a load of Ford Fiestas.
It just seems like there’s an awful lot of bitterness towards Messi with people either getting fed up with him winning it or because they’re too heavily invested in Messi vs Ronnie debate. Best example would be the constant talk of needing to do something with Argentina, this has been said for over a decade, now that he’s done it there are attempts to discredit the Copa as though it’s the Capital One cup. It’s no robbery, he stepped up and captained his side to their first international trophy in nearly 30 years and he did it in Brazil, that was always going to be huge when it came time for the journalists to vote.
the stats go up to the last day of voting. What happens after that happens so irrelevant to ballon d’or voting
Not really. Hopefully you're not a betting man based on this insightful peek into the world of the pathetic which you do seem to have a history with.
I mean Messi shouldn't have won it but it's no way as big an injustice as people are making it out to be.
And anything that makes the Ronaldo fanboys cry into their wanking socks is a good thing.
And anything that makes the Ronaldo fanboys cry into their wanking socks is a good thing.
Lewandowskis G+A per 90 is literally 50% higher than Messi's, I've no idea what the hell you're talking about....
Stats from club competitions + internationals during calender year 2021 (from Transfermarkt)
Robert Lewandowski: 62 goals + 9 assists in 4346 minutes = 1.47 goal/assist per 90
Lionel Messi: 40 goals + 17 assists in 5180 minutes = 0.99 goal/assist per 90
Does this include the period from voting till date? And also hope you realise the gulf between Bayern and Barcelona in 2021?
Bundesliga is a farmers 1-team league compared to La Liga, no comparison, even Ligue 1 is more competitive than Bundesliga with 3 different winners in the last 5 years.. Salah, Benzema etc. would all break goal records at Bayern, nothing special.. Lewa would struggle at last year's Barca under Koeman. If you want to win Ballon D'or with Bayern, then you better win the CL or do serious damage in an international tournament, nothing else cuts it. It is the same for Messi this year at PSG, nobody cares about Ligue 1 just like Bundesliga..
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Ballon D'G+A
Of course I'm a betting man, a losing betting. Thought I was onto a worldy last night with 0-0 in both games.
for the same reason we are all "downplaying" French league? I mean, Ibra and Neymar have often been accused of wasting their careers there as PSG's titles didnt't have any weight. and it's true, it's not much of a challenge winning that league when you play for PSG. but why should we all of sudden pretend it's any different in BL? it's uncompetitive as it gets. that's a simple fact, not insult.
Exactly, these CR7 fans are acting like they were so mindblown that Messi won the award. It is like armageddon to them.
Both Messi and Lewa could have won this award this year and there is nothing unfair about it, it is really a coin toss. What would be surprising and mindblowing is if Jorginho or CR7 won it.
“Best individual display” at international tournament for “couple of decades” is over the top statement.
I personally have nothing against Messi winning it this year. But over the Copa tournament, he was immense against some cannon folders, but didn’t impress as much against top teams, and totally disappear against Brazil in final. It’s still considered good performance overall where he dominate the stats over mostly underwhelming opponents, but I don’t think his performance in Copa is anywhere near “best individual display in couple of decades” to be very honest.
But I do think that his LL performance this year and Copa performance over the summer, is considered good enough for him to win another Ballon D’or (although I do think Lewandowski deserves to win it more).
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Henry was robbed at least once. So was Ribery. Lewandowski now.
Nothing new here.
Nothing new here.
Messi's goal tally was the 2nd worst for a 'top goal scorer' in La Liga in the last decade.
Luis Suarez won the 'Player of the Season' award, not him. Suarez was responsible for 11 match-winning goals, compared to Messi's 7. He scored 9 less goals than Messi, for a club that scored 18 less goals than Barcelona, and won the league title. Almost like the style of play affects the striker's numbers.
I'm assuming you're talking about the Copa del Rey, since you said " all with an inferior Barca in a superior La Liga."
If that's the case, then it's not true at all. Messi had one assist in the Copa del Rey last season, per As and Transfermarkt. His goals/assists record in the Copa was the 2nd worst he's had in the last decade, and his worst of the decade on a per minute basis.
