Messi is not inferior to Haaland in terms of statistics
Not everyone supports Messi to win the 2023 Golden Ball. Journalist Richard Martin of Goal.com headlined: “Haaland completely deserves to win the Golden Ball this year”.
But most of those who support Haaland winning the Ballon d’Or can only base it on the club’s title and goal statistics.
For the first time in decades, the number of collective titles was pushed to a secondary position in the Golden Ball voting criteria. Many months ago, France Football magazine announced that this year’s voting criteria will prioritize individual performances.
Of course, Haaland’s personal parameters are still very respectable. He scored 52 goals and contributed 9 assists in 53 appearances on all fronts for Man City. As for the national team, Haaland scored 4 goals in 4 matches.
For Messi, the corresponding statistics are 21 goals, 20 assists in 41 appearances for PSG, and 17 goals, 5 assists in 13 appearances for Argentina.
Combined, Haaland has 56 goals and 9 assists in the 2022-2023 season. Messi has 38 goals and 25 assists. From 2023, France Football considers the club season (lasting from August this year to the end of July next year) and not based on the calendar year as before.
The parameters of the two players are nearly equivalent. Haaland is superior on the club front, while Messi dominates the national front.
Haaland is unlucky because he only plays for Norway, with almost no hope of making anything happen in the international arena.
But the truth is that even after lowering expectations, Haaland still did not contribute much to Norwegian football. The fact that the Nordic team soon ended their hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024 is a testament.
Compared to the ability to carry a team that is not too strong, Haaland cannot compare with seniors like Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic or Modric.
And most importantly, Haaland’s “disappearance” in big matches. Last season, Haaland appeared in three finals in the Champions League, FA Cup and English Super Cup. As a result, he failed all three.
Even in encounters with big teams like Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham or Arsenal, Haaland’s mark is quite faint. If you compare the parameters in matches like this, Haaland is inferior to Mohamed Salah, and absolutely cannot be compared to Messi or Mbappe.
Mbappe, who ranked right behind Haaland in this year’s voting list, scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final. As for Messi, his influence goes beyond goal statistics.
Messi excels in influence
To visualize Messi’s talent, fans can base it on De Bruyne – ranked 4th on this year’s list.
Known as the “assist king” of world football today, De Bruyne has a total of 31 assists in the 2022-2023 season. Partly thanks to Haaland’s own goal-scoring talent.
But on the other hand, De Bruyne only scored a mere 10 goals. He was also tormented by injuries and hardly contributed to the Champions League final because he left the field early.
However, his huge influence on Man City still helps De Bruyne ranked 4th on the list. This season has shown that when De Bruyne is injured, Haaland fades away.
Meanwhile, Messi in the 2022-2023 season seems to be a composite version of Haaland, De Bruyne and Mbappe. He scores goals as well as Haaland, creates as many assists as De Bruyne and knows how to shine at the right time like Mbappe.
Rodri, who is ranked 5th on the list and is Haaland’s teammate, admitted that Messi deserved better when asked by journalists during the award ceremony.
Lionel Messi surpasses Haaland, Mbappe wins the Golden Ball for the 8th time October 31, 2023 05:02
Coach Guardiola spoke double-mindedly: “Haaland helped us win the Champions League, he deserved the Golden Ball title. But Messi won the World Cup, I think both deserved it.”
This way of speaking almost admits that he has a little favor for “home chicken” Haaland.
During a training session with the entire Man City team before the 2022 World Cup, Pep pointed at Alvarez and told the players: “Among you, he is the one who will win the 2022 World Cup.” Of course, that comment is because of Messi!
Haaland may be ranked 2nd in this year’s Golden Ball nomination list, but if Messi is used as the standard, the Norwegian striker is still too far behind.
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