The PFA announced the Team of the Year last night and with almost no surprises in the squad, many felt a bunch of worthy players could have made the XI given their influence and contribution to the Premier League this season.
While Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Toby Alderweireld seemed obvious choices, there are a bunch of players across the teams who fans would argue deserving of a spot. These players irrespective of position on the field have greatly helped their team to rise to respectable positions on the table.
Here are five players who should have been included in the PFA Team of the Year according to stats and their overall contribution to the game:
#5 Eric Dier
While it's almost impossible to replace N'Golo Kante from the defensive midfield position, Eric Dier did come close in plenty of aspects. The English international has been a mainstay in the Tottenham Hotspur midfield alongside Moussa Dembele and fellow star Dele Alli but when compared to the best in Kante, Dier does come ahead in a few aspects.
As a defensive midfielder, the number of interceptions you make could decide how your team counter-attacks and while Tottenham have been excellent with the likes of Cristian Eriksen and Harry Kane, Kante has miles ahead of Dier with 134 interceptions when compared to only 77 Dier has made.
The former Sporting Lisbon man, however, has been the better passer of the two having made 1483 successful passes when compared to only 1043 successful passes by Kante. Dier has also made 19 blocks as a midfielder this season, 8 more than Kante outlining why he could've been the PFA Team of the Year as well.
#4 Nacho Monreal
Possibly the only surprise in the PFA Team of the Year was the inclusion of English left-back Danny Rose. The Tottenham Hotspur man has been in fine form for Mauricio Pochettino's men this season but his North London rival Nacho Monreal has been head and shoulders above him in every aspect of the game.
While Rose has made 33 interceptions in the League, Monreal has a huge 95 to his name. This trend continues even when you compare some of the other defensive aspects of the game. Rose won a total of 47 tackles while the Spaniard won 51 of his tackles.
Monreal made nearly double the successful passes Rose made with 1368 to his name while the Englishman made only 683. Monreal also bettered Rose in the number of blocks each of them have inside the box with the Spaniard having made 11 crucial blocks as compared to only 8 Rose has made.
#3 Hugo Lloris
Another Tottenham Hotspur who should've made the list ahead of the one chosen in the PFA Team of the Year is Hugo Lloris. The Frenchman has had a silent season but an extremely effective one at that comfortably outclassing Manchester United's David de Gea in every aspect of goalkeeping.
While David de Gea conceded a total of 28 goals, Lloris has conceded only 24 but that is also testament to his strong defence. His save figures, however, quash any doubts of being the inferior keeper because he's made an average of 2.82 saves per goal as compared to 2.63 De Gea has made.
To his distribution and passing, Lloris has been a step above David de Gea with him recording a better distribution accuracy of 67% compared to David de Gea's 61%. Lloris has also made more successful passes forward with 428 reaching his teammates safely while the United shot-stopper only made 260.
#2 Mesut Ozil
While the Team of the Year included some big names, it didn't include the biggest midfield name of the Premier League this season. Arsenal's Mesut Ozil has been head and shoulders above everyone else in the Premier League including the two attacking midfielders on the team in Dele Alli and Dimitri Payet.
The elephant in the room is probably the assists with the German recording 18 so far in the season while both Alli and Payet combined have assisted 18. Ozil has also created the most number of chances for his teammates with 131 clear-cut chances in the league as compared to Alli's 49 and Payet's 100.
Ozil also has 113 key passes to his name while Payet has 91 and Alli has 40. The former Real Madrid also found his teammates the most with a successful pass completion of 87% when compared to Payet's 80% and Alli's 75%.
Lastly, Ozil's number of successful passes in the Premier League this season is so high the other two figures look embarrassing. The German has made a total of 1753 passes while Payet has 905 and Alli only 782.
#1 Sergio Aguero
The Manchester City forward has played 7 games less than Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy and is yet on par with the two of them. Sergio Aguero has scored 22 goals this season in the Premier League – the same as Leicester's Vardy who is on the Team of the Year.
Even though Aguero has played lesser games than the Englishman, Aguero has played more successful passes to his teammates in the final third having recorded 549 passes to his name while Vardy only made 385.
Aguero has created the most number of chance for himself to get on the scoresheet when on the ball having made a total of 54 successful take ons be it defenders or midfielders while Vardy has only created 36 chances for himself.
