Golden Ball nominees

PedroMendez said:
In Müller we trust.

Anyway. I enjoyed the worldcup. The Brazilian crowd is fantastic; very positive and entertaining. I wont be bitter if we lose.
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I think we still haven't lost a competitive match when he started for the nationalteam, so yeah, he's the one who will bring us the title. I'd love it if he won the Golden Ball. I guess it's difficult for him to collect individual awards and this is his chance.
 
Inspire said:
Messi looks like a fool on the pic :lol:
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Still an improvement over this one (the felft one):

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Neymar I understand, it was inevitable. Lahm and Di Maria though. What?
 
The Golden Ball winner is chosen before the final is played, isn't that correct? Unless they changed it in recent years. I still remember people talking about "the curse of the Golden Ball" after Ronaldo (1998/had a seizure before the final, probably played the worst game of his life up until that point), Kahn (2002/made a major mistake, which lead to the Brazilians winning against an otherwise strong German team) and Zidane (2006/I don't think I have to say anything about that) all had terrible games in the final after being chosen as the Golden Ball winner beforehand. Well, this curse was kind of broken in 2010 when Forlan won, but then again, he didn't play the final. So, to be honest, I'd rather not see a German player win it :D

By the way: Kind of hilarious seeing people talk about how the winner must come from the World Champion team, when that hasn't been the case for the last four tournaments :)

My favourite is Messi. Not because he deserves it, but because he is everybody's darling. People love Messi. Whenever they are not sure who to vote for, they'll just go for him. He is the easy choice. Rodriguez, Kroos and Hummels deserve it way more, but that's probably who it's going to be. Although, if it helps Argentina lose the final, who am I to complain.
 
Muller/Messi depending on who actually wins the final.. Although in my opinion Lahm should get it!

Young player should go to Pogba and the golden gloves will again go to Neuer/Romero but I would like to see Navas get it and surprised Ochoa wasn't nominated!!
 
Irish-Red-7 said:
Muller/Messi depending on who actually wins the final.. Although in my opinion Lahm should get it!

Young player should go to Pogba and the golden gloves will again go to Neuer/Romero but I would like to see Navas get it and surprised Ochoa wasn't nominated!!
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Would you be giving Lahm the award for his performances over the course of the season? You surely couldn't be suggesting he's deserved it on his performances in this tournament...
 
Okocha119 said:
By the way: Kind of hilarious seeing people talk about how the winner must come from the World Champion team, when that hasn't been the case for the last four tournaments :)
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With two exceptions a player, who played in the final, won this award. In the end everyone but Messi would be a surprise.
 
If Argentina win the World Cup then Messi will win the Golden Ball. He's been good but not as good as some others have been (personally think Robben, James, Muller and Kroos have all been better), thing is he's Messi and having already received plenty of undeserved MOTM awards so far you just know he'll win this as well if his country lift the trophy. He's bloody good, but the media have been determined to paint him on a level of Maradona '86 ever since the tournament started.
 
Brwned said:
Would you be giving Lahm the award for his performances over the course of the season? You surely couldn't be suggesting he's deserved it on his performances in this tournament...
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Something like that, always impressed by him every time I see him play. I play ball myself for my university as a full back so fully appreciate Lahms game. Best full back around in my opinion.

Would love to see him get it however usually the Strikers/midfielders get the recognition with the exception of Cannavro.
 
Fair enough. I think if he had played at fullback for the entire tournament he could be in with a shout but his performances in midfield were far from his best. Hummels has been head and shoulders above him, IMO.
 
ya there have been past tournaments in which it would have made sense to nominate Lahm for the Golden Ball but while he was back to his usual standard as RB in the last two games he also didn't shine too much in the whole tournament and Hummels, Neuer, Müller and Kroos have all been better for Germany so I guess his nomination is just recognizing his consistency at the top level.
 
