Has the winning goal in the world cup sealed the golden ball for Iniesta?
Believe it or not, I hate using the word overrated to describe a footballer. It’s actually annoying every time I have to use it, but sometimes Plaudits for a footballer can go too far to the point it makes one cringe.
Whether it be Canavaro winning world player of the year, whether it be people saying Xavi is more important to Barcelona than Messi, whether it be any wonderkid in fm being described as a potential great, plaudits can over emphasise a players ability or sometimes just his contributions to a team.
The player I want to talk about right now is Andres Iniesta and the rumour that he is to win the Balon dor according to Gazzeta Dello Sport. What’s your thought on this? For me, if it is to happen the award would lose even more credibility, believe it or not, if I had my way he wouldn’t even be in the top 3. He simply does not deserve to be there.
It’s only just a rumour but the fact that Wesley Sneidjer who had a great domestic season and world cup is not even in the running takes the piss. He was integral in Inter winning the treble ffs…THE TREBLE ,Milito is another story…
Has Rafa Benitez’s pathetic running of Inter Milan really cost them all sort of credibility with these awards? It’s one thing for Rafa to feck up clubs not now he’s fecking with individual player’s awards, nominations? This is a whole new low for the Spaniard.
What about Lionel Messi who scored 47 goals last season for Barcelona in his best season for the club to this date, a record I don’t see anybody breaking anytime soon. Nobody was more consistent, nobody put in more brilliant displays, did an alleged poor world cup really cost him an award which was in the bag before the tournament began?
What about Cristiano Ronaldo? The fastest player to reach 50 goals for Real Madrid, beating the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano, his record domestically can only be described as sensational, especially when you look at the fact he had come to a new league. It can take players ages to adjust to new environments but he was on his game from the very beginning. Surely he’s a more credible contender than Andres?
Why is it a player like Wayne Rooney who was sensational for our club for the most part last season doesn’t even get nominated? He scored over 30 goals, destroyed Milan in the San Siro and doesn't even appear in a list of 25?!
Don’t get me wrong Iniesta is a world class player, certainly in the top 10 and possibly the top 5, some of his twists and turns on the ball reminds me of Zidane and old footage of George Best.
It is mesmeric to watch at times but in my opinion there is no way he should be the next winner of the Ballon’dor.
This would be up there with the Canavaro travesty in 2007 who Ronaldinho lost out to, despite hitting new heights with Barca during the domestic season, only for a poor world cup to completely cost him everything.
Don Adres missed a lot of last season due to injuries, a fact that should be enough to put him out of the running when you consider how much Xavi and Messi were integral to Barcelona’s successes.
How can you miss most of the season, not impact the big games in the domestic league and end up with the best player of the year award?
Lionel Messi and Xavi actually proved that as good as Iniesta is, he’s not as crucial to Barcelona that people think he is. Barcelona managed without him comfortably.
So if it’s not for the domestic season he should be winning this award, then it has to be for the world cup right? Iniesta was great in the world cup and scored the winning goal but he wasn’t the best player in the tournament, Diego Forlan was. David Villa was better than him if we’re being pedantic. If so much emphasis is put on that final game does that mean Fabregas should be in the running for proving the assist?
For me what a player does during the domestic season should have more bearings on these awards rather than one off tournaments because players have to play up to 50 games each season, surely consistent performances here should be more important than a few games in a one off tournament? There is a much broader scope to judge a player’s ability and his contributions to football.
Players work their arses off for a whole season putting in consistent performances and for a player who is injured for most of the year to take the award after a great few games just leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
It was even suspect when the legendary Brazilian Ronaldo won it in 2002, but at least he was the tournaments stand out performer with 8 goals to his name, this time, in 2010 Iniesta was not.
Is Iniesta overrated? It’s a tough one, he’s clearly a world class player but some things said about him make me believe people don’t watch him regularly enough.
I remember saying Fabregas is a better passer than him during the world cup and was completely green smiled out of the Caf, even though I thought this was obvious. Iniesta is very good at short passing but he does not have the range, vision or accuracy of players like Scholes, Xabi Alonso or Cesc Fabregas.
Neither does he run games on a consistent basis as a lot of people think he does, although he was sensational against us. I actually had to upload a video of his performance against Chelsea this year when one poster kept banging on about how he dominated them.
Then again it’s Spain’s year, feck it, it’s spain's decade, their Barcelona has been carrying the flag for LaLiga in the Champions League and Spain has won the Euro 2008 and the World Cup. It may seem right that a player for Spain should win it, but that should be the best Spanish player throughout the year which should be Xavi, not Iniesta.
Players should only win these awards when they deserve it, and Iniesta just doesn’t in my opinion. Give it to him when he does; don’t feck the more deserving stars over.
Can you think of any legitimate reason why Iniesta should win this award?
