From Bob and Jim productions, people may have thought I forgot, but here it is: The Second Annual Bob and Jim awards of the 2022/23 season! Here, we present the winners of our world famous awards; The Pele Award, the Casillas Award, the Di Stefano Award, among others. If you aren’t familiar with these, I’ll tell you the definitions of each indiviual award, don’t worry.
We decided to do what the Ballon D’Or does, and rank the awards based on the football season, except we post them before the Ballon D’Or now, not after. Let’s start with the finalists.
Mo Salah Award
The Mo Salah award is given to the player who improved the most over the course of the season, who had a breakout year. The award is named in honor of Mohamed Salah’s breakout season in 2017-18 for Liverpool. The ranking is made based on how much the player improved over the season, rather than how good they are now, which is why Ruben Dias finished below Jonathan David in 2021, for instance.
2023 Mo Salah Award Finalists
Amadou Onana
Alejandro Balde
Alexis Mac Allister
Antonio Silva
Enzo Fernandez
Evan Ferguson
Folarin Balogun
Gabri Veiga
Goncalo Ramos
Julian Alvarez
Kaoru Mitoma
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Kim Min-jae
Moises Caicedo
Randal Kolo Muani
Romeo Lavia
Solly March
Vitor Roque
William Saliba
Xavi Simons
Bela Guttman Award
The Bela Guttman Award is handed out to the best manager in the 2022/23 Season. This award is named after Bela Guttman, one of the first iconic managers who managed from 1933 to 1973, survived a concentration camp, and took Benfica to European glory. Managers aren’t just picked based on team success, but also success and improvement of their players over the season – managers who have players who are finalists in other categories will be favored over managers who don’t.
2023 Bela Guttman Award Finalists
Eddie Howe
Erik ten Hag
Lionel Scaloni
Luciano Spalletti
Mikel Arteta
Pep Guardiola
Roberto de Zerbi
Simone Inzaghi
Stefano Pioli
Xavi Hernandez
Marcus Rashford Award
This award is for the best non-footballing gesture of the season, by a player, team, or anyone connected to a club. The award is named after Marcus Rashford for his efforts to end child poverty. There aren’t any finalists for this award, as I believe it would just be wrong to rank these gestures.
Di Stefano Award
This award is handed out for the young player in football who had the best season, not necessarily the best one. The award is named after Alfredo di Stefano, one of football’s first true wonderkids. While the award was handed out to players under the age of 22 in 2021, this time it’ll be to players under 19 years old.
Di Stefano Award Finalists
Alejandro Balde
Alejandro Garnacho
Antonio Silva
Arda Guler
Desire Doue
Endrick
El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Evan Ferguson
Gavi
Giorgio Scalvini
Ivan Fresneda
Leny Yoro
Lewis Hall
Mathys Tel
Rico Lewis
Romeo Lavia
Stefan Bajcetic
Vitor Roque
Warren Zaire-Emery
Wilfried Gnonto
Casillas Award
This award is handed out to the best goalkeeper over the course of the 2022/23 season. Since goalkeepers usually don’t win the Pele Award, we decided to create this award for goalkeepers. This award is named after Iker Casillas, one of the game’s best ever goalkeepers.
Casillas Award Finalists
Aaron Ramsdale
Alisson
Andre Onana
Brice Samba
Diogo Costa
Dominik Livakovic
Ederson
Emiliano Martinez
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Gregor Kobel
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Mike Maignan
Nick Pope
Thibault Courtois
Yassine Bounou
Pele Award
The Pele Award (known as the Sheffield FC Award in 2021) is our award for the best player in world football in the 2022/23 season. The award was renamed after Pele this year in honor of the late Pele, one of, if not the best footballer of all time, who passed away in December 2022. Instead of the usual 15 finalists, this award has 30 finalists, double the usual tally.
Pele Award finalists
Achraf Hakimi
Alexis Mac Allister
Bukayo Saka
Declan Rice
Ederson
Erling Haaland
Enzo Fernandez
Ilkay Gundogan
Josko Gvardiol
Jude Bellingham
Julian Alvarez
Karim Benzema
Kevin de Bruyne
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Kylian Mbappe
Lautaro Martinez
Lionel Messi
Luka Modric
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Marcus Rashford
Martin Odegaard
Moises Caicedo
Pedri
Rafael Leao
Robert Lewandowski
Rodri
Ronald Araujo
Thibault Courtois
Victor Osimhen
Vinicius Jr.
