Ballon d'Or

[Winston Smith]

Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), 
Karim Benzema(Real Madrid), 
Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), 
Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), 
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid),
Ángel Di María (Real Madrid/Manchester United), 
Mario Götze (Bayern Munich), 
Eden Hazard (Chelsea), 
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG),
Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona),
 Toni Kroos(Bayern Munich/Real Madrid), 
Philipp Lahm(Bayern Munich), 
Javier Mascherano(Barcelona), 
Lionel Messi (Barcelona),
Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), 
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), 
Neymar(Barcelona), 
Paul Pogba (Juventus), 
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), 
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), 
James Rodríguez (Monaco/Real Madrid), 
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), 
Yaya Touré (Manchester City)

No Suarez on the shortlist. Quite a lack of Atletico Madrid too considering their season (Godin and Turan should be there)

goetze also had quite a sh*t season last year I thought, aside from one kick of a ball this summer. Iniesta was hardly a revelation.

Ronaldo will blatantly win this. Will be interesting to see who gets 2nd and 3rd place though.

[Hendo]

1. Ronaldo
2. Messi
3. Bale (Although I would quite like to see a GK (Neuer preferably) or other positions in the top 3 as I don't feel that other positions are quite represented the same as those of the attacking nature)

[Sanguine]

No Suarez is a little silly.

He has clearly been one of the best players in the world for the last 12 months, biting ban or not.

[Hendo]

I would say that it was a fair omission that a player who has been banned for 1/3 of a year isn't nomin8ed.

No doubt he is an excellent player and is up there as one of the worlds best but he can't be considered for this award when he bites someone for the 3rd time.

Everyone knows what a talent he is anyway, but everyone also knows he is a bit of a pcunt.

[Sanguine]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Messi missed out completely this year. Bizarre to say that about someone who scored 41 goals in 3/4 of a season, but he hasn't carried Barcelona to previous heights. Beginning to look ever-so-slightly human. Ish.

[Hendo]

Agreed, I did think about that, he hasn't had his 'usual' season, however his usual season is still far better than most players good season.

[No Fixed Abode]

No Suarez is a little silly.

He has clearly been one of the best players in the world for the last 12 months, biting ban or not.

I would say, someone being a complete kant, rightly excludes them from that list.

What sort of example do you want to set to younger players......

[No Fixed Abode]

Nominees only from the biggest clubs in Europe.

[Big Foot]

Is the Ballon d'Or generally considered to be the best way of measuring how gr8 a player truly is?

[Winston Smith]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Messi missed out completely this year. Bizarre to say that about someone who scored 41 goals in 3/4 of a season, but he hasn't carried Barcelona to previous heights. Beginning to look ever-so-slightly human. Ish.

La Liga hosted its 2013-14 season awards over the weekend.

Best South American player award:

1. Carlos Bacca (Seville)
2. Angel Di Maria (R. Madrid)
3. Neymar (Barcelona)

I kind of feel Messi might drop out of the top 3 this time but then you look at his goal stats for last season, outrageous stuff.

[From Despair To Where?]

Depends on how much influence the World Cup has, in which case Messi will win purely for turning up and Ronaldo will win the Ballon Manquant.

[Ouroboros]

1. Ronaldo
2. Messi
3. Bale (Although I would quite like to see a GK (Neuer preferably) or other positions in the top 3 as I don't feel that other positions are quite represented the same as those of the attacking nature)

Dunno, attacking players usually dominate but so do World Cup winners (Cannavaro 2006 for example).

I think we'll see either Neuer or Lahm make the top three ahead of Bale.

[sandman]

1. Ronaldo
2. Kroos
3. James

[Froomes]

1. Ronaldo. By a mile.
2. Neuer.
3. Bale/Messi.

[Sanguine]

1. Ronaldo
2. Kroos
3. James

Rodriguez.

Re Suarez - Zidane was nominated after his headbutt on Materazzi.

I don't disagree his elimination is perhaps deserved, fwiw.

[sandman]

1. Ronaldo
2. Kroos
3. James

Rodriguez.

Re Suarez - Zidane was nominated after his headbutt on Materazzi.

I don't disagree his elimination is perhaps deserved, fwiw.

James.

[Winston Smith]

Ronaldo, Messi & Neuer names as final 3

[Big Foot]

Is Neuer really THAT good to be named in the top 3?

Yes, he had a decent World Cup from what I remember and is part of a great, great Bayern side

But not sure he's that much better placed to be in the top 3 than say, Thomas Muller or Toni Kroos - who both had decent World Cups (Muller in particular with a 5 goal haul) & are part of the great, great Bayern side?

[RoyallyFcuked]

Will be interesting to see what will happen here.

Doubt Neuer will win it, despite the fact he and his Germany team deserve credit for a job very well done at the World Cup.

I think Ronaldo deserves it more than Messi though. A couple of years ago he was behind Messi but has now upped his game even more to match and even better Messi. He outscored him in (I think) every tournement except the World Cup this year. He won the Champions League and was top scorer in the competition (with a record high of 17 goals) and was also La Liga top scorer.

Messi now has a pretty good chance though, not just because he was (somehow) voted the best player at the WC, but mainly because he recently became all time top scorer in the Champions League and La Liga. I think thats more a life time achievement though, Ballon dor is for this year. Ronaldo for me.

[Winston Smith]

Will be interesting to see what will happen here.

Doubt Neuer will win it, despite the fact he and his Germany team deserve credit for a job very well done at the World Cup.

I think Ronaldo deserves it more than Messi though. A couple of years ago he was behind Messi but has now upped his game even more to match and even better Messi. He outscored him in (I think) every tournement except the World Cup this year. He won the Champions League and was top scorer in the competition (with a record high of 17 goals) and was also La Liga top scorer.

Messi now has a pretty good chance though, not just because he was (somehow) voted the best player at the WC, but mainly because he recently became all time top scorer in the Champions League and La Liga. I think thats more a life time achievement though, Ballon dor is for this year. Ronaldo for me.

Votes were cast before Messi broke the records.

I think Ronaldo will win it by quite a distance