Twelve months – twelve heroes.
Goalkeeper
Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa)
Emiliano’s behavior sometimes raises questions. For example, Dibu searches in vain for the reasons for various provocations. But in a world where some great goalkeepers have retired, like Buffon and Casillas, and others are about to retire, like Neuer, the Yashin Prize has once again been won by Aston’s unambiguous hero Villa and the Argentine national team. Martinez became South American champion for the second time in a row and is making incredible saves.
Defenders
Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid)
Carvajal won the Champions League, Euro 2024 and La Liga. Dani was in great shape. It’s a shame you were seriously injured. And when he returns, he will go to his old friend Joselu. The former Real Madrid striker and Carvajal are married to twin sisters. Real Madrid will sign Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool and veteran Dani is expected in Qatar. Carvajal does not want to play against Real Madrid.
William Saliba (Arsenal)
Euro 2024 took place normally, even if France was eliminated by Spain. He has often helped Arsenal. Of course, there are no two great central defenders in the world. You remember the success of Rüdiger at Real Madrid. But behind Antonio’s cuts and the obvious impact on Madrid’s morale lie defensive errors. The German said Saliba was one of the three best defenders in the world. We agree with Rudiger.
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Still the king of the hill. Not all experts nuclear submarine Only van Dijk is singled out, because there is his partner Konate. Salib’s Arsenal teammate Gabriel is also doing well. But for Liverpool, Van Dijk is more important than the Frenchman Konate. It was the “reds” who were first in nuclear submarine and in the Champions League table. In addition, the Netherlands found themselves in the semi-finals of the European Championship for the first time in 20 years. And Virgil is their leader.
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)
Grimaldo unexpectedly lost his place in the Spanish squad for Euro 2024 to Cucurella. But if we sum up all the adventures of the football year, then Alejandro can be called the most brilliant left-back of the last twelve months. Becoming European champion while sitting on the bench, he was German champion and continues to impress in the new season. The experienced Grimaldo does not let Alonso down.
Midfielder
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Since the national team is not last season, but rather the calendar year, we cannot ignore the main character of football at the moment. Salah had no arguments for the trophy in the fight for the Ballon d’Or in the spring, even though Mohamed himself said goodbye to Klopp with goals and assists. And Slota’s Liverpool leads everywhere, Salah is wonderful. The Egyptian has scored 20 goals and made 17 assists in 26 matches.
Rodri (Manchester City)
Winner of the Ballon d’Or. The man without whom Manchester City were taken to football’s intensive care unit. It’s a shame that Rodri was injured. But even at Real Madrid, where they were angry about Vinicius’ defeat, they treated the Spaniard as a friend and not an enemy. There are no questions for the midfielder about play or behavior. Rodri equalized for the Spanish team and helped Manchester City win for the fourth time in a row nuclear submarine.
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Let’s explain why they didn’t take Bellingham. Jude has become an advertising product. It was great at Real Madrid in 2023. But in the spring, at the Euro, and now he is playing in episodes. He’ll come back, then he’ll go off into the sunset. But Cole Palmer is a stone cold killer. Moreover, this English talent does not play for Champions League winners Real Madrid, but for the unstable Chelsea. Palmer is great, but Bellingham needs to learn to play more consistently.
Lamin Yamal (Barcelona)
For his sake, right winger Raphinha, one of the heroes at the start of the new season, but not all year, moved to the left flank. And for Salah’s sake, we will move Lamin himself to the left edge. The Spaniard dreams of scoring more often in the Spanish national team and in Barcelona in 2025. Correct configuration, wingers are judged by statistics. Meanwhile, Yamal charmed with his assists. Young Player of the Year and Lamin is only 17 years old.
Attackers
Harry Kane (Bayern)
Haaland has had a mixed year. Jury of FIFA made Erling a starter for the national team last season. And for the national team for the whole year we will choose a person who was unlucky with team trophies – Bayern is without a cup, and the England team lost to Spain. But Kane remained a gentleman, won the Golden Boot as the best sniper of the club season and continues to score goals for the German season favorite.
Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid)
Junior had some bad matches with the Brazilian national team. At Real Madrid, he also happens to be involved in scandals. But when Vinicius thinks about football, it is extremely difficult to stop him. The junior helped Real Madrid win five trophies in one year. An undoubted hero of the best team in terms of total achievements. Ultimately, he did not win the Ballon d’Or, but received an award of FIFA. He knows how to play, all he has to do is learn to behave like a man.
Coach
Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen)
It is easier to win the Champions League with Real Madrid, where the reserve goalkeeper is ready to break Manchester City in the penalty shootout, than for Bayer to become German champion against a strong Bayern Munich. Xabi Alonso did a remarkable job. From La Fuente of the Spanish national team, Gasperini of Atalanta and Ancelotti of Real Madrid are the heroes of the year and excellent coaches. But this is the way forward for young people. In 2024, Alonso took a career leap.
We remind you that there is no such thing as a “symbolic good team”. There are always more than twelve candidates. So it is interesting to see your options. Replacements in this formation are welcome, because in some positions we had to push incredible masters into the conditional reserve. Kroos and Bellingham could easily have been there, but there was not enough room for everyone. The year turned out to be exhausting and colorful. Heroes fell and got back up, like Holland and Mbappé. Only a few passed all the tests in one go. The days of sinless biorobots are a thing of the past, and watching ordinary people play is even more interesting.
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