Sergio Ramos wants it, no British-based player seems to be any near it, and a German goalkeeper almost had it; Ballon d'Or is only for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Since 2010, Ballon d'Or has had Messi and Ronaldo written all over it, and it seems no one can get near the trophy as long as the two players are active. But are Ronaldo and Messi really the best players in the world? The question is raised every year.

This year Manuel Neuer was in the run for the title, but the keeper lacks something the two other players are masters at - scoring goals. It seems that in order to win Ballon d'Or you have to be a goalscorer. The last non-attacking player, which won the price, was Fabio Cannavaro back in 2006, and before Cannavaro, we have to go back to 1996 to find the defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer. Sergio Ramos announced that the title is as a goal for his career, but the trophy is arguably only for attacking players. 

There is no doubt that Ronaldo and Messi are two important players for their respective teams, but are they really as decisive as Manuel Neuer is for Bayern Munich? Real Madrid has an overflow of talented wingers and attackers - with Ronaldo as the best - but still a team of strong individual players who can create and finish matches all by themselves. The same applies for Messi and Barcelona. However, in Neuer Munich has a world class goalkeeper who contributes to the play as a sweeper and creates the game from his part of the pitch. Is is a wonder to me why the best goalkeeper in the world could not win the title. 

It seems that when the captains of the worlds national teams vote for their favorite of the three nominated players, they look at how much the player contributes in the last third part of the pitch and not in the first. It is a shame, isn't it?

As long as Ronaldo and Messi are active, no defensive player will ever get the chance of winning the Ballon d'Or... Sorry for the bad news Sergio!
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For a long time, Tottenham Hotspur was ready for the 4th round of the FA Cup; Burnley wanted it different. The Match of the Week is the second leg of Spurs and Burnley - a winner has to be found!

Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley FC
FA Cup 3rd Round, 2. leg
White Hart Lane
14-01-2014 @ 20.00 UK









How are the two sides form?

After a draw in the first leg against Burnley, Tottenham surprisingly lost against Crystal Palace in the weekend. Despite being in most possession during the 90 minutes, a stupid penalty and an easy goal led to the Crystal Palace victory.

While Spurs lost against Palace, Burnley took an important win against the Queens Park Rangers and brought themselves on the safe side of the relegation line. 

What are the probable line ups?

Nabil Bentaleb is away on African Nations Cup duty while Ryan Mason and Erik Lamela are doubtful for the match. Burnley goes into this match without Stephen Ward and Kevin Long while Michael Duff and Jason Shackell are doubtful.

Lloris

Walker - Fazio - Vertonghen - Rose

Dembele - Stambouli

Townsend - Eriksen - Chadli

Kane
___________________________

Ings

Barnes

Boyd - Marney - Jones - Arfield

Mee - Shackell - Keane - Trippier

Heaton

Worth keeping an eye on

Tottenham Hotspur - Harry Kane: The 21-year old striker is a true Spurs wonderkid. Not many had expected him to have a season like this, and he can be a decisive player for Tottenham against Burnley.



Burnley - Dean Marney: The former Spurs midfielder is an important part of Burnleys midfield. Marney is a typical box-to-box midfielder and his defensive work will be important against a strong Spurs attack.


What to expect from this match?

Tottenham was the best team on the pitch at Turf Moor but had to settle with a draw. Spurs' attack is deadly at the moment, and they will be a challenge for the Burnley defends; Chadli, Eriksen, and Townsend can win this match alone. However, the first match showed that Burnley is a team that keeps fighting and with the spirit they have shown the past week, they can surprise Spurs and move on to the 4th round.

What are the odds?

Tottenham Hotspur: 1/2 (WilliamHill)

Draw: 19/5 (BETVICTOR)

Burnley FC: 7 (Bet365)
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Newcastle United are on the hunt for a new manager and Tottenham is looking to buy an Aston Villa legend. Here are the Thursday Transfer Rumours!

Liverpool have made an approach for Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri at a fee of £19m and a 3£m approach for Fiorentina keeper Neto (The Mirror) - Probability: High

Julian Draxler is a target for Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (Daily Star) - Probability: Low

Chelsea and Manchester United face a £21m price tag for Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane (Daily Express) - Probability: Medium

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris could leave the club for £25m (The Sun) - Probability: High

Glen Hoddle is thought to be one of the candidates for the Newcastle job (Newcastle Chronicle) - Probability: Medium

But Frank de Boer is the top target to take over as head coach (The Mirror) - Probability: Low

Fabian Delph is a target for Tottenham offering Villa £3m for the midfielder (The Mirror) - Probability: High

At the same time Paul Lambert is targeting a £2.5m swoop for Manchester City winger Scott Sinclair (Daily Express) - Probability: High