Brwned said:
Fair enough. I think if he had played at fullback for the entire tournament he could be in with a shout but his performances in midfield were far from his best. Hummels has been head and shoulders above him, IMO.
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Hummels has been excellent too. Very important goals against France and Portugal and defensively solid. Big game player and should excel in tomorrow's environment.
 
JamesB__ said:
If Argentina win the World Cup then Messi will win the Golden Ball. He's been good but not as good as some others have been (personally think Robben, James, Muller and Kroos have all been better), thing is he's Messi and having already received plenty of undeserved MOTM awards so far you just know he'll win this as well if his country lift the trophy. He's bloody good, but the media have been determined to paint him on a level of Maradona '86 ever since the tournament started.
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Which of his MOTM awards did he not deserve?
 
Bob Loblaw said:
Which of his MOTM awards did he not deserve?
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I thought there were a few in the Bosnia game that deserved it ahead of him. Pjanic in particular was better, I name him because although I remember being really impressed with a few of the Bosnian players I can't remember their names, but I do remember Pjanic was fantastic that night. Messi's goal was great but other than that I thought he was poor - you may think different but we're football fans, would be boring if we all thought the same.
 
JamesB__ said:
I thought there were a few in the Bosnia game that deserved it ahead of him. Pjanic in particular was better, I name him because although I remember being really impressed with a few of the Bosnian players I can't remember their names, but I do remember Pjanic was fantastic that night. Messi's goal was great but other than that I thought he was poor - you may think different but we're football fans, would be boring if we all thought the same.
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Indeed it would be, I wasn't criticising you or anything just interested in your thoughts. For what it's worth I thought Messi had a really poor first half in that game but great second half (not just the goal, his overall play). Whether that's enough to be named MOTM is debatable, but I think it was deserved personally.
 
JamesB__ said:
I thought there were a few in the Bosnia game that deserved it ahead of him. Pjanic in particular was better, I name him because although I remember being really impressed with a few of the Bosnian players I can't remember their names, but I do remember Pjanic was fantastic that night. Messi's goal was great but other than that I thought he was poor - you may think different but we're football fans, would be boring if we all thought the same.
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I agree that he wasn't the "best player" on the pitch, in the sense of being the most outstanding or impressive performer, against either Bosnia, nor Iran. But FIFA's MotM award mainly seems to value "decisiveness" in a match (and considering that Messi scored the most important goals in those games, which were both solo efforts as well, it makes sense). Also note that Higuaín got the MotM award against Belgium (while I thought some of Argentina's defensive players were a lot more deserving) and Romero against the Netherlands (should've gone to either Mascherano or Vlaar, although the latter loses "points" for his missed pen. IMO), so it's not just a popularity thing. They clearly look at the player they think had the most decisive impact on the result, not necessarilly the player that performed best throughout.

My take on stand-out performers in each game,

Arg v BIH, 1. Besic, 2. Pjanic, 3. Messi
Arg v Iran, 1. Dejagah, 2. Romero, 3. Rojo
Arg v Nigeria, 1. Messi, 2. Musa, 3. Rojo
Arg v Swiss, 1. Messi, 2. Shaqiri, 3. Di María
Arg v Belgium, 1. Biglia, 2. Garay, 3. Mascherano
Arg v Holland, 1. Mascherano, 2. Vlaar, 3. Garay
 
Skorenzy said:
I agree that he wasn't the "best player" on the pitch, in the sense of being the most outstanding or impressive performer, against either Bosnia, nor Iran. But FIFA's MotM award mainly seems to value "decisiveness" in a match (and considering that Messi scored the most important goals in those games, which were both solo efforts as well, it makes sense). Also note that Higuaín got the MotM award against Belgium (while I thought some of Argentina's defensive players were a lot more deserving) and Romero against the Netherlands (should've gone to either Mascherano or Vlaar, although the latter loses "points" for his missed pen. IMO), so it's not just a popularity thing. They clearly look at the player they think had the most decisive impact on the result, not necessarilly the player that performed best throughout.

