The shortlist for the UEFA Player of the Year candidates have been announced, with six United players featuring. Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo will almost certainly win the overall award, five other players have been recognised, with Edwin Van der Sar being named in the UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year category, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic up for the defender award, Paul Scholes in the running for midfielder of the year, and Wayne Rooney competing for forward of the year.
No wonder FIFA moron Sepp Blatter is waging a war against England at the moment, with English clubs and players totally dominating Europe. The list of potential winners has been whittled down to 20, with 17 of those spots being filled by players from the Premiership.
Whilst United have more players than any other team represented, Chelsea come 2nd with five players in the running (Petr Cech, John Terry, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba), Liverpool with four players (Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres) and Arsenal with two (Manuel Almunia, Cesc Fabregas).
So, who’s going to win what?
It’s pretty funny to think that of all the leagues and all the teams in Europe, just three players act as representatives for them outside of the Premiership. Schalke 04 Manuel Neuer is in the running for the goalkeeper’s prize, whilst Barcelona defender Carles Puyol and his team-mate, forward Lionel Messi, are also up for the awards.
Edwin Van der Sar
Van der Sar was the goalkeeper in the most effective defence in the Premiership last season, conceding just 22 goals and picking up 21 clean sheets. They also boasted the best defensive record in Europe, with Real Madrid conceding 36 goals, Inter Milan conceding 26, and Bayern Munich conceding 21 goals (but in 4 fewer games, giving United a better goals to game ratio).
In the European Cup, Van der Sar played in 10 games, with United conceding just 4 goals those matches.
Most importantly though, and likely to sway the decision, Van der Sar saved the penalty that won Manchester United the European Cup. How can you argue with that?
Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic
Again, two defenders part of the best defence in the Premiership and Europe.
Whilst Vidic claims a lot of the plaudits, mainly because his (insane) bravery, Rio Ferdinand was immense last season. I’ll make no bones about the fact that I’ve been a Ferdinand critic over the years, however you’d have to possess particularly strong anti-Rio feelings to not recognise his brilliant performances last season. It was incredibly rare to see an opponent get the better of him, with the likes of Fernando Torres and Dimitar Berbatov (and Emmanuel Adebayor, when not using his hand to score!) having no joy when up against him.
Either of these players would be worthy winners of this award but I’d say Rio should edge it, particularly due to the amount of games he played in last season (51 games to Vidic’s 43).
Paul Scholes
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