Why Alisson will never wear the Liverpool captain's armband despite being vice captain

Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has added goalkeeper Alisson to his senior leadership group along with Dominik Szoboszlai, Joe Gomez and captain Virgil van Dijk.

Alisson is the new gaffer's vice captain having been at Liverpool for the last eight years and contributing hugely to the Reds' successes in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup under Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot.

But the Brazilian goalkeeper is not as close to the captain's role as his vice-captain status would suggest – at least not when it comes to being Iraola's nominated leader on the field of play.

"[Premier League] rules on only the captain being able to speak to referees means Alisson won't wear the armband if Van Dijk isn't on the field," Liverpool reporter James Pearce posted on X.

"That honour would go to Szoboszlai or Gomez."

Alisson's ceremonial acknowledgement is more meaningful than the right to wear an armband but Liverpool's apparent reluctance to give him the captaincy in a match situation is indicative of change in a sport where goalkeeping captains are by no means uncommon.

'Only the captain' guidelines were introduced by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) into the Laws of the Game under Law 3 prior to last season.

They are optional for competition organisers and the Premier League elected to adopt them in an effort to minimise dissent and surrounding the referee.

That's why we've all noticed such a clear improvement in players' treatment of referees over the past 12 months...

"Stronger collaboration between the referee and the team captains can help instil fairness and mutual respect," state the guidelines adopted by the Premier League a year ago.

"In this regard, so that the referee can explain key decisions, only the captains will be allowed to approach the referee, provided that they do so respectfully and conduct themselves as such.

"At the same time, it will be the responsibility of each captain to ensure that their team-mates remain a reasonable distance from the referee and do not interfere in the interaction between the referee and the team captain(s)."

Contravening those guidelines in the Premier League should result in a yellow card for the offending player. It doesn't take a big leap of imagination to understand why this might lead to a reduction in the number of goalkeeping captains, though the guidelines do account specifically for that eventuality.

According to the guidelines: "Where the goalkeeper is the captain, the referee must be told, no later than at the coin toss before kick-off, which player is nominated to approach the referee instead of the goalkeeper."

In that situation either the goalkeeper or the nominated player, not both, is permitted to approach the referee.

That being the case, Alisson's new status is a good indication of why a goalkeeper might be able to serve as a team's captain quite normally from kick-off, but be of little use as the next cab off the rank during a game should an outfield captain be substituted or dismissed.