5 players who have no chance at the top 3 of the UEFA Player of the Year shortlist

Football has been boring for quite a while now. While this statement might raise the eyebrows of many, it is true. Gone are the times when there was doubt about who makes the top two for football award ceremonies. Those functions of now are nothing more than the usual banal showdown between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.The next shot at this juncture of soporific obviousness comes in the form of UEFA Player of the Year that is set to take place next month. The award will make its way to either the Portuguese’s personal trophy cabinet or Lionel Messi’s kitchen, with the latter being the most likely destination.So that is not the topic of interest. In fact, it shouldn’t be a topic at all. The new point of discussion is who is going to be the third person on that stage along with the top two.While that is hard to predict, here are 5 players of the top 10 who are definitely not going to get into the top 3.

#1 Paul Pogba

The Frenchman might be the most coveted player in the world, he might be the best player in his age group as well – but he is certainly not going to make it to the top 3 in this competition.

This insanely talented kid is peerless in the fields of his strengths – which is a vast field, to say the least – and was one of the biggest reasons for Juventus’ surprising run to the final of the Champions League. In many games, he stood out among the more household names and his nomination in the top 10 is a testament to his growing influence for the Italian champions.

However, as great as his performances might have been, they’re still coming at a stage of infancy in relation to the achievements Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have set as a standard season after season.

The Juventus star, if his trajectory continues the way it has been, will one day win this award – but the time hasn’t come yet.

#2 Gianluigi Buffon

He is the name that is most synonymous to the Old Lady, yet not so much when it comes to stage where people with expensive suits exchange smiles and pose for photos with a bunch of metal in their hands.

The only reason why this man hasn’t won many personal accolades is because he plays in a position that doesn’t come into the limelight unless something wrong happens. Some don’t even refer to goalkeepers as footballers.

The legendary goalkeeper has been the most consistent performer for the club of his life and is one of the great goalkeepers to have played the game, yet his personal accolades don’t do justice to the career he has had.

Not that he cares, though, but it is a glaring predicament of position of the shot-stopper – one that will be overlooked this time as well. And to be fair, it is really hard to consider a goalkeeper for an individual honour in a time where two players are consistently scoring more than 60 goals, at least, in a season.

#3 Carlos Tevez

The Argentine completes the hattrick of Juventus players to make this list. Not many Juventus fans were pleased with the signing of this volatile player, but he weaved a special place in the hearts of many Juventini with his performances in the time spent there.

The former United man was never an easy player to handle and it was this nature of his that made sceptics out of the ardent followers of the Turin club. But his name on the short list of the nominees for this year’s UEFA Player of the Year proves that he had done all the right things in his time in Italy.

Argentines in Serie A is like nachos with melted cheese, or carrots and peas or Paris Hilton and crap movies. So many Argentines have had the best time of their careers here and ‘Carlitos’ was no different.

His strike partnership with young Alvaro Morata bore fruits as they shot Juventus to the last hurdle of the Champions League before falling a little short of the finish line.

And as great as his performances were, it doesn’t warrant him a place in the top 3 contenders as his tally of 29 goals in 47 games is not even half as close to that of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – and he also doesn’t have a Champions League trophy to help his case.

#4 Eden Hazard

The army preaches the ethos of collective work rather than individual sagacity; it is always about the man next to you and not you alone. Limelight is not for soldiers because that would just beat the purpose.

If football believed in this dogma, then Eden Hazard would not have been the only Chelsea player on the nominees list, he would – and should – have been accompanied by Nemanja Matic. However, that wasn’t the case and it is Chelsea’s most electric and flashy player that made it to the top 10.

But in terms of flashiness, both Cristiano and Messi are frontrunners and hence the Belgian lags behind them and has no chance of being the top 3. Again, his stats are way behind both Cristiano and Messi, despite playing in similar role.

While he has the ability to win the Ballon d’Or sometime in the future – that is after the aforementioned Real and Barca men are seen taking a sunbath on a beach in the Caribbean as pensioners – the time of Eden Hazard hasn’t yet arrived and it will some time before that happens.

#5 Luis Suarez

If it weren’t for his teeth and its tendency to bite, he might as well have been in the top 3 – not that my words are a gospel and it isn’t certain that he won’t be, he could be, but he won’t (almost a gospel, yes).

This bold prediction comes from the fact that UEFA likes its podium filled with players who have an immense amount of marketability and look could on photos wearing tux with shiny hairdos – none of these boxes are ticked – or bit – by the Uruguayan and this will the reason for his exclusion from the top 3 list.

The former Liverpool man was terrific for the Blaugrana and one would be forgiven for thinking that has been at the club for a long. Despite being banned for the majority of the beginning of last season, he managed to score 25 goals in only 43 games, but still falls short to the even more brilliant Neymar.

The combination of Neymar, Messi and Cristiano will most likely take the center stage in Zurich next month and the Uruguayan will be smiling, displaying his large and pointy fangs from the audience zone or in front of his television set.