PFA Team of the Season: Who Deserved to Be in It? Who Didn't?

Even though they cast their ballots for the Professional Footballers’ Association awards back in March (an absurd quirk in the process that needs to be remedied), the players got their selections pretty much bang on when it came to the Premier League Team of the Year.

Of course, there were one or two eyebrows raised when the XI was named during Sunday’s ceremony at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. There always will be when it comes to an exercise such as this.

But which omissions were particularly unjust? And which inclusions were the most questionable?

Following is an evaluation of the Team of the Year. Against each name there will be a notation—either “IN” or “OUT”—indicating whether the player should, in fact, have been selected, after which will come an explanation answering one of two questions: “Why was he selected?” or “Who should have been named instead?”

Feel free to include your remarks in the comments section below.

(GK) David De Gea: IN

He proved his critics wrong this season. Both De Gea and Joe Hart have so far faced 300 shots, although the Manchester United ‘keeper has conceded six fewer goals. His save percentage of 91.7 is also superior to Petr Cech’s 90.1.

(DF) Pablo Zabaleta: IN

The Argentina international is far and away the best right-back in the Premier League. His 3.9 tackles per game leads the division with four matches to play.

(DF) Rio Ferdinand: OUT

Phil Jagielka would have been a more sensible selection. He caused 0.9 offsides per match in comparison to Ferdinand’s 0.4, and his 2.1 interceptions per match was also superior to Ferdinand’s 1.5. He has also played eight matches more than his fellow international.

(DF) Jan Vertonghen: IN

Tottenham Hotspur have the worst defensive record of the top seven, but the Belgium international has been used at left-back as well as in the centre of defense, where he has spent much of his time covering his partners’ errors. He has also added an important element going forward.

(DF) Leighton Baines: IN

A no-brainer. The 28-year-old England left-back has played all 35 matches so far for Everton and has contributed five goals and five assists offensively. His passing rate is good (82.2 percent) and he has been named Man of the Match on five occasions.

(MF) Juan Mata: IN

Few players have been as important to their teams as Mata has been to Chelsea this season. He is the Premier League assist leader with 12 and has also scored 10 goals—three of them game-winners.

(MF) Michael Carrick: IN

A finalist for the Player of the Year award, Carrick was the most consistent player in Manchester United’s title-winning side. His passing rate is a stellar 88.1 percent, and while his defensive contributions aren’t always noticeable his ability to close opponents down without committing fouls has endeared him to manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

(MF) Eden Hazard: OUT

His time will come. But Michu should have won this spot by virtue of his 17-goal haul for Swansea, who currently sit eighth in the table. He typically takes more than three shots per game and has been named Man of the Match five times in 2012-13.

(MF) Gareth Bale: IN

Not only a shoo-in for a place in the Team of the Year, but the winner of both the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards as well. Bale is currently third in league scoring with 17 goals, seven of which have been game-winners. And his importance to Spurs was noticeable, given how they struggled without him while he recovered from a recent ankle injury.

(FW) Luis Suarez: IN

Love him or hate him, there’s no denying Suarez’ importance to Liverpool, for whom he scored 23 goals in 2012-13. He also led the Premier League in both shots (175) and shots on target (74) before being handed a 10-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic.

(FW) Robin van Persie: IN

The PFA had already completed their voting by the time the Dutchman bagged his hat-trick against Aston Villa to deliver a 20th title for Manchester United last Monday. The Player of the Year for 2011-12, van Persie’s 25 goals lead the division and he has also contributed eight assists to the United attack.

Statistics courtesy WhoScored.com and TheScore.com

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