Kevin looks all set up to be named top playmaker
KEVIN de Bruyne, Leroy Sane and David Silva are the leading contenders to win the inaugural Playmaker of the Year.
The Golden Boot was given out from the inception of the Premier League in the 1992-93 season to honour the player with the most goals, while the Golden Glove was introduced in 2004 to recognise the most clean sheets.
And the league have now decided to make it a trio of awards by marking the most assists in a single campaign.
Unsurprisingly in a year when City have dominated the league table and the rest of the individual nominations, it is three Blues that lead the race.
De Bruyne is out on his own with 15 assists, followed by Sane on 12 and Silva on 11. Tottenham’s Dele Alli (10) is the only other to make double figures so far.
Thierry Henry holds the record for the most assists in a single campaign with 20; with City’s five remaining opponents currently all residing in the bottom seven of the table, De Bruyne will feel he has a chance of catching his Belgium coach.
Ederson is still in with a shout of winning the Golden Glove in his debut Premier League season, but is currently two behind United’s David de Gea.
With Sergio Aguero facing a battle to play again this season after undergoing knee surgery, any remote chance of a City player catching Mohamed Salah for the Golden Boot look over. KEVIN de Bruyne and David Silva, but no Fernandinho?
It’s a bit like having Two Musketeers, or giving thanks to the Father and the Son but not the Holy Ghost.
And yet PFA members have selected City’s two attacking midfielders and left out the man who provides the platform on which they perform, preferring Spurs’ Christian Eriksen.
The injustice does not stop there, even though five City stars – De Bruyne, Silva, Sergio Aguero, Kyle Walker and Nicolas Otamendi – HAVE made it into the players’ select team.
Leroy Sane was one of six nominations for the senior player of the year award, as well as being favourite for the young player award – and yet does not make the team.
Raheem Sterling has been brilliant, influencing results and destroying defences all season, and he is not mentioned.
Of course, it’s a tough task to pick your team of the year, not least because of the array of attacking talent – in particular – which is on display.
It is hard to argue against Liverpool ace Mo Salah, or prolific Spurs man Harry Kane, and yet that means denying both Sane and Sterling.
But the omission of Fernandinho is close to scandalous.
Maybe you need to have watched City closely all season to appreciate the true worth of the Brazil star.
Guardiola certainly appreciates him – he reckons he would win everything with ten Fernandinhos in his team.
You can be sure Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino does not feel he would win anything with ten Eriksens, class player or not.
Eriksen has had a fine season, scoring ten goals and making nine assists, opposed to Fernandinho having three and three.
But in just about every other statistic – and using your own eyes as evidence – Fernandinho is way ahead. The amiable midfielder has been a key player for City since his £30m move from Shakhtar five years ago, but he has taken his game to a new level this season. He breaks up opposition attacks, drops into central defence, leads the transition from defence to attack, and launches the Blues forwards repeatedly. He has the steel of Vincent Kompany, the touch of Silva and the passing quality of De Bruyne – and every now and then he scores a thunderbolt goal. Eriksen is more of a niche creative player, albeit a very good one, so comparing the two is difficult – and the vagaries of voting mean it is impossible to pick a balanced side through a poll. But if you ask 20 Premier League managers which player they would have if given the choice, you can bet that the majority would pick Fernandinho. And the rest deserve the sack! Stuart Brennan