Picking a Best XI from the 2014 Ballon d'Or Contenders
It's time for the 2014 Ballon d'Or to be awarded, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer all on the shortlist to receive football's greatest individual prize at a dazzling ceremony in Zurich on Monday.
Between them, Ronaldo and Messi have won the last six awards, and it is the Portuguese who many expect to win back-to-back titles following a year in which he inspired Real Madrid to Champions League glory.
Messi still reached astonishing highs, though, while Neuer was the backbone of a German World Cup success that captivated everyone in the summer.
The trio have already achieved so much just by being shortlisted for the award from the original list of 23 nominees, a list that surely makes up the best squad in the world—albeit one that is a little attacking heavy.
What if we were to make a best XI from that list? It might look like this.
So Who Are We Picking From?
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The original 23-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or was revealed on the FIFA website in late October and is made up of some of the brightest talents who made 2014 such a remarkable footballing year:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid and Wales), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France), Diego Costa (Chelsea and Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea and Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid and Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Manchester United and Argentina), Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich and Germany), Eden Hazard (Chelsea and Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain and Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona and Spain), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid and Germany), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich and Germany), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona and Argentina), Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich and Germany), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich and Germany), Neymar (Barcelona and Brazil), Paul Pogba (Juventus and France), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid and Spain), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich and the Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid and Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich and Germany) and Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Ivory Coast).
Here's our XI.
Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer
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The goalkeeping competition on our shortlist is provided by the excellent Thibaut Courtois, but there can be little argument that World Cup winner Manuel Neuer deserves his place between the posts.
A contender for the main award, Neuer is only the fourth goalkeeper who will finish in a Ballon d'Or top three, following in the footsteps of Oliver Kahn (2001 and 2002), Gianluigi Buffon (2006) and the only goalkeeping winner, legendary Soviet Union stopper Lev Yashin (1963).
Neuer's excellent displays helped Germany succeed at the World Cup in Brazil, where the Bayern Munich man confirmed his status as the best goalkeeper in the world.
Defence: Philipp Lahm, Sergio Ramos, Javier Mascherano
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This is where things get a little tricky; the lack of defenders on the shortlist ensures that we're only able to pick a three-man defence.
It is, however, a formation that is somewhat in vogue in the Premier League right now, with the likes of Louis van Gaal's Manchester United and Brendan Rodgers' Liverpool playing it, and our players are skilful enough to adapt to any setup we put them in.
Germany captain Philipp Lahm drops into the three-man back line after he lifted the World Cup in 2014, and he's joined by Real Madrid's Champions League hero Sergio Ramos and Barcelona's Javier Mascherano, who excellent during Argentina's run to the World Cup final.
Midfield: Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Yaya Toure, James Rodriguez
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The fact that we've been forced into fielding three at the back has somewhat altered our midfield setup, with a couple of players forced into unfamiliar positions.
Gareth Bale would be more than capable of operating wide on the left of a midfield four following his stellar 2014 at Real Madrid, the team he helped to Champions League glory during his first year as the most expensive player in the world. His Madrid team-mate James Rodriguez might be less enamoured about being stationed on the right, but we need to find a spot for the World Cup Golden Boot winner somewhere.
Luckily, our midfield pairing of World Cup winner Toni Kroos and Yaya Toure—who drove Manchester City to Premier League glory in 2014—are a little more familiar with their roles, and they should offer our attack-minded side some balance in the centre.
Attack: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben
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In attack, two names were always going to feature.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be on stage in Zurich following the latest homage to their genius, with Ronaldo having more to smile about in 2014 for his role in Real Madrid's Champions League success.
The year will have bittersweet memories for Messi following Argentina's World Cup final loss to Germany, but he still showcased his talents to a large degree in Brazil, where his side beat Arjen Robben's Netherlands in the semi-finals.
Robben was a key ingredient of the Bayern Munich side that ran away with the Bundesliga title, and he used the year to further demonstrate his ability as one of the most devastating attackers in the modern game.
How They'll Line Up: Attack, Attack, Attack!
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The formation is far from ideal, but our Ballon d'Or shortlist XI would certainly entertain against whomever they came up against.
Goals would be a guarantee from this side, and they could seemingly come from anywhere. Even if we are a little light at the back, we've got Manuel Neuer in goal to keep out the opposition.
Would you want to come up against this side?
