La Liga
Ballon Joke: Modric Struggles Highlight His Questionable 2018 Award
MVP Fatigue
MVP Fatigue is real. Ask Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Barry Bonds and Wayne Gretzky. All of these players would have larger trophy collections if not for voter fatigue. It’s simply human nature for voters and fans to tire of seeing the same players win MVP each season. It was suspected that there would come a time when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would suffer the same fate. The pair formed a duopoly that possessed the trophy presented to the world’s best player for the last decade. Eventually, a less talented player who put together a remarkable year would perhaps undeservingly end their reign. However, that year was not supposed to be 2018 and that player was not supposed to be Luka Modric.
Most fans were shocked when Modric was announced as the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner. Many more casual observers didn’t even know who he was. Jokes began to spread that they should stop dolling out the award if they weren’t going to take the voting seriously. This was meant less to disrespect Modric and more to pay homage to the continued greatness of Messi and Ronaldo. The duo have been the undisputed best players in the world for a decade, and neither showed any signs of decline in 2018. Surely Modric must have had a historic season to supplant the pair, right? You be the judge.
Modric’s Credentials
Modric has an incredible story. The Croat grew up in the former Yugoslavia. His hometown was at the center of the Croatian War of Independence. He was forced to become a refugee at age six. Miraculously, he dodged the violence and found a way to thrive as footballer, despite being only 5’8″. He rose to stardom at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Tottenham and Eventually Real Madrid.
Modric is an extremely gifted midfielder and his impact isn’t always shown in the box score. Luckily for Mordic, voters knew this and overlooked his pedestrian stats. In fact, no articles discussing his candidacy for the award even mention his 2018 stats. Underwhelming, the Croat finished with 4 goals and 11 assists for club and country in 2018.
However, Modric was a key player for Madrid as Los Blancos won the Champions League for third consecutive season. He also captained Croatia to the World Cup final where they fell to France. He was even awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
Ballon d’Or Rivals’ Credentials
Modric’s stats look silly next to Messi and Ronaldo. Messi scored over 50 goals in 2018. He led Barcelona to the La Liga title, nearly going unbeaten in the process. Additionally, Barcelona won the Copa Del Rey to complete an impressive double for the Catalan giants. However, Argentina fell in the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Ronaldo also scored over 50 goals for club and country in 2018. He was given the most credit for Madrid’s third consecutive Champions League title, leading the tournament in goals. In Russia, Ronaldo scored an absurd hat trick against Spain and finished with 4 goals. Like Messi’s Argentina, Portugal bowed out of the tournament in the round of 16.
Perhaps the strangest aspect of Modric’s Ballon d’Or win was Mo Salah. The Egyptian appeared to be a better choice for voters tired of voting for Messi or Ronaldo. Salah scored or assisted 41 goals in 43 games in 2018 prior to voting took place. He won the 2017-18 Premier League scoring title with 38 goals. Salah’s Liverpool finished 3rd in the Premier League and made a shock run to the Champions League final. In Russia, his underdog Egyptian side failed to win a game, but Salah struck twice for the Pharos. Salah became a global superstar with far more notoriety than Modirc.
Verdict
Clearly something was amiss with the 2018 Ballon d’Or voting. Ronaldo finished second but Messi and Salah finished all the way down in 5th and 6th respectively. Ronaldo’s sister even blamed the Mafia for the strange results. Messi and Ronaldo voiced their displeasure with the voting by boycotting the award ceremony. Certainly a classless move, but one that got their point across. Ultimately, Modric was a nice story in 2018. Still, his Champions League tile, World Cup runners up medal and World Cup Golden Ball award should have been enough to reward the midfielder. Once again, the award should have been given to Messi or Ronaldo, with the Argentine likely staking the better claim to the trophy.
Modric Ruining His Chance To Silence Critics
Modric was given the perfect opportunity to show the world he deserved to be named the best player in the world. Ex-teammate Ronaldo departed Madrid for Juventus in the summer. Modric could now show the world that he, not Ronaldo, was the engine that made Madrid fire. Instead, he did the opposite. Modric has suffered through a miserable start to the campaign. One goal and two assists are all Modric has to show for 26 appearances this season. Even worse, Madrid have been shambolic and are mired in fourth place in La Liga, with a goal difference of only +4.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has moved to Italy and leads Serie A in scoring with 14 goals and 5 assists. His Juventus side again sit on top of the Italian league table and won their Champions League group. The Portuguese even won his first silverware in Italy on Wednesday, scoring the only goal in Juventus’ Italian Super Cup victory over Milan.
Messi has Barcelona atop the La Liga table and is scoring for fun. La Pulga leads the league in scoring with 17 along with his 10 assists. Barcelona also topped their Champions League group.
In England, Salah leads the Premier League in goals with 14 to go with 7 assists. His Liverpool side went unbeaten for the first half of the league campaign and sit atop the table. Liverpool managed to survive the group of death in the Champions League as runners-up. It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to say the Reds led by Salah are the best team in the world at the moment.
The Reality
Modric is an incredible player with an incredible story and is a joy to watch. He has put together a marvelous career, highlighted by his sterling 2018. But voters clearly got carried away. Modric is crumbling under the pressure of trying to lead Madrid sans Ronaldo. He has readily admitted he has not been good enough. Rumors have even begun to swirl that Madrid wish to sell him to Inter Milan. This season has told the world what it already knew: Messi and Ronaldo are still the best players on the planet and their closest competitor is not named Luka.
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Photo credit to Sanaullah Shame via Flickr