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Does anyone even care about a poxy football award when the world is falling apart !
Is this outrage about Lewandowski supposedly getting robbed some form of indirect support for Ronaldo? 
Is this outrage about Lewandowski supposedly getting robbed some form of indirect support for Ronaldo?
Why is it telling? I just can't think of another reason why people are so invested in this topic: Lewandowski played a historic Bundesliga season, but (due to injuries and being Polish) didn't accomplish anything on the international stage. Messi played a great season for Barca and dominated the Copa America. I think both wouldn't be undeserving of the award, so I'm surprised people with no connection to either Lewandowski or Bayern get so worked up over it.
I don't understand why everyone is acting so surprised. Messi has been favourite to win it since the copa and his 2021 la liga form.
Because of their connection to Ronaldo
This and Lewandowski getting injured before the PSG games sealed the award for Messi.
Ronaldo shouldn't have been anywhere near it and Messi is the better player.Is this outrage about Lewandowski supposedly getting robbed some form of indirect support for Ronaldo?
Lewandowski should have won this year.
I don't believe that was untill the voting closed in october.
If they're like me, it's because they do not think Messi played a great season for Barcelona.
I think an argument can be made that Messi deserved the Balon D'Or. But for that argument to be honest, it needs to acknowledge that Messi didn't have a great season, then argue that Lewandowski also didn't have a great season.
I watch La Liga. I used to be terrified of this guy playing RM, now I couldn't care less, because I know he's not going to do anything. He hasn't scored against us for a few seasons now. He simply isn't the best player in the world anymore and it was reflected in his achievements and performances.
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Ronaldo factor. Related dislike for Messi. Also just wanting to see Lewandowski winning (which is fair).
Basically there were two contenders either would have been worthy.
I don't think so. He's not alien Messi anymore, but he's still in general good enough to compete as the best in the world. At least unless he's finally finished. I consider Mpabbe, Haaland, lewandowski and Neymar equal or better than him now.
You obviously didn't watch much Barca games if you think he didn't have a great season
As of this season form, and objectively speaking, it’s safe to say the likes of Salah, Benzema or even Ronaldo are equal or better.
In the 2021-2022 season so far many are better. Salah especially.
Not everyone is you though. Fair play to you if you’re not rooting for Lewa because of CR7 because truth be told many are doing that thereby clouding objectivity. If we are to let go of every bias and judge it wouldn’t be hard to see. There was no clear cut stand out performer as it was in some past years. I think Copa America no matter how despised on here tipped the scales for Messi else he wouldn’t be in the running owing to a relatively poor showing at club level. When you look at Lewa, he broke records yes but I cannot say his achievements in the Bundesliga should be reckoned as greater than Messi’s achievements at Copa America and I guess the voters generally agree with this. Bayern departing from the UCL when they did was rather unfortunate as I think Bayern could have won it if he was there but again this is an unfortunate situation and nobody’s fault. The voters don’t say “okay maybe X would have happened if Lewy was around.” Injuries are unfortunate and have caused people to loose titles over and again so there is no reason why an award cannot be lost because of injuries. Who says Bayern would win PSG if Lewy was available? These are questions you cannot answer with an 100% certainty because this is football. I could easily say Lewy was robbed because I can call myself a CR7 fanboy but I would be lying if I did.
The issue isn't that the Copa America is "despised" here, it's that objectively, it has never had any kind of real influence in the Balon D'Or. This is easily verifiable when looking at vote tallies from previous seasons, which has been done in this thread multiple times.
It's only by Messi's standards that was a poor showing. He failed to score against RM and AM and I think that's it. He was carrying a shit Barcelona side.
Summer tournaments have always had a huge influence on Ballon d'Or, France Football has always said it.
The Balon D'Or vote tallies of previous 'best players of the Copa America' says more than any statements that France Football has made.
That's because the Ballon d'Or was only for European players until the 90s. And the point is about summer tournaments., all of them.
The Copa America has been held five times just in the past 10 years. I'm going by those numbers.