Arguably more worrying... David Luiz makes the FIFA World XI in defence? Is there another David Luiz that I haven't been made aware of, because the one I'm thinking of is one of the biggest defensive liabilities I've ever seen.
Re: Arguably more worrying... He'll have picked defensive midfielders in his three that's the type of player he likes
Re: Arguably more worrying... Not quite - 2 defenders/ defensive midfielders and a keeper 1) Mascherano 2) Lahm 3) Neuer.
I guess, as an international manager, he's formed his judgement from international games. Probably putting the most emphasis on the World Cup. Neither did all that much and neither ever have. Ronaldo and Messi could well be the best two football players there has ever been, but until they perform like Maradonna and Pele did at the World Cup, I'm not sure they deserve to be compared to them and I can understand why, in World Cup year, Hodgson didn't vote for them.
Whilst Ronaldo should be in any top 3 I don't blame Hodgson for picking his selections based on what happened in the World Cup considering it was a World Cup year & that tournament is more important than La Liga, the champions league etc. And despite the bizarre decision to give Messi player of the World Cup let's not forget it was Mascherano who dragged that Argentina team to the final, his performance against the Dutch was one of the best individual performances for many years. I'm more in shock that Diego Godin hasn't made the team of the year. Best defender in the world over the past 18 months for me & has come up with several key goals from set pieces as well and played well at the World Cup. It makes it even stranger that Luiz is in ahead of him
While I completely agree that Messi and Ronaldo still can't be compared to Maradona and Pele until they achieve what they did at international level I'm not sure that the Ballon d'or can be awarded based purely on the world cup because this is just a few games, so surely an assessment has to be on all games, international and domestic across the whole year. Mascherano had a great world cup but does he deserve to be nominated above Messi across a whole year? I'm not so sure.
Barmy that anybody would leave out both of by far the best two football players there is. One of the top scorers in the world cup for a team that reached the final. The other with more than a goal a game and multiple trophies.
I think it's very difficult for Ronaldo to be judged on World Cup performances when he plays for such a poor nation (in Pele and Maradonna terms). He single handedly got Portugal to the World Cup with his heroics in qualifying. He wasn't poor at the World Cup either, just couldn't do it all on his own.
Neuer, Lahm and Mascherano are all quality. But Ronaldo was always going to win it due to his performances all year round for club and country. I found it more interesting that again, neither he or Messi voted for each other. Anybody taking the piss out of them?
It's a fair point, but in 86, when Argentina won it, they were gash. It was Mardonna v whoever they were playing. Almost every team that wins the world cup has a star player, but not to the extent of Argentina when Maradonna ran the show in both 86 and 90. It wasn't Argentina 2-1 England in the infamous Hand of God game, it was Maradonna 2-1 England. Neither Messi nor Ronaldo have performed anything like that on the world stage, despite doing it regularly at club level against very similar players.
