Liverpool number one Alisson Becker was not among the nominees for the Yashin Trophy, as announced on Tuesday.
The award, presented by France Football, was introduced in 2019 as the goalkeeper's equivalent of the Ballon d'Or and is named after legendary Russian stopper Lev Yashin.
Alisson was actually the inaugural winner of the trophy, comfortably beating out Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ederson four years ago as Liverpool won the Champions League, with the Brazilian making key saves against the likes of Napoli, Barcelona and Tottenham.
The former Roma stopper, who remains widely recognised as one of the best in the world, also placed second last year, behind only Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois.
This year, however, Alisson was not even among the nominees.
Who are the Yashin Trophy 2023 nominees?
Instead the ten keepers in the frame are:
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
- Emi Martinez (Aston Villa)
- Andre Onana (Man Utd)
- Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
- Dominik Livakovic (Fenerbahce)
- Ederson (Man City)
- Brice Samba (Lens)
- Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
- Yassine Bounou (Al Hilall)
- Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona).
It's not the first time recently that Alisson has been overlooked, with the Brazilian also omitted from the PFA Team of the Year, despite outperforming Ramsdale in many key metrics.
How on earth did Aaron Ramsdale make the PFA Team of the Year ahead of Alisson Becker? 🤦♂️@DanVassie has taken a deep dive into which keeper had the better season. The stats don't lie. 🇧🇷
— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) August 30, 2023
It seems, once again, those making the selections have penalised the Reds' number one for Liverpool's poor campaign in 2022/23, despite his own stellar performances.
Understandably, fans were a little confused by Alisson not even making France Football's ten-man shortlist.
Alisson Becker was the first to win the Ballon d’or Yashin Trophy for GKs. He isn’t even nominated this round. Absolute joke. best in the world at the moment & was our best player last season. pic.twitter.com/AlproPZfzw
— Moby (@Mobyhaque1) September 6, 2023
Aaron Ramsdale is on this list but Alisson Becker isn’t. Let that sink in for a second. https://t.co/MvF8cyEcuf
— Ben Kelly (@bkelly776) September 6, 2023
A total embarrassment. None of them have been fit to lace Alisson’s boots in the last year, and well before that.
Basically, you only get nominated for awards if you win something now. https://t.co/1qBSQm8h67
— Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) September 6, 2023
Everyone knows Alisson is the best goalkeeper in the world anyway #LFC #BallonDor
— Charlotte Coates (@CACoates96) September 6, 2023
Not even baiting when I say that Alisson Becker is better than every single goalkeeper on this list. https://t.co/DU7HlhBQBx
— Kloppholic (@Kloppholic) September 6, 2023
Wouldn’t swap one of Alisson’s fingers for any of them. https://t.co/4HJiLqaH7C
— Adam Rowe (@adamrowecomedy) September 6, 2023
Discussing the importance of Alisson during Liverpool's turbulent 2022/23 campaign, Klopp noted: "He is for sure the most consistent player we have this season.
"That's actually not bad news, it's good news, because if we are not in a great shape and the level of the goalie drops as well then we would have been completely lost."
The 30-year-old, who is also part of the Reds leadership group, made 108 saves, kept 14 Premier League clean sheets and prevented a league high of over ten goals last season.
