It's not controversial, VVD had better team success and standout year, but Messi had stronger individual performance than him and Ronaldo with 51 goals and 22 assists (there stats used to allways be close but that season not so much).
We all expect the Dutch dude to take it all due to CL, but its hardly controversial that NT captains, coaches or journalists think one of the best attackers ever is better then a CB.