• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

Lionel Messi wins Ballon d'Or 2019

Macca

Macca

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,197
Puroresu_kid said:
Lol every match is tight. Since when?

Just remind me how many sides have challenged for the title in the last 3 years?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

2016-2017: Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea champion
2017-18: Man City and Man Utd. Man City champion
2018-19: Man City and Liverpool. Man City champion
And during this current season you got Liverpool with a big lead with Leicester and Man City as the main competitors right now.
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
McMoneyman said:
2016-2017: Chelsea and Tottenham. Chelsea champion
2017-18: Man City and Man Utd. Man City champion
2018-19: Man City and Liverpool. Man City champion
And during this current season you got Liverpool with a big lead with Leicester and Man City as the main competitors right now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Man Utd were not title challengers in 2017-2018. That was a 1 horse race. City won the title by 19 points. To call Utd challengers is ridiculous.

Last season was a two horse race. This season you may have two.

How is that any different from la liga where its usually two sides fighting for the title.

Right now in Spain you have 3 sides seperated by 1 point.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
Puroresu_kid said:
Man Utd were not title challengers in 2017-2018. That was a 1 horse race. City won the title by 19 points. To call Utd challengers is ridiculous.

Last season was a two horse race. This season you may have two.

How is that any different from la liga where its usually two sides fighting for the title.

Right now in Spain you have 3 sides seperated by 1 point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Because in Spain it's the same two sides
 

Deleted member 38573

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 17, 2018
3,902
Puroresu_kid said:
Man Utd were not title challengers in 2017-2018. That was a 1 horse race. City won the title by 19 points. To call Utd challengers is ridiculous.

Last season was a two horse race. This season you may have two.

How is that any different from la liga where its usually two sides fighting for the title.

Right now in Spain you have 3 sides seperated by 1 point.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Last season turned into a two horse race around the mid way point. Chelsea were very much in the thick of it until their away form plummeted. Spurs too (?)

That's the thing with the PL, it never starts off as a two horse race! There are always at least 5 teams with the funds and personnel to challenge for the title.
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
coconut milk said:
Last season turned into a two horse race around the mid way point. Chelsea were very much in the thick of it until their away form plummeted. Spurs too (?)

That's the thing with the PL, it never starts off as a two horse race! There are always at least 5 teams with the funds and personnel to challenge for the title.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

At least 5 teams? That's BS.

Are you honestly saying in August you believed there were five sides who could reastically win the title?
 

Deleted member 38573

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 17, 2018
3,902
Puroresu_kid said:
At least 5 teams? That's BS.

Are you honestly saying in August you believed there were five sides who could reastically win the title?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

August 2019 was different. Chelsea were transfer banned and United had a novice manager that they are too stubborn to sack.

City, Pool and Spurs. Any other year you could safely throw Chelsea and United in there.

If Arsenal qualify for the Champions League and hire a good manager they will be up there considering their squad has the quality, they just need to keep hold of them.
 

Vault

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,593
The top 6 is all bollocks anyway Arsenal and United haven't been serious title contenders in years and Spurs haven't since the 1960s
 

Deleted member 38573

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 17, 2018
3,902
Vault said:
The top 6 is all bollocks anyway Arsenal and United haven't been serious title contenders in years and Spurs haven't since the 1960s
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Off the top of my head

Spurs finished second and came close (but capitulated around March iirc) during Chelsea/Conte title win.
Arsenal finished second and came close during the Leicester title winning campaign

It's less about "who could win the league" and more about quality of players/coaches/money.
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
coconut milk said:
Best way to tell is look at how many points the rest of the league has taken off of the PL top 4 compared to the La Liga top 4.

I don't know the answer
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

When Barcelona and Madrid were at their peak both hitting 95 points plus plenty said the league is too easy etc etc.

When City and Liverpool are both hitting 95+ points I don't see people saying the league is too easy.
 

Vault

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,593
coconut milk said:
Off the top of my head

Spurs finished second and came close (but capitulated around March iirc) during Chelsea/Conte title win.
Arsenal finished second and came close during the Leicester title winning campaign

It's less about "who could win the league" and more about quality of players/coaches/money.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
u2j0m3xkfnwy.jpg
 
CortexVortex

CortexVortex

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
4,074
VVD was by far the best player in the past 1.5 years but it was obvious that Messi would win the thing again.
Oh well. Time to watch Liverpool's 4-0 against Barca once again :)
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
Dr.Phibes said:
Most bookies still have France as favourites I believe. At least on the continent.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I did check a few, including betfair exchange which is less influenced by people betting for their favourite teams (as opposed to who they really think will win)


It's mainly because England are likely to play most of their games at Wembley
 
Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,231
Puroresu_kid said:
When Barcelona and Madrid were at their peak both hitting 95 points plus plenty said the league is too easy etc etc.

When City and Liverpool are both hitting 95+ points I don't see people saying the league is too easy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There is an obvious correlation that success in Europe only came back last year when the Man City and Liverpool dominate the league with 90+ points.

