The Robbery of Ribery, the adulation of Cristina and All that is Wrong with Modern Football and Ballon D'OR

Not surprised. I'm not. I would have been more surprised if people really woke up and were real. But I keep forgetting that it's 2014 and not 1994. It's all about hype, and buying into a fantasy and myth that gets perpetuated by certain individuals. HOW IN GOODNESS NAME THAT RIBERY DID NOT WIN THE BEST PLAYER AWARD IS LAUGHABLE. He was without doubt THE standout player of the year...and not the shit excuse that he was just a "part" of a great team.

People love to use the argument of the incredible number of goals Cristiano scored. Well, if there is a goalscoring award, then I would personally give it to the Portuguese man myself. As far as being the ALL ROUND best footballer, that means how well are you playing CONSISTENTLY as well as showing up in the big games. Whether Ribery scores or not, he shows up in EVERY match. He does what he does and he does it very well. He dribbles, he creates, he dribbles AGAIN and creates some more. He does this consistently, and never goes missing in periods of a match. I'm sorry, but I can't give the award to a player who will go missing for sixty minutes...pop up for a few goals then go missing again for the rest of the game. That is NOT a hallmark of a great footballer. A great footballer is one who shows his talents THROUGHOUT  a match. That is why Messi is without doubt the best footballer in the world, because he is causing havoc for the ENTIRETY of the game, not just in sections. It's exactly what Ribery does, working his balls off for his team for the whole match. Somehow, the coaches and the captains missed that?

I have very little love for modern football. I really don't. This decision is why I don't really care that much for the game. Watching someone like Cristiano does not give me the desire to go out and play the game of football. Whereas, the grace with which Ribery moves with the ball, how he studies the movements of defenders and is always thinking as he moves with the ball makes me want to get out onto the pitch. The way in which he leaves defenders trailing, and just dominates his flank has brought back the imagination to the wing-play. It's important for young kids to see Ribery win this award as it promotes the true kind of football that puts praise on control, dribbling and having a footballing brain...something that Cristiano does not possess.
  You see, Cristiano as Ibrahimovic rightly said, is a result of coaching. He is a player that can be marked out of a game, and defended. That is because his football is very rigid and mechanical. It's not as pure and imaginative as Ribery. Franck just has that fluidity and purity that is the ESSENCE of football. Hence why he is effective in pretty much every game he plays. Always and every game, he keeps beating his defender, he keeps getting the cross and he will occasionally get his goal.

I do feel bad for Ribery because this would have been his best chance to win the award. He deserved it, and it was taken away from him due to FIFA wanting a more popular winner, by extending the voting, and the coaches and captains falling for the Cristiano hype. At the end of the day, Ribery should try and find time to watch some Have Hope Football Hut and have the peace of mind in knowing that there are those who truly value his talents and know of how good a footballer he truly is. A fucking dumb award does not need to validate that. Bergkamp, Figo, Davids, Maldini, Baresi, Okocha are all players that are better than Cristiano, but they never won any best player of the year awards. They don't need to, time will tell and those that KNOW about football will realize that Ribery is and will always be a better footballer than Cristiano.


HH