A GERMAN SHOULDN'T BE IN BALLON D'OR RACE

Football's greatest individual prize will be awarded soon with Real Madrid's Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo being the hot favourite to win the award for the second year in a row. There are many people within the game suggesting the prize should go to a German, however. Here is why that argument does not hold any real weight.

D. Ray Morton, 27th November 2014.

Ronaldo has, again, been magnificent in the past calendar year and fully deserves the top individual prize in the game

Cristiano Ronaldo has set phenomenal numbers in the past year. As his club Real Madrid achieved Champions League glory, Ronaldo racked up 51 goals in competitive club level matches. He was the top goalscorer in both La Liga (31) and the Champions League (17). Already this season, he has 26 goals in all competitions. These figures are astounding and are the mark of a great individual player in his prime. Why then is there such a push for a German to be awarded football's biggest individual prize this year?

Germany did win the summer's FIFA World Cup in Brazil but it was not a team that featured one great individual. It was a collective, a well-oiled unit that got the job done in a football tournament that has lost its gloss in comparison to UEFA's Champions League. Manchester United legend and Ronaldo's former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, pointed out some years ago that the Champions League had overtaken the World Cup as the sports premier competition. The World Cup gets a lot of attention due to its international appeal but it is no longer football's bread and butter. The Champions League is the true testing ground at the highest level.

Lionel Messi is currently the second favourite behind Ronaldo to challenge for the Ballon d'Or. Trophyless at the end of last season, Messi has kicked back into gear this season and has rediscovered his very best form in recent days having scored back-to-back hattricks domestically and in Europe. Despite his injuries and dip in form last season, did any German out-perform him, for club and country without even mentioning Ronaldo? Not likely.

The Ballon d'Or's credibility was dealt a further blow by the exclusion of Luis Suárez in the shortlist for potential winners. Did his silly bite at the World Cup warrant undoing what was an incredible season at Liverpool where he practically dragged an unfancied team single-handedly to near-Premier League glory?

Individually, the Germans don't match up. Philipp Lahm's name has been touted and the recently-retired international does deserve respect but how big an impact does he make? Is he a match-winner? Hardly. How much impact can he possibly have playing at either right-back or as a tidy possession keeper in midfield for Bayern Munich?

Manuel Neuer is another name in the conversation. He only seems to be mentioned because he has been in and around greatness over the past year but has not really provided it himself. Thibaut Courtois' performances for Atlético Madrid were far more impressive at club level and at international level, Neuer did not have much to do for Germany with a good team in front of him. Indeed, he could easily have been sent off in the World Cup final for his flying knee on Gonzalo Higuaín.

Neuer can poke fun at Ronaldo's underwear ads but to say he has had a better year, individually, than the Portuguese is a stretch no pair of pants can take

That leaves maybe Toni Kroos and Thomas Müller's names in the hat but again, how big an impact did they have on their own? Müller is a fine poacher and deserves admiration for consistently delivering despite his lack of technical prowess but he should not be mentioned in the same breath as the Ronaldos and Messis of the football world. Kroos is a great midfielder but is now at Real Madrid and is not exactly their biggest star there. At the Bernabéu, Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos are considered to be key players and Kroos is, for now, merely a good addition to their midfield options.

Were Ronaldo to miss out on the award, FIFA would appear to be engineering their Ballon d'Or award to promote their tournaments, not UEFA's. Messi does not quite deserve it this year despite, and oddly so, being awarded the Golden Ball award for being the World Cup's best player. Neuer, Lahm, Kroos and Müller do not deserve it just for being in a fine international team (and probably not an all-time great one). Give it to Ronaldo. He has been the best and fully deserves it.

REAL MADRID IMPRESSIVE IN SUPER CUP VICTORY

The defending European champions were commanding in their UEFA Super Cup triumph against Sevilla in Cardiff last night with most of their big names impressing and sending out a message to all their rivals for the coming season.

