Iker Casillas and Leo Messi: Did They Deserve Their Awards?
The year got off to a great start for Iker Casillas and Leo Messi. Iker Casillas was named goalkeeper of the year for 2010 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Leo Messi received (for another consecutive time) the Ballon D'Or Award for 2010. While many have praised the decision to award Casillas, and Messi, others have been critical.
What was planned for two different round table discussions have been fused into one. The reason is the proximity in time of the two news worthy items.
I am going to start with Iker Casillas and then proceed to discuss Leo Messi.
Iker Casillas and The IHFFS Award
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The subject of Iker Casillas receiving his award is the first topic of discussion. I have invited Tim Fontenault and Maxx G to participate.
Tim Fontenault and Maxx G are featured columnists for B/R. The following topic and question was addressed to both.
The IHFFS (International Federation Of Football History and Statistics has named Iker Casillas the goal keeper of the year for 2010.
Do you believe that Casillas deserved the award for a third consecutive time or should the award have gone to someone else?
What is the reason behind your opinion? [Example: Is Cech better than Casillas as a goal keeper and why is he better].
Iker Casillas Deserved The Award
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Tim Fontenault:
Iker Casillas absolutely deserved the award. For starters, Casillas is the greatest goalkeeper of modern times. Last season was great for Iker. In the 2009-10 Real Madrid campaign, Casillas had a .96 Goals Against Average over 46 matches as Madrid finished second in the league and reached the knockout phase of the Champions League.
The main reason for Casillas winning the honor is his incredible performance at the World Cup. The Spain captain, only the third ever goalkeeper to captain a World Cup winner, was the Golden Glove winner and a member of the World Cup All Star Team. In seven matches, he allowed only two goals and made a crucial penalty stop in Spain’s quarterfinal win over Paraguay.
The Final was his most impressive performance. Twice late in the match, Arjen Robben of the Netherlands broke through the entire defense, only to be stopped one on one with two amazing saves by the star keeper.
Cech, Valdes, Stekelenburg, amongst others are tremendous goalies and had great years, but Casillas was by far the best this year.
Iker Casillas Deserved The Award (Part II)
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Maxx G:
Iker Casillas has been my childhood hero. One among the few men I loved since I started watching soccer is Casillas. So, anything relating to his glory makes me happy.
I congratulate Casillas for his stunning achievements this far.
On a more neutral point of view, I would like to say that there have always been many doubts regarding the credibility of the IFFHS. People even say that all elections and votes contributing to player points and ratings are fake, and it is just a one man show of the chairman Alfredo Poge.
I believe that it becomes very hard when you have to choose the number 1 among the best men.
Petr Cech has been just incredible for his years in Chelsea, even he has been great in 2010’s major half before Chelsea lost their super form.
Coming to another contention, I feel Julio Cesar has been incredible too for Inter Milan. Though his World Cup performances are weak and a shadow of his club performances under Mourinho, still his contribution to Inter Milan’s Champions League trophy is just undeniable.
If this ranking or rating has been made mostly on a world cup success, then Casillas surely has no competitor here.
But some will say that Real Madrid again has not done any miracles or great achievements in the recent past. So, why Casillas? I say Real has not got a very strong defense and try pulling out Casillas from goal and see what the results are. Casillas concedes goals in Real, fact, but he saves a lot more also. I feel that he has been a blessing to his club and country.
So, I would have voted for Iker Casillas. Please see what Casillas stands for.
Finally, I would like to say again that not receiving these honors do not take the glory away from people like Cesar or Cech because at the day’s end, it is always the fans who will speak of their legends
Iker Casillas: My Personal Opinion
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I would like to thank Tim Fontenault and Maxx G for their participation in this round table discussion. I also agree with them that Iker Casillas deserved the Goal Keeper of the Year 2010 Award from the IHFFS.
The next topic of discussion is Leo Messi and the Ballon D'Or Award.
Leo Messi Receives The Ballon D 'Or Award
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The news of Leo Messi receiving the Ballon D' Or Award put the news about Casillas in the back burner. In response to the news, I have invited the following to participate in this important round table discussion: Ashan49, Isaac Asante, Vijay Murali, and Tim Fontenault.
The question and subject posed was the following:
Leonel Messi has received the Ballon D 'Or Award again. There are people who think that Xavi or Iniestra deserved the award. Do you think Messi deserves the award? What is the reason behind your answer?
Does Messi Deserve The Ballon D'Or?
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Ashan49:
I can see why Messi was given the award.
I mean in the season so far, with the addition of Villa to Barca, when Messi is not scoring he’s assisting. Most notable is the El Classico match, where Messi assisted Villa. From 2009 to now he has been outstandingly consistent at club level.
However, I have often questioned Messi greatness based on these two point:
The Influences Of Xavi and Iniesta In Regard To Messi
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Ashan49:
01. The influences of Xavi and Iniesta,
Do they allow Messi the space to play upfront because they are so good at controlling the midfield at Barcelona? Does Messi owe Xavi and Iniesta a thank you for bossing the midfield whilst he takes a free role going forwards?
Protection For Messi?
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Ashan49:
02. Protection for Messi?
Are defenders “afraid” to tackle Messi in fear of backlash on and off the pitch?
But even though Messi statistically as a player is very impressive, you have to remember that he failed to stand out in the world cup and he struggled against Inter in the recent Champions league. At club level he is great, but on the bigger stages he’s pretty quiet.
