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Cristiano Ronaldo caught being salty over Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or win once again

Darren Looney — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 15:57:15 +0000

Lionel Messi was crowned the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or for a record-extending eight time on Monday night at a ceremony in Paris and it did not go down well with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.

The award comes off the back of an incredible year for the 36-year-old, who guided Argentina to their third World Cup with one of the best campaigns the tournament has ever seen.

This was alongside helping Inter Miami to their first-ever trophy and claiming the Ligue 1 title with PSG.

Messi is now three Ballon d’Or’s ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in second place and the Portuguese superstar, who has a tendency to be salty when the Barcelona legend achieves something significant, was at it again.

Messi with his eighth Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo caught being salty over Messi’s Ballon d’Or win

Whether it is Ronaldo himself or a member of his family, someone always has to comment on Messi’s achievements in the aftermath of their occurrence and it was the superstar who took to Instagram this time.

Ronaldo has apparently liked and commented on an IG post which said: “Hello friends. What we knew happened, they were going to give Messi another Ballon d’Or again. He went to retire in Miami, even though he already looked like he was retired at PSG preparing for the World Cup. He won the World Cup, yes, good, but with 6 penalties…

“The World Cup was 10 months ago, it’s November. Messi has 8 Ballon d’Ors, he should have had 5. He has Iniesta/Xavi’s Ballon d’Or, Lewandowski’s who won 6 trophies in one season and Haaland’s who was the top scorer.”

This is once again a bad look for Ronaldo, who clearly is not coping with the attention Messi has earned over the last year.

? Cristiano Ronaldo liked and commented on an IG post which said:

"Hello friends. What we knew happened, they were going to give Messi another Ballon d'Or again. He went to retire in Miami, even though he already looked like he was retired at PSG preparing for the World Cup.… pic.twitter.com/vVXIYZYZgf

— Football Tweet ?? (@Football__Tweet) October 31, 2023

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Lionel Messi crowned Ballon d’Or 2023 winner for record-extending eighth time

Darren Looney — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 21:40:52 +0000

Lionel Messi has been crowned the winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or after a memorable 12 months for the 36-year-old.

The award is the Argentina star’s eighth, which extends his own record for the most Ballon d’Ors ever won, with Cristiano Ronaldo in second place with five.

This Ballon d’Or comes a remarkable 14 years after the Barcelona legend won his first in 2009 and it shows the incredible longevity of the sport’s greatest-ever player.

Messi beat the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe to the award, who also had sensational seasons for their clubs and countries, but the award was only ever going to go to one man following a special month in Qatar at the end of last year.

Lionel Messi with the 2022 World Cup

Messi deserves Ballon d’Or but Man City stars have legitmate claims says ex-pro

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:27:19 +0000

Monday night should see Lionel Messi crowned as the Ballon d’Or for an incredible eighth time.

That’s three more than his nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, and at least five more than anyone else.

By whichever metric you choose, there’s a cogent argument that the diminutive Argentinian really is the G.O.A.T (Greatest of All Time).

Ex-Premier League striker, Stan Collymore, believes that Messi deserves the award because of his World Cup heroics at the back end of last year.

‘If you’re looking for the fairy tale and the guy that’s come in and almost single-handedly won a World Cup then Messi is a worthy winner,’ he wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

However, given that Man City did the treble last season and were absolutely awesome whilst doing so, Collymore questioned whether two of their players actually deserved the honour in Messi’s stead.

‘However, if you’re looking in terms of numbers, Erling Haaland comes in and breaks the Premier League record – which is very difficult to do – in his first season, then he has a valid shout,’ he continued.

‘What about Julian Alvarez, who won the World Cup and scored goals, and provided assists for Haaland and his team-mates?’

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Like so many, Collymore appears bored by the whole notion of an individual award in what is a team sport, unless there are definable metrics by which a score can be given and the ‘best in the world’ is therefore exactly that because of the highest score.

‘I’m not a big fan of individual awards because they’re so subjective and almost pointless. What’s the criteria? Goals scored? Assists given? Influence over your team or any other metric you ascribe to?’ he added.

‘Then you get people like Pep Guardiola coming out and saying Messi should have his own award, and that will have weighed heavily on the minds of journalists and the people that vote for things like that.

‘[…] Brand Messi and brand Ronaldo have been very, very strong for a long time, but in years to come I would like to see some kind of criteria attached to the award in the same way that you would judge the Golden Gloves or similar.’

What’s almost certain is that no other player will ever come close to matching Messi’s eight Golden Balls, and he will remain forever at the pinnacle of football folklore.

Football will never, ever see his like again.