D. Ray Morton, 13th August 2014.

Another two goals but a new medal for Cristiano Ronaldo to collect as he had never won the UEFA Super Cup before last night

Real Madrid sank Sevilla by two goals to nil in UEFA's bonus competition yesterday evening thanks to a routine brace from their star Cristiano Ronaldo despite fears that the Portuguese may not have been at 100% after a World Cup summer and a niggling knee injury. The FIFA Balon d'Or winner appeared to be in fine form though not yet at his very peak. He combined well with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in the BBC (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano) front three retained from last season. Bale's assist for the first goal was a thing a of beauty. A deep, swirling cross that got away from Sevilla's goalkeeper Beto and fell neatly onto the boot of Ronaldo after an explosive run from deep. Ronaldo may have been on the score-sheet but Bale's speed and all-round energy was the stand-out talking point, the Welshman looking fresh having not been at the World Cup.

James Rodríguez also made his competitive début last night. The €80m Colombian had a relatively quiet game in all honesty and did not set the Cardiff City stadium alight. He found himself forced out wide on occasions and did not function in the 4-2-3-1 shape Ancelotti had gone with. Last season, Real usually went with a 4-3-3 without a number 10 involved. Karim Benzema, who was the spearhead of the attack, looked busy but Real could easily open their chequebook again this summer, sign the likes of Monaco's Falcao and become a genuinely unstoppable force.

The deeper midfield two of Luka Modric and other newcomer Toni Kroos worked very well. It will take a while for the pair to understand each other but had an easy night pinging the ball between each other against a side that did not have a midfield capable of competing. Modric and Kroos prefer to be on the ball and Ancelotti has options within his squad when he needs his team to play with a bit more defensive-minded grit. Although they will enter the Champions League as favourites, this is still not possession-hogging machine like Guardiola's Barcelona which defended by not having to defend but by suffocating the opposition in not letting them have the ball.

Toni Kroos with an impressive début and could be the player to take this Madrid midfield to an even higher level


Iker Casillas and the back four of Daniel Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Fábio Coentrão remain as the potential weakness but apart from some bouts of indiscipline, it is hardly a back-line to be sniffed at. The unused squad is also brimming with talent although some of the players' futures are up in the air at the moment. The club are still looking to sell Ángel di María in order to recoup some funds to cover their other signings. Only at Real could such a great player, arguably their man of the match in the Champions League final, be offloaded just to balance the books. Keylor Navas, one of the new signings and Costa Rican World Cup hero, may eventually take Casillas' place between the sticks and then there is Raphaël Varane who can develop to be a better player than Ramos or Pepe. Xabi Alonso and Isco will stick around though they are not expected to start many games and then there is Sami Khedira whose future has not been decided. His contract is out at the end of the season but he may yet stick around and leave on a Bosman. José Mourinho at Chelsea is an admirer and is rumoured to have advised the German international against a move to cross-city rivals Arsenal.

Many things to ponder but what a luxury of resources Los Blancos have going into 2014/15. La Liga rivals Barcelona and Atlético Madrid will know that they will have to be at their very best in order to make any attempt at a title challenge against such a multimillion Euro powerhouse. Barça are hardly being frugal themselves but must still look on with awe at Real's potential best XI. Teams with hopes of Champions League glory must also stare upwards at the Bernabéu club, their wealth of riches and individual talents unmatched anywhere in world football right now.

MAN UTD DREAMING BIG BUT WILL THEY GET THEIR GUYS?

Manchester United have already secured two new signings this transfer window and intend to sign more. Will they do better than last summer's mess?

 

Real Madrid's Argetine winger Ángel di Maria is one of Manchester United's main transfer targets but they will have to compete against the megabucks of Paris St. Germain and the draw of Champions League football

D. Ray Morton, 15th July 2014.

Last summer's transfer window was nothing but an unmitigated disaster for Manchester United. David Moyes made many mistakes in his reign as the boss at Old Trafford but Ed Woodward's fumbling in the transfer market did not exactly give him the best platform for a good start. This summer, with new manager Louis van Gaal in place, United cannot afford to screw things up again and spend another season without Champions League football. Their targets are lofty and they will need to be shrewd in order to get the right players at the right prices.