With that all sorted, let’s begin the rankings.
Mo Salah Award (#20-#16)
#20: Solly March
Team: Brighton
Age: 29
Position: RM
Nationality: England
While being a solid but not great piece for Brighton for a decade, this was the year Solly March truly shone. The Englishman went from 3 goals and 2 assists in 40 league appearances in the previous two seasons combined to 7 goals and 7 assists in 33 appearances. 33% of March’s goal contributions in a Brighton shirt in his whole career came last season, and alongside Kaoru Mitoma (who will also feature later on in this list), provided a brilliantly underrated front 2.
#19: Amadou Onana
Team: Everton
Age: 22
Position: CDM
Nationality: Belgium
Despite some fruitful pursuits at Lille in 21/22 and Everton’s bad season, Amadou Onana was one of the only shining lights amongst the negativity. He proved to be a star midfielder for the club, having an octopus-like reach against opponents and being an aerial threat. He was rewarded for this by being given a starting role for Belgium in the World Cup. Whoever gets him after Everton will be getting a real special player.
#18: Goncalo Ramos
Team: Benfica (Now PSG)
Age: 22
Position: ST
Nationality: Portugal
Only this low because he was already quite good when the season started, Goncalo Ramos made the massive leap this year. With Darwin Nunez gone, Ramos could take the reigns as Benfica’s starting striker, which he did with emphasis, going from 8 to 27 goals in all competitions from 21/22 to 22/23. He also joined company with Cristiano Ronaldo and Eusebio for being the only Portuguese players to score World Cup hat-tricks, and being the youngest player to score a Hat-trick in the World Cup knockouts since Pele in 1958, netting 3 in the Round of 16 vs Switzerland in a 6-1 win. He was rewarded with a summer move to PSG, where hopefully they can manage his talent well.
#17: Gabri Veiga
Team: Celta Vigo
Age: 21
Position: CM
Nationality: Spain
Veiga made one of the most massive leaps of anyone in this list, but could make it again next year if he plays his cards right. After being a regular in 21/22 for Celta Vigo’s B-Team, Veiga went on to (out of nowhere) play 67% of Celta Vigo’s total La Liga minutes as an attack-minded central midfielder, scoring 11 and assisting 4. He even won La Liga Player of the month in February, after scoring 4 and assisting 1 in 4 matches. He also scored twice to win vs Barcelona on the last day of the season. He’s been linked with most of Europe’s major clubs, such as Liverpool, Chelsea, and Real Madrid, but a move now to Napoli seems imminent, which is one of the best moves he could make in my opinion.
#16: Vitor Roque
Team: Athletico Paranaense (Joins Barcelona in 2024)
Age: 18
Position: ST
Nationality: Brazil
Brazilian players are harder to rank due to the Brazilian Serie A season being split up into 2 due to the calendar year schedule, but Roque’s brilliance has been clear for all to see, scoring or assisting every 117 minutes this season for Athletico Paranaense in the Brazilian Serie A, halving his number from last season. He’s bagged himself a move to Barcelona, which will be completed in 2024, and now has a higher market value than Endrick, who’s been in the public eye far longer than Roque.
Di Stefano Award (#20-#16)
#20: Leny Yoro
Team: Lille
Age: 17
Position: CB
Nationality: France
Honestly, Leny Yoro could be in the Mo Salah award nominees, he’s just been that good for Lille. With 16 appearances for Lille, Yoro has been part of the center back rotation for the club, with players like Jose Fonte, Alexsandro Ribeiro, and Tiago Djalo. Despite some shaky performances, Yoro has been mainly dependable and still has a long time to develop.
#19: Lewis Hall
Team: Chelsea (Now Newcastle)
Age: 18
Position: CM
Nationality: England
With the dumpster fire that was Chelsea Football Club last season, Lewis Hall was a bright light, one of the few players whose stock actually improved last season, and it did by a lot. He played 11 times for Chelsea, and he looked quite good. Not sure why they’ve loaned him to Newcastle, though.
