How Wayne Rooney made the Ballon d’Or list is beyond me
Monday afternoon saw social networking site Twitter go into some sort of mini meltdown. Why you ask? Well, it was down to the 23 man nominee list for the Ballon d’Or announced and the shock that Manchester United front-man Wayne Rooney had made the cut.
While the likes of Mario Balotelli and Gerard Pique, of Manchester City and Barcelona respectively, are likely to raise eyebrows, it is the decision to include Rooney that has many talking and asking the same question – why?
Some can understand why the United striker worked his way onto the list. 34 goals in all competitions last season isn’t something to be looked down upon, while surpassing Joe Spence’s goal scoring record for the Manchester giants during the 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur during the 2011/12 campaign.
However, apart from the goals he netted last year, Rooney very rarely brings much more to the table, especially when you consider the names of the players that missed out on a place on the 23 man list.
The likes of David Silva, Shinji Kagawa and Vincent Kompany, it can be argued, are all fully warranting of a nomination ahead of the England international. Granted, Rooney is unlikely o make it through to the final stages of the Ballon d’Or, with the stand out candidates Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta and Radamel Falcao all expected to secure a spot when the list is whittled down.
When you consider that Rooney wouldn’t secure a place in a majority of fans starting XI, given the choice to select their best team in the world, it’s a marvel that he even can be considered one of the game’s best players.
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