PFA Player of the Year

I’ll start this post by saying that this is probably one of the greatest PFA Player of the Year Awards in a long long time. Three Leicester players are on the six man shortlist for the prize and it's still anyone’s to win after a season in which a lot of dark horses have exceeded expectations.

Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante have been the big names who’ve carried Leicester to the top of the league whilst Harry Kane is the current Premier League top goalscorer and is helping in Tottenham’s fight for the title.

There is also Dimitri Payet who is having an amazing first season in the Premier League and is looking to get a Europa League spot with West Ham and Mesut Ozil who needs just 3 more assists to beat the record for most assists in one Premier League season...so...who’ll win it?

Now before I give my list I do want to point out it's only my opinion. If I put a player in sixth it’s simply because I think some players have done more to deserve the award, not that they are bad players or have had bad season. All these players have had amazing season.

Now the sixth position was already a tough one. For me it’s between either Payet and Ozil which seems to have been a battle that has lasted the entire season between Arsenal and West Ham fans. But in my opinion...Ozil has had a better season so far.

The bug-eyed fucker has managed to rack up 18 assists and 6 goals in 30 appearances and has been the main creative threat due to Alexis Sanchez not really putting in the same performances as he did last season. Don’t get me wrong though, Payet has been outstanding but with less goal coming from the Frenchman I felt that Ozil had just edged him.

A few things I would like to point out is that Payet was injured for a few months near the beginning of the season and you could tell West Ham missed him. He has had an amazing season for the Hammers and looks to be a player who can lift West Ham to the next level. If there was an award for it, he’d definitely get signing of the season.

The next best for me is going to be Jamie Vardy. A season in which has seen him achieve a Champions League spot with Leicester, break Van Nistelrooy’s record for consecutive goals and score his first England goal (against World Champions Germany no less) has got to be the best season of this lad's life.

So for him to finish fourth in the PFA Player of the Year Award after all this I don’t think he’ll really be too upset. He’s fit in with The Foxes quick, aggressive style of play, he looks to be exactly what England need...I’m just gutted he’s 29. In my opinion he might make it to World Cup 2018 but after that he’ll be overlooked...he’ll still probably score more World Cup goals than Rooney in this time.

The bronze-medalist in my list is Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian has come out of nowhere, had an absolute stormer and has been the most creative player for Leicester this season. I think without this guy they’d have finished well outside the top four. With 16 goals and 11 assists Mayrez has deservedly turned the heads of some Europe’s elite and wouldn’t look out of place in any of those sides judging on this season’s performances.

He, like Vardy, has added to the underdog story that is Leicester City’s season. He came in after some seemingly average season’s at Le Havre and I imagine even Nigel Pearson wasn’t expecting him to make a return this well. It’ll be a struggle for The Foxes to keep this 25 years old for next season no doubt.

Only two players are left and both are deserving of the award but my vote would have to go to...Lee Cattermole. Sublime player, defends well, attacking genius, how he never got an England call up is beyond me…

Jokes aside the PFA Player of the year for me has to go to N’Golo Kante. Harry Kane has been outstanding this season. Like I said earlier he is the Premier League’s top goalscorer, has played a vital role in Tottenham’s push for the title and he’s English what’s more to love?

I like Mr Tottenham simply because he can score any type of goal and doesn’t really have that yard of pace that so many young strikers rely on. For me the fact that he doesn’t need pace means he’s going to be scoring goals right up until the end of his career. Could possibly beat Shearer’s record someday...but I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Anyways N’Golo Kante is the Player of the Year in my book. The France international has played the most unglamorous role of all the players in the shortlist which just shows how brilliant he has been playing this season. In my opinion he has played this role as good as Makelele and looks to be another Fox who could be looking for pastures new next season.

I, as well as the whole of Leicester, am praying he doesn’t go though. His intelligence on the pitch has been breathtaking to watch this season, with his tackles, interceptions and all round presence being another huge factor in Leicester's jump up the league.

He had some giant shoes to fill in midfield this season after the club lost Esteban Cambiasso and after Kante’s performances so far the shoes actually look a little small on him. Like Mahrez, N’Golo is only 25 and if Leicester really want to cement themselves as a Champions League team they need to keep this kid.

And that’s it, my take on the PFA Player of the Year Awards. I’m certain I’ll have a few Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham fans complaining their players should have been higher on the list but it’s such a tough choice I think most fans might struggle. I bet Leicester fans on the other hand don’t give a shit, they’ll all be shit faced over the Champions League football they’ll be feasting on next season haha.

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Cheers for reading.