The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have announced their Team of the Year for 2016. The list includes four players each from Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, who sit in first and second on the Premier League table.
From the original big four, only Arsenal and Manchester United have representation, with Hector Bellerin the only player from Arsenal, while David de Gea is the only Manchester United player in the team. Dimitri Payet rounds up the team, making him the only member from the pleasantly surprising West Ham United team.
The four members of the high-flying Leicester City team are captain Wes Morgan in defence, defensive midfield genius N’Golo Kante, attacking winger Riyad Mahrez and striker Jamie Vardy, who surprised everyone earlier this season by becoming the first man in the Premier League era to score in 11 consecutive matches and has 22 goals in the Premier League.
Tottenham have been a very solid, enterprising unit under manager Mauricio Pochettino, and that has clearly shown in their results, including their recent 3-0 demolition of Manchester United at White Hart Lane.
The players who make it to the PFA Team of the Year from Spurs are left-back Danny Rose, centre-back Toby Alderweireld, midfield sensation Dele Alli and striker Harry Kane, who currently leads the Premier League scoring charts with 24 goals.
Harry Kane, Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, N’Golo Kante and Dimitri Payet have also been nominated for PFA Player of the Year for 2016, while Dele Alli and Harry Kane are part of the PFA Young Player of the Year nominees as well.
Dimitri Payet has shown his quality by helping West Ham challenge for the Champions League places, as they lie just four points off of a top four position. The Frenchman has been at a different level with his set-piece taking abilities, and has scored nine goals and provided nine assists.
Hector Bellerin is the only selection from Arsenal, as the young Spaniard has made the right-back position at the North London club his own. He has been solid in defence and has provided great energy and effort when going forward.
David de Gea is the only representative from Manchester United in the team, and rightfully so, havig kept 14 clean sheets so far this season, the highest of all goalkeepers. Playing behind a defence that though has conceded only 30 goals, behind only Tottenham, he has protected his team to the maximum of his abilities.
Only two players from last year’s XI retain their place
Interestingly, Harry Kane and David de Gea are the only two members to have retained their spot in the PFA Team of the Year, indicating the tremendous the Premier League has seen this season. All the members of the Chelsea team who made it to the team last year weren’t part of this year’s selection as the Blues faltered badly in their title defence.
Another interesting aspect was the omission of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil from the team, who didn’t make it despite having contributed six goals and 18 assists in the league. Sergio Aguero was another player who had a case to be part of the team, as he sits level with Jamie Vardy on 22 goals
The team was announced a few days earlier than planned, as a leak on social media had given the team out to everyone. The PFA decided to give out the names of the players part of the team today itself rather than Sunday, the 24th of April, on which day the trade union’s award ceremony is scheduled to be held.
