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We are into the final stretch of the Premier League 2018-19 campaign and our season has somewhat started to take shape. Liverpool and Manchester City are battling it all out for the title whilst Spurs, United, Chelsea, and Arsenal are playing catch-up for the remaining Champions League spots.
Fans around the world have witnessed stellar performances in the league this season with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero and Eden Hazard running the show again, as they have been doing in recent years. However, these superstar players often overshadow the contributions of other team members whose understated qualities and contributions remain equally important.
The media, critics, and football pundits have a habit of judging players on the basis of their goals and assists. People often seem to neglect the fact that football is a team sport where each pass, tackle, and interception count.
In the following article, we take a look at five unsung heroes of this remarkable Premier League season. Let us dive in.
#5. Matteo Guendouzi
It is safe to say that Unai Emery has had a decent first season in charge of Arsenal. The club parted ways with their legendary manager Arsene Wenger after a 22-year spell at the end of last season. Since then, the Gunners have settled in well through the transition period and fans have seen glimpses of the new, exciting era which is taking shape at the Emirates.
This season’s Arsenal is not the greatest side on-paper, but still, possess some of Europe’s greatest talent on-show. The likes of Ozil, Lacazette, and Aubameyang are world-class in their own right, along with Ramsey, Koscielny, and Monreal who have been great servants to the club.
However, Emery has shown that he does not shy away from giving the young players some responsibility. His philosophy matches with the club’s ambitions and the recent acquisitions of German goalkeeper Bernd Leno (26), Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira (23) and Denis Suarez (25) reflected just that. Alex Iwobi, Hector Bellerin, and Maitland-Niles have come to the Arsenal forefront through the academy ranks in recent years. However, the find of the season has to be the young French teenager Matteo Guendouzi.
The 19-year-old midfielder already has 24 appearances in his debut Premier League season. People who haven’t watched the youngster in action must think that he is only used for substitute appearances, however, Guendouzi has started 18 games out of a possible 28. The French U21 plays in a three-man midfield with Torreira and Xhaka in Emery’s midfield and has somewhat cemented his place in the starting XI after composed displays on a consistent basis.
The midfielder has been likened to fellow countryman Adrien Rabiot, who himself has been in the news lately regarding his impending transfer from Paris Saint-Germain. Guendouzi has a long way to go before becoming a world-class player, but his raw ability is highly impressive.
Lying deep in midfield, he does not pose a serious goal threat but fans have applauded his brilliant work ethic and positional awareness. He often takes up the left side in the middle of the park, often combining with full-back Sead Kolasinac, who makes his marauding sprints. He even slots into left-back when the Bosnian remains further forward.
Matteo Guendouzi’s ability is evident, and his dream debut season at Arsenal is just the beginning of many great things to come.
#4. Georginio Wijnaldum
Liverpool looks absolutely unstoppable this season as they pose a genuine title threat for the first time since their 2014 quest under Brendan Rodgers. And with their prolific strikers Firmino, Mane and Salah in top gear, it is almost impossible to believe that they are going to slip up again this season.
Klopp’s signings over the last couple of years have proved worth their hype and money, especially Brazilian number one Allison and Dutch powerhouse Virgil Van Dijk. With the additions of these world-class players at the back, Liverpool’s defense has finally restored its unassailability, something that the fans haven’t witnessed since the Carragher days.
Though Klopp has assembled a formidable front-three and a solid back four, the only concern he would have in this new-age Liverpool side is their mediocre midfield options.
Fabinho and Keita were big-money signings who did exceedingly well at Monaco and Leipzig respectively but are yet to take the Premier League by storm. Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain been injured for the majority of the season while James Milner and Jordan Henderson lack that creative spark. In such a scenario, it was essential for the Reds to have someone like Gini Wijnaldum in their midfield: someone who has an assured defensive presence, an attacking instinct and a knack for goals.
The Dutchman has impressed with his consistency this season. He was touted to be a benchwarmer after the arrivals of Keita and Fabinho but has instead become his German manager’s go-to guy. Since his debut in 2015, only Coutinho (13) has more assists than Wijnaldum (11) from midfield.
People tend to focus on the fact that Liverpool’s title credentials are only dependent on their star-studded front-three of Salah, Mane, and Firmino or their resolute backbone of Van Dijk and Allison. However, Wijdnaldum has proven to be the glue that holds it all together.
#3. Fernandinho
It is absolutely baffling that a 33-year-old Fernandinho still makes this list given his remarkable consistency and dependability in Manchester City’s midfield over the years. The Brazilian was signed from Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk by former boss Manuel Pellegrini in his first season in charge of the club, who even then, would not have thought that the Brazilian would go onto become a veteran figure at the Etihad.
