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The second is that, unlike other awards, this one is solely in the hands of the players, rather than journalists, 1️⃣ pundits or pundits. According to FIFPro, nearly 22,000 men's players cast their votes for this year's team. Salah, meanwhile, netted 30 1️⃣ and set up 16 more in all competitions, and clearly, based on Kane's involvement after a season in which Spurs 1️⃣ finished eighth, collective woes aren't an automatic disqualifier. Still, you wouldn't feel too aggrieved if any of the other forwards 1️⃣ claimed the last spot alongside surefire inclusions Haaland and Messi. The real problem is that Salah wasn't nominated at all. The 1️⃣ one player who doesn't have remotely as strong a case is Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored three goals in 16 appearances 1️⃣ for Manchester United before having his contract terminated when he furiously spoke out against the club. He'd already made his 1️⃣ last appearance for the Red Devils when he traveled to the World Cup, where he failed to score from open 1️⃣ play and lost his place in the starting line-up for the knockout stages. On that basis, it's egregious that Ronaldo features 1️⃣ on the shortlist, and it's pretty clear that he's only there on the basis of his pre-existing global reputation. Some 1️⃣ would question how much all of this really matters compared to team success, and whether Liverpool supporters should really care. 1️⃣ Jürgen Klopp and those that matter, after all, already know exactly what the Egyptian offers. |