Arsenal target Winston Reid has already agreed to leave West Ham for a Premier League club, according to Sam Allardyce (The Mirror) - Probability: High

Sunderland are plotting an £8m swoop for Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk (Daily Mail) - Probability: High

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has hinted a shock move to Chelsea by following the club on Instagram (The Mirror) - Probability: Low

Chelsea are ready to offer former England defender Micah Richards a contract this summer (The Guardian) - Probability: Medium

West Ham are interested in Atletico Madrid midfielder Mario Suarez (The Daily Mail) - Probability: Low

Liverpool wants James Milner of Manchester City when his contract expires at the end of the season (The Times) - Probability: Medium

Arsenal have been lined with a move for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech in the summer (The Telegraph) - Probability: Low






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The Christmas and New Year have been hard to some of the Premier League managers; Alan Irvine
and Niel Warnock have been shown the door and replaced by a couple of well-known names. The Premier League is a league of rotation when it comes to the managers.

All football managers dreams of one day being in charge of a Premier League side, but coaching in the Premier League seems to be limited to a certain group of men. As a matter of fact, the clubs often hire managers with a background in other Premier League clubs. A look on the current 20 managers in the league only seven have not been managing another Premier League club, including Newcastle interim manager John Carver.

Tony Pulis has taken over from Alan Irvine in West Bromwich - that's his  seventh spell in a Premier League club, two of them in Stoke. Just after him are Harry Redknapp and Sam Allardyce - two other long time serving PL managers. 

When comparing the clubs, it is worth noticing that the top sides all have foreign managers with no more than two or three Premier League clubs on their resume. Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman have experience from some of the best leagues in the world before joining the Premier League while Arsene Wenger has been in Arsenal for a decade. But it is worth noticing that the clubs considered to be the best in the league all are managed by a foreign manager, while clubs as West Bromwich Albion, Stoke, West Ham and QPR all have managers with long experience from other Premier League clubs. 

Could it be a sign that the British managers are not following the evolution of football? It seems so as the foreign managers contribute to the development of the league and are in charge of the best clubs. However, the foreign managers are most in charge of clubs with money and success and perhaps not the best in the business when it comes to saving lives. Let's take a look at Tony Pulis again - last season he was brought in to save Crystal Palace and managed to do so. This season he is brought in to save West Bromwich Albion and might just do so. The British managers style might be old and out of date, but it works time and time again when needed.

But, by the end of the day the Premier League is a league of rotation between the managers. A closed club for a limited number of persons why it is so hard for new managers to come in. But, if the lower- and midtable teams wants to mingle with the top new faces is needed. 

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Big Sam and West Ham are having a blast of a season, but Swansea are on their trail before the match at Liberty Stadium. Here is the Match of the Week.


Swansea City v West Ham
English Premier League
Liberty Stadium
10-01-2014 @ 15.00 GMT









How are the two sides current form?

Swansea felt the heat against Liverpool in the last days of 2014, as Fabianski had a nightmare on the pitch. At least two of Liverpool's four goals could be blamed on the Polish goalkeeper. However, The Swans took a draw against QPR last round and are in form after a 6-2 win against Tranmere in the FA Cup.

West Ham had a terrible Christmas with two defeats against London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal, but kept their position in the table with a draw against West Bromwich Albion,

Swansea have only won one of the last five matches against West Ham; back in 2012.

What are the probable line ups?

Swansea will have to do without Jefferson Montero suffering from a hamstring injury and Jonjo Shelvey serving a ban. 

West Ham are without Diafra Sakho who is suffering from a back injury.

Fabianski

Rangel - Fernandez - Williams - Taylor

Britton - Ki

Dyer - Sigurdsson - Routledge

Bony
______________________________

Sakho - Carroll

Downing

Nolan - Noble

Song

Cresswell - Reid - Collins - Jenkinson

Adrian

Worth keeping an eye on

Swansea - Lukasz Fabianski: The Polish goalkeeper had a nightmare against Liverpool, but the former Arsenal man is back in form. He can be a decisive player against West Hams Sakho and Carroll attack.



West Ham - Winston Reid: The Danish-New Zealand defender is soon to be former West Ham player, but at the moment he is vital to the West Ham defense. He has the pace to keep up Bony.


What to expect from this match?

The statisctics talk for a West Ham win, but Swansea are not going to make it easy for the Londoners. The Swans have played well this season and especially Gylfi Sigurdsson have been in great form. West Ham is hanging on to the top teams and need a win to stay in touch with Arsenal and Tottenham. The East Londoners have played well on away days and have three draws, three losses and three wins. Saturday, they are most likely to add another win to the statistics. 

What are the odds?

Swansea: 11/8 (Totesport)

Draw: 5/2 (StanJames)

West Ham: 23/10 (Williamhill)





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