LAST week, Chelsea’s Edin Hazard was named Football Writers Player of the season in addition to his PFA award, thus totally succeeding Luis Suarez, then of Liverpool. There is no doubt Hazard has had a very good season – not sensational or exceptional in opinion, but very good.
The only player in the BPL this season who I can say has had a sensational season is Manchester United’s David De Gea. I make bold to say United would be in mid-table this season without the immense contributions of their young Spanish goalkeeper.
You only need to cast your mind back to many game-changing saves he made in the about-to-end campaign. Simply put, De Gea won so many points for the Red Devils this term, much more than any player in the BPL this season.
Oh yes, Hazard too won Chelsea so many points and could be very unplayable sometimes. But I think Chelsea rode on Diego Costa’s prolific boots in the first half of the season than from any other player. His 19 goals from just 24 league matches attest to this fact.
Alright the Blues just managed to stumble over the line ahead of everybody to win a richly deserved title. But is it any surprise that their tepid form in the second half of the season coincided with the absence of their battle-happy poacher?
I don’t mean to demean Hazard’s undeniable contribution to Chelsea’s title success. But I just think Costa could easily have favourably contested being the best Chelsea player this season.
However, nobody could contest with De Gea on his tremendous contributions to United’s successful return to the UCL. In my opinion, no player has made more contributions to his team’s success this season than the young Spaniard.
De Gea’s only offence which mitigated against his chances of winning such lofty individual accolade is that he is a goalkeeper. In very warped football world, goalkeepers don’t often get the recognitions their talent deserve.
Take for example, when a goalkeeper committed a howler in a match, it often lingers more in memory than when he made three world class saves in the same or another match.
In contrast, a striker may miss a glut of good chances in a match. You can be rest assured he would be praised once he scored a goal in the same match, especially if his goal turned out to be a winner. A goalkeeper who made three outstanding saves in the same match will not be so fondly remembered.
This is wrong, and journalists of all people should be the ones to start correcting this anomaly. Unfortunately they are the ones who seem determined to perpetuate it.
In this regards, I give De Gea (who we learn is Madrid-bond in the summer) my player of the season award.
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