Iniesta favourite to win Ballon d'or?

i was surprised like everybody else as to how Andres Iniesta won the european footballer of the year.

do you think Iniesta is the favourite to win the World Player of the year now or do you think that Messi or Ronaldo will still win it??

I think Messi is still favourite. Media votes mostly based on team trophies, in 2010 he lost media vote clearly, but players and coaches who seem to vote based on how good player is, lifted Messi past that. This year he lost the Uefa/ European media vote by 1, which leads to conclusion that his performance is highly regarded, even the trophy loving media. Well, it was the best individual season, ever, and Ballon d'Or should be an individual prize. Not who won most team trophies, nor who was the best or top 3 in the winning team.

Current Paddypower odds:

Messi 1.5x
Iniesta 4.5x
Cronaldo 4.5x
Others +34x

I remeber last year Messi having about the same, and Cronaldo having about 7x.

Iniesta won already the Euro Golden Ball and Uefa Best Player, based on Euro performance. Him winning also the Ballon d'Or being in the bench half of the season would be just wrong.

Messi should win it.

ronaldo imo

Ronaldo will win it.

Between Messi and Ronaldo imo...

Iniesta doesnt deserve any of individual award as long as above two are on the list.

Ronaldo will not win it.

Messi will win it.

id be okay with any three of them getting it, even ronaldo. there are good reasons why ronaldo deserves but i sort of dont want him to win just to see what his reaction will be.

ps just dont give it or even nominate fkn cassilas.

I feel like Messi deserves it but eventually even the coaches and captains will get tired of letting Messi win and feel like someone else will get a chance.
If not Messi then Iniesta or Casillas don't know how Ronaldo even deserves it over them.

Think Ronaldo should win it, he had a great year for club and nation. I think it should come down to Ronaldo or Messi, but Ronaldo takes it for me.

In previous years two things separated Messi and Ronadlo imo. One was Messi ability to come up big in clutch moments and him being part bigger team success. This past season it was almost the opposite, Ronaldo was big in a lot of key moments and stepped up in the big occasions. Real Madrid also overcame Barca in La Liga. On the other hand Messi failed to raise his team in clutch situation, including missing a penalty against Chelsea. In that game i was much more fearful of Iniesta every time he was on the ball. Also Barca achieved less then Madrid.

As highly i rate Iniesta, i cant make a strong argument for him.

Who i think should win it: Andrea Pirlo

Yes he's undoubtedly the favorite. He already has the journalist's vote, and it likely won't change much until December since no one ever takes into account the first half of the season.

Blue wrote:Think Ronaldo should win it, he had a great year for club and nation. I think it should come down to Ronaldo or Messi, but Ronaldo takes it for me.

In previous years two things separated Messi and Ronadlo imo. One was Messi ability to come up big in clutch moments and him being part bigger team success. This past season it was almost the opposite, Ronaldo was big in a lot of key moments and stepped up in the big occasions. Real Madrid also overcame Barca in La Liga. On the other hand Messi failed to raise his team in clutch situation, including missing a penalty against Chelsea. In that game i was much more fearful of Iniesta every time he was on the ball. Also Barca achieved less then Madrid.

As highly i rate Iniesta, i cant make a strong argument for him.

Ronaldo missed a clutch pk the following day vs Bayern. Also I'd say Benz came up bigger and was more instrumental to Real Madrid last season but that's just me. In Euros Ronaldo also failed vs Spain and didn't even get to take a kick

windkick wrote:

Blue wrote:Think Ronaldo should win it, he had a great year for club and nation. I think it should come down to Ronaldo or Messi, but Ronaldo takes it for me.

In previous years two things separated Messi and Ronadlo imo. One was Messi ability to come up big in clutch moments and him being part bigger team success. This past season it was almost the opposite, Ronaldo was big in a lot of key moments and stepped up in the big occasions. Real Madrid also overcame Barca in La Liga. On the other hand Messi failed to raise his team in clutch situation, including missing a penalty against Chelsea. In that game i was much more fearful of Iniesta every time he was on the ball. Also Barca achieved less then Madrid.

