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At the end of another long, dramatic season for Liverpool, This Is Anfield contributors have voted for their award winners for the 2023/24 season and given their overall rating.
The season threatened to be legendary at one point with a top four seemingly possible, but the campaign ended in anticlimactic fashion.
Who stands out in the various categories of the This Is Anfield end-of-season awards?
Here’s what our associates think…
Matt Ladson
Player of the season: Alexis McAllister
Young Player of the Season: Jarell Quansah
Most Improved Player: Harvey Elliott
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: Defeat against Atalanta and thus failure even in the final of the Europa League.
Overall Season Rating: 3
Jack Lusby
Player of the season: Alexis McAllister
Young Player of the Season: Harvey Elliott
Most Improved Player: Jarell Quansah
Season Goal: Dominik Szoboszlai vs. Leicester
Biggest Disappointment: Thiago’s fitness.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3
Joanna Durkan
Player of the season: Virgil van Dijk
Young Player of the Season: Jarell Quansah
Most Improved Player: I’m torn between the two, but I’ll say Caoimhin Kelleher, who made the most of his unexpected opportunity.
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: How we collapsed at the most important moment of the season – those two results from Man United absolutely killed us.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3.5
David Lynch
Player of the season: Virgil van Dijk
Young Player of the Season: Jarell Quansah
Most Improved Player: Harvey Elliott
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: Another season cut short due to injuries.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 4
Sam Milne
Player of the season: Alexis McAllister
Young Player of the Season: Harvey Elliott
Most Improved Player: Jarell Quansah
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: That’s how self-imposed our slump at the end of the season was.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3.5
Henry Jackson
Player of the season: Virgil van Dijk
Young Player of the Season: Harvey Elliott
Most Improved Player: Jarell Quansah
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Sheffield United
Biggest Disappointment: The mentality shown in both Old Trafford games. So weak there, over and over again.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3.5 seems about right – three would be rough, but doesn’t guarantee a four.
Adam Beattie
Player of the season: Alexis McAllister
Young Player of the Season: Harvey Elliott
Most Improved Player: It’s really tricky, but I’d probably have to go with Jarell Quansah in terms of the jump he’s made in one year.
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: Two results at Old Trafford.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3.5
Chris Williams
Player of the season: Alisson
Young Player of the Season: Jarell Quansah
Most Improved Player: Alexis McAllister
Season Goal: Alexis McAllister vs. Sheffield United
Biggest Disappointment: Darwin Nunez and April’s weak mentality.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3 and winning the League Cup saved him from 2.
It was a season that looked promising but was ultimately let down by a mental collapse, on the pitch and in the dugout, with the title in their own destiny and the Europa League final within easy reach.
Carl Matchett
Player of the season: Virgil van Dijk
Young Player of the Season: Jarell Quansah
Most Improved Player: Joe Gomez, but Caoimhin Kelleher definitely deserves a mention.
Season Goal: Combination of Wataru Enda and Trent Alexander-Arnold against Fulham
Biggest Disappointment: Trent Alexander-Arnold, singles. Collectively, the absolute loss defensively and offensively over the last three months indicates really poor preparation/coaching/mentality/drive.
Overall Season Rating out of 5: 3. For eight months, the domestic form was better than expected, but the last two months were almost minus two. Winning the cup saves that.
Results
Overall, we’re going with Mac Allister as player of the season, with Van Dijk a close second.
The best youngster was between Elliott and Quansah, so we decided to give Elliott the young player of the season award, while Quansah gets the most improved award.
Goal of the season goes to Mac Allister for his sublime strike from outside the boot against Fulham on December 3, a match packed with contenders for the award.
Overall, we rate the season a 3.5 out of 5. If the season had stopped in April, we could have been looking at full ratings, but the late collapse dampened spirits significantly.
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