Several names are being bandied around at the moment. These include Real Madrid's Ángel di Maria, Juventus' Arturo Vidal and Borussia Dortmund duo Marco Reus and Mats Hummels. They have already signed Luke Shaw from Southampton and Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao. Two good, albeit expensive, acquisitions. Vidal and di Maria are only outside possibilities right now. The Juve midfielder is in no rush to leave Turin though he accepts that he will probably leave there at some point unless the club make a serious challenge at winning the Champions League. Di Maria is unsettled at Real Madrid but Paris St. Germain are sniffing around which could leave United incapable of matching the wages on offer in the French capital. Hummels had a great World Cup for Germany but Barcelona are rumoured to be hot on his trail.

The Red Devils will be disappointed to have missed out on another German, Toni Kroos, who is on his way to Real Madrid. The lure of the Champions League holders is currently too great for the United to compete with. Arjen Robben, one of van Gaal's World Cup stars, also dismissed the possibility of a return to the Premier League. Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward appears to be operating much like he did last year. Targets are being identified publicly and this may not be the best way to conduct business. It did not work with Moyes but at least van Gaal has international appeal and a world class managerial C.V.

United cannot afford another summer of embarrassment and they already have a lot to do in terms of sales. Van Gaal will evaluate his new squad and will surely cut out some of the dead wood. The likes of Marouane Fellaini, Nani and Ashley Young, amongst others, are in line to get the axe. The next six weeks are going to be hectic and clubs will be aware of United's "war chest" of a transfer kitty and their desperation to sign. This will result in paying considerably more for their targets. It should be an interesting window from here on in.

GERMANY IN 7TH HEAVEN WITH BRAZIL LEFT HUMILIATED

D. Ray Morton, 9th July 2014.

David Luiz turns on the waterworks after the worst game of his life. Paris St-Germain must be very concerned about having just spent €63m for his services

When making their pre-match predictions for the Brazil vs. Germany semi-final yesterday evening, people talked of Brazil's lack of creativity due to the missing Neymar. The concensus was that Germany would sniff out a narrow victory in a cagey match. The absence of centre-back and captain, Thiago Silva, was something of an afterthought. With Bayern Munich's Dante expected to replace him, it would be fine, they thought, and the main problem would be finding that spark in attack. Luiz Felipe Scolari must have been of the same school of thought and slapped the captain's armband on David Luiz allowing him to have command at the back. What a mistake that turned out to be.

Germany absolutely annihilated the Brazilians in Belo Horizonte, a place-name that will now seem like Hiroshima to native Brazilians. Thomas Müller opened the scoring with easiest of tap-ins from a corner with marking which would have driven a Sunday league manager insane. Bad start.

What happened between the 23rd and 29th minutes of that first half was scarcely believable. Even writing about it now, after the dust has settled, it still seems surreal. The Germans absolutely steamrollered a Brazilian side that had completely lost their discipline. They collapsed quicker than the Twin Towers. Miroslav Klose scored in the 23rd minute, his 16th all-time World Cup goal which saw him beat Ronaldo's record. Now Brazil more than just wilted. They lost the plot entirely. The cheese had slipped off the cracker. Toni Kroos netted two more goals before writers doing their play-by-play reports could catch their breath. Sami Khedira scored another. It was 5-0 and they had not played even half an hour.

Jaws dropped in the stands and the TV cameras flashed towards bawling Brazilian fans suffering a humiliation so great that it made their 1950 World Cup collapse to Uruguay seem like nothing. This was utter, complete devastation. The second half played out like something of a practice match. Manuel Neuer even had to make some decent saves but Brazil were playing like lost souls scattered around the Estádio Mineirão weighted by a sense of doom. As André Schürrle entered the fray, you could tell he was the type of player who would add more damage. Duly he did, scoring in the 69th and 79th minutes, the second goal quite stunning, Brazil left in tatters. Oscar's last minute rebuttal was like giving anaesthetic to someone who had just been put through a meat grinder.

This vile sea creature may be taking his vengeance on mankind after most of the world smirked gleefully at Brazil's demise

How did it all go so wrong? It cannot be blamed on David Luiz alone although he had a true nightmare, the worst game he will ever likely play. Collectively, as soon as the first goal went in, the heads dropped. This has been a strange World Cup for Brazil. Playing in front of their home crowd, the expectation has been massive. Players have routinely shed tears during the playing of the national anthem. Their psychological state bordered on somewhere between fanaticism and obsession. It was too volatile a cocktail without the calming presence of Thiago Silva around to essentially babysit a defence that did not have the bottle for a match of this magnitude.

