Aston Villa's James Milner Rightly Beats Cesc Fabregas to PFA Award

Aston Villa and England star James Milner has beaten off competition from the likes of Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney to win the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association) Players' Young Player of the Year award for 2010.

Rooney, the pinnacle of England's World Cup hopes, deservedly won the PFA Players' Player of the Year gong, but didn't get the Young Players' award despite also being nominated for it.

Arsenal's Cesc 'Captain Fab' Fabregas was also nominated, but didn't claim the title to most people's surprise.

James Milner, Villa's £12million signing from Newcastle United two seasons ago, won the title after a very impressive 2009/10 campaign, in which he made the switch from better-than-average Premier League player to an international superstar.

At the start of the season, he won his first cap in Fabio Capello's England team against Holland, and made enough of an impression to win a further six caps in less than a season, and become an absolute definite for the Three Lions' World Cup squad.

Throughout the season, Milner has become the playmaker for Aston Villa; a role never really set out by the manager as such, but given to him by his teammates as they started to recognise the ability he had with the ball.

Every time the Villans take to the pitch, one can see how important James Milner is to the side, as virtually every attack goes through him.

He is the attacking man for Aston Villa who will also get back to defend, the player who can pick the ball up in his own penalty area and create a counter-attack, and he is the one player Villa seems to know they can rely on to deliver a genius, defence-splitting pass.

Milner is the type of midfielder every attacker loves; Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew's goals and chances have mainly come from through balls by Milner that have matched their forward runs.

And in the mould of a Frank Lampard, this man can also score as well as assist.

Seven Premier League goals and five in all competitions have perfectly complemented his 12 league assists and 15 overall.

It can be argued Fabregas has better statistics than Milner and thus should've won the award.

But then again, one should take into account the fact that Arsenal is a bigger club with arguably better players than Aston Villa, and so Fabregas has more assists due to the Arsenal strikers finishing off their chances better than the strikers at Villa.

Also, when going forward himself, Fabregas might've scored more than Milner due to better support from better quality players than Milner has at Villa.

Therefore, when you see that Fabregas has only three more assists than Milner this season, albeit having eight more goals than him also, you can see why James Milner was chosen over Cesc Fabregas for the award.

After all, as the cliché goes, the team is only as strong as its weakest link.

Also, if you look at Fabregas' and Milner's impacts in their respective national teams, it could be fair to say James Milner has left more of an impression for the Three Lions than Cesc Fabregas has done for La Selección Española .

Overall, it's no surprise the Aston Villa playmaker has won the PFA Young Players' award, especially when considering the praise he receives from teammates like his captain Stiliyan Petrov.

The Bulgarian said of his fellow midfielder, "His energy is amazing and he has helped the team a lot. He can play anywhere. He has been brilliant—and if he continues to progress like that, he will be the star of the World Cup. He has both the ability and the attitude to make a real impact."

Also bear in mind James Milner moved from winger to central midfielder only at the start of this season, whereas Fabregas et al have played in the same position for many years, so his positional transformation and general vast improvement is yet another reason why he was the winner of the PFA award.

Admittedly, the mind boggles as to why 34 goal superstar Wayne Rooney wasn't given the award despite being nominated.

But if his name is excluded from the category, then it's clear James Milner is the stand-out candidate ahead of Fabregas and Birmingham City top talent Joe Hart.

Such has been Milner's form this season, and it's no surprise to see him as a virtual definite for England at the World Cup.

And it's also no surprise he has been linked with bigger clubs in the Premier League and abroad.

It was speculated that Manchester United made Aston Villa a £24million offer for James Milner. Given the player's phenomenal form this campaign, that's hardly surprising.