Premier League / Ralph Ellis / 03 December 2008 / Leave a comment

Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or will probably be followed by FIFA's World Player of the Year award but that doesn't mean he's a shoe-in to retain his domestic accolades, says Ralph Ellis.

So Cristiano Ronaldo is officially the best player in Europe. On Monday he became the first Manchester United player since George Best 40 years ago to be awarded the coveted Ballon d'Or.

The signs are that by next month he'll also be anointed as the best in the world, as FIFA follow UEFA's lead and hand their World Player of the Year trophy to the Portguese winger. As the current Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the Year it would complete a clean sweep of the individual titles.

On the face of it, then, he should be a bargain bet at [2.9] to retain his PFA crown in 2009. Absolutely not. In fact lay it as much as you can.

While the UEFA and FIFA awards are based on the last 12 months and so include the season that finished with Ronaldo adding more than 30 goals to a campaign that collected the Premier League and European Cup, the English players will be voting early in the New Year on this season alone. And the word from the ones I talk to is that they have started to fall out of love with Ronaldo despite his brilliant skills.

Sure, they all marvel at his ability to fly past them with the ball seemingly glued to his twinkling toes. They respect his record of getting goals from all parts of the field. And the goalkeepers worry about those swerving, flying free kicks where the ball comes at them like an Exocet. But all the fuss over his attempt to engineer a move to Madrid didn't go down well. And his conduct since hasn't done him any favours either.

This week, for instance, has made him look ridiculous. Just what was the reason for that crazy handball against Manchester City? We've been told by Ronaldo himself and by his manager that:
a) Micah Richards shouted something
b) He was pushed and thought he'd been fouled
c) He thought he heard a whistle, and
d) He was just protecting his face from being hit by the ball

All of that sounds just about as convincing as some of the quotes he gave out in the summer when he was trying to get to Real Madrid and then telling the world he was happy in Manchester. And the truth is that he hasn't been the same player so far this season. He's got back into his bad old days of going over easily when he's tackled, moaning and grumbling.

He'll clearly vote for himself if he's allowed to, of course. After all he said he was first, second and third in the European rankings. But for Ronaldo to persuade the PFA to vote for him again, he's going to have to produce something unbelievably special between now and the middle of February when the ballot papers go out. And he's got to start doing it on the big occasions again - so far his eight Premier League goals have all been at Old Trafford rolling over the likes of Bolton, West Brom, West Ham, Stoke and Hull. For the tougher games he's gone missing.

If he won't win it, then who will? Well Steven Gerrard looks at good bet at odds of [11.5]. With Liverpool top of the table he's been the heartbeat of the side and is admired by the players as an ultimate pro. If he can keep his team ahead of the pack he'll be the obvious man to take the individual plaudits.

Five things you might not know about the Ballon d'Or

1. It gets its name, hardly surprisingly, because the trophy first presented to The European Footballer of the Year in 1956 is a gold football

2. Until last year 52 journalists throughout Europe voted from a short list of 50 created by the magazine France Football. Since then the panel has been expanded to 96 writers, who give points to their first five choices.

3. Billy Wright won it in 1957, but since then the only Englishmen to take the award have been Bobby Charlton, Kevin Keegan (twice) and Michael Owen

4. Michel Platini is the only man to have been honoured in three successive seasons in 1983, 1984 and 1985. Johan Cruyff's three awards were spread over four years and Marco Van Basten's over five

5. The most overwhelming vote for one player was in 1998 when Zinedine Zidane got 244 points and second placed Davor Sukor just 68. Bobby Charlton won in 1966 with just 81 points ahead of Eusebio on 80.