Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho are hardly the best of friends but they both agree on one issue. And the issue is, they both feel the award for the best player in the world, the Ballon D'or, is dentrimental to the game.
Wenger earlier this year in an interview published in the Guardian, stated that he was against the tradition of awarding or voting an individual the best player in the world. Wenger added that although he is not opportuned to vote since club managers are not eligible to vote, he would refuse to get involved if the reverse was the case. According to Wenger, football is a team sport and not about the individuals.
Jose Mourinho also agrees with Arsene Wenger's views on the the Ballon D'or award. He believes that even though teams can have an exceptional player, it is unfair for a player to take praise for what was a collective effort. Mourinho's comments were published in an interview with UK based newspaper, The Telegraph.
Mourinho said: "For me, football is collective. The individual is welcome if you want to make our group better. But you have to work for us, not we have to work for you."
"When the top player arrives, the team is already there. It's not him who comes to discover the team, like Columbus discovering America. No,no, you are coming now to help us be better."
The current player of the year is Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo who won the Ballon D'or award ahead of Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich's goal keeper, Manuel Neuer.
Both managers seem to have valid arguments against the award for the best player of the year but in reality, does it really affect the team as a whole? Messi and Ronaldo for the last 7 years have won this award between each other but have their dominance truly affected their respective team mates? Or even affected football as a whole? Is it possible that the award for the best player of the year affects players or teams in the Nigerian premier league?
If we take a look at Real Madrid this season especially after the winter break, you would notice the petulant reactions of Cristiano Ronaldo whenever team mates especially Gareth Bale fail to pass the ball to him or even score goals he failed to score. The only logical reason for such reactions by Ronaldo is that Ronaldo's personal duel with Messi has made him put his personal interests above his team mates and as a result, if he is not taking the plaudits for the goals scored he begins to throw a tantrum.
Lionel Messi on the other hand, is not exhibiting the same petulant reactions as Ronaldo on the pitch. And it appears Barcelona still plays to his strengths and so there is unlikely to be any tantrums coming from Messi if there was any in him.
It is pertinent to note however, that there have been reports of bust ups between Messi and Luis Enrique at the training ground possibly over tactics and training methods. Only the 'star power' held by Messi could make that happen and still make him get away with it.
All in all, is there sufficient evidence to suggest that these reactions have affected Real Madrid or Barcelona as a team and their performances? I think the effects have been exaggerated by Arsene and Jose. One thing, Barcelona or Madrid would probably be affected long term if they had to do without their star men for a prolonged period of time. The team would get a lift and inspiration on the other hand, if they were present cause their team mates are professional enough to know that the star players are key to the team's success.
Overall, every team has a star or top player that gives the team confidence on the pitch. That the star player gets recognised for individual performances should not cause much disaffection in a team especially if the star player is humble enough to recognise the contribution of his team mates when receiving his personal accolades.
Besides, only one player wins Ballon D'or award on the entire planet.
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