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Collymore’s column: Bellingham could be world class, ESL isn’t the way forward, Everton charge a pre-cursor to Man City, Man United’s poor transfer business and more!

Stan Collymore — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 11:25:54 +0000

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including how Jude Bellingham can become world class, what Sir Jim Ratcliffe is likely to do at Man United if results don’t improve, how Everton’s potential 12-point deduction spells trouble for Man City, plus much more.

—

European Super League isn’t the way forward

No, I don’t think a European Super League is the way forward. UEFA particularly have bent over backwards, with concessions, more games, more money. If you have a European Super League what’s it going to be predicated on?

It’s gonna be very, very difficult for clubs such as Villa and Forest, who have won European Cups in the past, Celtic too, to get into if it’s invite only. That will have a massive impact.

I could certainly see an example of clubs already owned by oil states or oligarchs or hedge funds, that are now spending €400m on players and are mopping up their domestic league, will just give a cursory nod to the league that they come from whilst going on and playing in the Super League.

Any attempt to start to be able to get momentum, however, should see supporters put their clubs under the greatest pressure to say their clubs must not, under any circumstances, enter a European Super League.

I think that particularly with the English clubs, if they were to say no again, we will never join the ESL because the whole idea would be dead in the water. There would be no European Super League that would be worthy of the name.

Saudi Arabia, big American banks… the groundwork has already been laid in some respects. The pre-season International Champions Cup in America is their attempt at giving English and European clubs an insight into what potentially is possible.

Come to America and play in front of 100,000 at the University of Michigan and we can make you richer than than you ever imagined. I could see a situation whereby the Saudis and the Americans, maybe even countries like India or China may want a little foothold.

Several entities will be needed to make it possible but just imagine if Manchester United are offered a billion pounds a season to play in any competition. The odds are that their owners are going to go absolutely yes because they then wouldn’t have to worry about whatever money comes into their club.

It’s a very persuasive argument.

If you’re trying to recruit players like Mo Salah for £30/40m and somebody all of a sudden says we will give you a billion pounds, or half a billion pounds a season to play in this league…

The Premier League and the FA, instead of having the boll**ks to say we’re kicking you out and you’re never coming back will look at it and say the clubs can have their cake and eat it.

Do I want ESL to happen now? Absolutely not.

But ultimately, countries like Saudi Arabia and some of the big banks and hedge funds in America could offer the kind of money at the moment that even the Premier League can only dream of, so one will more than likely make it happen in some form or another at some point in the next decade.

Man United’s recruitment has been abysmal

Antony, Jadon Sancho, Casemiro… there hasn’t been one Manchester United player that you would say has been a consistent eight out of 10 over the past couple of seasons.

In terms of a comparison with Liverpool or in particular Manchester City, United’s recruitment has been abysmal. You’ve always got to have an 80% strike rate with the players that you bring into your football club.

They have to be an eight out of 10 to be able to push you forward. Look at Manchester City; Haaland comes in and does the job, Grealish comes in but the Doku arrives and takes his place and all of a sudden it’s ‘now you’ve got to be a nine out of 10, Jack…’

I don’t see anybody at Manchester United that’s anywhere near that level, and their transfers haven’t been above a five out of 10.

That means Erik ten Hag is under major pressure, no doubt. I don’t think at the moment he’s got the kind of credibility he needs, having come from Ajax, to be able to survive a full season of mediocrity.

He got out of jail winning the Carabao Cup last season, but if Jim Ratcliffe comes in, and is ruthless as he has been in his business dealings, then you’re looking at who potentially could replace ten Hag.

The obvious answer will be somebody like Roberto De Zerbi who has done very well at Sassuolo and Brighton. He plays an aggressive attacking style of football that Manchester United fans would like, and he’s taken a team up to Old Trafford twice and played them off the park.

Ten Hag’s demeanour and personality isn’t exactly endearing either and he comes across as a little bit of an automaton, a bit of a robot.

For me, Jim Ratcliffe would probably look at it and go ‘I’ll give him to the end of the season and see what he does.’

Everton charge would be a pre-cursor to complete meltdown at Man City

I think it’s really simple. The Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists and if they’re throwing a 12 point deduction at Everton, which is a significant sanction against one club, for the 114/115 charges that are facing Man City, they’re effectively saying ‘we’re ready, our lawyers are across all of this now, and as an organisation we will not accept it.’

Manchester City’s lawyers have tried to kick things into the long grass for quite a number of years now and these aren’t fresh charges.

The Premier League are almost prepping the footballing public as to the severity. Most people would look at Everton and say they feel a little bit for them. They’ve had a shaky time and they’ve never offended anybody, and they come from a great footballing city.

