Jerome Rothen has come out to criticize the credibility of the voters of the Ballon d’Or award after Lionel Messi was awarded the 2023 edition of the accolade over Erling Haaland. Rothen, a former PSG midfielder, talked to RMC Sports about the accolade.
Rothen boldly stated: “It’s a disgrace! Of course, it’s a disgrace. “As far as I’m concerned, it should have gone to Haaland. From August 2022 to June 2023, what criteria lead us to say that Leo Messi is above the others? There’s hardly any criterion where he’s number 1.”
This was the second occasion when the Ballon d’Or was awarded for performances in the traditional soccer season, instead of the calendar year. The change in the rule was brought in two years ago to add more clarity in comparison.
Rothen added by pointing out the pecking order at PSG: “At PSG, Messi wasn’t above the rest. He wasn’t the best player at the club. It’s problematic that a guy who’s won the Ballon d’Or, who’s supposed to be the best player in the world, isn’t even the best player at his club.”
🗣️ Jérôme Rothen says it is a real “shame” that Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or:
“It’s shameful! Of course, it’s shameful! For me, it’s Haaland who should have gotten it.
From August 2022 to June 2023, what are the criteria that lead us to say that Leo Messi is above the… pic.twitter.com/Alg4ZNsnKl
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) November 1, 2023
He went on by asking the journalists to stop being delirious: “My journalist friends [the voters], for the last three or four years, Messi hasn’t been the best player in the world. You have to stop being delirious. And over the last four years, he’s won two Ballon d’Or awards. So for me, it’s shameful. I’m hallucinating.”
Rothen concluded by addressing the goal-scoring prowess of Erling Haaland. He stated that the Manchester City striker broke all the records and scored over 60 goals in a year. He compared that when Ronaldo or Messi scored this many goals, they were awarded the accolade, thus, concluding that “there’s no credibility left,” for the Ballon d’Or.
Jerome Rothen revealed the training habits of Lionel Messi at PSG
Rothen has always been critical of Lionel Messi. He was vocal about the training habits of the Argentine superstar during Messi’s two-year stint at the French club. The RMC pundit revealed intricate details about the training sessions this past summer when Messi moved to Inter Miami.
The former midfielder revealed that the French pundits got information about a lot of things but mopped up because it was not the time to talk about those things. He went on to reveal an incident when Lionel Messi left training early one day, PSG later revealed that it was a minor calf injury.
Jerome Rothen just became Popular for Name Dropping Messi https://t.co/phY5vFOWZP
— TheLonelyIsland (@jubilant_trap) November 1, 2023
However, as per Rothen, Messi was not happy with what was offered to him in the training. Rothen assumed that his children must have been ill that day, which didn’t put in the right mentality to train, so Messi left.
Rothen also revealed that Messi tried several times to shift the training to the afternoon instead of the morning, however, the staff of the French club did not give up. As per Rothen, all these training incidents revealed that Lionel Messi wasn’t ready to adapt at the French club, which led to the downfall of the Argentine.
Since PSG, Lionel Messi has moved to Inter Miami where he has been adjusting pretty quickly. The quick transition at the MLS club has put some question marks on the statements from Rothen.