The Ballon d’Or has come to a close and has predicted or according to the leaked list, Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or with a wide margin.

It’s a clean sweep for the Croatian. He won the World cup Golden ball, UEFA Men player of the year award, FIFA The best player award, and Ballon d’Or award in an award laden year. That made him the first player in history to win everything in a year. The big question is Does Luka Modric deserve the Ballon d’Or?

2 goals, 1 assist and 3 Man of the Match (MOTM) awards in the world cup coupled with 2 goals and 8 assists in 43 matches for Real Madrid was enough for Modric to win the Ballon d’Or. He also won the Uefa Champions league, Uefa Super cup, Club world cup, and Spanish Super cup.

Source

No doubt, Luka Modric is the best Midfielder in the world last season. He’s unplayable when in form. Is he the best player?

Playing with certain players under certain tactics afford him the opportunity to claim the ladder to the top.

Croatia first match in the world cup saw Zlatko Dalic utilize a 4-2-3-1 formation where Luka Modric and Rakitic played a double pivot role with Kramaric in a more advanced role. While he did achieved success with that tactics, the team wasn’t balanced. Modric did not have that freedom he enjoyed at Real Madrid. A defensive midfielder was needed. Brozovic was brought in for Kramaric and Modric moved to a more advanced role knowing he has the dependable Brozovic that will protect the backline in case of any counter attack or misplaced pass.

Coming to club side, he starred alongside Toni Kroos, Casemiro in the midfield to help Real Madrid win their 3rd consecutive champions league. You may argue for or against this. The truth is Modric was not Real Madrid best or most important player last season in the UCL. The Real Madrid backline and front men played a huge role in their success last season. The knockout fixtures saw Real Madrid outplayed in the midfield. They had to rely on their center backs and clinical finish from their forwards to do the magic for them.

It is clear that Luka Modric won the Ballon d’Or, FIFA The Best, UEFA award based on his World cup exploits rather than overall performance for both club and country. You don’t decide an award meant to be for the best player in a calendar year using a 1 month competition. While many players deserves the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best award. I will pick just 1 player that truly deserve it. He’s none other than Cristiano Ronaldo formerly of Real Madrid and now a Juventus player.

Cristiano Ronaldo

44 goals, 8 assists in 44 matches last season for club despite missing the first 4 matches due to suspension and rested agains smaller teams such as Leganes, Numancia, Malaga, Las Palmas, and Espanyol. Playing this matches would have definitely increased Ronaldo goal tally.

The beginning of the season saw Ronaldo losing form from last season fatique. Ultimately, Real Madrid lost form too. The first 14 matches saw Cristiano Ronaldo score 4 goals and record 2 assists. In this timeframe, Real Madrid could only amass 24 points out of a possible 42 points. That’s a 57% point rate with their talisman losing form. The next 13 games that that Ronaldo featured saw him score a whopping 22 goals and created 3 assists. During this period, Real Madrid amassed 29 points out of a possible 39 points. That’s a 74% point rate. Also Madrid didn’t lose any match during this period as against 4 in the first 14 matches. This run also includes Ronaldo scoring in 10 consecutive matches. It is clear that Cristiano Ronaldo was Real Madrid best player in la liga last season. Not only did he score goals, but he was influential in the matches he played. This takes us to the Champions league where Ronaldo is King and should be called Mr Champions League.

Source

15 goals, 3 assists in 13 UCL matches. Real Madrid scored a total of 33 goals in the UCL with Ronaldo contributing 45% of those goals. Show me a player that can better that. 11 of those goals came against top clubs like PSG, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, and Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo have often been called a flat-track bully who only scores against smaller teams. This time around he proves doubters wrong. Scoring against big teams in style as he scored all his 15 goals in 10 consecutive matches. A player for the big moment. Ronaldo delivers when called upon. The 2nd leg against Juventus in the Quarter finals was one that caught many by surprise. After winning the first leg 3-0 away in Italy, many believed Real Madrid should do the same at Santiago Bernabeu. The reverse was the case, Madrid losing 3-0 until Ronaldo stepped up to slot in the dying minutes penalty that ensure their safe passage into the semifinals.

Source

It’s just a penalty you will say, my mama going to score it. I bet that 99% of current football players will lose that penalty. A mini-fight, red card and little delay was all needed for Ronaldo to lose that penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo kept his cool and slotted it in. We have seen many players lose or refuse to take crucial penalties that would have saved their team. Asamoah Gyan lost the penalty that would have ensured Ghana entry into the World cup semifinals after the famous Suarez handball. Leo Messi had Neymar take the 90+1 penalty against PSG back in 2017. Luka Modric also lost against Denmark in the 166 minute that could have seen Croatia won the match without resorting to penalties.

This shows that not all players can handle the pressure. It takes the best of the best to do that.

A pitch invader against Lverpool prevented Ronaldo from scoring what would have been the last goal of the match and his 16th goal in the UCL. Clearly, Cristiano Ronaldo was Real Madrid best player in the Champions League last season. He carried the team to the UCL triumph just like he has done in the Club world cup, UEFA super cup and the Spanish super cup.

The world cup approaches. Despite winning the Euros, Portugal are not among the favourites to win the World cup. The odds was against Ronaldo Portugal. He still managed to pull his team to the second round. A hat trick against star-studded Spain that boast of top goalkeeper David De gea set the tone for things to come. A goal against Morocco and 2 Man of the Match (MOTM) awards before Portugal ouster at the hands of Uruguay saw their World cup journey coming to an end. The world cup was a disappointment on a team level but a success on personal level for Cristiano Ronaldo. 4 goals in 6 matches only bettered by Harry Kane 6 goals haul was a success considering the fact that eternal Rival Leo Messi registered a goal. Once again Ronaldo was the best player in the team he played for.

Goals are not sufficient to win awards, influence contributes too. Cristiano Ronaldo has been an influence in all the matches he featured in throughout the year and he clearly deserves the Ballon d’Or, FIFA The Best.

When you accumulate all his influencer, goals both for country and club, hes the undisputed best player in the world for the past 1 year.

However, the voters thought otherwise. They were probably moved by Luka Modric cries in the world cup final or the presence of their president in most of their matches.

The voting was solely based on his world cup performance thus sidelining other eligible players such as Cristiano Ronaldo.

The world cup Golden Ball is there to honour the best player in the world cup and he has won it. Why not give other players that deserves the Ballon d’Or more a level playing ground and not some sentimental voting.

We have seen players like Iniesta and Sneijder that clearly played well for both club and country not winning the award.

The truth is, despite Luka Modric winning it all, he will not be in the same ranks with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Ronaldinho, and Kaka. He’s way below them.

If it continues like this, it’s only a matter of time before players start boycotting this awards because they do not reflect the true player performances.

My ideal Ballon d’Or top 5 list will be

  1. Cristiano Ronaldo
  2. Raphael Varane
  3. Leo Messi
  4. Luka Modric
  5. Antoine Griezman

Let me know your thoughts below. Who do you think should be present in the above list/ What addition or subtraction will you propose to this writeup?