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Good morning, Fear the Wall.
An unpleasant weekend was followed by some unusual news on Monday, but really not that unusual given what we have come to expect over the last few years. France Football handed out its annual PR awards with Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema taking the top spot among mens footballers for the 2022 calendar year. I don’t think anyone can argue that the Frenchman did not deserve this year’s Balon D’or, with his incredible exploits in La Liga and the Champions League earning his team top honors in both competitions.
Karim Benzema. It's his. #ballondor || #UCL pic.twitter.com/yV7l0XO7Aj
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 17, 2022
Questions were raised, however, about the decisions to award Spanish footballer Gavi the Kopa trophy, ahead of the likes of Benzema’s compatriot, Eduardo Camavinga, Bayern Munich‘s Jamal Musiala, and Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham. If you spent some time on Twitter yesterday, you probably got to enjoy some of the action. I personally cannot speak too much to the footballing credentials of Gavi, as I do not watch Barcelona nor do I understand how they continue to finance their existence, but I can say that the general footballing exploits of the Bundesliga's best youngsters certainly raise questions about a player like Gavi receiving what is considered to be a “prestigious” award. If they had to go with La Liga (as usual), at least Camavinga won the UCL.
The 2022 Kopa Trophy complete ranking! #trophéekopa #ballondor pic.twitter.com/3Eg0xyLHi6
— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 17, 2022
In other news, it was the blame game for the Borussia Dortmund squad after their crushing defeat in Berlin on Sunday. Mats Hummels was the first to turn up to the press and express his displeasure about the state of the team and some of the tactical implementations against Berlin. Clearly, the squad had planned to stymie the attack of your Berlin, but plans do not always turn into actions and that was certainly the result on Sunday. Young forward Karim Adeyemi also got it on the action, lamenting his own performance including the back pass that led to the second goal but also calling on the team to pick up their heads and work as a unit to correct the issues in the squad I have left them toiling in eighth place.
Karim Adeyemi:
— BVB Newsblog (@bvbnewsblog) October 17, 2022
"In general, I'm okay, but in terms of mood, I'm not doing too well, just like the team. I think we are still very disappointed. We are very angry with ourselves that we let the chance slip away. We'll try to do better in the next game."#BVB pic.twitter.com/vsl7zUNpGH
The Links
Dortmund faces Hanover in the DFB Pokal tomorrow. I tried to find some news for you all to read but I could not. Suck for whoever is writing the preview! Oh, that’s probably me.
See the full statements from the team’s post-Berlin interview here.
Well, that’s all for this morning folks. Let’s hope that there’s a better week for Dortmund head.
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