My take on stand-out performers in each game,

Arg v BIH, 1. Besic, 2. Pjanic, 3. Messi
Arg v Iran, 1. Dejagah, 2. Romero, 3. Rojo
Arg v Nigeria, 1. Messi, 2. Musa, 3. Rojo
Arg v Swiss, 1. Messi, 2. Shaqiri, 3. Di María
Arg v Belgium, 1. Biglia, 2. Garay, 3. Mascherano
Arg v Holland, 1. Mascherano, 2. Vlaar, 3. Garay
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I just read there on FIFA.com that the Budweiser man of the match is based on votes by fans. Are there two separate man of the match awards or is that the only one? I remember reading that Ronaldo won man of the match vs Brazil in 2010 and people were saying he did not deserve it, including lucio who said he only won it due to popularity. He also won one for the match against Ghana at this world cup and people were criticising him for his performance in that match also.
 
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Raul Madrid said:
I just read there on FIFA.com that the Budweiser man of the match is based on votes by fans. Are there two separate man of the match awards or is that the only one? I remember reading that Ronaldo won man of the match vs Brazil in 2010 and people were saying he did not deserve it, including lucio who said he only won it due to popularity. He also won one for the match against Ghana at this world cup and people were criticising him for his performance in that match also.
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I was certain I read somewhere that the MotM award was decided on by FIFA's Technical Study Group... now I'm not so sure anymore :D

edit: indeed you're right, http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/awards/man-of-the-match/rules.html

I don't recall this being the case in previous tournaments? Although MotM award outside of the Final are a relatively recent thing anyway I guess.
 
Skorenzy said:
I was certain I read somewhere that the MotM award was decided on by FIFA's Technical Study Group... now I'm not so sure anymore :D

edit: indeed you're right, http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/awards/man-of-the-match/rules.html

I don't recall this being the case in previous tournaments? Although MotM award outside of the Final are a relatively recent thing anyway I guess.
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I definitely recall in 2010 reading that Ronaldo won it vs brazil and a lot of people were disagreeing with it, including lucio who said he only won it due to popularity. I think that is a bit silly tbh as fans will just vote for their favourite player most of the time and the people who vote for their favourite will surely outnumber the people without bias most of the time.
 
Raul Madrid said:
I definitely recall in 2010 reading that Ronaldo won it vs brazil and a lot of people were disagreeing with it, including lucio who said he only won it due to popularity. I think that is a bit silly tbh as fans will just vote for their favourite player most of the time and the people who vote for their favourite will surely outnumber the people without bias most of the time.
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Or, as the case was at the start of this World Cup* they'll vote for whoever twitter tells them to in order to fix it so that people can win bets on MOTM markets :lol:

*Until the bookies clocked on and closed betting on MOTM.
 
Raul Madrid said:
I definitely recall in 2010 reading that Ronaldo won it vs brazil and a lot of people were disagreeing with it, including lucio who said he only won it due to popularity. I think that is a bit silly tbh as fans will just vote for their favourite player most of the time and the people who vote for their favourite will surely outnumber the people without bias most of the time.
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Indeed. Anyway aside from those pure popularity votes, I think my reasoning is still valid that the "casual" viewer will likely vote for the player who's most decisive to the result of the match and not necessarilly the best player throughout the whole game.
 
Snow said:
Robben has been excellent this tournament. Thoroughly deserves to win it.
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I fully agree, hes been the standout player of this world cup to me, if only all wingers could play like him(without the diving of course)

He just runs at defenders non stop, never shies away, brilliant dribbler, plus I think he was clocked as the fastest world cup player in history in that match against spain at 33.7 km/h
 
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For me its either Robben or Müller. Both scored important goals and gave assists and what distinguish them from Messi in this tournament is their brilliant workrate on the whole pitch ( both nearly on top when its comes to distance covered).
Still thinking of those many sprints in extra time, while some players couldnt even stand on the pitch anymore. Impressed by the winning mentality both showed !
 