As highly i rate Iniesta, i cant make a strong argument for him.

Ronaldo missed a clutch pk the following day vs Bayern. Also I'd say Benz came up bigger and was more instrumental to Real Madrid last season but that's just me. In Euros Ronaldo also failed vs Spain and didn't even get to take a kick

lol just lol

CR7 should win this hands down... and peeps who know me realize that i'm a CR7 critic. You cannot find a thing wrong with his performance in 2012. He's played huge in big games an NT, which was the recent criticism.

Would be a crime if he doesn't get it.

But then again, how can you respect an award that doesn't have Ibra in its top 3 lol. It should be Ibra, Messi and CR7 up there.

Ronaldo should win it if we are completely honest, but what halamadrid said - Missi will win it or even Iniesta (lol).

Messi was the better player last season. It's not about what the team wins. If that was the case then Sneijder would of won it.

urbaNRoots wrote:Ronaldo should win it if we are completely, but what halamadrid said - Missi will win it or even Iniesta (lol).

You seem like a Madrid fan lol.

Messi really should win. If ronaldo had won champions league then it should go to him but he didnt, he missed his chance, la liga title isnt enough to sway it towards him imo

Yohan Modric wrote:Messi was the better player last season. It's not about what the team wins. If that was the case then Sneijder would of won it.

It's about who was more influential/contributed the most to his team. And if that's the case, CR7 should win it clearly. The guy was the difference to win La Liga. Just look at this season so far - CR has been crap in small games but a huge beast in big games. We've been winning our big games but just choking so hard vs smaller teams. I think it's becouse CR isn't carrying us.

Se7en wrote:

Yohan Modric wrote:Messi was the better player last season. It's not about what the team wins. If that was the case then Sneijder would of won it.

It's about who was more influential/contributed the most to his team. And if that's the case, CR7 should win it clearly. The guy was the difference to win La Liga. Just look at this season so far - CR has been crap in small games but a huge beast in big games. We've been winning our big games but just choking so hard vs smaller teams. I think it's becouse CR isn't carrying us.

This is actually the opposite of the facts. [/backmeupjiopsi] Barça without Messi wouldn't have even ended second, where as Madrid without Ronaldo would have ended first. In the end it's the small games that give you the edge. Anyway, if you look at individual performance (goals, assists and the mentioned importance to the team) Messi should win it hands down. But I'd love to see Xavi take it.

For the past 4-5 years no one even comes close to Messi performance wise. that's a fact.

but Ballon d'or isn't all about that. i think Ronaldo deserves it as much as Messi. Iniesta? no way. even in Euro's he wasn't that good. Pirlo did better than him.

Madvillain wrote:

Se7en wrote:

Yohan Modric wrote:Messi was the better player last season. It's not about what the team wins. If that was the case then Sneijder would of won it.

It's about who was more influential/contributed the most to his team. And if that's the case, CR7 should win it clearly. The guy was the difference to win La Liga. Just look at this season so far - CR has been crap in small games but a huge beast in big games. We've been winning our big games but just choking so hard vs smaller teams. I think it's becouse CR isn't carrying us.

This is actually the opposite of the facts. [/backmeupjiopsi] Barça without Messi wouldn't have even ended second, where as Madrid without Ronaldo would have ended first. In the end it's the small games that give you the edge. Anyway, if you look at individual performance (goals, assists and the mentioned importance to the team) Messi should win it hands down. But I'd love to see Xavi take it.

Yeah, and Messi pushed them through in the big games?

The answer is *drumrolls* no. In fact, Messi was the reason they didnt reach the finals in CL. In fact, I blame Messi for alot of Barca's losses last season. yeah he carried them alot, but he choked in alot of them aswell, being too lazy and caring too little to be influential, which was the biggest reason to barcas horrible away form