Premier League Awards if The Season Gets Cancelled
In the midst of uncertain times facing society and of course football, I think we are all looking for alternative ways to keep ourselves occupied.
So, I’ve decided whilst we’re all missing football, to give a little reminder of the season so far and the awards (some of them are made up) I would give to individual players and managers if the season gets cancelled.
Premier League Player Of The Season:
Jordan Henderson - Liverpool
Now this might be a bit of a left field option, but I personally don’t think there has been a player in any other team this season that has been as important and as missed when injured as Henderson has been for Liverpool.
He has hardly put a foot wrong; he’s added goals and assists to his game recently too and he has been the epitome of a great club captain, getting his side over the line in the ugly games.
Most improved Premier League Player:
Fred - Manchester United
The Brazilian didn’t start the season that well and he continued to show little evidence of why he caught the eye at his time with Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, since around October time he has cemented his place as a first team regular and his performances since have got better and better.
I don’t think there is another player in the Premier League this season who has improved as greatly as Fred has, he is unrecognisable from the player who made just thirteen starts in his debut Premier League season.
Worst Premier League Player:
Frédéric Guilbert - Aston Villa
The right-back who signed from Caen for £4.5 million last summer has proven to be the worst piece of business Aston Villa have done since their move back up to the Premier League.
He has been torn to pieces time and time again by some of the stronger wingers in the league, no more notably than when Harvey Barnes had a field day against him in the last game Villa played before the season’s suspension. Leicester won that game 4-0 and Barnes scored twice but throughout the entire 90 minutes, Guilbert simply couldn’t cope with Barnes’ intuition, pace and strength.
It really stood out as one of the worst individual performances of the season and it wasn’t even against one of the leagues more threatening wingers.
Golden Boot:
Jamie Vardy - Leicester City
With 19 goals for Leicester this campaign and two ahead of Arsenal’s talisman Aubameyang, Vardy has had another extraordinary season for Leicester.
The irony being; it was the two goals he scored in the last game before the Premier League was suspended that took him ahead of Aubameyang as the runaway leader. It ended a goal drought for Vardy, his first goal in 10 games and he went on to score another just 16 minutes later.
There was a question whether he might come out of retirement like so many before him and play a part in England’s Euro 2020 journey but with the tournament being moved back to 2021, it seems very unlikely he will now.
Golden Glove:
Nick Pope - Burnley
In quite a remarkable turn of events, Burnley’s Nick Pope wins golden glove having kept 11 clean sheets, one more than Henderson, Allison and Schmeichel who all have 10.
This didn’t look at all likely until Burnley’s return of form in January and since then Pope has kept a clean sheet at Old Trafford, at home to Arsenal, at home to Bournemouth and away to Newcastle.
Subsequently Burnley have moved up to 10th in the table, having previously been in a relegation battle.
Pope has been heavily praised for his performances and has made a strong claim for England’s number 1 jersey.
Manager of the Season:
Jürgen Klopp - Liverpool
Considering how dominant and consistent Liverpool have been this season and how easily they were on course to win their first Premier League title, I think it would take away from how well Klopp has done as the manager of Liverpool and how far he’s taken them since he was appointed if he didn’t win this award.
However, it wasn’t an easy choice, Liverpool have recently lost their first Premier League game of the season, a 3-0 humiliation to relegation threatened Watford, but it’s the achievements of another manager that made this particularly difficult.
Chris Wilder at Sheffield United has been an incredible story and he’s handled the transition to the Premier League seamlessly - his side even have an outside chance of making the Champions League next season.
If the Premier League decide that the season can’t go ahead, then as things stand Sheffield are 7th, which with Manchester City’s European ban, is high enough for Europa League football next season.
For me that is an incredible achievement for a club on such a small budget and Wilder deserves heaps of credit for the way he’s set his team up and how Sheffield United have been such a difficult team to play against this season.
Do you agree with these decisions?
Have your say in the comments below.
Article by: Harry Dunnett
Edited by: Samuel Slaney
Thumbnail by: Samuel Slaney
Images from: Premier League & Metro