If the Premier League can go straight away bang 12 points that might relegate them for the first time in I think 70 years, they would have no qualms whatsoever in throwing the book at Man City. Even if just a quarter of those charges were proven, there is a situation where Manchester City will not only be bounced out of the Premier League, but thrown towards the bottom of the pyramid.

The stakes are so great now it could mean an absolute meltdown for Man City, to the kind of proportions that Rangers suffered in Scotland when they fell foul of paying players via elaborate schemes.

The Premier League only have the remit to be able to kick them out of the Premier League of course, but the Football Association and the Football League won’t want them in the top divisions of their competition either. City will go to the very bottom of the pile.

Messi is a worthy Ballon d’Or winner… but so are Haaland and Alvarez

I’m not a big fan of individual awards because they’re so subjective and almost pointless. What’s the criteria? Goals scored? Assists given? Influence over your team or any other metric you ascribe to?

Then you get people like Pep Guardiola coming out and saying Messi should have his own award, and that will have weighed heavily on the minds of journalists and the people that vote for things like that.

If you’re looking for the fairy tale and the guy that’s come in and almost single-handedly won a World Cup then Messi is a worthy winner.

However, if you’re looking in terms of numbers, Erling Haaland comes in and breaks the Premier League record – which is very difficult to do – in his first season, then he has a valid shout.

What about Julian Alvarez, who won the World Cup and scored goals, and provided assists for Haaland and his team-mates?

Brand Messi and brand Ronaldo have been very, very strong for a long time, but in years to come I would like to see some kind of criteria attached to the award in the same way that you would judge the Golden Gloves or similar.

Bellingham could edge further to world-class status with El Clasico winner

El Clasico, because of the political relevance; Real Madrid still very much seen as the club of the Spanish state and Barcelona, the standard bearers for their semi autonomous region, is still the biggest club game in the world.

There’s political elements that perhaps only the Celtic v Rangers games can compare with. If they had the kind of money and the kind of exposure that La Liga has, I think that would be the biggest game because it would be effectively split because of the religious rivalry. It’s very nasty and they very much don’t like each other.

If you are looking at the historical relevance, Europe’s most successful team are Real Madrid, and Barcelona bring a huge amount of relevance to modern football fans and youngsters because ever since the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s, the Ronaldinho’s and the rest, they are still a huge club in most people’s eyes.

There’s no reason why Bellingham couldn’t dominate Saturday’s match because this isn’t a good Barcelona side by any means.

As a defensive midfielder that has the ability to be able to get forward and who has already scored 12 goals I think… to be in that position before the clocks go back, I think most people would say he’s on his way to becoming world class.

I think with 20+ goals this season, 10+ assists and a great Euros where he perhaps comes up with an iconic Bryan Robson type goal, there will be no arguments.

The jack of all trades will be the master of all of them.

The post Collymore’s column: Bellingham could be world class, ESL isn’t the way forward, Everton charge a pre-cursor to Man City, Man United’s poor transfer business and more! appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Video: Victor Osimhen’s surprising preferred destination if he leaves Napoli

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:32:37 +0000

There remains a lot of speculation surrounding where Napoli’s Victor Osimhen might end up next should he decide to leave the Partnopei.

The 24-year-old has yet to sign a contract extension with the Serie A champions and, whilst that’s not out of the question, it has led to suggestions he could soon be on the move.

Speaking to the Calcio Napoli 24 crew on their Twitch channel, he was asked, hypothetically, about a switch.

Without giving anything else away he noted that he’d prefer a move to MLS over the Saudi Pro League, if the terms were the same.

Pictures from Calcio Napoli 24

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Video: Napoli’s Victor Osimhen forced to choose between Messi and Haaland for Ballon d’Or

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 12:12:41 +0000

During a recent Q&A with Mario Balotelli and others, Napoli hit man, Victor Osimhen, was put on the spot regarding this year’s Ballon d’Or winner.

The ceremony takes place on Monday and it’s believed that Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi has won an historic eighth title.

However, after ripping up the Premier League’s goalscoring record books and helping to win the treble for Man City, Erling Haaland would seem to be the choice of many.

Osimhen sat on the fence when asked and wouldn’t commit to one or the other saying that they “both deserve it.”

Pictures from Calcio Napoli 24

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Video: “I always wanted to go to space” – Lionel Messi really is out of this world

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 10:35:57 +0000

Lionel Messi has long been described as out of this world as a football player, and one of his sponsors has taken things up a notch.

Adidas have been part of the Argentinian’s footballing journey virtually since the beginning and only they would dream up a social media campaign that sees Messi end up in space.

In a cleverly put together sequence, it really does appear as though a billboard of the player has been unfurled hundreds of thousands of miles away.

