I have always believed that the FIFA governing body are a bunch of political biased people. I don’t know if anyone agrees with me on this.
Virgil Van Dijk being snubbed for the Best Player of the Year 2018/19, showed the politics in the FIFA governing body.
The fact that there was no room for Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah in the FIFAPro Men’s team of the year may be forgiven due to the form of the G.O.A.T.S – Portuguese and Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Argentine and the Barcelona Lionel Messi.
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But an unforgivable offence committed by the FIFA governing body was the omission of Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold in the Team of the Year 2018/19. The Liverpool right-back was arguably the best right-back in the world in the last campaign.
His omissions from the FIFAPro Men’s World 11 was scandalous. Arnold helped the Reds last season and even won a Champions League medal with them.
The Reds didn’t just win the trophy on a platter of gold but it was the great contribution of the young English right-back that ensured they came out triumphant against a tough team like Barcelona.
How could FIFA have overlooked a great player with excellent delivery for the Real Madrid defender, Marcelo Vieira da Silva? Ain’t that a joke that the Brazilian and Real Madrid defender, Marcelo Vieira, made the team of the year alongside the Spanish defender and Real Madrid Captain, Sergio Ramos?
Let’s take a look at the 21-year-old’s performance in the last campaign:
- He became the youngest player to record three assists in a Premier League game against Watford FC.
- He was the catalyst for Liverpool’s victory against a well experienced and talented Barcelona team in the Champions League semifinal second leg. Turning the game that everyone thought was over into victory through an instinctive corner for the Belgian Forward, Divock Origi, which was converted by the young forward in the dying minutes. We can all recall that the 21-year-old was on the bench in the first leg against Barcelona which made Liverpool paid dearly for it.
- Trent Alexander Arnold became the first-ever and youngest player to provide 12 assists in a single campaign. His excellent performance may have been overlooked by FIFA governing body but it was not overlooked by Guinness World Records.
The English right-back glittering performance in the 2018/19 Premier League season has earned him the Guinness World Records title for the most Premier League assists by a defender in a single campaign.
This will definitely go down well with all the Liverpool supporters as the feat didn’t just come as recognition but also chalked off their fellow Merseyside neighbours, Everton. Trent Alexander Arnold has replaced two Everton players – Andy Hinchcliffe that had 11 assists in the 1994/95 campaign and Leighton Baines who also recorded 11 assists in the 2010/11 campaign in the record books.
According to the young defender, he said:
” It’s an honour. I have always wanted to go forward and help the team to create as many chances as possible.
It’s obviously down to the lads to put the ball into the back of the net because football is a team game and without them, this record would not be possible.
It is an unbelievably proud moment for me and my family, and something I hope will stand for a few years.”
This is enough to make the FIFA governing body to admit that they had committed a great blunder in omitting the right-back. Sergio Ramos and Marcelo Vieira have no place in the team of the year when you look at the brilliant performances from the Liverpool duo defenders.
Trent Alexander Arnold and Andrew Robertson both contributed 29 assists in all competitions last season. That’s massive for the Scottish, and English defender.
Alexander Arnold even cited Andy Robertson as the one who inspired him to get high on the pitch to support his team in the attack.
Marcelo and Ramos both had a bad campaign with Real Madrid as the club didn’t perform as expected by their supporters which led to the early dismissal of their manager, Julen Lopetegui.
Take it or leave it, FIFA Awards will lose credibility in a few years to come.