Congratulations to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on back to back FIFA The Best awards. The Reds boss becomes the first manager to win the award twice, and his side had the strongest presence of any club on the list, which was released today. (For the Liverpool team news and starting XI prediction go here)
That’s to be expected, as the Merseyside club are the top notch team in the world right now. Check out this tweet from Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum:
Congrats boss ?? FIFA #TheBest Men’s Coach of the Year ?? And @Alissonbecker , @TrentAA , @VirgilvDijk & @Thiago6 for the FIFA Men’s World11 for 2020 ??? pic.twitter.com/bLy52cUwQk
— Gini Wijnaldum (@GWijnaldum) December 18, 2020
Yes, in addition to Klopp winning the coach of the year plaudit, goalkeeper Alisson Becker made the FIFA World 11, as did two of the four defenders that regularly play in front of him- right back Trent Alexander Arnold and central defender Virgil van Dijk.
Additionally, summer transfer window addition and attacking midfielder Thiago Alcantara was in the team too. So if you’re scoring at home that’s four players out of 11, and the boss. The defending Premier League champions vaulted back to the top of the table in midweek, with an exciting win over Tottenham Hotspur.
It’s quite an astounding feat, given how many key players, including Van Dijk and Thiago, are out injured for the long term this season. The only other Premier League player to be named to the FIFA best 11 was Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne. The full list can be viewed here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.