Alisson Becker is undoubtedly one of the greatest goalkeepers in world football and it’s safe to say that many Liverpool fans were shocked to hear he didn’t make the list of the top 10 for this year’s Ballon d’Or.
It was revealed yesterday (via L’Equipe) that the nominees for the Yashin Trophy 2023, that celebrates the greatest goalkeepers in the world, were: ‘Mike Maignan, Yassine Bounou, Andre Onana, Ederson, Brice Samba, Emiliano Martinez, Thibaut Courtois, Aaron Ramsdale, Dominik Livakovic and Marc-Andre ter Stergen’.
In response to this, CF Comps reported a statistic on X: ‘Goals Prevented, Premier League 2022/23 Season, Alisson: 10.60, Kepa: 5.50, Ramsdale: 1.54, De Gea: -3.68, Ederson: -4.10’.
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Seeing as Ederson and Aaron Ramsdale were preferred to our No.1 last season, this above statistic really does make a mockery of suggesting either man was better than our stopper.
It’s a fair argument to make that, given Arsenal finishing above us in the Premier League and the treble winning campaign of Manchester City, they both have earned their place on this list for other reasons.
In truth, few can argue that the man Pep Guardiola trusts to be placed between the sticks isn’t deserving of his place – whether you base that on his medal collection or on-field performances last season.
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However, the former Bournemouth man in Mikel Arteta’s goal has a tough job in finding a way to say that he had a better campaign that our Brazilian.
When we consider that Jordan Pickford is preferred to the 25-year-old for England and that he didn’t have to compete in the Champions League either, it’s laughable that he’s in any way thought of as the better option.
His basic stats (via premierleague.com) of 14 clean sheets in 38 league games and two errors leading to goals, only add to this claim and we can all agree that the former Roma man has been severly hard done to.
You can view the Alisson stat via @CF_Compss on X:
The difference between Alisson & Ramsdale 😭😭😭😂😂😂😭😭😂 pic.twitter.com/g7BcOkI5Rx
— CF Comps (@CF_Compss) September 6, 2023
How needy and insecure do you have to be as a professional footballer for this to matter to you. I’m pretty sure AB1 couldn’t give a flying fanny about this, the fans know what he is and that’s what really matters.
Ballon d,or is so flawed now nobody takes it seriously but the best goalkeeper not being in the shortlist when he won the inaugural home just proves how comedic it is.