Alisson Named Liverpool Vice-Captain but Rules Prevent Armband

Alisson Becker has been promoted into Liverpool’s official leadership group as vice-captain – yet Andoni Iraola has made it clear the Brazilian will not be the man wearing the armband when Virgil van Dijk is off the pitch.

The reason is not about personality, status, or influence. It is about the rulebook.

Why Alisson won’t wear the armband

Under updated Premier League regulations, only the captain is allowed to speak to the referee about contentious decisions. For Iraola, that makes it impractical for a goalkeeper to be the official captain.

He spelt it out: if a flashpoint occurs in the opposition box, it is no use having the captain standing 80 yards away.

“I explained to Alisson that it's not going to be possible that he wears the armband because with the new rule I think there is a big limitation if a goalkeeper wears the armband,” Iraola said.

“Because basically, if something happens in the opposition box the referee has to explain to the captains what's happening, all the decisions.”

Iraola has lived this before. At Bournemouth he worked with Neto as captain, and the logistics quickly became a headache.

“I had one season with Neto in Bournemouth and then you have to start every game to say a different player that can act as a captain, and this is not viable,” he said.

So while Alisson has been formally confirmed as vice-captain, the armband will typically move to an outfielder when Van Dijk is absent. Dominik Szoboszlai, last season’s player of the year, is expected to be the primary stand-in skipper.

Alisson, at the club since 2018 and now into the final year of his contract, has been given the context face to face.

“I wanted him to feel like we value him,” Iraola explained. “I've had enough time and we will have more time to know each other, but I had to explain also the decision about the armband to Ali.

“Because he is a goalkeeper and unfortunately they are putting the rules in a way that there is a lot of disadvantages to having a goalkeeper as a captain.”

New leadership group after big departures

With Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah gone, Iraola has reshaped the dressing-room hierarchy.

He confirmed that Szoboszlai and Joe Gomez – now the club’s longest-serving player – are part of the new leadership group alongside Van Dijk and Alisson.

The departures of Robertson and Salah strip Liverpool of years of know-how and presence, but Iraola is not alarmed by the shift.

“We lost a lot in terms of experience, high-level players who have performed so well for so many years here,” he admitted. “But I think it is also a natural thing in clubs.

“I think we have a lot of young players willing to take those minutes and ready to take those leadership roles. Overall, I am very happy with the attitude of the players in the pre-season.”

The armband may move, the rules may change, but Iraola is betting that the authority inside this Liverpool side will come from more than just a strip of fabric.