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Can Neuer fairly run against Messi in the Ballon D’Or?

By on December 1, 2014

More than usual, there is reason to get excited about the Ballon D’or shortlist. Of course, as it has been for six of the past seven years, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi make up for two-thirds of the three man list. And by no means is that solely what is getting people excited, rather, it is the third player, this time, Manuel Neuer. That excitement is not even because people are expecting him to win – in all likelihood either Ronaldo or Messi will take it again, which early odds are also suggesting. Rather, it’s the fact Neuer made the shortlist at all, and not because he doesn’t deserve it; because he is a goalkeeper. This in itself is a rarity. The last time a goalkeeper made the Ballon D’Or shortlist was in 2006 when Gianluigi Buffon had just won the World Cup with Italy, as Neuer did with Germany the past summer.

And of course, it should be, as for every ten outfield players there is one goalkeeper on the pitch. Yet even taking that into account, goalkeepers are still underrepresented in the Ballon D’Or’s shortlist. After Buffon, there were twenty-one outfield players nominated before another goalkeeper made the cut. And prior, Oliver Kahn is the only goalkeeper to have made it onto the shortlist in forty years. In the award’s eighth year, Lev Yashin was the only ever goalkeeper to actually win the prize, now fifty-one years ago. There have been fifty winners since, and not one goalkeeper.

Without sugarcoating or dancing around the question of why goalkeepers haven’t won, I question how you equally judge a goalkeeper relative to an outfield player? There has yet to be a simple way to do so without delving into statistical, mathematical, and largely theoretical algorithms. How many saves equates to one goal? Does the shots faced to saves ratio equate to a shots taken to goals ratio. How do you account for the glory factor in goalscoring? For example, FIFA has a goal of the year award but not a save of the year accolade. Even if there is a way, it is unlikely a broad spectrum of journalists, international coaches and captains from all around the world would adopt it as a consensus.

And without a simple way to measure a goalkeeper to an outfield player, options are running thin on how to make it a fair vote. The award is supposed to acknowledge the player with the best performance of the year, though say it was the player who influenced his club and international sidea the most, and while that takes away most of the disadvantage of being a goalkeeper, there are also flaws in this method. For one, Cristiano Ronaldo might have a better shot at winning the award then Neuer and Messi, as his surrounding national side is of lesser quality than his competitors’.

Really, goalkeepers should have their own award separate from outfield players; anybody who has played goalkeeper knows it takes a completely different skill-set and mindset to be a goalkeeper than outfield player, and for the rest it isn’t that hard to wrap heads around. Currently, the closest thing to that is goalkeeper’s race to be on the FIFA World XI, yet it is clear that they should have their own award to judge their skills. Sadly, that should be the last thing on their to-do list.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.