PFA Player Of The Year: There’s Only One Man

The shortlist for the Player of the Year Award for 2016-17 will be announced soon with a strong group of names being thrown into the hat. Last year’s winner Riyad Mahrez has somewhat disappeared this season, although winning both the player of the year and league title last year would satisfy most footballers.

Contenders

Who should make this year’s shortlist? A lot of pundits have put Zlatan Ibrahimovic on their lists because after playing in almost every league and dominating many scoring charts the big Swede has starred again in the Premier League. Personally I think a player’s success should be considered in conjunction with his club’s success, and with big-spending ManU struggling for most of the season to get above sixth place I think it would be a travesty if Zlatan won it.

What about Harry?

Another popular choice seems to be Harry Kane. When Spurs choked last season the English player was one of the few players who kept his head but many people saw him as a one-season wonder. Fast forward 12 months and Harry has continued his goal-scoring form, remaining in the competition’s top three goal scorers despite a number of injuries.

His rival Romelu Lukaku is another candidate, having scored 21 goals, but it is worrying that he has scored against just 13 teams. From a fan’s perspective, you would much rather have a striker who scores one per game rather than two or three against weaker teams.

I prefer to look for the stand-out player in the stand-out team. Chelsea has stunned everyone by breezing through this season with no real competition for top spot. There are two key figures in The Blues’ squad who have made that happen.

Hazard Lights up the Season

Eden Hazard is the first: the talisman, the magical winger and crucial goal-scoring player  but most importantly the man who digs them out of the grave. Given that he has the potential to surpass the likes of Bale and Neymar, the frightening thing is that Eden hardly looks like he is ever trying. Eleven goals and four assists probably suggest that he hasn’t been as prolific as Chelsea fans would like although his ability to change a game with a turn of pace should end any arguments about his value.

And the winner is…

Hazard’s dazzling season would not have been possible without the player who should win the player of the year award: N’Golo Kante. Chelsea seems to have an extra three players when Kante is on the pitch, which is the same impact he had on Leicester last season.

Leicester’s struggles since Kante left can largely be explained by the fact that he dominates midfield, can pass and dribble, and wins the ball back more times than any other player.

Right now he is one of the top five midfielders in the world, and with the other four playing overseas there is no doubt at all that Kante should be named the league’s Player of the Year.

He is looking at back-to-back Premier League titles with two different clubs. Wouldn’t it be interesting to send Kante to each club in the league for just one season to see if he could make every team a champion side?

 

Nubaid Haroon – Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCtMg-fWm7awR41vM1GhVOkA  Twitter: twitter.com/rambofyi

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