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Who Are the Top 5 Ballon D'Or Candidates?

Allan JiangOct 8, 2013

Could the top five 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or vote-getters beย Lionel Messi (Barcelona),ย Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid),ย Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich),ย Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur/Real Madrid) andย Neymar (Santos/Barcelona)?

If it is, then it's shambolic.ย 

OK, most people only care about the final three who make theย podium, but here's a more accurate ranking of the top five footballers for theย FIFA Ballon d'Or.

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Why Noย Ribery, Bale andย Neymar

Aside from a UEFA Champions League medal, there wasn't a giant difference betweenย Ribery andย Jakub Blaszczykowski, who's a better tackler. Where's the love for Kuba?

Ribery is paid to score and create goals. How do you judge players like that? By goals and assists.

Sinceย Ribery is nowhere nearย Messi andย Ronaldo, the Frenchman shouldn't be in the conversation.ย 

Subjective ways to judge players like the intangible factor should only be applied to defenders and midfielders with a sizable defensive shift.ย 

Bale was given the keys to the Spurs' attack, had freedom to roam and played theย Ronaldo role.ย 

But 15 players were ranked above Bale in the European Golden Shoe standings. ย 

Ifย Neymar had played forย Barcelona since the start of last season in his current form, he'd be ranked No. 3.

It's ironic that he has gone from being cast as a selfish shoot-at-all-costs type of footballer to now someone who doesn't shoot enough.ย 

Still early days but it's a worry that he's only scored twice from 30 shots in combined La Liga/Champions League play (imagine how many shots he has passed up).ย 

The plus is Neymarย is on course to set some absurd assists record in Europe.ย 


5.ย Manuel Neuerย (Bayern Munich)

He may not rack up saves likeย Reims'ย Kossi Agassaโ€”however,ย Neuer has evolved into more than just a shot-stopper.

When he was at Schalke, he put on shot-savingย clinicsย asย Agassa is doing right now, but from time to time,ย Neuer would lose concentration.ย 

Despite all the acrobatic and wow-did-you-see-that saves,ย Agassa has conceded seven goalsย since the start of last season via errors, one more than the maligned Joe Hart.ย 

This used to beย Neuer.

Now he's a leader at the back and he's only conceded three goals in his first eightย Bundesliga games.

He has been big time in recent memory.

In last season's 1-1 draw against Borussia Dortmund, he deniedย Robert Lewandowski from the penalty spot.

Then there were the saves in the UEFA Champions League win overย Dortmund.

If it wasn't for him sweeping up with Chelsea 2-1 up in the 114th minute of theย UEFA Super Cup, Oscar would have been through on goal.ย 

Neuer keptย Bayern in the Super Cup and he won it by savingย Romelu Lukaku's penalty.ย 


4.ย Bastian Schweinsteigerย (Bayern Munich)

When pro-Ribery fans attempt to explain his inferior statistics toย Messi andย Ronaldo, they always seem to incorporate howย Ribery inspires the team.ย 

Well, he's noย Schweinsteiger, who's the driving force behindย Bayern's success.ย 

Andres Iniesta and Xavi used to be routinely ranked aboveย Schweinsteiger, yet theย Barcelona duo were not dominant withoutย Messi in the first leg and Messi-on-one-leg in the second leg of last season's Champions League semi-final.

Schweinsteiger made 14 tackles,ย interceptedย eight passes and created one goal during Bayern's 7-0 win over two legs against Barca.ย 

Yaya Toure, who went into Manchester City's Champions League matchup against Bayern with four goals from six league games, wasย completelyย outplayed byย Schweinsteiger.

Bayern coasted to a 3-1 win.ย 

Schweinsteiger is a complete midfielder who doesn't leave gaping holes for opposing teams to exploit, possessesย cerebralย positioning and is a leader of men.ย 


3.ย Philipp Lahmย (Bayern Munich)

World-class as a right-back.ย 

World-class as a left-back.

World-class as a midfield conductor.ย 

The amount of hype allocated toย Barca centre-back Gerard Pique,ย Real Madrid'sย Sergio Ramos and the revolving door of in-form Premier League defenders compared toย Lahm proves theย Bundesliga has a long way to go in marketing its star players.


2.ย Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

Consider this: 55 goals in 55 games.ย 

Selling Mesut Ozil, arguably the best playmaker in the world, to balance the Gareth Bale transfer makes no sense because Bale's playing style is the same as Ronaldo.ย 

Meanwhile, over inย Catalonia, it's pretty simple.ย 

Option one: pass to Messi.

Option two: pass to Messi.

Option three: pass to Messi.ย 

Trust Real to make things harder for their MVP.ย 


1.ย Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

Here's a statistical evaluation ofย Messi,ย Ronaldo andย Ribery.

LEAGUE 12-13MessiRonaldoย Ribery
Goals463410
Shots Per Goal3.56.96.5
Assists121014
Key Passes Per Game1.41.83.2
Dribbles Per Game3.81.74.5
UCL 12-13MessiRonaldoย Ribery
Goals8121
Shots Per Goal5.16.813
Assists212
Key Passes Per Game1.51.91.6
Dribbles Per Game1.92.12.4

Of the three, Ribery is a better dribbler and creates moreย goal-scoringย chances.ย 

However, additional statistics such as key passes per game and dribbles per game should only come into serious calculation in order to separate players withย similarย goals and assists tally.

In total club games last season,ย Messi scored five more goals thanย Ronaldo, despite playing 50 games compared to the Portuguese's 55 games.ย 

Statistics viaย WhoScored,ย FFTย Stats Zone,ย Squawkaย andย Transfermarktย 
Google+:ย  +allanjiang
Twitter:ย @allanjiangLIVE

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