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Sturmer's avatar

Not necessarily, but winning it gives you a solid reason to ask your agent to negotiate better sponsorship terms hehe

Ford James's avatar

Hah, I'm not implying the players themselves shouldn't care about it! It's certainly a prestigious award, it's just tough to care as a football fan, I think.

Scrbzy's avatar

Honestly since Henry got snubbed in 2003 I haven't cared much for it (24 goals and 25 assists btw).

They seem to put a large emphasis on team achievements for an award that's about an individual?? At least that's my observation.

Wadd Enderas's avatar

I think there's a pretty heavy element of personal player preference in whether fans are particularly interested in the Ballon D'Or. I'll try and explain.

Generally our viewpoint in this discussion, but also what we experience day to day is going to be quite UK centric and with reference to your point about recent winners, I'll go out on a limb and say it's likely there's been significantly more interest in the ballon d'or in Spain, Portugal and Argentina in the last 15 years than here in the UK.

And I think that's generally because we football fans tend to be very territorial beasts. I personally am far more interested in this year's vote because of the prospect of Jude Bellingham winning it or even Harry Kane and Phil Foden being in the running because these are players I know well (not personally of course), feel strongly about and have a vested interest in. It doesn't have to be strictly nationality either, I would feel equally interested in any player from the Premier League being well in contention.

La Liga having won all 14 of the last year's Ballon D'Or and really no one outside of a pool of maybe 5 Real, Barca or PSG players even being considered possible winners crushed my interest that I used to have from the days of Michael Owen, Thierry Henry and David Beckham all being in the running.

Wadd Enderas's avatar

There is also an element that the Premier League gets snubbed a little bit. I know he won the World Cup, but for me, the fact that Lionel Messi won last year playing for Inter Miami against the European continental treble winner Erling Haarland just compounded that it's not awarded entirely on merit

Ford James's avatar

Yeah, I think you've hit the nail on the head. I also think it's harder to care about an individual award in a team sport. I don't support any individual Manchester United players (though I'll be heartbroken if Rashford ever leaves!), I support the team and the achievements earned as a squad. Compared to something like F1, where lots more fans will like a specific driver over a team, celebrating individual achievements there feels more natural.

With that said and taking into account your point about fans in Spain, Portugal, and Argentina, Rio's commentary above repeating the name of the award constantly is, for lack of a better word, somewhat cringey. It should be awarded based on that player's contributions throughout an entire season - one goal in an important match shouldn't sway the vote as much as he's implying.

Wadd Enderas's avatar

Completely agree with your point about individual award in a team sport. It also becomes incredibly subjective as there are no individual statistics or measurements that can definitively state you are the best player, when everything is about the team.

I just rewatched the clip and it's horrific 😂 so, so cringey just repeating the name and I get the impression he's just trying to use his platform to influence the outcome.

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