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Everyone except the Manchester United fans are up in arms over Paul Pogba's selection in the PFA Team of the Year announced over last week, especially since The Red Devils have lost 7 out of the last 9 games they have played in. Twitter had a field day trolling the French midfielder, remarking that his inclusion over Chelsea's Eden Hazard and Tottenham Hotspur's Christien Eriksen defies all logic.
The PFA Team of the Year is intended to be a selection of the best players in each position, based on performances this season in the Premier League. Manchester City and Liverpool dominate the team, with 5 players each, Pogba being the lone exception.
City's Ederson got the nod in goal ahead of Liverpool's Alisson. Liverpool's marauding wingbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson occupy the wings with PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk partnering Aymeric Laporte in central defence. Manchester City's Fernandinho and Bernardo Silva occupy midfield along with Paul Pobga. City dominates the forward line with Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling along with Liverpool's pace merchant Sadio Mane
Looking at the stats, Pogba has contributed 13 goals and 9 assists for the Red Devils this year. Eden Hazard has 16 goals and 13 assists to his name while Christien Eriksen has 7 goals and 12 assists to his credit. But fans and pundits alike felt that in terms of inspiring their club and overall impact, Hazard and Eriksen outshone Pogba this season.
The Frenchman came under fire last weekend for his lazy lackadaisical play as Manchester United meekly surrendered to Manchester City 2-0 in the Manchester derby. His inability to inspire the Red Devils has lead to criticism from all quarters including club legends like Roy Keane and Gary Neville. Fans also alleged that Pogba's goal numbers are inflated due to a number of penalties he has scored this season.
Chelsea fans were especially angry that Sadio Mane was included ahead of Hazard despite the Belgian playmakers having more goals, assists, key passes per game and man of the match awards this season. Other notable exclusions were Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson, who lost his place to Ederson and Liverpool attacker Mohammed Salah as well as Tottenham winger Son Heung-Min.