#18: El Chadaille Bitshiabu
Team: PSG (Now RB Leipzig)
Age: 18
Position: CB
Nationality: France
Yes, this is the guy you saw in PSG vs Bayern in March who towered over everybody. He’s 18. He played 13 Ligue 1 games last season off the bench, and is a great physical talent. All PSG had to do was keep him to develop him into a very good club legend Center Back, like Presnel Kimpembe or Marquinhos. However, he’s gone to Leipzig, with minimal fuss from PSG, and will now likely develop into a 50m euro center back before going to the Premier League in 2025 or 2026.
#17: Desire Doue
Team: Rennes
Age: 18
Position: CAM
Nationality: France
The rise of Desire Doue has been insane this year. He played over 1000 Ligue 1 minutes for Rennes, scoring 3 times and assisting once, being one of Rennes’ most depended on players. I’m quite surprised more big clubs aren’t looking at signing this man.
#16: Ivan Fresneda
Team: Valladolid
Age: 18
Position: RB
Nationality: Spain
Ever since being discarded for nothing from the Real Madrid youth setup at the age of 13, Ivan Fresneda has had a chip on his shoulder. He’s been great with Valladolid this season, and was very close to signing with FC Barcelona, but they decided to go after Joao Cancelo instead. Fresneda needs to get a move out of there, as he can’t play second division football for his sake.
Casillas Award (#15-#13)
#15: Dominik Livakovic
Team: Dinamo Zagreb
Age: 28
Position: GK
Nationality: Croatia
It was business as usual for Dominik Livakovic at Dinamo Zagreb, proving himself as the best goalkeeper in the Croatian League once again, but it was a different story at the World Cup, and in a good way. He made 6 saves in 3 games in the group stage, which was good not great, but in the penalty shootout vs Japan he made 3 saves in 4 shots to send Croatia through. However, he was different against Brazil. 11 saves against the dominant team to send it to a shootout, and he saved the first shot of the shootout, by Rodrygo, to help Croatia go through. What a tournament he had.
#14: Brice Samba
Team: RC Lens
Age: 29
Position: GK
Nationality: France
This year went beyond Brice Samba’s wildest hopes and dreams. From being promoted with Nottingham Forest in 21/22 to qualifying for the UCL with Lens and making his debut for France. While it may seem very odd to see Samba on this list, but he only conceded 28 goals in Ligue 1, the lowest tally by far of any other goalkeeper, while leading Lens to their first Champions League appearance in nearly 25 years.
#13: Gianluigi Donnarumma
Team: PSG
Age: 24
Position: GK
Nationality: Italy
While it wasn’t his best season, Gianluigi Donnarumma is still one of the world’s best. Having played every single minute in Ligue 1, only conceding 40 goals with 3.3 saves per game, Donnarumma’s skill was on display for all to see as PSG won Ligue 1 once again.
Bela Guttman Award (#10-#9)
#10: Erik Ten Hag
Team: Man Utd
Age: 53
Nationality: Netherlands
Trophies Won: 1
Award Finalists: 2
It’s fair to say that Erik ten Hag’s first season at Manchester United went well. Winning the Carabao Cup, Man Utd’s first piece of silverware since 2017, qualifying for the Champions League, getting to the Europa League Quarterfinals, and helping the team start a very promising rebuild. A very solid first year for Ten Hag.
#9: Stefano Pioli
Team: AC Milan
Age: 57
Nationality: Italy
Trophies: 0
Award Finalists: 2
While it was a fairly average season for AC Milan and a disappointing title defence, AC Milan did get to the Semi finals of the Champions League, and that’s what gets him on this list. Combine that with the nurturing of Rafael Leao’s career, and you have a CV worthy of a spot in the finalists.
Pele Award (#30-#21)
#30: Alexis Mac Allister
Team: Brighton (Now Liverpool)
Age: 24
Position: CAM
Nationality: Argentina
Although his stock was low coming into the year, Alexis Mac Allister impressed a lot for Brighton in 22/23. He played 35 league games, scoring 10 times and assisting twice, but he is in here for his World Cup performance. He scored and assisted once in the World Cup, his one assist being in the final, he created 2 big chances, and completed 1.3 key passes per game.
