…because he joins Madrid on a free in the summer?
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He said AFCON isn’t a major tournament and then scoffed and sneered at Richards and Sturridge when they told him it is important for many people. Prick.
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I will sound like a dinosaur, but I am close to not giving a stuff about the ballon d’Or. My main view is that it is close to meaningless to dish out individual awards for a team sport.
With that said, of course I can see the way the world has gone, so there’s a sense that you have to keep up with it, even if you don’t care for it.
At that point, all those years of Messi and Ronaldo going back and forth were fine, as they were two of the greatest players to ever play (Messi was better of course). Still, both of them got 1-2 more than they should have done due to reputation, and other great players missed out when they were perhaps more deserving. There was no imagination whatsoever in the voting.
I thought last year was shameful when Real Madrid boycotted the whole thing because their man Vinicius Jr didn’t win. It was disrespectful to Rodri, who was a worthy competitor.
If Real Madrid are ‘rewarded’ with one of their players winning it again right away, after their no-show, that would be a shame.
Now for Mo Salah. He is very deserving. He is hitting the lights out. If we win the Premier League he should be nailed on. But he probably won’t be. It might also require that we win the Champions League too. And that’s because there might be a suspicion that his face doesn’t fit. Not Mo himself, but as an AFCON star, rather than one from a higher profile federation.
So it’s a bit political as well.
Personally I can’t be doing with it, but for Mo’s sake, as it means something to the players, I would love to see him win it.
Again, for me, an individual award for a team sport all seems rather silly, especially the way this particular one is so hyped up.
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That’s how it has been reported and I think its a very unfair reading of his statement. He was talking about in the eyes of the ballon d’Or voter and I don’t think he’s wrong. For some reason ballon d’Or voting seems to lend an outsized weight towards achievements for national teams, a far more random and uncontrollable factor, than the consistent performances of club football.
Salah has been the best player in Africa for at least 5 years and made the final of AFCON twice but his highest ever finish was 5th. I don’t think the voters give a crap about that tournament.
But really the point Carragher should have made is that the reason Salah is unlikely to win is because the ballon d’Or is a bought award. Clubs are paying people or rewarding people to vote for their player and Liverpool aren’t doing that - Madrid are, Barcelona are, Bayern Munich are, Man City are.
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Any proof of that?
As it sands Salah could be about to be handed a League, Cup and CL winners medal, POTY, PPOTY, Balon Dor…and P45.
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You don’t really think about that when contracts end, but it is literally a legal obligation, isn’t it?
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That’ll teach him to rest while we got knocked out of the F.A. Cup!
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And then he won it! Ironically the only Liverpool player ever to win this and, until Rodri, the only player in english football to win it since George Best. When you consider how much we (and other English clubs as support acts) dominated European football from more than a decade, it says a lot.
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That’s his retirement sorted: Coffee and Counselling with Mo.
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Nah I watched the clip and he was being a dick.
The sort of management Ratcliffe and Ineos get wet dreams about
Nah they get their kicks by skipping to the P45 part
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I think the idea of their ‘workers’ performing brilliantly and giving them everythting they could ask for and then summarily dismissing them is what really would give those cunts a thrill.
Out of curiosity I checked it out.
It looks like Stanley Mathews was the first winner (at the age of 41!)
Law, Charlton and Best all won it whilst Manchester United players.
Keegan won it twice, but as a Hamburg player rather than us.
Dalglish came second in 1983, but it is noticeable that it was he, and not Keegan that was dominating European football at the time that Keegan won the awards (Keegan had won the European cup with us, but missed out with Hamburg).
I find the whole thing a nonsense anyway. If a player would rather win a Ballon d’Or rather than a league title or European Cup, you have to question their professionalism.
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Yep and that no players in english football at all won the award (other than lil’ Mickey) since Best in 1968(?) until Rodri speaks volumes.
Yeah I couldn’t give a toss, if even Owen was like meh you do wonder how much it means.
All it is is a bunch of faceless blokes (I assume) who have an opinion.
Oh apparently it’s a selection of “specialised journalists” 
For an entire 2 seconds I was wondering why Drake had an opinion on this.
There was a Le Monde investigation that specified allegations against PSG including “gifts” and paid for vacations for journalists at France Football in return for voting for Messi for the Ballon d’Or in 2021. That investigation came out three years after the alleged bribery. It would be naive to think no one else is doing similar - especially with many top players now having clauses built into their contracts for bonuses linked to Ballon d’Or placement.
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Who, in their right mind, is going to agree to clauses that are related to matters completely out of their control?
Agents. It’s agents, isn’t it?
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