The Premier League Team of the Year often throws in some surprising names. Quite frankly nobody will be happy with everyone in the team.
However, there are some players that leave fans scratching their heads with the thought of them not being included. It is interesting however that only 2 players, Kane and De Gea, have made the Team of the Year in 2015 and 2016.
With no indication on whether the Team of the Year is based on the best performing players or the best players in the Premier League, it does always tend to leave out one or two star players.
However we at the Transfer Tavern can list 5 players that could have easily got into this year’s Team of the year.
Hit the image below to see FIVE players we can’t believe were omitted from the team!
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Hugo Lloris
Despite David De Gea being an unbelievable player for Manchester United yet again this season, he certainly wasn’t the keeper he was last year. Lloris however has been in the form of his life for Tottenham and the statistics show that Lloris definitely has a claim to De Gea’s throne.
While everybody looks at the clean sheet section, it is important to look at the other factors that come into play. Even though De Gea has kept 1 more clean sheet than Lloris ( De Gea: 14 , Lloris: 13), the Spaniard has let in 28 goals for United compared to Lloris’s 24 (The lowest of any keeper with over 20 appearances in the Premier League). It is also important to note that Lloris has even made more saves than De Gea this season with the Frenchman racking up a total of 77 saves compared to De Gea’s 74.
So while De Gea is one of the best keepers in the Premier League, in terms of performance, maybe Lloris should have got the spot in the Team of the Year.
Nacho Monreal
Danny Rose was one of the biggest shocks in the Team of the Year with a number of left backs performing well for their clubs. There is an argument to be said that Christian Fuchs deserves a spot in the Team of the year however he lacked consistency in the first half of the season.
In terms of consistency Nacho Monreal was one of the best left backs this season. He is a player that has seriously been under looked this entire season. The stats certainly prove this to be true. Rose has made 33 interceptions this season whereas Monreal has an impressive 95. Rose has won 47 tackles, however the Spaniard won 51 of his tackles.
The worst comparison of them all however is that Rose completed 683 passes in the Premier League, which is very impressive for a Left Back. But compared to Monreal’s 1368 successful passes it puts the Englishman to shame.
At the end of the day it does make you wonder that if the London Left Backs where swapped, would Rose have still got into the Team of the Year.
Chris Smalling
While, like the left back positions, there have been so many good centre backs in the premier league this year, its easy to see why most missed out on the Team of the Year. However Chris Smalling may be very unlucky not to be one of the names in the this years line up.
While Morgan and Alderweireld are very good picks for the Team of the Year it raises the debate on whether they where picked because of individual performances or due to the teams performance. For example Smalling has created more interceptions in the Premier League than any other defender (93). Smalling also ranks higher than Morgan and Alderweireld in tackles by having an impressive 95 tackles already this season.
Maybe United’s poor campaign has clouded a stand-out season for the England international.
Mesut Ozil
Despite his recent drop inform, it seems harsh not to include Ozil in the Team of the Year as he arguably has been one of the best midfielders this season. The problem that Ozil has is that he doesn’t seem to effect games as much as other midfielders, such as Payet and Kante. But still in terms of ability he ranks up there with the best in the Premier League.
Ozil has the highest amount of assists this season and is 3 off beating Henry’s record of 20 assists in a season. He also has the same amount of assists as Payet and Alli combined, both of which have made the team of the year.
Now it is not just about getting assists, as a midfielder they should be able to start a play which leads to goals. Well, Ozil has the 2nd highest amount of passes in the Premier League this season. He also comes second for number of crosses with 174 which is less than Payet and the other players in the Team of the Year.
Sergio Aguero
When Aguero wasn’t announced in the short-list for Player of the Year many people where confused and bewildered. The fact that he hasn’t been voted in the Team of the Year further puzzles fans as well.
To be fair, Aguero faced some stiff competition with Vardy, Kane and Lukaku performing unbelievably well for their clubs. But with 7 less games Aguero has scored the same amount as Vardy and is only 2 off Kane. He has also scored the same amount of game winning goals as Harry Kane (both with 5), making them just as influential as each other for their teams.
Aguero just cannot seem to get into the Team of the Year. Last year he finished top goalscorer yet lost out to 2nd and 3rd placed Kane and Costa, and this year he could end up being the exact same situation.
