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Photo credit : France Football
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Last Monday saw the announcement for this years Ballon d'Or trophy nominees so today we are going to take a look at the female nominees this year. Last year's award was picked up by Ada Hegerberg however, after a fantastic World Cup year I really do believe we could see a new winner crowned. So here are this years nominees....
Lucy Bronze (Lyon) - Bronze is becoming a bit of a household name lately and was in the top 3 for the FIFA Best awards. She had a fantastic season with Lyon last season but in terms of playing for England I don't think we fully saw the best out of her, not through any fault of her own but the fact Neville seems to be desperate for her to move into midfield. She is definitely more suited to that right back role.
Ellen White (Manchester City) - If we are going just off World Cup performance's White definitely deserves to be top of this list, she had a fantastic tournament scoring goals for the fun of it helping England do really well and progress through the tournament.
Sam Kerr (Chicago Red Stars) - Kerr is one of those players who is absolutely fantastic but for some reason never gets the recognition she deserves. Kerr is a record breaker and seems like breaking the scoring records for fun, she has proved crucial for Chicago lately and since signing for them has helped them progress in league positions and she had a pretty good World Cup too. She is lethal in front of goal.
Nilla Fischer (Linköpings) - To be completely honest I haven't seen many games with Fischer playing but in the ones I have she has been a standout, even at 35 year old she is going strong.
Amandine Henry (Lyon) - Henry is a fantastic player, she did brilliant at Portland and only seems to have gotten better since going to Lyon. She seems to run every game she plays and if she is in a game you will know she is playing as she always seems to be involved in plays bagging herself goals in the process.
Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride) - I still aren't sure about this one. She had a pretty good World Cup but honestly it wasn't that great, yeah she scored a lot of goals but where was she the rest of the 90 minutes? As for her season with Orlando did it actually exist? In the games she did play I wouldn't say she made that much of an impact.
Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal) - Like Kerr, Miedema is another player constantly overlooked, at just 22 year old she is her countries record scorer, and last season she broke the record for the most WSL goals scored in a season. Yet she rarely gets the recognition she deserves, Miedema would definitely be one of those players you want on your team not against you.
Dzenifer Marozsan (Lyon) - Another great talent who plays for Lyon, they really do have some of the best players in the world on the team. Marozsán is one of those players you wouldn't want to face as she can be a real threat when on top of her game.
Pernille Harder (VfL Wolfsburg) - The Danish forward is another player you wouldn't want to face especially in front of goal. She is an absolutely brilliant player especially for her club team and she is a stand out for her Danish side. I do believe that she is going to really help get that Danish side up and fighting for those top spots in tournaments, particularly the Euro's
Sarah Bouhaddi (Lyon) - The French keeper played a brilliantly in the season for Lyon and did quite well in the World Cup but can she beat the rest of these nominees? For me there are others who should definitely come above her in these awards.
Marta (Orlando Pride) - Yet another player I can't understand being on the list. Orlando had a terrible year and in the games she played for them I don't believe Marta played as well as she could have. She did have a pretty good World Cup though so maybe that is what has edged her to this nomination? She may not have had her best year and probably won't win this award but honestly she will always be one of the greatest female players of all time to me.
Ada Hegerberg (Lyon) - Is Hegerberg a great player of course she is, should she be up to for this award? Honestly I aren't 100% sold. She plays for one of the greatest teams and puts in a great performance especially in the games I have watched her play in. But with her lack of International appearances over the years I just don't see how she can be up for this award again, there are players who play a lot more games than her throughout the year and some of those put in better performances in my opinion.
Kosovare Asllani (CD Tacon) - A player who I hugely miss at Man City, Asllani is one of those players you always need to keep an eye of as she is a huge influence in the games she plays. Need a decent tackle putting in, she can make them. Need a decent strike on goal she is more than capable. Sometimes you forget she is playing but then she pops up and pulls off a spectacular tackle. This is definitely a deserved nomination.
Sofia Jakobsson (CD Tacon) - Jakobsson is another player that always seems to slip under the radar for me maybe because I haven't paid much attention to the teams she has played for in the past. But now she is with CD Tacon alongside Asllani I think I will be seeing more of her play when possible. But she is definitely one who grabs your attention when she plays for Sweden. Plus at just 29 years old she has plenty of playing time left and will hopefully only keep on improving.
Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns) - Finally Tobin is getting recognition she deserves. For some reason Heath normally gets overlooked for these sort of things but honestly she is possibly one of the most deserving players. She has the skill and the flair and can get her teams in great positions. She tracks back and defends, gets plenty of assists and even grabs herself some goals. When she is injured teams definitely miss her and I can easily say I wouldn't like to come up against her in a game.
Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC) - Well 90% of people probably won't agree with what I am about to say but here it goes anyway... I think Rapinoe can be a good player sometimes but honestly I think there are players who are much better who get over looked. For me Rapinoe is hit and miss I don't particularly think she had a good World Cup, yes she was top scorer but a lot of those were penalties. Plus she spent most of Reign's season out injured so you can't really judge her on that one.
Lieke Martens (Barcelona) - Lieke is definitely a fantastic player, although she definitely seemed missing for the Netherlands at points in the World Cup yet when she plays for Barcelona she is absolutely fantastic. Did she do enough to make this years nominees though? I aren't too sure with some of the names are missing.
Sari van Veenendaal (Atletico Madrid) - An absolutely fantastic 'keeper in fact Sari is definitely one of the greatest in the world currently for me. Some of the saves she pulls off are absolutely unbelievable, even some of the male 'keepers would be surprised if they pulled them off. If it had to be a 'keeper who won this award she would definitely be my pick.
Wendie Renard (Lyon) - Another Lyon player surprise, surprise. To me Renard wasn't looking her best through the World Cup although she did still play really well, just to me not as well as she could have. But she has been an absolutely solid defender in that Lyon back line.
Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit) - Lavelle has definitely become a bit of a stand out for the USWNT, even scoring in the World Cup final. In my opinion she 100% deserves this nomination. She is a great player already in terms of both attack and defence which really helps out both her club team and national team. To say she is so good now I can't wait to see how she progresses in the future, she could definitely be a household name in the near future.
My personal top 3 picks for this year after seeing the nominees would be Tobin Heath, Sam Kerr and Vivianne Miedema however, I honestly believe it is going to be the same top 3 that was seen at the FIFA Best awards Lucy Bronze, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan as they seem to be the big names lately. I really do believe though there is one huge name missing from this list, Julie Ertz. Ertz has had yet another fantastic season with Chicago and had a fantastic World Cup with the USWNT but for some reason she is constantly being over looked.
Who would your top 3 picks be?
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