Apart from winning the Top scorer’s prize in the Premier League, there are a couple of other awards that players would like to pick up and the PFA did reveal who those players could be this season. We are of course talking about the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Last year it was Harry Kane who took the Young Player of the Year award and this year too there are some great additions to the list.
The full list for the Young Player of the Year award features Dele Alli of Tottenham, Jack Butland of Stoke City, Harry Kane of Tottenham, Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley from Everton and Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool.
While many would argue about the inclusion of some of the players, especially the likes of Lukaku and Kane simply because they have been playing in the Premier League for a number of years, the one name that does stick out is that of the Liverpool attacker, Coutinho.
The Liverpool attacker has been part of the side for a few years now and at the age of 23; he probably should not have been on the list. There have been calls for the likes of Anthony Martial to be brought into the list but was this selection right?
The Brazilian wonder vs. The French express
Anthony Martial is one of the fastest players in the Premier League and he came with a huge price tag of 36 million pounds, which could rise to 58 million if he does attain certain targets. The youngster came from Monaco and showed his ability when he took Liverpool for a ride as he scored against Manchester United’s bitter rivals.
Martial has been one of the few Manchester United stars who has had a decent season, he has played 26 Premier League games this season while Philippe Coutinho has played 21. However, it is the Brazilian who comes in with more passes as he completes 36 per 90 minutes compared to 23 for the 20-year-old French forward.
Even when it comes to key passes, it is the Brazilian Coutinho who slightly shades the United striker with 1.7 key passes per 90 compared to 1.11 for Martial. The most surprising stat is that the Liverpool man actually ends up scoring more regularly than Martial.
Coutinho scores 0.37 goals per 90 while Martial only comes in with 0.32 goals per 90. Even when the duo is running at defenders, it is Coutinho with the better take on completion rate with 61% compared to 45% for Martial.
The stats do have it in the favour of the Liverpool man, Coutinho might have played in the Premier League longer but he has the numbers to back it up as well and him being in the PFA list is not wrong by any stretch of the matter.