With the PFA awards fast approaching, we at soccersouls, decided to make a mention of the names who are in the running for the award for the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Player of the Year. The players will be casting their votes in some time for the awards which are to be held on 26th April. Some of the players who are in the forefront to receive the award are:
Harry Kane – 29 goals, 44 appearances
Tottenham have flattered to deceive us, season after season, threatening to reach the aura of the higher throes of European competition – the UEFA Champions League, but languishing in the Europa League. Harry Kane, a north Londoner, has looked to break the ceiling – of Tottenham’s performances and expectations, as well as his own – going on to show that English players can surge upwards in the best football league. Harry Kane was not a first-team regular, but with Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado on the wane, he has grasped his chance with both feet and his head, running with the ball past oppositions and scoring goals at will.
Alexis Sanchez – 20 goals, 43 appearances
Arsenal have always been one of the most creative teams on the pitch, but their performances have been mostly bark with hardly any bite, as their creativity has not translated into enough goals to let them command the Premier League table. Arsenal have always missed out on a killer performer, with all the players and the staff to rally around. Alexis Sanchez, an inspired buy, has looked to change that, as his endless running, power and ability to thwart defences before unleashing fearsome shots has given Arsenal an end-product, who has not faded away like most Arsenal stars – through career-stalling injuries.
David de Gea – 13 clean sheets, 37 appearances
The only goalkeeper among a set of forwards who has proved his worth by putting in top-display performances for Manchester United and remaining the last, unbreachable line of their defence, week-in and week-out. David de Gea has been the only constant in a team which has been chipped and chopped at by Louis van Gaal, pulling off save after save and putting games to bed, turning lost causes into winning glories. Now linked to a club in his homeland Spain, David de Gea will be revered if United reach the UEFA Champions League next season, with their insipid performances over most of the season.
Diego Costa – 18 goals, 30 appearances
Diego Costa was a star in Atletico Madrid’s 4-0 demolition of Chelsea a couple of years ago. Today he dons the Chelsea jersey and demolishes other teams while representing them. One of the new guard to replenish Chelsea’s striker stocks, his introduction to the Premier League resulted in 7 goals in 4 appearances. He does not back down from a fight – to leave an indelible mark on the opposition by scoring and destroying their confidence. A dodgy hamstring has not let him play a run of games together, but he is more to willing to knuckle down, taking pride in representing Chelsea, where the fans love him and oppositions do not.
Sergio Aguero – 23 goals, 31 appearances
Sergio Aguero has been the shining light in a below-par season by City’s standards. In a season in which they were truncated by FFP, with their number of players in the UEFA Champions league squad being reduced from 25 to 21, and the remaining strikers at the club misfiring, with Stefan Jovetic and Eden Dzeko not living up to their deadly potential and Alvaro Negredo moving back to Spain on a season-long loan, Sergio Aguero has lifted their game and has covered for the one-dimensional play that City have shown, when he has not been on the treatment table for a slew of injuries, which has left City rudderless for most of the season.
Eden Hazard – 17 goals, 44 appearances
Eden Hazard was the winner of last year’s Young Player of the Year award. He has used that as motivation to try and claim the bigger prize, but that may not be enough this season, as new names have burst into the Premier League and taken it by storm, with their ability to dazzle and impress. Eden Hazard’s game may have improved ten-fold from last season, where he was Chelsea’s saviour in the face of largely un-innovative play from their forwards in the final third of the opposition’s half, but Jose Mourinho has added a host of faces to add creativity to a field which he dominated last season.
Unfortunately, Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale, the winners from 2012-13 and 2013-14 have moved to the La Liga, where they ply their trade for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Hopefully, the winner this year will be content to stay in the Premier League and continue to delight us with performances that can catapult his team to the top-end of the Barclays Premier League next season.