Legendary Premier League manager Arsene Wenger has visited Liverpool’s Axa Training Centre in Kirkby to present awards to Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and some of his players.
Klopp edged out his German compatriot Hansi Flick to be named The Best FIFA Men’s Coach at the The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020.
The pair both received 24 points but the Liverpool manager got the nod due to more votes from national team coaches, while Leeds United’s Marcelo Bielsa was third on 11 points.
Four Reds players were also named in the FIFA FIFPro Men’s World11, picked from a 55-man shortlist.
The quartet honoured were Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson; defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold (England) and Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) plus Spain international midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
All of them received their trophies from Monsieur Wenger who wore a blue blazer for the occasion and who at 71 still cuts a trim figure some three years after he ended his 22-year tenure in charge of Arsenal.
The Frenchman steered the Gunners to three Premier League titles (during the last of which in 2003/04 they went unbeaten) plus seven FA Cups.
Now FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, he was also pictured chatting to Klopp and to his former player from his time at the Emirates, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who missed Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Burnley to be alongside long-time girlfriend Perrie Edwards for the birth of their first child.
The awards ceremony for The Best FIFA Football Awards 2020 were held virtually because of the global coronavirus pandemic on December 17 last year.
