Ballon d'Or: Wales manager Chris Coleman gives us his reasons for picking Gareth Bale over Cristiano Ronaldo

Wales manager Chris Coleman reveals and explains his selections for the Ballon d’Or awards.

Everyone likes to speculate about who they’d vote for in the Ballon d’Or but Wales boss Chris Coleman gets to do so for real.

Sky Sports caught up with Coleman to discuss selections that included World Cup winners, international icons and someone a little closer to home…

Do you enjoy voting or is it a chore?

I do not mind doing it. I think that it is interesting. I think the players need to be recognised and get the accolades they deserve. So I do not mind taking a few minutes out to vote.

How did you vote on your order of one, two and three for the players?

I went for Gareth Bale as my first pick as he had just had his first year in Madrid as the world’s most expensive player and all the pressure that he had to handle when going to Madrid. And then winning the Champions League and the way he performed, I thought he deserved it. And obviously I am a Welshman too so am a bit biased!

I picked Cristiano Ronaldo second because of his goalscoring ratio, which is just incredible. In third place I went for Bastian Schweinsteiger. I thought he a good season with Bayern and a fantastic World Cup in Brazil with Germany.

How did you vote on your one, two and three for the coaches?

Joachim Low was my first choice. Obviously I picked him for winning the World Cup. It is the ultimate and I think that is a greater achievement than winning the Champions League or La Liga. Carlo Ancelotti deserved a nomination for winning Real’s 10th European Cup and Diego Simeone got my final pick for winning La Liga with Atletico Madrid.

What do you make of Gareth Bale’s 2014? He scored a wonder goal to win the Copa del Rey, scored a crucial goal in the Champions League final in what was his debut campaign with Real Madrid and also scored some vital goals for Wales in your Euro 2016 qualifying campaign…

He has gone there with all the pressure of being the most expensive player in the world, which is not easy. He has gone away from Tottenham and gone to a new country, environment and culture.

And it is not just what is happening on the pitch for him, but off the pitch. And he has handled it superbly well and he has matured since he has been there. He has got even better as a player and I thought he had a great first season.

And it is not just his goals for Wales, it is the big influence that he has also had on the other players both on and off the ball and on and off the pitch. So he has had a real good year these past 12 months, which has been crucial for him and us.

There have been rumours of late linking Gareth with a possible return to the Premier League, and in particular Manchester United – as his national team manager, does it matter where he plays his football?

That is up to him what he does, really. As long as he is playing and he is fit.