Ballon d'Flaw
Her Barca team mates consider her one of the best midfielders in the world, some publicly stating that she IS the best 6, and it's not hard to see why a lot of the success that both Barca and England have had recently is because of her. I've watched Keira on and off the ball for years and the work she does quietly moving opposition players around like chess pieces on a board is a display of footballing genius. Her movement and body shape, opening up little pockets of space before finding those deadly accurate passes, it changes games - no scratch that, it WINS games. It was Keira's pass from inside England's own half that sent Ella Toone off to score the opener in the final of the women's Euros against Germany - watch it back, the pass is incredible. When Keira got injured and missed a game at the recent World Cup, she was so irreplaceable that Weigman chose to completely change the teams formation rather than try and play someone else in her place. In Walsh's first season at Barca, they won the quadruple, it's no coincidence. Walsh played a key part in the final of the Champions League, the second Barca goal, the equaliser wouldn't have come had it not been for her vision to see Bonmati pealing wide and into a space to allow her to deliver a cross. Fellow midfielder Patri actually said that had Walsh been one of the goal scorers she would've won player of the match in that final. But that's Keira, she doesn't score a lot of goal, just plays a part in creating them. Defensively she is steady as a rock her technical ability means she times tackles to perfection, instead of sliding in she can often be seen picking the pocket of an attacking player and stopping them in their tracks before starting the attack for her own side.
So why then has she been ignored from the list of nominees for the Ballon d'Or for the second year in a row? The competition is dictated by journalists (and a distinct lack of female journalists too) and whilst Walsh's talents have been obvious to see on the field over the past few years she doesn't grab the headlines that often. She's stays out of the limelight, her personal life, despite the many tictok rumours, remains private and she will answer questions in a no nonsense style in press conferences, quite simply she is understated and under hyped. Compare this to many on the list of nominees and you can see why perhaps journalists might focus their attention elsewhere on players who not only entertain on the pitch but off it too. To me it feels like what the media are saying here is that it's not enough to be a woman playing game changing incredible football to get the attention she deserves, and this is such a massive shame and so disrespectful, but then why am I surprised? The barriers that existed when women were included for the first time in 2018 and when Ade Hegerberg was asked to twerk when she accepted her award are still visible, the nominees being named in the weeks during the crisis currently being played out by the Spanish FA after the WWC, and the very day it's announced that Jenni Hermoso has filed a legal complaint over Luis Rubiales behaviour at the final. I have a sneaky suspicion that most of the journalists on the panel didn't even attend the Women's World Cup. So how seriously should we take the Women's Ballon d'Or this year? Essentially it's a popularity contest decided by people who aren't playing the game in a year when it's inevitable Bonmati will win it, so should we care that Walsh didn't get nominated anyway? I won't belittle the competition, the truth is that the nominees are all amazing players and it would've been satisfying (and fair) to have seen one of England's finest named alongside them. On a side note I am so please to see Mary Earps deserved inclusion. But whilst the journalists are comparing players Instagram accounts and treating players like pawns in their own games, I'll continue to back the real grandmaster and raise a toast to my best player of the year, Keira Walsh.
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