One of the things that should decide your vote, according to the instructions of FIFA, is how well you have played for your national team, especially in big games.
You can make an argument for Ronaldo not being at his best level between April and July because of an injury to his tendon, which kept him out of the Copa del Rey final. He also played, but did not have much of an impact, in the Champions League final, despite scoring Madrid’s fourth goal from the penalty spot.
And Ronaldo was not on top of his game in the World Cup either because he was not fit enough, although you can also say that Neuer conceded five goals in the Champions League semi-finals, and that Messi did not win any team titles in 2014.
But there are many reasons that Neuer should have got closer to winning the Ballon d’Or: he has changed the way that goalkeepers now play, and this was a process that perhaps started with Victor Valdes at Barcelona, but that he has taken to a completely new level.
With Neuer, there are 12 players on the pitch, but as Gaizka Mendieta said on Revista de la Liga, it is very unfashionable to give the award to a goalkeeper.
Having said all of that, Ronaldo was the best player of 2014: even if he only scored three more goals than Messi managed last year.
But for the last two years now you have seen a transformation in Ronaldo, partly due to him understanding the limits of his body, so that instead of him making long runs with the ball, he prefers to make runs into space and lets others pass the ball to him. He is now more of a No 9.
It is like he is becoming a goalscorer without the ball and without being so involved in the build-up play. And Madrid have obviously benefited from this change with all of the titles that they won in 2014, including the Copa del Rey, European Super Cup, Champions League and the Club World Cup.
Ronaldo was also the top goalscorer in both La Liga and the Champions League, so it is clear that he has had a special year.
Meanwhile, there has also been yet more talk about Messi over the weekend after he said that, ‘you never know in life where you are going to end up,’ which is an ambiguous answer to give about his future at Barcelona that he has repeated for a while.
He did then clarify after the ceremony that his words were, as usual, taken out of context and that he wants to stay at the club.
Messi is just trying to make sure that he is comfortable at Barcelona. That ambiguity about his future is a way of saying: 'one can only stay where he feels happy.'
Now I have said in the past that there are only two ways for Messi to leave Barcelona: one is for him to force his way out, to say that he wants to leave, and another is for Barcelona to want to sell him. But it is impossible, without negotiating with Barcelona, to buy him because of Financial Fair Play rules.
All in all it is an arm-wrestling challenge that Messi has put on the table in the last 10 days. He has won. He is now again the strongest part of the club, the leader, and everyone wants to make sure he is comfortable, because that’s the best way for Barcelona to win: to keep him at the centre of the attack and the club.
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