“I always wanted to go to space,” was Messi’ iconic sign off.

them: how big do you want this billboard to be?
us: yes ?? pic.twitter.com/p1CnjSIFYF

— adidas Football (@adidasfootball) October 24, 2023

Pictures from Adidas Football

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Video: World Cup winning pundit can’t believe people are saying Messi doesn’t deserve Ballon d’Or

Darren Looney — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 19:20:37 +0000

It was reported on Wednesday that Lionel Messi is set to win his record-extending eighth Ballon d’OR in what has been a remarkable 12 months for the Argentina star.

Fabrizio Romano reported that Messi is expected to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or and will be handed the award next Monday at the ceremony in Paris.

The Barcelona legend guided Argentina to their third World Cup last December and did so by putting together one of the greatest campaigns the tournament has ever seen.

In addition to this, the 36-year-old guided Inter Miami to their first-ever trophy, as well as having a great season for PSG as the Paris-based club won Ligue 1.

Speaking about the Ballon d’Or, World Cup winner and CBS pundit Thierry Henry says Messi deserves the award and believes people can’t say he doesn’t deserve it.

“If you win the World Cup, the way he did it…you can not say it is not deserved if he wins it,” the Frenchman said.

“A lot of the Man City players, Haaland, will say why not me? but you can not say it is not right if he wins it.”

When asked who he believes deserves the Ballon d’Or in 2023, Henry said: “Messi. Bye. Over.”

"Messi. Bye. Over."

Thierry Henry believes Lionel Messi deserves to win his 8th Ballon d'Or. ? pic.twitter.com/eUuSuWPneF

— CBS Sports Golazo ?? (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 25, 2023

Deco explains the reason why Lionel Messi will “definitely” play for Barcelona again

Jason Pettigrove — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:03:42 +0000

Lionel Messi’s former Barcelona team-mate, Deco, who is now the club’s director of football, has suggested that the Argentinian will “definitely” play for the Blaugranes again.

That’ll be music to the ears of those supporters desperate to see the World Cup winner in the blaugrana shirt once more.

Ever since Messi had to leave the club in 2021 things haven’t been the same around Camp Nou, and despite opportunities for a previous return, ultimately, any moves have been destined to failure because of Barca’s acute financial situation.

There’s no specific time being put on Messi’s return to the club, though one thing is certain – it will only be for a one-off appearance.

Lionel Messi celebrates a goal for Inter Miami

“I think a farewell game, but maybe in the new stadium when it’s ready. He will always be the greatest idol in the club’s history,” Deco said to Lance!

“The club had great idols, like Cruyff, Ronaldo, but he is perhaps the greatest of all. He will definitely play a farewell game at Barcelona, but when that will be, we don’t know.

“He is playing, and I hope he plays for more years, because people who like football, who like him, will be happy to see him happy.”

Tickets for any type of testimonial/benefit/farewell game are bound to be like gold dust, and depending when everyone decides is the most appropriate moment to fit in what is sure to be a monumental homecoming, that will dictate just how many get to experience Messi’s last-ever match in a Barca shirt.

Do so at the end of next year, and many thousands are likely to be disappointed. Wait until the Spotify Camp Nou is fully operational and finished, and 110,000 adoring supporters will be able to chant his name again.

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Another big-name ex-Barcelona ace set to join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami

Jason Pettigrove — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 20:11:48 +0000

Inter Miami certainly appear to be doing their level best to keep talisman, Lionel Messi, happy.

Not only has he been joined at the MLS outfit by former Barcelona colleagues, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, but there are now plans afoot to try and bring El Pistolero himself, Luis Suarez, to the club.

It would mean two thirds of MSN being reunited and would surely give David Beckham’s side the most potent strike force in the championship next season.

Suarez is currently plying his trade in Brazil with Gremio, however, as ESPN note, the Uruguayan has already arranged to leave the club at the end of December.

That’s believed to be because the centre-forward doesn’t feel he can give his best at that level any longer.

Whilst that could be construed as a bit of a put down against MLS generally, Inter Miami won’t be complaining if they can add him to their roster.

“Within our analysis of the upcoming season, and the needs we may have, we have an analysis with Luis and an analysis without Luis,” coach, Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino, was quoted as saying by ESPN.

“When the moment arrives to make Suárez’s situation with respect to Inter Miami official, we’ll be prepared to go in the corresponding direction.”

After long being MLS’ whipping boys, there’s a strong likelihood of Inter being the team to beat next season.

As Messi has already shown in the short space of time he’s been in the US, he has taken the club to a different level.

Adding Suarez to the mix takes things up a notch once again, and surely further successes can only be just around the corner.

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