Overall About Messi
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Ashan49:
Overall I personally think Messi won the Ballon d’Or based on:
-Media Hype
-Business Deals etc..
-Club level goals
-Club level consistency
I feel that either Xavi or Iniesta should have won it this time round based on their consistency at club level and on the INTERNATIONAL STAGE. They both have been running the show for quite some time now.
But all in all, taking nothing away from Messi I congratulate him.
Messi And His Football Abilities
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Isaac Asante:
Based on my personal opinion, Lionel Messi deserved the award. His goalscoring ability in FC Barcelona is unique, and his skills are simply outstanding.
Unlike most football players who are specifically expert in a single area such as scoring, or dribbling, Messi is formed with several capabilities which – in my eyes – make him the world’s best player right now.
Dribbling, scoring, passing, tricking, teaming up, confusing… all these are qualities that strengthen the attacker’s authority on the field.
Now, speaking of the 2010 World Cup, I accept that he did not enjoy the best of campaigns with Argentina; but this is mostly because of Los Albicelestes’ disgraceful 4-0 defeat against Germany. One thing people need to take into consideration though, is the fact that Messi was actually on the verge of scoring a goal in South Africa.
As a matter of fact, he deserved to score a goal. What mainly prevented him from being a goalscorer in the tournament is Tevez’s “mistake” against Mexico in the Round of 16—when the Man City striker had contact with the ball uselessly to net an offside—which spoiled the No.10 ace’s moments.
Messi And His Football Abilities (Second Part)
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Isaac Asante:
Furthermore, it is needless to refer to his performance at the World Cup, since he was obviously one of the hottest and best players. His mark in the Castrol Index rankings and his highlights are perfect evidences for this declaration.
Again, speaking of his contribution in FC Barcelona, Messi emerged so many times as his side’s savior. He did the “impossible against Arsenal” after having already powered the Catalans to victory against Stuttgart. In La Liga, he was undeniably the most talented forward – with 34 vital goals which helped Barca get a cup in their 2009/10 season.
The last Spanish Super Cup, the last Clasico, his games against Panathinaikos and Copenhagen in this season’s Champions League… these are some matches which truly explain why Messi is the best on the pitch. He might not be as good as Xavi in the midfield, but in a way, that does not matter – as Xavi is certainly not as good as Leo in front.
The 23-year-old also scores free-kicks more often than Xavi, based on the number of free-kicks that both players have taken recently. Speaking of passes, Messi has definitely been a great assist-maker in 2010 too.
Wesley Sneijder Deserves The Ballon D'Or
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Vijay Murali:
Lionel Messi is a great player without any doubt but I would think that there were other players more deserving of the award than the Argentine Magician. He has scored many goals for the Blaugrana and had a prolific year but 2010 was a world cup year and though the Argentine tried his best, he did not make a big impression in the world cup. Also, Barcelona was also not the European Champions and a player from Inter Milan deserved to make the contenders list at the very least.
In my opinion, Wesley Sneijder deserves to be the Player of the Year despite having a not so good ending to the year. He had a superb second half of the season with Inter and played a huge role in their historic treble. The Dutchman also had an excellent World Cup and was highly influential for his country which ultimately lost to Spain in the Final.
Xavi Hernandez Should Have Received The Ballon D'Or
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Vijay Murali:
Since Wesley Sneijder is not in the list, the Ballon D’Or award should have been awarded to Xavi Hernandez. The Spanish Maestro is not a very glamorous player but he is a huge player for both Barcelona and Spain and both teams would struggle without the services of the midfielder. Also, Xavi is a world cup winner and despite not scoring goals, he was very influential. Andres Iniesta had an excellent world cup and a very good end to 2010 and he should be second.
Having said that, Messi has been brilliant for Barcelona and he is a joy to watch for a football supporter. The Ballon D’Or is a prestigious award and the Argentine is a player who deserves to win the award twice in consecutive years.
Messi All The Way
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Tim Fontenault:
Messi had a monster season. If we are looking at merely numbers, Messi is the clear winner.
However, if that were the case, only a forward could win the award usually. Messi was great statistically, but the youngster’s poor showing at the World Cup, which Argentina exited earlier than expected was disappointing. Leo scored 0 goals at the World Cup.
Barcelona teammate Andres Iniesta was a catalyst for the Blaugrana through the final two-thirds of the pitch. He was also a vital member of Spain’s World Cup winning team. Of course, Iniesta had the game-winner in the 116th minute to beat the Netherlands in the Final.
His Final goal is not why he is World Player of the Year. It helps, but he was crucial to Barcelona’s success. Not that Messi wasn’t, but look at Barca on attack. Messi, then Ibrahimovic, now David Villa, Pedro, Bojan, I mean Messi will always be the top scorer, but even without Messi, the club dominates. Iniesta is a big part of that.
Along with Xavi, he makes up part of the best center midfield tandem in the world.
This year, it was a difficult choice. Three players from the same team and two World Cup winners. I think that in terms of value though, Iniesta was most valuable to club and country of the three
Conclusion:
I think it was a tough choice but Messi deserved the Ballon D'Or this year. I also want to thank Tim Fontenault, Isaac Asante, Vijay Murali, and Ashan49 for participating in this round table discussion.
I also want to thank the readers of B/R for taking the time to read this article. It is the first time since starting the round table discussions that I placed two discussions into one article.
Until the next time, my best wishes.
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