2014 FIFA Ballon D’or

The 2014 FIFA Ballon D’or winner will be announced on Monday January 12, Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to win the award for the second time in a row but he will be facing stiff competition from Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Germany Shot stopper Manuel Neuer.

Manuel Neuer

The Bayern Munich and German goalkeeper had a wonderful 2014 playing a vital role in his nation’s World Cup triumph. The 28 year-old won the 2013-2014 Bundesliga along with DFB-Pokal. However I don’t think his performance in 2014 is enough for him to win this award, albeit he had a stellar year playing on a stellar team. He had a great game against Algeria but on the flip side his team mates were also having good games. I credit Germany and Bayern Munich successes to discipline team work. Individually Manuel Neuer has not done enough to win an individual award of such prestige.

Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi’s 2014 can be described in two words, Runner-up. The Argentine was second best in three of the four major competitions that he played for during the course of the year. He had a wonderful world cup but he went MIA in the final, If Argentina had won the world cup in Brazil Lionel Messi would have been clear favorite to win the Ballon D’or. In truth and in fact Messi had a poor 2014 by his standards. I know he became La Liga’s and UEFA Champions League all-time leading goal scorer during the year but those achievements started years ago he merely put the icing on the cake in 2014. The statistics shows that Messi had one of his worst year in 2014 since becoming a professional footballer. 41 goals in 46 appearance in the 2013-2014 was his lowest since the 2009 season with that said I don’t think Lionel Messi is deserving of the award.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo had another brilliant year on the club level, he managed to guide his team to four trophies and he was in breath taking form for most part of the year. Cristiano performed exceptionally during the course of the year and it is only right that his efforts be rewarded. He broke Lionel Messi’s UEFA Champions League record for most goal during a UCL season, he also beat Messi to the Pichichi for the most goals scored in the 2013-2014 La Liga season. The one blemish in Ronaldo’s year was in Brazil and in all fairness the Portuguese team wasn’t good enough and Crisitiano was not fully fit during the tournament. The Ballon D’or is an Individual award and CR7 individually has done enough to win the award.

Coach of the Year- Joachim Loew.

The German coach has put an end to Germany’s disappointment on the world stage and he did it with Miroslav Kolse, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski all playing minor roles.

Puskás Award- James Rodriguez

The Colombian sensational strike against Uruguay is a definite winner for me; the technique behind the goal is unbelievable.

Spanish La Liga: 2013-2014 season preview

August 17 the day when the 2013-2014 Spanish Liga kick starts. So what to expect from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico, Valencia, and others? The new season should be mouth-watering with the two giants having new coaches. Where will the title go Madrid or Barcelona? The Barcelona fans should be happy to know that they will have two of the best attacking players in the world at the start of the new season. Neymar alongside Messi might sound great but it might take time to work. Neymar will definitely have to adjust his game because Lionel Messi is the star of Barcelona. Messi However needs to understand the way that Neymar plays so that they can be effective together. If they can get an instant chemistry together Barcelona will again win the Spanish La Liga despite all the signings that Real Madrid has made.

Real Madrid has spent 72.5 million to acquire Midfielder Asier Illarramendi from Real Sociedad for a fee of 30m; Midfielder Isco from Malaga for a fee of 30m; Brazilian midfielder Casemiro (permanent signing) from Sao Paulo for a fee of 6m; Defender Daniel Carvajal from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of 6.5m. It is obvious that there will be a lot of changes at the Santiago Bernabeu the major one is managerial. Carlo Ancelotti has taken up the job after Jose Mourinho ended his tenure with a poor season. Ancelotti has the task of leading the charge for Real to win another La Liga and even maybe the champion league. Isco is fantastic along Mesut Ozil he should be even better so the Los Blancos do have the players to get the job done but the question is What is Ancelotti’s game plan and how best can the players adapt to that? Will he change Real Madrid style of play maybe into more attacking? The questions will be answer around mid-way through the new season. The new face are extremely talented and they will add depth as well as more flair but I think Real should have signed a striker to replace Higuain because he did a lot of the scoring last season and it will be a big gamble to just bank on Ronaldo and Benzema to score the goals and keep in mind we have not seen Benzema reached his full potential as yet so is this the season when he steps up an score atleast 20 goals in a La Liga campaign? This new season could be the start of a long term plan at the club.

For my predictions of Barcelona new season please visit my other blog https://tajsports360.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/quality-up-front-neymar-along-side-leo-messi/

As it relates to third place I think it is wide open and any team could just grab it but expect Atletico Madrid to be the main team fighting for third place. Valencia has a good team so it should be interesting. The new season should be interesting.

 

Quality up Front: Neymar along side Leo Messi!

The Barcelona fans should be happy to know that they will have two of the best attacking players in the world at the start of the new season. Neymar alongside Messi might sound great but it might take time to work. Neymar will definitely have to adjust his game because Lionel Messi is the star of Barcelona. Messi However needs to understand the way that Neymar plays so that they can be effective together. If they can get an instant chemistry together Barcelona will again win the Spanish La Liga despite all the signings that Real Madrid has made.