#29: Julian Alvarez
Team: Man City
Age: 23
Position: ST
Nationality: Argentina
#28: Josko Gvardiol
Team: RB Leipzig (Now Man City
Age: 21
Position: CB
Nationality: Croatia
#27: Moises Caicedo
Team: Brighton (Now Chelsea)
Age: 21
Position: CM
Nationality: Ecuador
#26: Enzo Fernandez
Team: Benfica/Chelsea
Age: 22
Position: CM
Nationality: Argentina
#25: Achraf Hakimi
Team: PSG
Age: 24
Position: RB
Nationality: Morocco
#24: Ederson
Team: Man City
Age: 30
Position: GK
Nationality: Brazil
#23: Declan Rice
Team: West Ham (Now Arsenal)
Age: 24
Position: CDM
Nationality: England
22: Jude Bellingham
Team: Dortmund (Now Real Madrid)
Age: 19
Position: CM
Nationality: England
21: Luka Modric
Team: Real Madrid
Age: 37
Position: CM
Nationality: Croatia
Mo Salah Award (#15-#11)
#15: Evan Ferguson
Team: Brighton
Age: 18
Position: ST
Nationality: Ireland
#14: Folarin Balogun
Team: Reims (Now Arsenal)
Age: 22
Position: ST
Nationality: USA
#13: Randal Kolo Muani
Team: Frankfurt
Age: 24
Position: ST
Nationality: France
#12: Alexis Mac Allister
Team: Brighton (Now Liverpool)
Age: 24
Position: CAM
Nationality: Argentina
#11: Antonio Silva
Team: Benfica
Age: 19
Position: CB
Nationality: Portuguese
Di Stefano Award (#15-#11)
#15: Stefan Bajcetic
Team: Liverpool
Age: 18
Position: CDM
Nationality: Spain
#14: Mathys Tel
Team: Bayern
Age: 18
Position: ST
Nationality: France
#13: Evan Ferguson
Team; Brighton
Age: 18
Position: ST
Nationality: Ireland
#12: Endrick
Team: Palmeiras (Joins Real Madrid in 2024)
Age: 17
Position: ST
Nationality: Brazil
#11: Vitor Roque
Team: Atlético Paranaense (Joins Barcelona in 2024)
Age: 18
Position: ST
Nationality: Brazil
Casillas Award (#12-#10)
#12: Diogo Costa
Team: Porto
Age: 23
Position: GK
Nationality: Portugal
#11: Mike Maignan
Team: AC Milan
Age: 28
Position: GK
Nationality: France
#10: Nick Pope
Team: Newcastle
Age: 31
Position: GK
Nationality: England
Bela Guttman Award (#8-#7)
COME BACK TO THIS
Pele Award (#20-#11)
#20: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Team: Napoli
Age: 22
Position: LW
Nationality: Georgia
#19: Pedri
Team: Barcelona
Age: 20
Position: CM
Nationality: Spain
#18: Rafael Leao
Team: AC Milan
Age: 24
Position: LW
Nationality: Portugal
#17: Robert Lewandowski
Team: Barcelona
Age: 35
Position: ST
Nationality: Poland
#16: Ronald Araujo
Team: Barcelona
Age: 24
Position: CB
Nationality: Uruguay
#15: Lautaro Martinez
Team: Inter Milan
Age: 26
Position: ST
Nationality: Argentina
#14: Marcus Rashford
Team: Man Utd
Age: 25
Position: LW
Nationality: England
#13: Rodri
Team: Man City
Age: 27
Position: CDM
Nationality: Spain
#12: Martin Odegaard
Team: Arsenal
Age: 24
Position: CAM
Nationality: Norway
#11: Thibault Courtois
Team: Real Madrid
Age: 31
Position: GK
Nationality: Belgium
Mo Salah Award (#10-#6)
#10: Enzo Fernandez
Team: Benfica/Chelsea
Age: 22
Position: CM
Nationality: Argentina
#9: Moises Caicedo
Team: Brighton (Now Chelsea)
Age: 21
Position: CM
Nationality: Ecuador
#8: Romeo Lavia
Team: Southampton (Now Chelsea)
Age: 19
Position: CDM
Nationality: Belgium
#7: Xavi Simons
Team: PSV (Now RB Leipzig)
Age: 20
Position: CAM
Nationality: Netherlands
#6: Alejandro Balde
Team: Barcelona
Age: 19
Position: LB
Nationality: Spain
Di Stefano Award (#10-#6)
#10: Arda Guler
Team: Fenerbahce (Now Real Madrid)
Age: 19
Position: CAM
Nationality: Turkey
#9: Wilfried Gnonto
