Ballon D’Or without Messi & CR7

From 2008-2019… who wins the Ballon D’Or / best player in an alternate universe without Messi and CR7

2008:
2009: Xavi
2010: Sneijder
2011: Iniesta
2012:
2013: Robben
2014: Suarez
2015: Neymar
2016: Suarez
2017:
2018: Salah
2019: Lewandowski

2015: Neymar
2017: Ramos
2018: Salah
2019: Lewandowski?

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Added big man. Good shouts.

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Bias but I loved Cesc and torres in 2008 didn’t really pay attention to other leagues at that point too much

2012 would count half of that mad season of rvp for us and half for Utd right? Incredible form

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Would John Terry or Ashley Cole have shouts in 2008?

Cesc for sure had a great season, and Torres was immense too.

I think that year had to be a PL player.

Yeah I did consider RVP for 2012, he’s the major standout to me for that year.

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Yes. They were both very good.

All I remember about football in 2008 is some cunt killing Eduardo and Galllas being an uber cunt.

John Terry and Lampard were animals throughout that period .

Lampard with 22 goals 14 assists 2009 time.

Another player is yaya toure 2013 time period he was absolutely fucking dominant.

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Don’t have a clear idea at the top of my head but Suarez in 2014 and 2016 100%

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Rooney for 2008 perhaps?

Pretty sure Torres was the golden boy in 2008 over Rooney. I think he got the winner in the Euros too so I imagine that’s probably enough to get the votes in.

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I think Sneijder is a shoe in for 2010 because of his performances for the Netherlands leading them to a WC final and the treble win with Inter.

The player that I’d have second in 2010 would be Milito.

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You know what, I’ve always thought (somewhat controversially) that if it was based on performances and how far you get your team, Henry ought to have won it in 2006 (CL final and WC final)

It’s controversial because it wasn’t his best season for Arsenal. It’s doubly controversial because it’s not the best way to measure how good a player is.

@Mr_Nostalgia suggested Rooney in 2008. I was thinking the same. Fantastic success for club, didn’t qualify for the Euros with England (so that’s null and void), but was he that good? We’d have been up in arms had he won it

2006 wasn’t actually far from Henry’s best season, in my opinion actually it was probably his second best, just slightly behind 2003.

i dont remember dates and seasons so much, but i would say that for club and country David Villa was a monster, but weirdly no one seemed to appreciate him as an elite talent he was always overshadowed. The only time he wasn’t was when he was banging them in for Valencia but then he was deemed a big fish in a small pond and was mostly viewed as a great talent but ‘not in a big club so isnt as good as XYZ for a top club’

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Never had that feeling. Villa was absolutely brilliant and one of the top top strikers in the world for years.

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I’ve probably mentioned it a million times in the La Liga thread but Villa really was elite, easily better than Torres for me.

He should’ve been snapped up by an elite cub pre-2010 that’s for sure. Although I’ll always follow Valencia for that 2005-08 team!

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Quite close between them, at their very peak.
I’m edging towards Villa too, but Torres was a beast, though choice…

At Barca he was pushed away from the goal a bit, played as winger almost, with Messi in that false 9 role, but everything he did was still pure class… Awesome player.

David Villa is a name that is very often forgotten when talking about the great strikers of the last 20 years. Top tier, elite forward. His international record speaks for itself. Him and Eto’o are two of my favourite strikers from the 00’s.

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