Player of the season nominees: Manuel Neuer

With the season having ended, Sportskeeda decided to let its viewers rate the 30 best players of the season.

We will be shortlisting 30 of the best performers this term, and let you pick your winner.

What do you think? Have your say at the end of the article.

Manuel Neuer celebrates after winning the Champions League

Every year we start off the football season with the pre- season transfer window, and the official one later. During these transfer windows, we often hear rumours about certain players leaving their current clubs to join either rivals or foreign competitors. When these rumours are floating around, you hear stories about how some forwards, mid-fielders, or even defenders go for unbelievably large sums of money. But one part of the field isn’t as rosy as the others.

A goalkeeper is one the most important members of the teams, and they are the ones that the whole team turns to in dire situations; be it shoot-outs, or one-on-ones, they are the ‘saviours’ of the team. But in most cases their heroics remain unsung, considered almost the back room staff if you will. They may be forgotten, but this piece will make you wonder why they don’t go for ridiculous sums of money in the aforementioned ‘Transfer Market’; why some, if not all should be paid as much as the forwards.

One of those players is Manuel Neuer.

Manuel Neuer, born on 27th March,1986 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, is the first choice ‘keeper for reigning German and European champs Bayern Munich and the German national team. Known for his brilliant reflexes and excellent shot-stopping abilities along with an unmatched distribution rate, he is my pick for the best player of the season.

Having made his debut in 2006-07 season of the Bundesliga with Schalke, and ever since he made his record transfer of €22million to Bayern Munich, he has rightfully cemented his place as the first choice ‘keeper for both Bayern and the national team. He has kept the most clean sheets in the league and is credited for being one of the main reasons for Bayern’s dominance this season.

His fantastic control of the box and constant rearrangement of his back-four speaks volumes about the respect this man commands in the team. At the ripe age of 27, he is already regarded as one of the best ‘keepers in the world; only greater things can be expected when he touches the age of 30, usually the time when goalkeepers peak.

His stats in the 2012-13 season of Champions League are mind-boggling, Neuer posted four clean sheets in a row versus both Juventus and Barcelona. In the finals, Neuer posted eight saves en route to Bayern’s fifth UEFA Champions League title. The game featured great football from both ‘keepers, with Neuer ending up on the winning side, having only conceded once on a penalty shot.

Having played almost every minute of the season for Bayern and the German national team, this tireless shot-stopper never fails to amaze viewers of his skill, saving almost every shot on goal. Let’s have a look at his performance in the season gone by.

Manuel Neuer – Top saves 2013:

Match of the season

There is no doubting the fact that there is no match where he is bad per-se, and it is equally tough to point out his best performance. But his performance in the Champions League Finals in 2013 stand out for me.

Robben may have been named man of the match, but Neuer was the biggest winner, without whom Bayern would never have won the title. Without him, Bayern Munich could have surrendered three or four goals and been out of it after about 40 minutes. He was almost never caught out of position. This was best highlighted by his save on Lewandowski’s shot in the first half.

Save of the season

Best saves come in the best matches and at the most crucial times. Neuer did justice to that claim. As said before, he was almost never caught out of position, and his save on Lewandowski’s shot is by far the most crucial save of the year. Had he not saved that, Bayern could have been reeling and that one goal could have opened the flood gates and led to a drubbing, given Dortmund’s scoring capabilities.

There is no denying the fact that he is one of the world’s best, and can only get better with age. He might even surpass Oliver Kahn as Germany’s greatest ‘keeper, and might one day captain this extremely talented Bayern team, and who knows, may even wear the armband for Germany some day.

He does have his downsides mind you, he is still human. But his ability to overcome his difficulties and improve those aspects of his game have made him the player he is today.

He is, without a doubt my pick for the player of the season. Please leave your thoughts by voting below.

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