Team: Leeds
Age: 19
Position: LM
Nationality: Italy
#8: Rico Lewis
Team: Man City
Age: 18
Position: RB
Nationality: England
#7: Giorgio Scalvini
Team: Atalanta
Age: 19
Position: CB
Nationality: Italy
#6: Warren Zaire-Emery
Team: PSG
Age: 17
Position: CM
Nationality: France
Casillas Award (#9-#6)
#9: Andre Onana
Team: Inter (Now Man Utd)
Age: 27
Position: GK
Nationality: Cameroon
#8: Gregor Kobel
Team: Dortmund
Age: 25
Position: GK
Nationality: Switzerland
#7: Aaron Ramsdale
Team: Arsenal
Age: 25
Position: GK
Nationality: England
#6: Yassine Bounou
Team: Sevilla (Now Al Hilal)
Age: 32
Position: GK
Nationality: Morocco
Bela Guttman Award (#5-#1)
#5: Mikel Arteta
Team: Arsenal
Age: 41
#4: Luciano Spalletti
Age: 64
#3: Lionel Scaloni
Team: Argentina
Age: 45
#2: Simone Inzaghi
Team: Inter
Age: 47
#1: Pep Guardiola
Team: Man City
Age: 52
Pele Award (#10-#6)
#10: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Team: Barcelona
Age: 31
Position: GK
Nationality: Germany
#9: Victor Osimhen
Team: Napoli
Age: 24
Position: ST
Nationality: Nigeria
#8: Ilkay Gundogan
Team: Man City (Now Barcelona)
Age: 32
Position: CM
Nationality: Germany
#7: Karim Benzema
Team: Real Madrid (Now Al Ittihad)
Age: 35
Position: ST
Nationality: France
#6: Bukayo Saka
Team: Arsenal
Age: 21
Position: RW
Nationality: England
Di Stefano Award (#5-#1)
#5: William Saliba
Team: Arsenal
Age: 22
Position: CB
Nationality: France
#4: Kim Min-jae
Team: Napoli (Now Bayern)
Age: 26
Position: CB
Nationality: South Korea
#3: Julian Alvarez
Team: Man City
Age: 23
Position: ST
Nationality: Argentina
#2: Kaoru Mitoma
Team: Brighton
Age: 26
Position: LM
Nationality: Japan
#1: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Team: Napoli
Age: 22
Position: LW
Nationality: Georgia
Di Stefano Award (#5-#1)
#5: Romeo Lavia
Team: Southampton (Now Chelsea)
Age: 19
Position: CDM
Nationality: Belgium
#4: Alejandro Garnacho
Team: Manchester Utd
Age: 19
Position: LW
Nationality: Argentina
#3: Antonio Silva
Team: Benfica
Age: 19
Position: CB
Nationality: Portugal
#2: Gavi
Team: Barcelona
Age: 19
Position: CM
Nationality: Spain
#1: Alejandro Balde
Team: Barcelona
Age: 19
Position: LB
Nationality: Spain
Casillas Award (#5-#1)
#5: Emiliano Martinez
Team: Aston Villa
Age: 30
Position: GK
Nationality: Argentina
#4: Alisson
Team: Liverpool
Age: 30
Position: GK
Nationality: Brazil
#3: Ederson
Team: Man City
Age: 30
Position: GK
Nationality: Brazil
#2: Thibault Courtois
Team: Real Madrid
Age: 31
Position: GK
Nationality: Belgium
#1: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Team: Barcelona
Age: 31
Position: GK
Nationality: Germany
Pele Award (#5-#1)
#5: Vinicius Jr
Team: Real Madrid
Age: 22
Position: LW
Nationality: Brazil
#4: Kylian Mbappe
Team: PSG
Age: 24
Position: ST
Nationality: France
#3: Kevin de Bruyne
Team: Man City
Age: 31
Position: CM
Nationality: Belgium
#2: Erling Haaland
Team: Man City
Age: 22
Position: ST
Nationality: Norway
#1: Lionel Messi
Team: PSG (Now Inter Miami)
Age: 35
Position: RW
Nationality: Argentina
There it is. I was supposed to release this in August/early September but my schedule just got too busy, so I finished it now. I couldn’t write testimonials for the top players, but I’m sure it’s fine. Apologies for not releasing one in 2022, but no, I never forgot about these awards. Thank you for reading, I’ll see you soon.