Shevchenko won the 2004 Ballon d’Or, but was he a worthy winner?
I dive into the stats and overal season of the top players of 2004, including King Henry, and judge them on multiple categories to determine who I think should have won the award.
I am a second-gen Gooner so I am excited to share my work with fellow fans! I hope this is okay to post.
Yossi Benayoun should have won it
Welcome along @TFS_Ross
You’re welcome to share your work and I’m happy to leave this as its own thread but it may be best to put future vids in the relevant player or topic threads.
I can’t remember specific years all that much but it’s a damn travesty Henry never won the award. I stopped thinking it meant anything around this time tbh.
Thierry didn’t even come close to winning it that year. His performance in the Euros weighed heavily on the voters minds, as opposed to his performance for Arsenal. He got as many 1st place votes as Zagorakis ffs.
Ballon d’Or 2003 was the contentious one. Thierry was clearly superior to Nedved, but the French - journalists - weren’t Henry‘s biggest fans and it showed.
2004 votes
Can argue that the 2006 award could have been his too. The Ballon d’Or is meant to be judged on multiple categories but they always seemed to be ignored.
I wouldn’t say this is as clear cut as you’re making out. Superior, sure, but nedved was fucking incredible. A real winner, big game player and extremely tenacious as well as fast, clever, both feet and shooting and passing to die for. That said, sheva is for me the correct choice in 2004, but Henry a very, very close second.
For me, invincibles arsenal and 03-05 Milan are the most entertaining teams in club football ever. I’d loved them to have played each other in 2006 final, but sadly puyol and uefa and their shit refs robbed the world of a contest between two wonderful footballing styles.
I’m with you on the Nedved point. He was outstanding that year. If he wasn’t suspended for the UCL final, Juve would have probably won it.
Sheva I disagree with due to the points I made in my article (not saying I’m right, it is an opinion piece after all andI welcome other views) but I have nothing against the player at all. He was world class. Honestly, the 03/04 season probably wasn’t even his best, that is how good he was.
I am still in love with the Milan 03-07 team to this day, as well as The Invincibles of course. They truly were two of the greatest club teams ever produced.
Yeah, that’s just it. I guess as you suggest sheva was scoring in serie a where defence was still the main tactic and ability employed/ available, to put it succinctly.
Henry (after db10) will forever be my favourite premier league player. Nobody has surpassed him, dare I say nobody ever will. I preferred db10’s style but for Henry’s impact, big game player style, and supreme arrogance (deserved so maybe a bad word to choose) but it just fucked with so many players against him.
That said, i honestly prefer sheva that year, that was just an incredible season, he was bullying people left right and centre, making a mockery of cannavaro, Montero, Buffon, zanetti, Toldo, fernando couto, stam etc…
