We keep dominating YPOTY and POTY. We also keep having perhaps the best defender in the world. Alderweireld this year. Vertonghen won the world defender stats battle his first year. Kaboul was there or thereabouts one year. And then there was Ledley. Lloris (though I nearly said Forster) Bellerin Alderweireld Koscielny Rose Kante Dembélé, Mahrez, Payet, Vardy, Kane YPOTY Alli (though technically Kane is even more deserving) POTY Mahrez MOTY Ranieri TOTY: Leicester Eriksen has had about the quietest top season of any Spurs player I can remember. Second most chances created numbers, excellent goals plus assists, and to my eye he’s the player who knits the team together.
De Gea Walker Alderweireld Morgan Daniels Mahrez Kante Alli Payet Kane Vardy POTY Mahrez YPOTY Alli MOTY Ranieri Runner Up Eddie Howe
Kane would be NOWHERE NEAR player of the year for me. His form has been very patchy, and he's gone through periods where he's missed a number of sitters. If we'd had Kane of last season we'd be ahead of Liecester now imo. I'd have Dembele in the team of the year as well, probably in place of Alli.
Lloris Antonio Alderweireld Morgan Rose Mahrez Kante Alli Payet Kane Vardy Although I don't think a 4-4-2 suits those players at all! POTY: Alderweireld YPOTY: Alli (it's an absolute shoe-in. There'll be media-driven carnage if he doesn't get it) MOTY: Jose Mourinho
And he's still top scorer as I type. If he finishes with the golden boot then he has to be in with a shout for POTY.
It is precisely his form last season that has made this season so impressive. Last year he was a completely unknown quantity very much helped by the element of surprise and the fact that no-one had defended against him before. He started this season with an enormous burden on his shoulders and has been double and treble-marked on a regular basis. For the first month or so of the season, it looked as though that pressure had gotten the better of him. But since that lucky goal against City, he really hasn't looked back and has silenced every single naysayer and doubter with another superb campaign.
I don't think that's accurate. I'd say he started poorly, then ran into form, then had another long run where he really only scored penalties, before coming back to some decent form in the last few games. Very grateful for his contribution, and very excited about the future, but I wouldn't put him in our top half dozen players this season.
I’m with you on Dembélé (though not really on Kane.) I tried to pick the team that would be able to challenge a top team after a year or so together. So I picked Dembélé to pair with Kante in midfield. The front four were harder. Mahrez, Payet and Kane were straightforward. I finally changed my mind and took Vardy over Ozil because Ozil is such a stealth #10 that he disappears completely when the action heats up. Vardy would add pace. The problem is I agree a 4-4-2 wouldn’t make sense for this team. So I’d stick either Kane or Vardy on the wing and hope for the best. I know Kane is effective on the right.
I have to agree with @RobSpur without the penalties propping Kane up I'm not sure we'd be considering him as a POTY candidate. Give those to Eriksen or A.N.Other and he drops off the radar. Good season, but I think he is better than he's shown us this year - whereas I think Mahrez, Payet, Toby and Vardy really have been playing at their pinnacle. I've also been hugely impressed with Ighalo in a fairly poor Watford side. Arnautovic worth a shout too perhaps as an unsung hero. That being said I suppose Mahrez and Vardy have had their fair share of pens too.
I'd struggle to place 6 players ahead of him tbh. Hugo, Toby, Rose, maybe Dier although he is significantly better when Dembele is next to him, maybe Alli. Who else? Erisken perhaps but he also went through a couple of patches this season where he was doing much of a muchness. My main point was to highlight the fact that Kane's season must be viewed in the context of last season and the pressure that placed on his young shoulders, especially when he woke up on Sept 1st and again on Feb 1st and probably thought to himself 'that bald bastard has left it all for me to do on my own'! Of the players mentioned above who could be ranked higher than Kane, only perhaps Dembele and Rose - both of whom were fighting for a regular spot - experienced anything remotely resembling that pressure, but nothing anywhere near comparable. Kane has had to adapt his game to the reality that wherever he goes he is double and treble marked, and I feel that he has done so amazingly. What I love about him is that his game is about so much more than scoring goals, as he once again demonstrated on Sunday with that scrap to win the ball off Blind then a beautiful out ball to set Eriksen off for our goal. A huge number of Alli's goals have been down to Kane dropping deep at precisely the right time, taking a defender or two with him for Alli to run into and exploit the space left behind. Kane plays with an intelligence and calm that belies his age, and I think it is wrong to judge him merely by how many goals he had scored - which happens to be a truckload as it is.
Kane at the start of the season, despite not scoring, wasn't actually playing that badly, I can't remember the individual performances in games too well in particular right now but there was only one I think where I thought he was completely ineffective and should've been subbed off. I think he just hit a patch where keepers seemed to be on their best form when playing us, he was hitting off some cracking shots and the keepers were just being equal to them all. Then he got the stroke of luck vs City and then the hat trick against Bournemouth and began his crusade to throw the early season form behind him and prove to the footballing world he's no one-season wonder. Besides, Kane isn't just a goal-scorer in my opinion, it's the goal stats that seem to define him (which I suppose is fair as that's what strikers are there for) but I truly appreciate his overall contribution to our style of play, he works incredibly hard for the side and has often been involved in moves that have seen others grab the limelight with a well taken goal, there aren't many strikers out there with the team ethos he has, the sheer fact he still manages to score a ridiculous amount with what you'd usually consider to be associated with a "greedy" striker, it shows the level he's at and being just 22, it's scary to think how good he can become. I'd definitely say he deserves to at least be a contender for both the POTY of YPOTY awards.
The shortlists are out: Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year Dimitri Payet (West Ham) Harry Kane (Tottenham) Jamie Vardy (Leicester) Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) N'Golo Kante (Leicester) Riyad Mahrez (Leicester) Men's PFA Young Player of the Year Dele Alli (Tottenham) Harry Kane (Tottenham) Jack Butland (Stoke) Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) Romelu Lukaku (Everton) Ross Barkley (Everton) Not a lot of controversy, though I don't think that a few of them should stand any chance of winning their respective categories.
Wonder what the odds are on having a Leicester player get 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Nobody could argue against it if we win the league. I think it'll be; 1) Mahrez 2) Vardy 3) Kane
Can't understand why Toby is not on the list for player of the year. Is there a rule that it has to be a midfielder or striker?
Apparently. Not a defender on either list and only one keeper. Barkley and Ozil or Dier and Alderweireld? Bellerin also fails to make the youngster's category.
From those lists I'd say: 1st. Mahrez. 2nd. Payet. 3rd. Kane. 1st. Alli. 2nd. Kane. 3rd. Lukaku. Hate having to rate a West Ham player so highly but Payet really has been immense. I initially did say Kane over Alli in YPOTY but taking into consideration this is Dele's first season in the Prem and contributed well in goals and assists, I think he just pips Harry now. Like PNP says, there's not much to argue with in terms of the nominees, only slight gripe I'd have is Toby not being a contender in the POTY considering he's been our best player (could also say Dier in the Young) but defensive players rarely win the award anyway.
Forgot about Bellerin, though he's not exactly someone I try to remember lol. He should definitely have been a contender for the young category.
Not really. He's not been better than the 6 nominated and he's not been the best centre half in the league this season.
