A literal translation reads “the golden ball.” A precious and expensive commodity is the player who dazzles the world consistently for a whole year, and the Ballon d’Or rewards such excellence.
The award, or the equivalent award before it was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year, has been won by such legends of the game as Stanley Matthews, George Best, Johan Cruyff and Ronaldo. The first winner of the new-fangled version was, unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi. So, if you win it, you are in good company.
The votes are cast by world coaches, captains of international teams and leading sports journalists; a knowledgeable electorate. This year they will choose from an impressive list of nominations including Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Aguero.
But where, may you ask, are the Englishmen on this list of the crème-de-la-crème of world football? It is sadly symptomatic of the state of football in this country at this moment that Wayne Rooney is the sole Englishman on the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or whilst no less than seven Spaniards make up almost a third of the entire list.
One only has to cast their minds back to the cringe worthy performance of the England national team in World Cup 2010, juxtaposed with the success of the Spanish, to further remind the expectant public of our ineptitude.
Much of the blame lies with English clubs. There is so much emphasis put on rapid success that clubs forget about their home grown talent, looking abroad to improve their squad in the short term.
For example, Chelsea academy player Josh McEachran certainly looked promising but with the recent signings of Oriel Romeu, Ramires and Raul Meireles it looks unlikely he will be starting anytime soon. At Manchester City, Adam Johnson regularly warms the bench while his expensively compiled overseas’ teammates get their chance to justify their unjustifiable price tag.
Conversely, in Spain, players are fostered and developed with care in their respective clubs from an early age, always with the same teammates, to an extent that when they finally do make it to the big time, they have an almost telepathic understanding with their peers, a state of mind they can easily transfer to the national team.
Friendships, as well as talent, are cultivated, so much so that Cesc Fabregas was willing to receive a wage cut in order to be reunited with his childhood team. It is simply a different philosophy. It is a system that must be working since players like Pedro Rodriguez and Sergio Busquets keep getting churned out.
Barcelona’s reserve team play in the second tier of the football league – that’d be tantamount to Chelsea’s second string competing with West Ham. Seeing as they recently got turned over 4-0 by West Bromwich Albion’s reserve side, this does not seem probable. Talk all you like about La Liga only having 2 competitive sides, but it is difficult to argue with thirteen La Liga players nominated in a list of the twenty-three best players in the world.
And the blame for English insufficiency does not just lie at the feet of the clubs. We must look to the Premier League itself for answers. For example, its new plan, the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), is just another gimmick which will cause more harm than good.
It effectively makes it easier for young lower league players to be snapped up by Premier League clubs at much lower prices. What will occur is that the top clubs will buy a number of these players on the off-chance that they have the talent required, and when most of them lack this talent, they will simply be left to languish in the reserves. It is a plan ill-thought out and likely to scupper the potential of many young players.
Or perhaps the fault is with the Football Association as a whole. Why is it that in 2008 UEFA statistics stated that England had just 2,769 UEFA coaches as opposed to 34,970 in Germany and 23,995 in Spain? There should be alarm bells ringing when such disparity is evident. It is no wonder that our players seem to lack the technique of Spanish or German players. It is at this grass roots level that there needs to be serious reform.
There are a myriad of questions regarding why there is only one English representative on the list of nominees for this coveted prize and as of yet, too few answers. Ultimately, all strands of football – the clubs, their academies, the Premier League, the Football League and the FA – need to work together and go forward to make sure that in years to come, England is not known simply for its competitive league, but also for the players it actually produces.