In the last few days there were reported leaks suggesting that the Ballon d’Or committee had already informed the winner of this year’s edition. Those leaks went on to reveal that Lionel Messi will allegedly win a record extending 7th of the famous golden ball trophy. “Messiples”, as his fans are usually referred to, will take pride in this personal accolade but should they take pride in the injustice? It’ll be a shame if these reports are proven to be true because this award should only have one player’s name written on it. That player is Robert Lewandowski.
After 41 goals in 36 appearances and winning 5 major trophies in 2020, Lewandowski would surely have been disappointed with the news of the award ceremony’s cancellation due to the pandemic. But it seemed as though the disappointment of missing out on his first possible Ballon d’Or triumph was used to propel his game to greater heights in 2021.
The lethal front man has since recorded 53 goals in 44 appearances for club and country while also adding a Fifa Club World Cup, DFL Supercup and another Bundesliga title to his name this year.
The Ballon d’Or is an annual French award determined by the accumulation of votes from journalists, coaches and captains of international teams who fall under FIFA’s jurisdiction. These voters take into consideration a player’s performance, the amount of silverware won, their sportsmanship and disciplinary record displayed throughout a calendar year.
With the life-altering pandemic hitting the world, some fans and footballers voiced their approval for this year’s edition of the award to be given to the best player over the last 2 years instead of the usual 1 year period.
Manchester City’s Belgian superstar, Kevin De Bruyne, shared these same sentiments. “If I had to choose myself personally, I’m going to look at a two-year period.” he said when asked who was his pick for the 2021 award.
“I’d choose Lewandowski for what he has done in the last two years – goal scoring wise, and also he’s won a lot with Bayern. He would be my pick.”
Messi has done what he’s usually done in 2021…at least for Barcelona and Argentina. He single handedly secured a 3rd place finish for his former club, won the Copa Del Rey while also having a monster tournament for Argentina, leading them to be crowned as Copa America champions.
His 40 goals in 51 appearances along with his 2 trophies in 2021 rightfully places him as an obvious favourite to win this year’s edition of the prestigious award. But his 2021 hasn’t been all a bed of roses.
There was an uncharacteristic stain on his disciplinary record earlier this year when he was red carded for FC Barcelona in their 3-2 Spanish Supercup loss to Athletic Bilbao. If we’re utilising the same voting criteria, clearly, this should increase the chances of a Lewandowski Ballon d’Or win. Or at least in theory.
Messi has also been mediocre at best since his unbelievable switch to Paris Saint-Germain, painting a completely different picture than that of previous years. His move from FC Barcelona after more than 2 decades would be challenging for almost any player in the circumstances. However, if a new fan, who recently started following football this season, saw the displays of the PSG number 30 they won’t believe that he was the best player that football could offer for 2021.
The Polish marksman, unlike Messi, is enjoying the later stages of a phenomenal 2021. In just 17 games Lewandowski has already scored 23 goals and he’s showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. In 2021 no player has had more goal involvements than the Bayern Munich number 9. In fact, for the last 2 years no other player has come even close to his attacking statistics.
This won’t be the first undeserved Ballon d’Or win in recent times, though, nor would it be the first undeserved win for Messi.
Can you recall a player by the name of Wesley Sneijder? In 2010 his Inter Milan won a historic treble (Serie A, Copa Italian and Champions League) while he also served as the main orchestrator in Holland’s journey to the World Cup finals that same year. Even after having such a successful season, he was still overlooked and Messi eventually won his 2nd consecutive Ballon d’Or.
How about in 2013, when Franck Ribery was the best player on the best team, winning a total of 4 trophies in the process but was still edged out to Cristiano Ronaldo who only won a single Copa Del Rey. The latter did still outscore everyone that year with 66 goals in 56 games but if we’re using the same voting criteria outlined earlier, there is no way he deserved it over the former French international.
The Ballon d’Or has often been labelled by many fans and pundits as a popularity contest where the votes aren’t made for the best player of a specific year but rather than for who the voters deem is their favorite player. It almost seems as though more times than less, there are huge question marks over the election of a new winner year after year.
Apart from Lewandowski, there is another big name favorite pushing for a place on the podium. Chelsea FC’s Italian star, Jorginho, is also having a spectacular 2021 after helping both his club and country to Champions League, UEFA Supercup and Euro 2020 (2021) triumphs. However, as good of a season he’s had, can we really compare his impact to that of Messi and Lewandowski?
There will always be different perspectives and opinions to specific footballers and their accomplishments and whatever this year’s decision will eventually be, it’s almost guaranteed to be a controversial one.
In closing, I believe these 3 questions, using the same voting criteria, should be the governing platform to determine the next Ballon d’or winner:
- Who scored the most goals in Europe within the last year (or 2)?
- Whose goals helped win more trophies over this same period?
- Which of these players have had a clean disciplinary slate (no red cards) for this period?
Whether you’re a “messiple” or not, the answers to the above questions only point to the Polish captain finally getting what was owed to him in 2020. Feel free to drop a comment below and tell us who’s your pick for this year’s Ballon d’Or.