Over the past two seasons Barcelona only had one player averaging at least 30 goals per season and that was Messi. If one is to go back in the past to 2009 that year when Barcelona won their 3^rd European Champions League and also 5 other titles, they had Messi and Samuel Eto’o both scoring over 30 goals for that season. At the end of that season they sent away Eto’o and acquired Ibrahimovic and in the following Champions League season they got eliminated by Inter Milan the team that Eto’o was playing for.  In 2011 they bought David Villa (Spain’s current all-time leading goal scorer) and villa was fantastic in his first season netting over 30 times for that seasons and Messi with his usual record breaking performance they won 6 trophies which included the Champions League which they were winning for the fourth time. Since then Lionel Messi has basically been scoring all the goals which is why they have not been able to win that fifth Champions League which would see them tying with Liverpool for the team with the 3^rd most Champions League titles in the history of the competition behind Real Madrid (9) and AC Milan (7).

Lionel Messi is fantastic however he alone cannot do all the scoring. If it’s him alone Barcelona would only be able to win maybe one trophy each year and that is just simply unacceptable from a team like Barcelona. In the upcoming season with Neymar a player who has the potential to score at least 30 goals for one season, Barcelona will again be that powerhouse that every team once feared. Something that is very clear is that Barcelona will concede goals so often times they just need to outscore their opponents and with Lionel Messi being the usual scoring machine that he is and Neymar with his ability to destroy defenses also Pedro and Sanchez playing their roles Barcelona will be a real treat even to Bayern Munich.

I would love to see Barcelona and Bayern Munich squaring off again in the Champions League with everyone fit.

It should be a goal feast in Spain.

Goodbye Barca fans: David Villa leaves for Atletico Madrid

David Villa is set to join Atletico Madrid after three seasons at the Camp Nou. In 2010 he moved to FC Barcelona for €40 million where he won his first La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles. David Villa throughout his career has been a reliable striker, however due to an injury picked on December 15 2011 he has been struggling to recapture his amazing form that saw Barcelona paying €40 million for him.  Personally I think that Villa should not have been playing in that match due to the quality of players that Barcelona has. There were about three other forwards that could have been chosen to play in that game.  After he had broken his leg Barcelona just did not seem to put any trust in him anymore because I’ve seen games that Villa could have easily dominated and he did not even play in some of those games. I could see this transfer happening from the moment Barcelona set sights on Neymar it was just a matter of time before one of the other strikers had to leave and the decision was made easy for management.  Alexis Sanchez 24, and Pedro 25, it is very clear what Barcelona are trying to do and that is building for the future because one would have to say that both Pedro and Sanchez has not reached the peak of their careers as yet on the other hand David  Villa could be looking to the end of his career.

This transfer proves a lost for Barcelona and a gain for David Villa’s. He went to Barcelona to win trophies and he did accomplish that, he has won every major title at the club level at Barcelona basically in his first season. Barcelona bought this player for €40 million and sold him for €5.1 this is a huge lost for the Spanish giants. Usually when a player is leaving a club it is often times for more than what he came in at. So it is therefore fair to say that Barcelona did not develop this player. Instead they used him and refuse him. David Villa is 31 and he is Spain all-time leading goal scorer. Below is a list of his honors.

Honors

Club

Real Zaragoza

• Copa del Rey (1): 2003–04
• Supercopa de España (1): 2004

Valencia

• Copa del Rey (1): 2007–08

Barcelona

• La Liga (2): 2010–11, 2012–13
• Copa del Rey (1): 2011–12
• Supercopa de España (2): 2010, 2011
• UEFA Champions League (1): 2010–11
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 2011
• FIFA Club World Cup (1): 2011

Country

Spain

• FIFA World Cup (1): 2010
• UEFA European Championship (2): 2008, 2012

If you’re counting correctly that is 14 winners medal. Below is a list of his individual honours.

Individual

Awards

• Spanish Player of the Year: 2005–06
• Zarra Trophy: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10
• UEFA Euro 2008 Golden Boot
• UEFA Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament^[121]
• UEFA Euro 2008 Man of the Match Spain vs Russia, Spain vs Sweden
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Bronze Shoe
• 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Team of the Tournament.^[131]
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Silver Shoe
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball
• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2010
• 2010 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match Spain vs Honduras
• Male Athlete of the Year: 2010
• FIFA/FIFPro World XI: 2010
• UEFA Team of the Year: 2010

Achievements

• Valencia Top Scorer: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
• La Liga‘s Top Assisting Player: 2006–07
• Spain all-time top scorer: 51 goals
• Spain’s all-time top scorer in FIFA World Cup matches
• Most goals scored in one World Cup (by a Spanish international): 5
• Most goals scored in one calendar year (by a Spanish international): 12 (2008, 2009)
• Largest streak of games having scored (by a Spanish international): 6

Decorations

• Prince of Asturias Awards: 2010
• Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2011

A lot of players could only dream of such achievements, David Villa has done it all.

Expect David Villa to score against Barcelona when they face Atletico Madrid.