Summary: With the weekend action complete, the main storylines in football took no respite as the entire football world landed in Zurich to hand out the top player awards which resulted in a monumental evening for Cristiano Ronaldo and many of the elite players currently plying their trade in Europe, but there are still lingering questions about the nature of the individual awards and whether team accomplishment needs to be accounted for in the selection criteria. We examine these matters and several others in segment one as the voting results continue to reflect a process more intent on fulfilling a public relations exercise than actually determining which players are most worthy. There were some very nice touches to the ceremony and the awards themselves, and we point these out with several examples under the spotlight, but just as many concerns too as no African player was selected for the FIFA World XI and we gauge the worthiness of several examples found both inside the room and those left outside of the process. In part two comes an even more important story as Clarence Seedorf takes the reigns at AC Milan, nearly five months ahead of schedule as he has been the long standing favorite to replace Max Allegri by club owner Silvio Berlusconi, first detailed on this show more than a year ago now, and why the retired Dutch legend makes so much sense at a club like AC Milan, while acknowledging the many challenges that are sure to face him in the coming months. We dig into what it takes to be successful with the Rossoneri, examine the key relationship with Berlusconi himself, why Allegri really failed in the bigger picture, and what will be the key linchpin for a successful tenure for Clarence Seedorf in the coming years. In closing we take a look at the thrilling match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at the weekend, discuss the emergence of Diego Simeone and the key players who held Barcelona scoreless, leaving both clubs tied at the summit on 50 points at the halfway point of the current La Liga season.
