These are individual compliments, but they are almost always seen through the lens of collective achievement, and Liverpool’s widespread failures have cost them some of their best players.The shortlist for another of football’s most prestigious awards was announced on Wednesday, with just one Liverpool player winning the FIFPro World XI. This time, Salah was replaced by Virgil van Dijk.The first thing to understand here is that although this is an award for a calendar year, the best XI is actually determined over the entire past season. For example, this is why Kevin De Bruyne was nominated, even though he has hardly kicked a ball since June due to injury.
Secondly, unlike other trophies, it can only be held by players and not by journalists, pundits or professionals. Almost 22,000 male players voted for this year’s team, according to FIFPro. You can’t argue with most of the names on the results list. Erling Haaland broke Manchester City’s record, Lionel Messi led Argentina to victory to complete their record-breaking World Cup season and Kylian Mbappe was outstanding in the final, scoring a total of 41 goals at club level. Elsewhere, Karim Benzema scored 31 goals for Real Madrid, Harry Kane scored 32 goals for Tottenham and Vinicius Junior scored. He scored 23 goals and 21 assists. Salah, meanwhile, has scored 30 goals in all competitions and set up a further 16, and based on Kane’s presence after a season in which Tottenham finished eighth, collective misfortune is not an automatic disqualification. But with the credible additions of Haaland and Messi, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if any of the other forwards finish last.
The real problem is that Salah was not offered at all.The only player not strong is Cristiano Ronaldo, who is out of contract at Manchester United after a torrid spell against the club before scoring three goals in 16 games. He made his final appearance for the Red Devils on their trip to the World Cup, but failed to score from open play and lost his place in the starting line-up for the play-offs.
When the nominees for the 2023 Ballon d’Or were announced last autumn, Mohamed Salah was the only Liverpool player on the list. Alisson Becker deserves inclusion after his individual achievements (if not the Ballon d’Or award, then certainly in the running for the Yashin Trophy), but it’s no surprise that he was so underrepresented at Anfield. Ultimately, Jurgen Klopp’s side failed to progress to the Champions League beyond the 2022/23 season and exited the competition after losing 6-2 to Real Madrid in the round of 16.
