Revealed: Under pressure Premier League manager actually finished ahead of Arne Slot in Ballon d'or voting
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Liverpool supporters were far from impressed by the results of this year’s Ballon d’Or voting.
Reds fans had watched Monday’s ceremony in Paris in the hope of seeing Mohamed Salah finally take his crown as the best player in world football.
Unfortunately, Salah finished down in fourth, behind Vitinha, Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele, who scooped the award after a brilliant season with PSG.
Unsurprisingly, the French champions dominated in their home city, with Luis Enrique deservedly named as coach of the year.
Enrique led PSG to a treble, winning the Parisians their first ever Champions League trophy, smashing Inter Milan in the final.
The Spaniard’s brilliance made it unlikely that Liverpool‘s Arne Slot would be recognised despite leading the Reds to Premier League glory in his debut season at Anfield.
Had Liverpool beaten PSG in their Champions League penalty shootout in March, maybe the Dutchman would have had a year to rival Enrique.
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Nevertheless, there was a strong argument that Slot was the second best manager in European football last season.
Not according to the Ballon d’Or voters, it would seem.
Rather unbelievable, Liverpool’s head coach picked up fewer points than Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca.
Maresca led Chelsea to victory in both the Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup, with the ‘double’ being enough for voters to ignore the fact that the Blues finished fourth in the Premier League.
As revealed by the Ballon d’Or account on X this weekend, Maresca collected 27 points to finish third in voting, behind Barcelona’s Hansi Flick and Enrique.
Slot was one point further back in fourth position.
If Liverpool fans did not already know what a sham the Ballon d’Or voting process is, then this should confirm it.
Yes, Chelsea won two trophies last season, including the inaugural Club World Cup, but in reality, no unbiased person within football places much stock into these competitions.
It would have been a huge failure for the Blues not to win the Conference League, while their status as ‘World Champions’ was earned after winning a glorified friendly tournament with a big pay-day attached.
Slot inarguably deserved recognition ahead of Maresca, who is currently under more than a little pressure at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were beaten 3-1 by Brighton on Saturday to make it four Premier League matches without a win and to leave them seven points behind Liverpool.