FIFA’s “The Best” Award nominees have been announced and as expected, I got a few things to say. Now, for the past few years, I’ve publicly showed my disgust towards the “The Best” and Ballon D’Or awards for the publicity competition it has become. Time and time again, I question the criterias used when voting for the “best player in the World”. It’s become clear that the award has been heavily influenced by the media and how much attention a player can create for himself.
This year, it’s as clear as day. You have arguably the most commercial and well known football player in the World who won the Champions League but whose team struggled to make an impact at the World Cup. You have a muslim hero who had a breakout year as he inspired the entire Muslim community worldwide. Lastly, there is the heart and soul of the runners up of the World Cup. Every time Croatia played a game in the World Cup every social media outlet was overflowing with fans praising Luka Modric for running so much.
Both Cristiano and Modric won the Champions League over Salah and Liverpool but would would end up being the only silverware that these players would end up taking home. In a World Cup year, why is there no World Cup winner even nominated? Didn’t Griezmann win three titles in four months? Didn’t Varane win the World Cup AND the Champions League? So what are we really basing it off?
Let me play Devil’s advocate and try to see it from all point of views.
If it’s based on club season, where’s Lionel Messi?
Barcelona won the domestic double with ease and were one slip up away from an undefeated season. A catastrophic night in Rome halted an otherwise promising Champions League run. Messi seemed to be the only light of sunshine in an otherwise dull first half of the season. With the incorporation of Coutinho, the return of Dembele and Suarez finding his scoring boots, Messi and Co. began clicking.
If not Messi, what about Antoine Griezmann? The frenchmen was an integral part to Atletico’s Europa League title last season scoring some crucial goals along the way. The main man in Atletico’s attack next to Diego Costa, Griezmann scored a massive away goal at the Emirates and scored again in the final. To top it all off, his Atletico side defeated arch rivals Real Madrid in the European Super Cup this past August.
In other years, we’ve seen the award being handed to the player with the best individual performances despite their club’s struggles. So let’s dig in to that as well.
Statistically speaking, Lionel Messi was the most productive player in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Despite playing behind Suarez in more of a CAM position, Messi continued to lead Europe’s top 5 leagues in many categories. Messi was the top scorer in Europe (45), had the most assists (18), most chances created (94), most key passes (80) and had more than 200 successful take ons. He almost single handedly controlled Barcelona’s entire attack and played a key role in some of the team’s most important goals in the dying moments of several games.
How did Lionel Messi miss out on the shortlist? pic.twitter.com/GVkubM86ng
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 4, 2018
Many are claiming that because it’s a World Cup year, World Cup performances carry an extra weight thus explaining Modric’s nomination. Well if that’s the case, why are Cristiano and Mo Salah in there? Cristiano had a hat trick against Spain but in all sincerity, it wasn’t exactly a beautiful hat trick. A controversial penalty, a mistake by De Gea and then a wonderful free kick. Cris would then see his Portugal side get eliminated by Uruguay in the Round of 16. Salah and Egypt underperformed to what everyone was expecting and they crashed out in the group stage.
Since it’s a World Cup year, why are there no World Cup winning players in the nominees? Kylian Mbappe had some World Class performances throughout the tournament and established himself as one of the best in the World. Antoine Griezmann is arguably the most marketable and most commercial French player at the time and even scored four goals. Both players finished last season with some silverware and played an important role in both their club and country’s success. If the World Cup carries that much weight, where are the World Cup winning frenchmen?
Most Logical Out
Look, I am a huge Mo Salah guy and earlier in the year, I even advocated for his nomination for the award. However, I did say that in order for him to win, Liverpool needed to win the Champions League (which they did not) and Salah needed to perform in the World Cup with Egypt. As of now, I have a hard time finding valuable reasons for Mo Salah’s nomination. If we use all three potential standards that FIFA uses, Salah does not deserve to be amongst the best three in the World. His club team went trophyless, Egypt disappointed in the World Cup and although he had a legendary scoring season in England, he still finished behind Messi for the Golden Shoe. As much as I love Mo Salah, I could name at least five other players that deserved the nomination over him.
Most Logical In
If we take into consideration the criterias used by FIFA, Raphaël Varane should have received a nomination. The Real Madrid defender was a starter and important piece for both Real Madrid and France this year. The frenchmen won his fourth Champions League with Los Blancos and went on to lift the World Cup trophy in July. His partnership with Umtiti in the back was arguably the best center back partnership of the tournament. Varane fits all the criterias used by FIFA and should at least deserve a nomination.
