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Just some quick thoughts on who I really thought should have won Fifa Ballon d’Or 2013. France and Bayernut Munich’s Franck Ribery factored strongly into the equation with 23.36 % of the votes, but as usual it was a straight shoot-out between Real Madrid’s Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi. No arguments about Ronaldo getting the nod in the end, it was deserved.
That said, I feel the man who ended up fourteenth in the voting should have entered into the final equation… He’s not a glamorous attacking player. He didn’t score a boatload of goals. But he’s surely one of the world’s most consistent footballer’s. And he led his team to a treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and European Champion’s League success. That’s German and Bayern Munich skipper Philipp Lahm of course.
In the end, Lahm only garnered 0.82% percent of the vote. He captained his national team to World Cup qualification too. And do I NEED to point out the TREBLE again.
Yet the highly overrated Neymar (who I do believe will be great, just that he is overhyped right now), took fifth spot in voting (judged on his performances in the dodgy Brazilian league, and South American continental football), with 3.17% of the voting, and kick-and-charge Gareth Bale took ninth spot…
Lahm is a fantastic defender at either fullback spot, and is no slouch either in attack, notching up 19 assists in 56 competitive appearances last season. And with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, has transitioned seamlessly into a defensive midfielder position as well at times. Just a fantastic all-round footballer. He just doesn’t seem to have the public profile as the others do, and the voting just ends up being a popularity contest.
So while I doff my hat to Ronaldo, and Messi of course, Ribery was fantastic last season too, I see no reason why Lahm should not have been in the top tier. Definitely not behind Neymar, or Bale.
He would have been my pick.
That said, I feel the man who ended up fourteenth in the voting should have entered into the final equation… He’s not a glamorous attacking player. He didn’t score a boatload of goals. But he’s surely one of the world’s most consistent footballer’s. And he led his team to a treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and European Champion’s League success. That’s German and Bayern Munich skipper Philipp Lahm of course.
In the end, Lahm only garnered 0.82% percent of the vote. He captained his national team to World Cup qualification too. And do I NEED to point out the TREBLE again.
Yet the highly overrated Neymar (who I do believe will be great, just that he is overhyped right now), took fifth spot in voting (judged on his performances in the dodgy Brazilian league, and South American continental football), with 3.17% of the voting, and kick-and-charge Gareth Bale took ninth spot…
Lahm is a fantastic defender at either fullback spot, and is no slouch either in attack, notching up 19 assists in 56 competitive appearances last season. And with the arrival of Pep Guardiola, has transitioned seamlessly into a defensive midfielder position as well at times. Just a fantastic all-round footballer. He just doesn’t seem to have the public profile as the others do, and the voting just ends up being a popularity contest.
So while I doff my hat to Ronaldo, and Messi of course, Ribery was fantastic last season too, I see no reason why Lahm should not have been in the top tier. Definitely not behind Neymar, or Bale.
He would have been my pick.