It is something of a shame that Germany will not even be credited that highly for this unique semi-final triumph. Never has a team enjoyed such a resounding victory at this stage of the World Cup. Though Joachim Löw's side will go up in peoples' estimation, I still do not see them as a team that will tear apart either Argentina or the Netherlands in the final. Indeed, that second semi-final will probably be a world away from what we witnessed last night though making predictions at this stage of an insane World Cup is crazy business.

VAN GAAL WILL BRING NECESSARY EGO TO UNITED

D. Ray Morton, 16th May 2014.

Van Gaal will not join Manchester United to win a popularity contest

It has not been made official yet but Manchester United are set to announce outgoing Netherlands national manager Louis van Gaal as their next permanent boss. Interim manager Ryan Giggs is likely to be offered an assistant manager's role but is also likely to be a member of the playing staff for one last season. The move follows what has been a tumultuous season for the Manchester club having seen their status as defending Premier League champions ripped from their grasps and having to suffer the indignity of a seventh-place finish after David Moyes' disastrous reign in charge.

Van Gaal's media handling style is very different to Moyes'. He will not be intimidated by hard questions and prefers to put the interviewer on the spot rather than fall victim like a deer in the headlights as Moyes looked last season. His arrogance is well known but his knowledge of the game is formidable and deserves respect. When he eventually walks into that Old Trafford dressing room for the first time, senior players will be well aware of the fact that van Gaal has swept up many trophies throughout his managerial career.

Though he has had success at Ajax, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and is in charge of the Dutch national team for a second spell, perhaps United fans will look at his two stints as Barcelona manager to see the best and worst of the man known as the "Iron Tulip". Taking charge of the Catalan club between 1997-2000, van Gaal brought about a return to beautiful possession football which had been lost under previous coach Bobby Robson.

Under his tenure, Barcelona stayed true to their aesthetic playing style although they, somewhat like rivals Real Madrid, decided to splash large amounts of cash at the same time. A drove of former Ajax players were hauled in as well as smart signings like Rivaldo and Luis Figo, two players who went on to win the Balon d'Or largely thanks to their blossoming under van Gaal. Young players were given a chance too. Perhaps the likes of Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez may never have become the world class players they became without van Gaal's guiding hand.

Luis Figo became a world renowned superstar under LVG at Barca

There were clashes with big personalities too, however, and do not be surprised if he falls out with a few stars next season. Van Gaal believes in the efforts of the collective, total football where everyone chips in with a shift. United will be expected to play 4-3-3, pressing high up the pitch maintaining a very sharp level of fitness, something Moyes struggled with. Anyone who does not put in the effort will be kicked to the curb. He had notorious clashes with Hristo Stoichkov early on in his Barca reign and later with Rivaldo who he felt had lost his positional discipline which, in turn, hurt the team.

Other, arguably more humble, players have great praise for van Gaal's methods, however, and realising his vision and what he demands are what will benefit United next season. Xavi and Andres Iniesta have nothing but compliments towards the towering Dutchman, two great players known for appreciating the value of teamwork.

Transfer targets have been identified. Luke Shaw is sure to come and van Gaal has named Roma's Kevin Strootman, Dortmund's Mats Hummels and Bayern's Toni Kroos as three players he would like to see the club approach as he takes care of the World Cup where the Netherlands find themselves in a tough group with defending champions Spain, dark horses Chile and, whipping boys but potential banana skin, Australia. Choosing a club captain could also be a conundrum. Van Gaal is a fan of Robin van Persie's and may snub the club's promise to make Wayne Rooney the on-field man in charge.

Roma's Kevin Strootman has been named as a key target for van Gaal's vision of United

So should van Gaal immediately command the respect of the dressing room and secure some key signings, there's no reason why United cannot shoot straight into a title challenge in the coming campaign. LVG, for the most part, dominated La Liga when he was in charge at Barca (apart from that badly-conceived second spell in 2002-03) routinely trumping Madrid to the league title with games to spare. Should United's squad gravitate towards his methods, it's not long before the Old Trafford faithful sees success again. City, Liverpool and Chelsea, watch out!