It’s fair to say that the Ballon d’Or causes plenty of argument with each year and the decision to choose Lionel Messi over Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has certainly done that this time around.
Messi’s eighth success may have been deserved thanks to his World Cup win but for many Haaland, who dominated the goalscoring charts and helped Manchester City to the treble, far eclipsed that.
It’s something that’s now leading to plenty of debate including in the Netherlands, where journalists Wilfred Genee and Valentijn Driessen argued the matter on Tuesday evening, according to Sport Nieuws.
They explain that Genee was ‘completely done’ with Driessen during the debate and ‘couldn’t believe his ears’ when Driessen was complaining about Haaland.
Driessen, who is head of football at De Telegraaf, was having none of that, though, sparking something of an argument between the parties involved.
“He can’t even play football at Manchester City,” Driessen is quoted as saying, with Genee responding, “He scores 49 goals, but he can’t do anything?”
Driessen had a response to that, arguing that while Haaland may have scored plenty, it was the quality of the opposition which mattered.
“Yes, that may be the case, but that is against clubs like Fulham, Bournemouth and Brentford,” he added.
It was that which seemed to then tip Genee over the edge, as he then questioned why Driessen must always put a negative slant on matters.
“Can you actually say something positive?! Man, you’re always complaining, dude! Say something nice about someone. You’re going to be an obstacle in everything,” he responded.