It was a kind of miracle that Liverpool stepped up from being 25 points behind and made it so close at the top last season, otherwise City's dominance would be unbearably boring.
And City keep getting knocked out of CL by teams from their own league does make it more interesting.
 

Deleted member 38573

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 17, 2018
3,902
Puroresu_kid said:
When Barcelona and Madrid were at their peak both hitting 95 points plus plenty said the league is too easy etc etc.

When City and Liverpool are both hitting 95+ points I don't see people saying the league is too easy.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I do remember that. That was peak La Liga for me. Mourinhos Madrid doesn't get enough credit. Beautiful and effective counter attacking that lay the foundation for their future Champions League dominance. And during the Unai Emery years Sevilla were getting a lot of praise too.

People aren't calling the PL too easy because Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal did well in Europe (Arsenal had a particularly tough run, comfortably swatting aside the likes of Napoli and Valencia) I guess. And it wasn't that long ago that Leicester and Chelsea won the title too.

At the very least we can agree Ligue 1 is the absolute worst (although I do like Lille) :D
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
Timbuktu said:
There is an obvious correlation that success in Europe only came back last year when the Man City and Liverpool dominate the league with 90+ points.

It was a kind of miracle that Liverpool stepped up from being 25 points behind and made it so close at the top last season, otherwise City's dominance would be unbearably boring.
And City keep getting knocked out of CL by teams from their own league does make it more interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Correct and what you had was just two very impressive sides in City and Liverpool rather than the rest of the league being dreadful. That was the same with pep's Barca and Jose's Madrid.
 
ty_hot

ty_hot

Banned
Dec 14, 2017
7,176
Lol at the British believing they are "dominating" the football world. They were great last year, 2 European finals and all... but that doesnt mean they are dominating anything. Messi and Ronaldo dominate the best player awards. Modric doesnt. Barça and Real dominate La Liga. Leicester didnt dominate the EPL. There is a difference in winning and dominating.

and talking about bets as some sort of proof that England is on top, while ignoring that the Euro is in the UK and that France, Portugal and Germany are in the same group lol.

I think EPL is the strongest league and honestly the only one worth subscribing to, but they need to do better in the UCL. Btw, too much money inevitably brings in overpriced players (who was the last best player of the world playing the EPL? Ronaldo?).
 
marc^o^

marc^o^

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,205
Paris, France
Messi improved his game this season, adding Iniesta skills with a better team player influence. I'm glad I saw him play all these years.
 

Deleted member 38573

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 17, 2018
3,902
ty_hot said:
Lol at the British believing they are "dominating" the football world. They were great last year, 2 European finals and all... but that doesnt mean they are dominating anything. Messi and Ronaldo dominate the best player awards. Modric doesnt. Barça and Real dominate La Liga. Leicester didnt dominate the EPL. There is a difference in winning and dominating.

and talking about bets as some sort of proof that England is on top, while ignoring that the Euro is in the UK and that France, Portugal and Germany are in the same group lol.

I think EPL is the strongest league and honestly the only one worth subscribing to, but they need to do better in the UCL. Btw, too much money inevitably brings in overpriced players (who was the last best player of the world playing the EPL? Ronaldo?).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Dominate doesn't have to mean prolonged success. We dominated europe last season because both European finals were all us. There were two spots for the rest of europe to take in both finals and yet it still ended up all english. That's domination.

It was one season, and you guys can barely even admit that lmao. Cannot wait for the tears when it comes home this summer.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
ty_hot said:
Lol at the British believing they are "dominating" the football world. They were great last year, 2 European finals and all... but that doesnt mean they are dominating anything. Messi and Ronaldo dominate the best player awards. Modric doesnt. Barça and Real dominate La Liga. Leicester didnt dominate the EPL. There is a difference in winning and dominating.

and talking about bets as some sort of proof that England is on top, while ignoring that the Euro is in the UK and that France, Portugal and Germany are in the same group lol.

I think EPL is the strongest league and honestly the only one worth subscribing to, but they need to do better in the UCL. Btw, too much money inevitably brings in overpriced players (who was the last best player of the world playing the EPL? Ronaldo?).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I didn't say England are on top. I said they were favourites to win the competition which, when grouped with successes at club level, is another indicator of the current strength of English football. You say they need to do better in the UCL but three of the semi finalists were English this year. You say the players are overpriced and cite the same awards that was just dominated by EPL players, with one coming a very close second to Messi and six in the top ten.

Yes it's short-lived so far but over the last twelve months it's hard to argue that England isn't the centre of the football world right-now. Maybe by the end of the season, that won't be so. Who can say? And there is no question that Spain have dominated for the last 15 years at all levels. But Spain is a fading power. Or at least that's how it looks right now.
 
UshioRulz

UshioRulz

Member
Nov 30, 2017
285
English sides have lost 23 of last 27 European knockout ties against their La Liga counterparts

https://www./sport/football/article...ockout-ties-against-La-Liga-counterparts.html

^sorry its from last year, but couldn't find anything more recent.



