UEFA, the governing body of European football, has unveiled the narrowed-down list of the final three nominees for the ‘Best Coach of the Year’ award for the past season.
The top three coaches that made it to the final selection are Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Simone Inzaghi (Inter Milan), and Luciano Spalletti (Napoli).
Pep Guardiola stands as one of the leading contenders, having steered Manchester City to an historic treble-winning achievement.
Meanwhile, in the category of ‘Player of the Year,’ the finalists include forward Lionel Messi, forward Erling Haaland, and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
Within this list, two players from Manchester City, Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, have rightfully earned their positions due to their exceptional treble-winning performance. However, the case of Lionel Messi has stirred up varied opinions.
Although he recently clinched the World Cup 2022 title with the Argentine national team, Messi’s club-level performance, particularly with PSG, did not showcase a strong performance, having secured only a Ligue 1 title in the past season.
Many believe that the exclusion of midfielder Rodri from the top 3 finalists is regrettable, considering his deserving contributions. In the previous season, apart from his historic treble with Manchester City, Rodri also secured the UEFA Nations League title with the Spanish national team. He was also recognized by UEFA as the “Player of the Season” for the UEFA Champions League 2022/23.
As per the results released by UEFA, Rodri received 110 voting points, placing him 5th in the overall voting, just missing out on the top 3 nominations. Ilkay Gundogan secured the 4th spot with 129 voting points.
The UEFA “Player of the Year” award is determined by the votes of participating coaches in the previous season’s European club cup group stages, national team coaches affiliated with UEFA, and sports journalists.
According to the schedule, UEFA will announce the award winners at the Champions League group stage draw event, scheduled to take place in Monaco on August 31st.
