Serie A has been in steady decline since the turn of the century, with Inter and AC Milan now a shadow of their former selves, and stars like Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic all long gone. The best teams are broke, and everyone else cannot hold onto their stars. To say the very least, the league is in bad shape, and Carlos Tevez just kicked it while it was down.
He doesn’t think it is possible to win the Ballon d’Or in Serie A.
"Winning the Ballon d'Or is difficult, especially given that in Italy football is different," Tevez told Juventus TV. "There aren't as many goals in Serie A as elsewhere."
And the truth is, we don’t think it’s possible either. But not for the reason Tevez offers.
It is true that Serie A is notoriously low scoring, the league’s emphasis on tactics and structure makes it so, but that has been the case for decades now. Italians have always prided themselves on their defensive abilities, and a short list of the best defenders ever to play would be stacked with Italian after Italian.
The lack of goals is nothing new, but an inability to win the Ballon d’Or certainly is. It was only eight years ago, in 2007, that AC Milan’s Kaka won the division’s last equivalent of the Ballon d’Or: the World Player of the Year award. The league is not any more stingy now than it was then.
There is just not the same level of talent in the league any more. Kaka’s AC Milan had the likes of Paolo Maldini, Clarence Seedorf, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo, and Ronaldo. The rest of the league boasted Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Patrick Vieira, Luis Figo, Francesco Totti, and Alessandro del Piero. From among all of that world class talent, only Pirlo and Totti are still in the league. There simply is no competition anymore, and that’s part of the reason why Juventus are the favorites to win their 4th league title in a row.
Even if a player was to put up a goal scoring record close to that of Ronaldo or Messi, they would not win the Ballon d’Or because voters know that they are doing so in a league of lower quality. The league does not prevent world class players from performing, it simply makes them worse in the eyes of the world.
This, sadly, may be that status that this once proud league is relegated to for the foreseeable future. Italy’s economy has long been in a malaise, and turning that around is the only way of returning the league to its past glories. Sure, a billionaire or three could come in and invest in the league and its teams, but Financial Fair Play has put a serious damper on whatever buying power new blood money might bring in.
So, Mr. Tevez, we are sorry to say that you are right. No player in Serie A can win the Ballon d’Or. We just wish it was for the reason you put out, because scoring a few more goals is so much easier than saving a league.