I mean, yes, it's a shame teams like Levante don't win La Liga, but that's because the top teams here aren't trash like they were in the Premier League when Leicester won. That season for example, La Liga had 3 points difference between 1st and 3rd classified, Real Madrid (2nd) and Atleti (3rd) were the teams on the Champions League final and Sevilla easily won 3rd Europa League in a row.

And by the way, is funny how is just Real Madrid and Barcelona but yet Real Madrid couldn't get into the Top 2 for the last 2 seasons even when dominating the Champions League.
 

Deleted member 15360

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,477
Geoff said:
I didn't say England are on top. I said they were favourites to win the competition which, when grouped with successes at club level, is another indicator of the current strength of English football. You say they need to do better in the UCL but three of the semi finalists were English this year. You say the players are overpriced and cite the same awards that was just dominated by EPL players, with one coming a very close second to Messi and six in the top ten.

Yes it's short-lived so far but over the last twelve months it's hard to argue that England isn't the centre of the football world right-now. Maybe by the end of the season, that won't be so. Who can say? And there is no question that Spain have dominated for the last 15 years at all levels. But Spain is a fading power. Or at least that's how it looks right now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

What?

It was 2 and everyone knows that even Barca and Ajax had equally a great opportunity to come to finals

Both of them choked in the last match.
 

Nerokis

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,560
hemo memo said:
Yes in 16 years Atlético Madrid and Valencia won only once. Are you kidding me? It's a cat and mouse league.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Barcelona and Real Madrid won the CL 5 years in a row between them, with Atletico reaching two finals and going through a stretch of relative dominance where Real Madrid was the only club to ever knock them out

was the CL a cat and mouse competition for a bit there, with La Liga being the cat and everybody else the mice?

overlapping with the above was Sevilla's domination of the Europa League, but dunno I'd call that a cat and mouse competition, either

it's genuinely strange how some PL fans feel the need to downplay the recent era of Spanish dominance and thus end up with totally distorted views of La Liga's overall quality
 

Deleted member 15360

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,477
Nerokis said:
Barcelona and Real Madrid won the CL 5 years in a row between them, with Atletico reaching two finals and going through a stretch of relative dominance where Real Madrid was the only club to ever knock them out

was the CL a cat and mouse competition for a bit there, with La Liga being the cat and everybody else the mice?

overlapping with the above was Sevilla's domination of the Europa League, but dunno I'd call that a cat and mouse competition, either

it's genuinely strange how some PL fans feel the need to downplay the recent era of Spanish dominance and thus end up with totally distorted views of La Liga's overall quality
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
None of them follow la Liga

Anyone who has been following la Liga know how difficult team have been to beat.

None of the matches are walk over

Even hazard who has been the best performer in the last month for Madrid , hasn't been able to get Goals and assist in his name.

People really under value the goals scored in la Liga
 
eebster

eebster

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
1,596
Ryu_Ken said:
Totally underserved , this year there have been far better players.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

He's had 51 goals in 50 games last season and was unplayable at times and was Barcelonas hard carry all year long. It's beyond crazy to say that there have been "far" better players last year. I can get the argument for Van Dijk, but everyone else was way below Messi. That loss against Liverpool is overshadowing his incredible season.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
eebster said:
He's had 51 goals in 50 games last season and was unplayable at times. It's crazy to say that there have been "far" better players last year. I can get the argument for Van Dijk, but everyone else was way below Messi. That loss against Liverpool is overshadowing his incredible season.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah. I would have preferred to see VVD win because it's much harder to objectively value a defender than it is an attacker and therefore it's hard for them to win. But you can't say Messi is bad value for the win.
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
Geoff said:
Yeah. I would have preferred to see VVD win because it's much harder to objectively value a defender than it is an attacker and therefore it's hard for them to win. But you can't say Messi is bad value for the win.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I would argue neutralising is easier than creating. It's a lot easier for a coach to set up a side to defend than win games.
 
Puroresu_kid

Puroresu_kid

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
9,465
Pranay said:
None of them follow la Liga

Anyone who has been following la Liga know how difficult team have been to beat.

None of the matches are walk over

Even hazard who has been the best performer in the last month for Madrid , hasn't been able to get Goals and assist in his name.

People really under value the goals scored in la Liga
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Man was a superstar in England
 
Kyussons

Kyussons

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,414
Nerokis said:
Barcelona and Real Madrid won the CL 5 years in a row between them, with Atletico reaching two finals and going through a stretch of relative dominance where Real Madrid was the only club to ever knock them out

was the CL a cat and mouse competition for a bit there, with La Liga being the cat and everybody else the mice?

overlapping with the above was Sevilla's domination of the Europa League, but dunno I'd call that a cat and mouse competition, either

it's genuinely strange how some PL fans feel the need to downplay the recent era of Spanish dominance and thus end up with totally distorted views of La Liga's overall quality
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Valencia reached the champions league final two years in a row too, they lost to Real Madrid & Bayern though, ( Bayern defeated them at penalties ).
 
Temp_User

Temp_User

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,691
I was expecting van Dijk to win it this year . . . . but Messi is not a bad pick for the Ballon d'Or.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.