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Hope it goes to Robben, he's been superb throughout. Got a feeling it will go to either Messi or Muller, depending on which team wins tonight.
 
Skorenzy said:
My take on stand-out performers in each game,

Arg v BIH, 1. Besic, 2. Pjanic, 3. Messi
Arg v Iran, 1. Dejagah, 2. Romero, 3. Rojo
Arg v Nigeria, 1. Messi, 2. Musa, 3. Rojo
Arg v Swiss, 1. Messi, 2. Shaqiri, 3. Di María
Arg v Belgium, 1. Biglia, 2. Garay, 3. Mascherano
Arg v Holland, 1. Mascherano, 2. Vlaar, 3. Garay
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Pretty fair summary. I'd only disagree with Shaqiri and especially Di Maria for the Swiss game.
 
Robben has flattered to deceive Imo. His knockout performances have been a bit meh
 
Does anyone know, when FIFA announces the winner?
 
Robben was better tha messi, but fifa wants messi, so messi will win it.
 
Gio said:
Pretty fair summary. I'd only disagree with Shaqiri and especially Di Maria for the Swiss game.
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Di María was very wasteful in that game, but next to Messi also the most active player for Argentina IMO and I also took him scoring the, fairly clutch, winning goal into consideration of course. But I can agree that there were maybe others ahead of him (maybe one of Behrami, Inler, Ricardo Rodríguez?). I'm curious about Shaqiri though, who would you have? I thought he played really well, created two clear cut chances for Drmic as I seem to remember, showed some decent dribbles and had a couple of dangerous deliveries into Arg's box. Granted, he was uninvolved for long periods, albeit through little fault of his own.
 
Robben for me. I dont Messi deserves it at all, even if he scores a hat trick tonight.
 
My take,

James Rodríguez was clearly the most consistently outstanding player of the tournament IMO, the only "downside" on his rating would be that he faced probably the weakest opponents of all candidates (Robben, Messi, Müller?) and went out to the first big name opponent (Brazil, he did have a great 2nd half despite being hacked down all game long, though to be fair he embellished quite a bit at times as well).

Robben was extremely impressive in the group phase on a very reactive, counter-attacking team ceding possession to the the more proactive Spain and Chile (meaning he had space to operate in) and while the Australia game was 50/50 in terms of possession they also played very openly. Robben was still excellent in Holland's first two knock-out games, v Mexico and Costa Rica, but here was the first time that he's had to play in similar conditions to what Messi's been facing in every game (bar v Nigeria) and the conclusion is that his effectiveness was also cut down immensely compared to the group stage. Against Argentina he was basically a non-factor, also failing to take his side's best chance (the one Mascherano "tore his anus" over).

Messi, unspectacular first two games, brilliance in flashes, curbed by opposition (and sometimes his own coach's) tactics in basically every game (as mentioned, barring v Nigeria where he then scored twice in 60 minutes). His best game was probably that one or the one against the Swiss. Only a good/great performance in the Final (and maybe a win) would elevate him above James and Robben, IMO. He's definitely already in contention for best defender of the tournament for me; forcing every opponent to adapt to him out of fear has been the basis of a very strong Argentina DF in the knock-out stage. :D

Müller, a perfect cog in an "efficient" German machine (yes, I know, those stereotypes...), he's come up with the goods in several games. Incidentally, the games in which he had his biggest contributions might both not be the best indicators of his WC performance as a whole thus far... a 4-0 thrashing of Portugal, who were reduced to 10 men early on, and a 7-1 demolition of Brazil, who were reduced to a quivering pile of misery after Müller scored the 1-0. However, I can definitely see him (or Hummels) scoring a vital goal in the Final anyway. Same as with Messi, his performance in the Final will be decisive to his rating.
 
Seriously how the hell does Messi win this over Robben and James Rodriguez ?

What a farce going on hype and reputation.
 
Ridiculous to give it to Messi. Also rather cruel to make him receive it in those circumstances.
 
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