Fernandinho is massively underrated in this galactico-esque City team, but Pep Guardiola’s side often seems to have a man short when the Brazillian is on the sideline.
The midfielder is the first name on Pep’s team and is quintessential for the way City play. Fernandinho is a one-man force, tirelessly shielding the back four, saving the midfield’s skin, intercepting, tackling, blocking counterattacks and paving the way for City’s prolific quintet of De Bruyne, Sane, Sterling and both the Silvas to explode.
Pellegrini would often play Fernandinho with another defensive midfielder, mostly Yaya Toure, in a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, Pep’s arrival in 2017 meant that City’s system changed to the Catalan’s trademark 4-3-3. The Brazilian, therefore, is deployed as the lone defensive midfielder, which shows Guardiola’s immense faith in him.
Fernandinho, at 33, is already past his prime years and the City hierarchy are looking for players to replace their seasoned midfielder. Recent reports have suggested that the likes of West Ham United’s Declan Rice, Wolves’ Ruben Neves or Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele could be likely successors for Fernandinho.
Fernandinho injured himself in City’s penalty-shootout win at the Carabao Cup final in Wembley which handed them their first silverware of the season. With Guardiola’s men still alive in the FA Cup, Champions League whilst hunting for back-to-back Premier League titles, Fernandinho becomes all-the-more important for Manchester City’s quest to glory.
#2. Harry Winks
Pep Guardiola once taunted Pochettino’s Tottenham side as “the Harry Kane team”. Surely, Spurs, at times, have overly relied on their center-forward to bail them out of difficult situations. However, due to Kane’s injury concerns this season, Spurs have relied on their other Harry to deliver the goods.
The only positive which came out of Spurs’ recent defeats at Burnley and Chelsea was the performance of 23-year-old Harry Winks. Though Pochettino stole all the headlines at Turf Moor after his altercation with referee Mike Dean after the fine whistle, it was Winks who impressed fans and pundits with his assured performance in midfield.
The Englishman plays in a deeper role, behind Eriksen, dictating play, dominating and getting on the front foot. He has, in a way, got the best out of his Danish teammate who is allowed to then float into pockets behind the opponent’s midfield.
Winks’ position does not offer a genuine goal threat, however, he might have scored one of Tottenham’s most important goals of the season, the last-ditch winner at Craven Cottage. The young midfielder was also superb in Spurs’ night of the season so far at Wembley when they beat Bundesliga high-flyers Borussia Dortmund.
Winks is a life-long Tottenham fan and wanted to play for the North London club since childhood. Having joined the Spurs youth academy at a tender age of six, Winks has, through the ranks, slowly and eventually come onto the front-fold of the first team under Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine slots him in midfield beside Moussa Sissoko. The pair almost complement each other, with Sissoko’s ruggedness and Winks’ playmaking skills from deep. Pochettino relies on Winks for his composure on the ball, his brilliant ability to move the ball quickly through tight spaces.
Winks is already a fan-favorite among the supporters, and everybody at Tottenham will be hoping that their budding superstar keeps his consistency and goes onto become a legend at the club.
#1. Bernardo Silva
Manchester City fans have seen some splendid performances this season, with stand-out players such as Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane running the show again for the runaway champions of last season. Pep Guardiola’s deadly trio already has 37 goals this season, only one less than Liverpool’s lightning front-three of Salah, Mane, and Firmino (38).
Amidst the talk about statistics, fans and pundits, what is often unnoticed is the contribution by Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese midfielder has been stellar for City this season after a slow start to life in Manchester. Silva had a brilliant 16/17 season with Monaco where he managed to win the Ligue 1 over current champions Paris-Saint German and also played a key role in eliminating City from that season’s Champions League Round of 16. Having joined City for a meager 30 million pounds, the 23-year-old midfielder was a peripheral figure at the Etihad in his first season, reduced to substitute appearances.
This was so because the dynamic duo of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva were playing a different ballgame altogether last season. This season, however, with David Silva aging and De Bruyne struggling with fitness, the Portuguese has become the main man in City’s midfield. City fans tout Bernardo as the perfect successor to his namesake David Silva.
Versatile, quick and intelligent, Bernardo has covered the most ground in the Premier League this season. His performance in the all-important 2-1 victory against Liverpool at home in early January created a buzz with the tireless midfielder setting a Premier League record of covering the most distance (13.7km) in a single game.
Silva’a natural position is on the left side of City’s midfield three but at times, even takes the RW position when needed. In certain games, Pep has even deployed the midfielder in a false nine role. The give-it-all attitude and humble demeanor make Bernardo a loved figure in the dressing room with City players and even Pep repeatedly showing their love for the Portuguese. Bernardo Silva is a player of the present and the future, and we are lucky that we will be able to witness him for years to come.
