Rodri snub highlights flaw with PFA awards
WHAT more does Rodri have to do to get the recognition he deserves?
He came from nowhere to block a certain Liverpool goal at Anfield and secure a point, scored City’s crucial winner at Arsenal in January and kept his head to stoke home a titledefining equaliser on the last day.
Without Rodri’s contributions, the Blues would not have won the Premier League.
Yet looking at the PFA Team of the Year, you could be forgiven for thinking they hadn’t, as six Liverpool players were represented in a team that will only give more credibility to Pep Guardiola’s claim that ‘everyone in the country supports Liverpool.’
Like Rodri, there was an inexplicable exclusion for Tottenham’s joint-Golden Boot winner Heungmin Son. West Ham’s Declan Rice may also feel aggrieved to have been left out, especially because, in their place, Thiago Alcantara and Cristiano Ronaldo were named in the team, which is voted for by fellow professionals.
Thiago and Ronaldo have been brilliant, in fairness, so this is not to diminish their contributions to Liverpool and United. But have they been better than Rodri and Son and Rice? Not a chance.
Rodri started far more games than Thiago, scored seven goals compared to one, scored those vital goals, made those crucial blocks and won possession in midfield over 11 times more than his closest rival with 170 battles won. However impressive Thiago was for Liverpool, Rodri was indisputably the best holding midfielder in the league.
However, Liverpool and United players are easier choices for a footballer who likely doesn’t give more than a few seconds thought over who gets in their ‘best XI’ of the season.
They can be forgiven for just voting for the players in the best form at the time, who were also having good seasons. It’s an approach that will more often than not pick the best players in the league, but not always.
That is because the PFA awards are voted for in the spring, not at the end of the season.
So Rodri’s brilliant run-in won’t have been taken into account, nor will Son’s late push to an impressive Golden Boot.
As for the main award, Kevin de Bruyne’s peak of form right up to the final day, pushing City through their 12-game unbeaten run to win the title, was overlooked for Mohamed Salah.
Again, Salah is not undeserving of the title, as he has been brilliant all season. But he didn’t win the league, and if there was an end-of-season vote he may have lost out to City’s talisman.
Ultimately, the Blues won’t care too much as they have the Premier League title again. Liverpool can have their Team of the Year places as a consolation prize.
But the results will only support Guardiola’s idea that there is a general bias in the country towards Liverpool.
An easy way to find out would be to vote on the PFA awards after the season finishes, but that would be too obvious.