It’s that time of the year again as the best players in the Premier League are feted a few weeks before the end of the season. While the league title race looks done and dusted thanks to Leicester City’s form in recent games, Tottenham Hotspur still have a chance of reeling them in if results go their way.
Arsenal and Manchester City are only in with a mathematical chance but it is highly unlikely that they can mount a challenge unless the Foxes and Spurs suffer a disastrous collapse.
The 43rd PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) Awards will be held in London on 24 April 2015 with six players in contention for the PFA Player of the Year award. We take a look at which players could make the Team of the Year for the 2015/16 season.
Formation: 4-4-2
Goalkeeper
The goalkeeper’s position was a tough one to pick with four shot stoppers in contention. Arsenal’s only summer signing Petr Cech, Manchester United’s David De Gea, Stoke City’s Jack Butland and Manchester City’s Joe Hart have had a good season in the EPL this campaign.
Butland was unfortunate to suffer an injury on international duty. A fractured ankle might see him miss out on Euro 2016 after showing so much promise with the Potters this season.
Cech was also crucial to the Gunners’ early title charge that saw them top the table briefly in December-January period. Former teammate John Terry wasn’t joking when he said Cech would save ‘12 to 15 points’ a season and he did exactly that to help Wenger’s side win all three points on numerous occasions. But he has made two errors that have led to the Gunners conceding a goal.
Hart has also been instrumental as City’s last line of defence. But the results in the league with Pellegrini’s side failing to beat none of the other top six teams could see him out of favour.
Which leaves David De Gea in pole position to take home the award. The Spaniard has been seen as the sole reason for the Red Devils staying in the hunt for a top-four spot this season. Despite shoddy defending thanks to defenders playing out of position with Van Gaal’s tactics, he has made numerous saves to keep them in the hunt.
Without him, they may well have been in mid-table and struggling to qualify for even the Europa League.
Defence
In a league that has seen its ups and downs, it has never been short on goals. As the EPL reaches yet another 1,000-goal season, the defenders have never had it any easier. But a select few have stepped up to claim these positions their own.
Our centre-back pairing sees Tottenham’ s Toby Alderweireld and Leicester’s Robert Huth. Alderweireld was only signed last summer from Atletico Madrid but had his debut EPL season at Southampton when he was on loan.
Mauricio Pochettino has done incredibly well to drill the Spurs into an effective defensive unit that has the best defence in the league. The north London side have conceded the least number of goals so far (25) and the Belgian defender has been at the heart of it all.
Defensive duties apart, he even managed to score four goals. He looked a shoo-in to be a nominee for the PFA Player of the Year award if not for the love of attacking players.
Huth impressed the Foxes enough during his loan spell last season as he completed a permanent move to the King Power Stadium. Although Claudio Ranieri’s side were leaking goals at the start of the season, they have plugged the holes at the business end as they kept one clean sheet after another. Huth also managed to score twice in the all-important 3-1 win at the Etihad that helped the Foxes extend their lead at the top.
Our full-backs see two more players from the top two with Spurs’ Kyle Walker and Leicester’s Christian Fuchs. Walker had a disastrous start to the season with an own goal in the first game against Manchester United.
But he has picked himself up since and accumulated some jaw-dropping numbers. Many would say Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin should make the team but even statistically Walker beats his numbers in both defence and attack.
Fuchs, on the other hand, has been another steal for Leicester. Signed on a free transfer, the Austrian has been ever-present on the flanks, creating chances and throwing himself into tackles to win the ball back with great success.
Midfield
Picking the players to play across midfield was a much easier task. In fact, the first four names that came up made our list!
Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil walks into this team thanks to his record-chasing assists numbers this season. For a number of seasons, Thierry Henry’s record of 20 assists in a season seemed insurmountable. Frank Lampard and Cesc Fabregas came close but never breached the 20-mark.
Ozil has six games to get three more to make the record his. He was out of the blocks early this season, racing to 16 assists by the end of December. A slow-down of sorts coincided with Arsenal’s run of poor results but the German looks to be back to his best, even adding goals to his tally.
Leicester City’s duo of Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante have been essential to the Foxes’ philosophy of winning the ball back and launching counter-attacks. Ranieri’s side have one of the lowest possession stats in the league (45% – better than only Sunderland and West Brom), which is why Kante’s league-leading 134 assists sees him in the running for the PFA Player of the award.
But it's hard to look beyond Mahrez when that award is discussed. The Algerian winger has 16 goals and 11 assists this season. Nobody else has double-digit figures for goals and assists in the Premier League. And his goals in recent 1-0 wins have made the difference in the title race.
Our fourth midfielder is one of the signings of the season. Dimitri Payet was a player who arrived at West Ham under the radar last summer. Under Slaven Bilic, the French midfielder thrived and put in performances that saw the Hammers win big away games and see them rise up the table.
Payet’s physics-defying free-kicks have become the stuff of legend and he even managed to carry that form during international duty for France. His 35-yard free-kick at Old Trafford to beat De Gea has been one of the goals of the season.
Strikers
Again, picking players to lead the line was an easier choice than selecting players for the back. And it’s none other than the two England strikers currently leading the EPL Golden Boot race.
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane currently leads the league with 22 goals. The 22-year-old had a mini goal drought at the start of the season but has come back to his best that saw him gain fame in the second half of last season. He had 21 goals last season and has already crossed that mark with five games to go.
Although the number of goals make him an automatic selection, it is the scenarios in which he has scored these goals that also give him credence. Without his goals, Spurs could easily have lost twice to derby rivals Arsenal, Liverpool and title rivals Leicester City – all of which ended in draws thanks to his goals.
His potential rival for a starting spot in Euro 2016 also makes the cut. Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy broke a long-standing record when he scored in 11 consecutive Premier League games earlier this season. With the work rate of a horse that never sees him tire, the 29-year-old has used his blistering pace to run at defences with a direct approach on the counter-attack to score, set up teammates and even win a penalty or two.
Both strikers should be on the plane to France but with Roy Hodgson insisting on taking Wayne Rooney when he returns to fitness, one of the two may miss out on some action unless Rooney is deployed deeper.
