Is Fabian a Schar thing for United’s Player of the season?
NEWCASTLE United fans are already starting to talk about who their player of the season for 2023/24 is after a testing but still potentially rewarding campaign.
With injuries ripping through the squad, it is difficult to make a case for some of the usual suspects such as Joelinton, Nick Pope, Joe Willock, Sven Botman and Callum Wilson while Sandro Tonali’s debut campaign has been hit with a global ban for breaking betting rules.
It means that there is probably only a limited pool of stars to pick from this term but that doesn’t meant there aren’t any standout candidates. Alexander Isak has 15 goals to his name so far and will get the chance to add to his tally in the final 11 matches.
Don’t get me wrong, he is a class act but in a season in which there have been one or two barren runs without a goal, he would need an explosive finish to the campaign to be talked about as United’s allround star performer and would have to trouble Alan Shearer’s type of seasonal numbers to make the cut.
Anthony Gordon should be talked about too after a solid first full season but also a campaign in which he has stepped up to the plate and brought goals to his game.
With Isak and Wilson missing for long periods, Gordon has been able to offer more than a threat.
The Scouser has 10 goals to his name and seven assists in just 38 matches and has delivered when some initially questioned his £40million price tag.
He really should be in the mix for an England call-up for Gareth Southgate’s experimental friendly matches against Brazil and Belgium at Wembley.
In terms of a model of consistency, then look no further than everpresent Switzerland international Fabian Schar.
The 32-year-old looks set to finish his career on Tyneside and through all the injury woe, he has stayed in the heart of a disrupted defence and often played on left-hand side of the defensive rearguard when Botman was out.
In the 2022/23 season it was Schar’s stunning goal against Nottingham Forest that set the tone of the season but this season he grabbed a brace away to Aston Villa
near the turn of the year in a 3-1 win to get European hopes back on track. His wonder strike against Paris St-Germain was the icing on the cake in the Champions League during the 4-1 win at St James’ Park and that will be many people’s most precious memory of the season.
The 6ft 2in defender will rightly be up there as player of the year this season and for me will probably get my vote unless something spectacular happens.
Gordon would take the young player of the year award as he started the season as an Under-23 and has now reached the end of his time as a development player in the game.
Other notable mentions will go to 17-year-old Lewis Miley who has made an outstanding breakthrough season and not looked out of place in the first-team, scoring his first goal against Fulham in a 3-0 win. One potential late candidate to possibly snatch the award from Schar will be Bruno Guimaraes.
For so long the Brazil international’s future was in the air but he has settled down for the second half of the season.
With 11 games to go in the Premier League Bruno sits on three goals and four assists. He also has two assists to his name in the FA Cup and Champions League but admitted to me recently he wants much more.
If he can push anywhere close to getting double figures the South American will have had a very steady campaign. Knowing Bruno he’ll at least want to bring European football to the table before the season is out and the FA Cup trip to Man City should be right up his street, if Newcastle do well it will probably coincide with one of Bruno’s greatest games for United.
Can somebody pip Schar in the run-in? I’m all set for an intriguing final few games for Eddie Howe’s side.