I didn’t get the chance to say this in my last post but I’m back! I’m gonna be back to my poorly spelt and grammatically incorrect best again and just to prove how back I am, please see the footage below proving this.
That was my penalty save in our 2-2 draw against West End Terriers last weekend. I’m the 3rd cluster of pixels on the left, if you just look closely and squint your eyes a bit it’s definitely me...truth be told I’m a little disappointed this was recorded on a potato cause that save was worthy of Match of the Day!
Below is the team that was voted and I must say there were no surprises that Spurs and Chelsea would clean up with 8 out of the 11 players playing for one of the London clubs. The other three players have come from Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton.
Now for the most part I can’t argue with these players being included, they’ve all had good seasons and deserve to be considered...but in my opinion there were some players that deserved to be in this team more than others, and that is what today’s post is gonna be about.
Goalkeeper
David De Gea got the nod for the PFA team of the years number 1 spot and for me this was the biggest shock. I’ve always been a firm believer that David De Gea is the best keeper in the Premier League and needs a move to Real Madrid to really spread his wings and become a Spanish legend. But this season he’s not been at his best, putting in some average performances but not making those world class saves that we all know he’s capable of.
I know most clubs in the Premier League could argue their keeper deserved this spot but for me it was between Jordan Pickford and Tom Heaton. Now although Pickford has been by far the busiest goalie in the league, I feel like Heaton has been the best!
The Burnley captain makes on average 4.2 saves per game in the Premier League which (especially compared to David De Gea’s 2 saves per game) is an amazing achievement. I can understand the choice of De Gea when you take into account that he has 12 clean sheets so far this season 3rd most in the league, while Heaton in 7th has managed a, still impressive, total of 9.
I could probably write an entire post about how I think Heaton deserves it over The Spaniard and to be honest I may do in the next few weeks but there’s still the rest of the team for me to go through so I’m gonna just move on now.
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| Heaton has made a whopping 125 saves in the Premier League this season, more than any other goalkeeper. |
Defence
The PFA team of the year’s defence was made up solely of Chelsea and Tottenham player. With this I have to completely agree on but out of the four they chose I’ve only chosen one of them in my team.
Kyle Walker, David Luiz, Gary Cahill and Danny Rose were included in the team. All four have had great seasons, playing parts of two of the best defences in the league. Now all of these lads deserve a spot in this team, I’m not disputing that, but for me I thought there were a number of players more deserving.
I’ve gone for a 3-4-3 formation because it’s been a revolutionary formation this season for Chelsea and for my first centre back choice of Cesar Azpilicueta. The Spaniard has seriously impressed me this season, making 2.1 tackles, 2 interceptions and 3.3 clearances on average per game. What I was most impressed about was how his move from right back to centre back seems to have not fazed him at all, looking like he’s played there his entire career.
My second centre back is Toby Alderweireld who has been surprisingly overlooked after putting in some stellar performances for the Lilywhites this season. He makes on average 1.4 tackles, 5.7 clearances and surprisingly only 0.8 interceptions per game. Those stat’s a quite good but his best trait is that he’s only made on average 0.3 fouls per game! That means that he makes one foul ever four games. Putting the likes of Mascherano and Pepe to shame.
Finally I’ve gone with David Luiz in the third centre back spot. I have criticised this guy ever since he first joined Chelsea in 2011 so what I’m about to say is a first...David Luiz has been class this season. Over the last couple of weeks Luiz and Cahill haven’t been at their best but you can’t deny he’s been great, making on average 1.2 tackles, 2.1 interceptions and 5.1 clearances per game. I have to say the main reason I’ve added him to this list is because of how much he surprised me with his performances.
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| I'd be happy with that back three in front of me |
Midfield
I’ll start though with the mini-maestro himself; Eden Hazard. The Belgian international has been a revelation for Chelsea over the years, fitting into their counter attacking style so well using his amazing decision making ability to devastating effect. There are so many wingers in the world which don’t know what pass or cross to play or when to play it and Eden Hazard definitely isn’t one of them. He very rarely makes mistakes in the final third.
For the second year in a row Dele Alli and N’Golo Kante share the centre of midfield together in the PFA team of the year. Dele Alli didn’t have the best start to the season but is currently on 16 goals and 5 assists in the league and looks set to carry all the blame from future England fans when we get knocked out the World Cup by Qatar or San Marino…
N’Golo Kante has been my favourite Premier League player for the last 2 season’s now. I was worried that once he’d moved to Chelsea I’d begin to dislike him but he still shows the same work rate and desire that he had at Leicester. He makes 3.5 tackles and 2.4 interceptions on average per game! That is insane! For me the guy deserves a the player of the year award, a knighthood and the right to shag any Chelsea fans missus.
Now Sadio Mane has been great this season don’t get me wrong but for me there has been a better player marauding down that left hand side all season; Marcos Alonso. Like David Luiz, Alonso’s last stint in the Premier League wasn’t successful being relegated with Bolton, but he’s come back and boy is he back. He’s maybe not the best footballer in the league but has provided some important contribution to Chelsea’s title bid in both defence and attack this season.
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| This team is very Chelsea orientated so far...God it'll be embarrassing if they don't win the league |
Strikers
There was a lot of competition up front this season, so many players have scored around the 20 goal mark. Both the striker from the PFA team of the year will be appearing in my team but with one added extra who could arguably improve any team in the world right now.
Striker number one in my team of the year is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Genuinely thought he was passed it when Manchester United signed him from PSG and I’m so glad I was proven wrong. The massive Swede has knocked in 17 goals this season which is not unlike Zlatan but what has impressed me most is the fact that he averages 2.4 key passes per game. A really impressive stat which surprised me if I’m honest.
My next striker has scored 20 goals in 24 games, in any league that is an impressive stat to have. Harry Kane has been class this season, arguably the best striker in the league. I wrote a piece on the “One Season Wonder” earlier this week where I talked about how good this guy is, I honestly believe he could make it at Real Madrid and the like if he was given the chance. Read my last post for more info on him.
Last striker and last player is Romelu Lukaku, another player that I have written about before. Where Kane uses his brains to get goals, Lukaku uses his physical ability to bully his way into goals, which looks like it's working as he’s got 24 goals so far this season. He reminds me so much of Drogba it is unreal and, as I’ve said a million times before, Everton will be lucky to keep him next season.
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| Combined these three have a whopping 61 goals and 20 assists between them |
And there it is my team of the year. Feel free to comment yours below or use the BBC website to make your own up in Team of the Year. I’d also like to add that all the stats came from WhoScored.com so if you look into them and fancy calling me a moron, please direct any issues to them.
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| I literally only made these pictures up myself because the BBC website wouldn't let me put Marcos Alonso on left wing... |
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