Top 5 candidates for the 2014/15 PFA Player of the Year award

The 2014/15 Premier League season is nearing its climax with just seven more games to go in what has been a thrilling season. We’ve witnessed some players rise to stardom; new signings hitting the ground running and the usual suspects showing their class yet again.And now it’s almost time for judgment day. Who has been the best player in the 2014/15 season of the Barclays Premier League? Who is next in line to join a league of legends like Thierry Henry, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Gareth Bale, Robin Van Persie and Luis Suarez as the next PFA Player of the Year?Here is our take on the Top 5 candidates for this year’s award which will be announced on 26 April. Honourable Mentions: Sergio Aguero and Nemanja Matic

#1 Eden Hazard - Chelsea

This is Eden Hazard’s third season in the Premier League and he was included in the shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year in his first two seasons but came up short. Maybe third time’s a charm.

Hazard lost out to Gareth Bale for both the Player of the Year award as well as the Young player of the year award in the 2012/13 season, but he was included in the Team of the year. Last season he lost out to Luis Suarez who took home the Player of the Season award, but he won the young player of the year award and so this time around the Belgian will be hoping to go one step further and win both awards like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale before him.

The Belgian has been the most consistent performer for Chelsea this season and he has now become an indispensable member of Jose Mourinho’s squad amidst rumours of interest from other clubs. The 24-year-old has scored 12 goals this season and has provided 7 assists as well, but his impact on the game cannot be assessed by goals and assists alone.

His insane close control and dribbling skills make it difficult for opposition players and this often draws his marker out of position or even brings in an extra defender to deal with him. The advantage of this is that it often leaves space for his teammates to run into and gives his side greater attacking threat.

Hazard is the Premier League’s most successful dribbler and is second in Europe in that list, just behind Lionel Messi and that alone is a testament to his ability.

#2 Alexis Sanchez - Arsenal

When Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez there were some doubts about the necessity to sign the player as the Gunners already had other players who could play in his position, but the Chilean has cast all such doubts aside with a dream debut season in England.

Sanchez was the shining light for Arsenal in the first half of the season even though he got off to slightly slow start. But when the Gunners were struggling to put up performances of their usual stature, it was their summer recruit from Barcelona who carried them forward almost single-handedly with his goals and therefore he was quickly labeled by many as the signing of the season. In the second half of the season, when Arsenal’s form picked up, things became easier for Sanchez and he has continued to perform well for his side.

The 26-year-old’s blistering pace, work rate, dribbling and deadly finishing are the traits that have helped him succeed in England and with a player like Sanchez up front, Mesut Ozil can now feed through balls in and expect the Chilean to latch on to them and score.

Sanchez has so far scored 14 league goals for Arsenal and has provided 8 assists as well and with stats like that in his debut season in England (20 goals in all competitions so far), one has to fear what more he can cook up in the coming seasons.

#3 David De Gea - Manchester United

So far in the history of the PFA Player of the Year award, only two goalkeepers have had the honour of winning the award and they are Pat Jennings (1976) and Peter Shilton (1978). Now, David De Gea has a golden chance of becoming the first goalkeeper to win the award in the Premier League era and etch his name in the history books forever.

The Spaniard’s incredible form this season has been one of the major reasons why Manchester United are where they are now in the EPL table. The 24-year-old averages 2.16 saves per game which is more than the likes of other top keepers like Thibaut Courtois and Manuel Neuer. This highlights the work De Gea has to put in every game and, in addition to this, his saves per goal is also more than Courtois, despite the Chelsea man having a far more superior defence in front of him.

In the early part of the season, United got off to a difficult start and were struggling to find their rhythm, but De Gea’s top class performances often gave them marginal wins or helped his side salvage a draw when the team’s performance warranted a defeat.

De Gea’s best match saving performances came in the first half of the season against the top sides. The first one that comes to mind is the game against Everton where he became the first man to stop a Leighton Baines penalty and in the dying seconds of the same game made an outstanding save to give United a 2-1 win. He followed this up with similar performances against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Southampton and then against Liverpool, where he was simply unbeatable.

#4 Harry Kane - Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham’s Harry Kane has been the revelation of the season and the youngster is enjoying an amazing breakout season. The Spurs forward is currently the joint top scorer in the Premier League with 19 goals to his name and is in line to be shortlisted for both the PFA Player of the Year as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year award. If the 21-year-old can win both the awards, then he will match the feat of players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, while also becoming the first English player to do so.

Kane’s breakthrough into the first team came at the right time for the North London club as they were struggling with striker problems after experienced players like Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor consistently let the team down. Mauricio Pochettino started the season with Adebayor and Soldado as his preferred strikers, but a string of good performances from Kane in the Europa League and the League Cup thrust him into the starting eleven in league games as well – and he hasn’t looked back ever since.

Interestingly, before the Gameweek 31 in the league, Harry Kane’s goals have contributed to 22 points for Tottenham this season which is the highest in the league and he is far ahead of his teammate Christian Eriksen, who is in second place with 13 points coming from the Dane’s goals.

#5 Diego Costa - Chelsea

Chelsea signing Diego Costa was like finding the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Over the last two seasons, Chelsea have struggled with misfiring strikers and that has let them down on a consistent basis. This is precisely why they signed Costa from Atletico Madrid to complete their team.

Costa’s Chelsea career got off to a blistering start when he scored seven goals in his first 4 games for the Blues. The Brazilian-born Spanish international’s tenacity, work rate and aggression makes him a perfect striker for a manager like Jose Mourinho and his relentless pressing makes life very hard for the opposition defenders.

He has proved to be the perfect answer to Chelsea’s problems and has found the back of the net 19 times this season even though he went through a lean patch in the latter half of the season. In addition to this, he has also provided 3 assists this season. Some of his goals have come against tough opposition like Liverpool, Arsenal, Southampton and Everton thereby making his goals all the more valuable.

Costa’s goalscoring statistics have come despite the fact that he has missed several matches through injuries and suspension. But for Chelsea to succeed in all competitions in the coming seasons, he will have to keep himself fit and out of trouble.

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