Alongside the Australian, Brazilian, Canadian, Indonesian and South African branches, our association will vote for our choice. Those votes will be pooled with the other associations and the award will be announced by Manchester United legend Gary Pallister at the “United Nights” event the evening before the final home game of the season against Swansea City.
The nominees are as followed :
David de Gea
The Spaniard had mighty big boots to fill when he arrived at Old Trafford. He struggled with the glare of the media in his first few games but has blossomed into one of the key performers as the club stormed to the top of the league in the second half of the season. Important saves in games against Stoke, Chelsea, Liverpool, Norwich and Blackburn have underlined the youngsters value and justified why the club were so keen to sign him.
Jonny Evans
Often much maligned and occasionally suffering from lack of confidence, Evans has had the season of his life to be the standout defender at United. Indeed, he appears to have completely transformed himself into a continental style defender, often bringing the ball out from the back with a swagger - this more adventurous approach has resulted in him creating goals and also scoring them (he notched his first at Wolves). This is all well and good but doesn’t explain just how good he has been at the back - creating a solid partnership with Rio Ferdinand, reading the game and using the ball more intelligently have all been fantastic improvements for Evans.
Michael Carrick
It’s a lazy analyst who says that Carrick has improved this season/the last 6 months. Truth is, his form at the back end of last season, particularly in Europe, made him a vital part of United’s machine. Injured at the start of the season, Carrick may have had reservations seeing the high-octane, high pressure football that Anderson and Tom Cleverley were producing in tandem but once both succumbed to injury and the North East midfielder got recalled, he was never in danger of being dropped again. His composure and accuracy of moving the ball around has been vital in getting United some consistency, and his partnership with Paul Scholes - which, at times last season, looked ordinary - has been one of the most regal in modern memory for the club. Michael has also seemed to add more confidence to exert his influence on games; and when on song, he is a real jewel in United’s crown.
Paul Scholes
It says something that a player who only played half a season after coming out of retirement can be considered a front runner for such an award. Yet such is the case; United have, at the time of writing, yet to lose a league game Scholes has featured in since his return, with the only dropped points coming at Stamford Bridge in that stunning game. If Michael Carrick is the most improved midfielder in the league, then Scholes is performing to the standard which everyone else should be judged by - almost always the man of the match when he starts a game, master dictator and a genius sense of timing that hasn’t deserted him and crucially has seen him among the goals. The return of Paul Scholes might - should, for that matter - go down as one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s master strokes, and for that reason, he is among the nominees for the Player of the Year award.
Antonio Valencia
Another player who missed out early season through injury who might have wondered how he might get back in the side; Antonio Valencia needn’t have worried. The lightning quick Ecuadorian has lit up the Premier League again with his old school wing-play style; a direct, penetrative threat reminiscent of Andrei Kanchelskis. Antonio has terrorised full backs all season, and really grew into showing his worth over the business end of the season, as an invaluable weapon of destruction on the counter, particularly in crucial away games. 13 assists in 23 games at the time of writing will inevitably rise, fitness permitting - there is no greater endorsement than recognising that at the start of the season, Ashley Young’s signing to the club looked like all winger positions were up for grabs. Valencia is untouchable on that right hand side.
Wayne Rooney
That Rooney has broken the 30 goal barrier for only the second time in his career should tell its own story. This season has been almost as much as Rooney’s maturing as a player as it has been him playing well or scoring goals; the number 10 is now United’s “go to man” in the big games. In head to heads against Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool, Rooney has notched 11 goals in 10 appearances. He’s also developed the knack of scoring when not playing well; if hitting the back of the net during those periods of underperformance might not seem like an obvious reason to put Rooney on such a list, then his form when on song most certainly is - at times when he has been in his pomp, the English forward has looked unplayable. As United’s most important player, and hitting over 30 goals, there is no doubting that Rooney’s nomination is richly deserved.
2 comments:
I would have voted for Scholes, but there's no button for him.
Aye, I with held my vote as well because I would have voted for Scholes.
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