Toni Kroos‘ podcast with his brother Felix is turning into a gold mine of anecdote and humour as explained by Diario AS.

The Real Madrid midfielder has used it, alongside his intelligent social media use, as a platform to showcase his sharp wit and broadcast some of his closely-held opinions.

The recent episode was no exception. Kroos supported Robert Lewandowski‘s victory in Fifa’s The Best awards while pointing out that Lionel Messi shouldn’t have made the podium. He also lamented the short-term thinking that dominates modern football.

On the latter, he was clear. “You win the Champions League one, two, three times in a row and four weeks later you lose the first friendly, the first test match, and s*** smells again,” he said.

On The Best awards, the 30 year-old was clear and unequivocal in his analysis. “Lewandowski deserves it, absolutely,” he said. “But for me, Messi does not belong in the top three. I don’t think he did well this year.”

Kroos’ appearances on the podcast have caused controversy, like when he criticised players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang recently for their choreographed goal celebrations.

On the pitch, however, the German is in undoubtedly fine fettle. He’s formed part of an experienced midfield trident alongside Luka Modric and Casemiro that looks revitalised in recent weeks and has been pivotal in restoring Los Blancos’ good form.

Madrid play their final home game of the season this evening, hosting high-flying Granada at Valdebebas in the hunt for their fifth consecutive league win.

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Not sure I'm taking Kroos too seriously though, some of the comment he made about Aubameyang or Flick remind me of a troll. XD

He is kinda right about Messi not being in the top 3 for the last year though if only because of lack of consistency.

I do not believe that messi is not in the top 3.

@nhungha20 Kroos was only talking about last year though. If we talked about the last 10 or 20 years, then obviously, I think he would rate him easily in the top 3.

I dont get why Messi and Ronaldo are in top 3 either. Both didnt deserve it.

Mane is again underrated....

It should have been Lewandowski then Neymar/Messi imo.

Didn’t Messi have like 22 goals and 20 assists last season in a struggling Barcelona side? If it was any other player (KDB, Mane, Salah) he would have instantly got 2nd place, and could also compete for 1st if Lewandowski didn’t have prime Messi/Ronaldo numbers while also winning the treble.

But as long as the winner is deserved then I don’t really think it’s worth paying much attention to 2nd-20th places..

@Pupper You are not wrong, statwise, I believe Messi has been the most influential La Liga player of 2020. I think people are so used to crazy numbers that they aren't impressed anymore when they see player like Messi just being very good.

@tuan_jinn Propably Liverpool being eliminated early in CL hurt his chance to be that high. He is definetly underated. Very consistant player that is alway a pain to deal with by the opposition.

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It is a popularity contest. ( I won’t be surprised if there are also third party lobbying because they generate huge income). I stopped bothering with it ever since they robbed Snijder of the award.

22 goals and 20 assists is decent but not worthy of being mentioned

Well actually, I checked those stat and it seem they might be wrong, look like its actually 25 goals and 21 assists but anyway. I had no idea being directly involved on more than 40 goal was not worth being mentioned in modern football. :U

More seriously though, its true he might not have been in the top 3 of the world in 2020 but he was propably in La Liga statwise at the very least.

I stopped bothering with it ever since they robbed Snijder of the award.

Well, the Best and the Ballon d'Or are different award now. So, one could argue Sneijder never got robbed of this particular award. ;P

But both award are certainly flawed. The major problem is that the criterias for voting have alway been far to abstract and in the end of the day, its just a bunch of people voting however they feel. Honestly, Messi and Ronaldo with their amazing reputation will obviously alway be advantaged in those kind of award.

Now that it's being said, I found it very odd that Messi/Ronaldo are part of the podium. For me Liverpool players fast elemination had and impact, they were phenomenal. And right now, from the few I have seen, Neymar is right now the best player on the planet, he does what he wants. I also love the German youngster who scored 4 goals at Wembley Vs Tottenham, very good season for Gnabri, doesn't know his stats, but each time I watched Bayern he was balling...😄

Imo they wanted to give credit to lewa, by putting the best two of the century next to him, as a sign of power switching like presidents do.

Mbappe didn't impress me, he got cocky, runs less talks more...

Given where Messi and Ronaldo are in their careers, lots of current players will start taking shots at them now. Us armchair, keyboard champions do it all the time, but soon, actual players will start mouthing off.

There are and were more deserving players this time around, but to single out Messi? Come on Tony! hahaha Plus, easy for him to criticize Messi since he is a Barca player....

There are and were more deserving players this time around, but to single out Messi? Come on Tony! hahaha Plus, easy for him to criticize Messi since he is a Barca player....

True, that doesn't help me take his comment seriously. XD

@Footy_watch How exactly is Messi overrated in your opinion though? Messi's being one of the best player in Barca isn't really an opinion at this point but more of a fact. You might argue he's past his prime or that his form as been poor recently but there is not doubt he was one of the best player in the last decade. :S

He isn't poor right now, he scores less due to his actual role.
Neymar, Mane or a full German podium wouldn't have been shocking, but messi's season last year was far from being average, the club he plays in imploded internally, he still has some years to play at high level...

Last season was poor, for everyone... 2020 is not a season we will remember except for Liverpool fans lol, unlucky reds it was supposed to be their year...

@emo: footy_watch is a troll. Please dont feed him.

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Messi and Ronaldo are still doing things that any player , and even Lewandowski, could only dream about, although he had an impressive season. He also had an impressive side. Nonetheless, he deserves number 1 spot.

However, I would claim that Messi and Ronaldo don't deserve to be in top 3. That is just disrespectful and frankly speaking even silly to compare Mane with them even at their age.

Put Ronaldo or Messi in Bayern or Liverpool and watch the things they would have done. Their teams have let them down, but individually they were again above world class standards.

@emo

Snijder that year has won treble with underdog team. Then helped Dutch reach final of WC. He was pretty much Luka Modric of Inter and Netherlands. He didn't score many goals but boy was he vital for his teams. He had direct impact on many key victories and the style that team played.

That is what i call exceptional case when Snijder should have come on top amongst Ronaldo and MEssi. So, like you i want those criteria when even goalkeeper has a chance to win balon D'or.

For example, didn't De Gea literally kept United afloat year after year? That to me deserve a recognition or nomination for best player of the year. Criterias need to be fixed and then educated for these so called voters.

@Marcus: well said

@Marcus2011 I don't disagree at all with you, I was just making the remark that we're speaking about the best award, which isn't technically the same as ballon d'or. But yeah, obviously Sneijder could have and propably should have won one that year Inter did the treble. I agree about the fact criterias need to be fixed.

Personally, I would like it if there many different award like the ballon d'or and that all of them take different criteria in consideration.