Elevenses - England stars get a kick in the Ballon d'Ors

Published: 27 Oct 2010 - 09:54:13

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The FIFA Ballon d'Or nominees were announced yesterday, with not a single English player among the 23 nominees.

No Stevie Gee or Frankie Lampard, no Wazza, no John Terry or Rio, and not an Ashley Cole to be seen.

The supposedly world-class players we swoon over on a weekly basis have been trumped by the likes of Asamoah Gyan, Thomas Mueller and Mesut Ozil, and left to wonder if they're really as good as we think they are.

- The Libero on why Sneijder should win

Now Elevenses could take the view they deserve it. After all, England were rubbish at the World Cup and the players need knocking down a peg or two.

But to be fair, the Ballon d'Or is supposed to be a reflection of what the players have done over 12 months - not based purely on what they did in South Africa.

Does Gyan, who starred for a couple of weeks at the World Cup, really deserve a place above Lampard - who once again dominated in the Premier League, scoring 22 times in 36 games?

Did Rooney's 26 goals in 32 Premier League starts really not merit a place in the nominees? Elevenses is sensing a touch of anti-English bias here.

And if the nominees have been selected purely on their World Cup performances, what is Cesc Fabregas doing in there? Ok he set up the winner in the final, but didn't start a game.

Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti and Arsene Wenger were all nominated for World Coach of the Year.

Ancelotti won the double, so fair enough. Ferguson won the Carling Cup, Wenger won nothing. Strange.