Sunday 3 April 2011

Young Player of the Year - The Contenders


As we come to the business end of the season, speculation begins as to who will take the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year crowns.

James Milner was the recipient of last year's title earning himself a big money summer move to Manchester City where he is yet to shine.

With this season drawing to a close, here is a run down of this year's contenders for the coveted PFA Young Player of the Year Crown.

Gareth Bale
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Position: Left Wing

Gareth Bale really started to show the Premier League what he could do towards the latter stages of the 09-10 season, when Harry Redknapp moved the Welshman into more of an advanced left-wing role after a less than successful spell for the youngster in his more familiar full back position.

The former Southampton youngster has flourished in a more attacking role, playing with more space and freedom and being the spearhead for many Spurs attacks throughout the year, and looking to be the natural heir to Ryan Giggs in the Welsh national side.

Some of Bale's performances this season have been nothing short of breathtaking, with the whole world now starting to sit up and take notice after two devastating performances in the UEFA Champions League against Inter Milan, including a hat-trick at the San Siro.

Injuries have hampered Bale as of late and could be a deciding factor when the voting takes place, this coupled with Bale's most impressive performances coming in European competition rather than the Premier League.

Jack Wilshere
Club: Arsenal
Position: Central Midfield

Wilshere has been possibly the most consistent of all contenders in the running for this award, being one of Arsenal's outstanding performers throughout the season.

Since breaking into the Arsenal squad, Wilshere has been tipped for big things, but nobody was expecting things to progress quite as quickly as they did.

A successful loan spell at Bolton Wanderers last season really helped Wilshere settle into Premier League life and enjoy a run of first team action, a move which not only benefited the player, but proved to be a masterclass by his manager Arsene Wenger.

This season Wilshere has eclipsed all expectation showing incredible maturity in his play way ahead of his years, which has in turn captured the attention of England boss Fabio Capello.

Wilshere has now not only established himself as one of the key members of Arsenal's title challenging side, but also has been mooted as England's number one hope for the future, and hopefully the man to break the stagnant Lampard and Gerrard partnership.

Wilshere was the one shining light for Arsenal in an otherwise forgettable night in Barcelona as Arsenal were sent crashing out of the UEFA Champions League, although his domestic performances have been just as impressive.

Without doubt a future England captain, and if he isn't to win the PFA award this year, the smart money would be on him to win it at least once before he reaches the 23 year old age limit.

Javier Hernandez
Club: Manchester United
Position: Striker

"Chicharito" signed for United towards the latter stages of last season's campaign as a relative unknown, with Sir Alex Ferguson citing that they had to act before the World Cup would raise not only his profile but also his value.

This proved to be a wise move as Man Utd fans began to drool with excitement after seeing their latest recruit net goals against both France and Argentina.

A £7million price tag at the time seemed like it could be a gamble for a relative unknown, but after his debut season in the Premier League will now surely be seen as one of the bargains of the century, particularly given the nature of the inflated transfer market.

The man they call Little Pea has netted 17 times in 35 appearances so far for the Red Devils, with 11 of these coming in the Premier League.

The young Mexican has been dubbed as the natural replacement to Old Trafford legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer due to his killer instinct and eye for goal, as well as his ability to impact on a game when coming off the bench.

His frightening speed and dangerous runs have caused many problems for Premiership defences and his recent good form has kept the League's top goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov out in the cold.

A developing partnership with Wayne Rooney looks as though it could be successful for years to come.

Samir Nasri
Club: Arsenal
Position: Attacking Midfield

Nasri's third season in English football has been without a doubt his most successful to date.

The Frenchman's talent has been evident for years, but until now has struggled to keep up his good form on a regular basis.

This season Nasri has established himself as one of Arsenal's key figures, beating Andrey Arshavin to The Gunners wide left position, as well as providing an ample deputy in the middle of the park, occasionally filling in in the absence of Cesc Fabregas.

The former Marseille man has had his most prolific season in front of goal this season for Arsenal finding the net 14 times, with 9 of these coming in the Premiership.

Injuries have of late hampered his season and maybe to an extent Arsenal's title push, with Nasri trying to recapture his early season form just in time for the title run in.

At 23 years of age, Nasri will too be considered for the PFA's main award and Arsenal fans will be expecting to see more of the same next season.

Andy Carroll
Club: Liverpool
Position: Striker

Despite now being a Liverpool player, it is Carroll's hard work and efforts as a Newcastle United player which see him as one of the front runners for this season's PFA crown.

After promotion back to the big time, Geordies were hailing 'The next Alan Shearer' and a hatful of goals from their local hero in the opening weeks of Newcastle's campaign gave them every reason to be optimistic for the future.

Carroll hit the ground running in the first half of the season, and after a successful season in the Championship last season, had to problem carrying his goalscoring form up to the highest level.

An all round athlete, Andy Carroll seems every bit the ideal Centre Forward, strong, good the in the air, able to hold the ball up and he possesses a sweet left foot.

Good performances led to an England call up with Carroll and Rooney looking to be the likely strike partnership for England in the future.

But with the good performances and 11 Premier League goals came the inevitable transfer speculation, and despite Newcastle's reluctance to sell the big man, they could not resist an audacious £35million bid from Liverpool to replace the departing Fernando Torres.

Injuries have hampered his start at Anfield and since his big money January move he is yet to score first goal for Liverpool, despite netting his first International goal against Ghana at Wembley last week.

As the eighth most expensive player of all time surely Andy Carroll must be considered for the award?

Prediction

It has been a particularly encouraging season for young talent, particularly considering that 3 of the 5 front runners for this season's award are British.

While all players have offered a great deal to their clubs this season, many of the players have missed chunks of the season due to injury.

For example Gareth Bale, despite now being dubbed as one of the World's best players, he has suffered as of late from injuries and many of his best performances have come in the UEFA Champions League, whereas this award is more based on domestic performance.

As far as I'm concerned this season's award will go to Jack Wilshere.

Despite being the youngest of the five, Wilshere has been almost ever present for Arsenal this season and has slotted straight into the side without having to be eased in.

His maturity incredible to watch and his movement both on and off the ball allows Arsenal to create chances and link up with his team mates non-stop, much in the same mould that either Xavi or Iniesta would do at Barcelona.

All he needs to add to his game is to chip in with a few more goals and assists which will come as soon as he is the focal point of Arsenal's midfield.

With so much praise and so much being made of his rise, and his emergence as an important player for England, I see Wilshere taking the award, being run close by both Nasri and Hernandez.

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