Premier League Team of the Year 2014: Top Names Likely to Miss out
The PFA Team of the Year 2014 will name the Premier League’s best of the best throughout the course of the campaign.
The 2013/2014 season has seen the English top flight’s brightest stars produce the goods week in, week out, but not every player can make the elite list.
Here, we take a look at the big-name players that are likely to be left out of the PFA Team of the Year despite enjoying fruitful campaigns.
Goalkeeper: David de Gea, Manchester United
In what’s been a gloomy season for Manchester United, there has been one shining light: Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea.
De Gea has been one of the busiest United keepers for many a season, picking the ball out of his net 40 times in the league so far despite keeping 11 clean sheets.
While the Red Devils’ back line has come under intense criticism throughout the course of the campaign, the same can’t be said for the 23-year-old stopper.
Per ESPN FC, De Gea has made 92 registered saves this season, producing some miraculous stops among them to limited United’s misery on several occasions.
However, by conceding so many goals and having Chelsea’s Petr Cech to contend with for the PFA Team of the Year’s No. 1 jersey, De Gea is likely to miss out.
Cech has made 16 clean sheets and conceded just 24 Premier League goals this season, making him a shoo-in for the goalkeeper of the year at De Gea’s expense.
While United will need to rebuild in many areas of the pitch next season, the goalkeeper’s spot isn’t one of them. There is no other player in the United ranks that deserves end-of-season plaudits, and unfortunately, it seems that De Gea won’t get any from the PFA.
Defender: Vincent Kompany, Manchester City
Belgian centre-back Vincent Kompany epitomises what it takes to be a defender at the highest level: He’s strong, quick and reads the game like no other in the division.
However, in a campaign plagued by injury, Kompany has failed to shine for Manchester City, orchestrating just six clean sheets in 24 appearances for the 2011/12 Premier League champions.
The 28-year-old made a catastrophic mistake in City’s vital top-of-the-table clash against Liverpool on April 13, by setting up Philippe Coutinho for the Reds’ decisive third goal in a 3-2 victory.
Kompany still believes, though, that City have every chance of bringing the Premier League trophy back to the Etihad Stadium once again in last-minute fashion, as reported by Sky Sports:
"I'm as motivated as anyone. We can still remember what happened for us two years ago, so it's kind of something where we take motivation out of it. To be honest the most important thing is for us to get back to our beginning-of-season form.
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Though the destiny of the title is in Liverpool’s hands, the never-say-die attitude of City’s skipper will ensure that Manuel Pellegrini’s side chase the Reds all the way to the finish line.
While the team honours may still come for Kompany and Co., the individual honours may not with Chelsea’s John Terry and Gary Cahill looking like filling the centre-back spots in the PFA Team of the Year.
Midfielder: Mesut Ozil, Arsenal
Having signed for a club-record fee of £42 million, much was expected from the mercurial German Mesut Ozil; but he’s failed to light up the Premier League in the manner that fans would have envisioned in his debut season in England.
Per WhoScored.com, Ozil has scored four goals and assisted nine more for the Gunners during the campaign, but he hasn’t managed to find the net in 2014 so far.
The 25-year-old started life in the famous red shirt well, picking up four assists in his first two matches, but he’s looked a different player since the turn of the year.
With Ozil’s dip in form came Arsenal’s withdrawal from the Premier League title race, and it’s unlikely that the Germany international will be honoured for his services at the Emirates Stadium come Sunday.
There’s no doubt about Ozil’s talent, and while Arsenal have him in their ranks they’re always likely to pose most teams problems, he needs to perform consistently game in, game out.
With the FA Cup final still to come for the Gunners, Ozil’s debut season in the Premier League could see him reap some rewards, but being on the PFA Team of the Year list won’t be one of them.
Striker: Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
If any football fan was asked who the most dangerous strike force in the Premier League are, there’d only be one answer: Liverpool duo Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
The pair have notched up 50 league goals for the title-chasing Reds this season and have shown the kind of telepathy that Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke would have been proud of in their heyday.
With the heralded SAS sure things to make up the PFA Team of the Year’s front two, missing out will be Manchester City’s Argentinian sensation Sergio Aguero.
Aguero has scored 16 goals in just 20 appearances for City this season, according to SoccerWay, but he has seen his chances of topping the scoring charts hampered by injury.
The 25-year-old has had to endure a calf problem and multiple hamstring injuries, but he returned to scoring ways against West Bromwich Albion on April 21 after coming back into the fold, which will give City fans high hopes heading into the campaign’s climax.
Injuries aside, it’s been a quite incredible season for Aguero, but with Suarez and Sturridge on the brink of guiding their side to the Premier League title, there can only be one strike force leading the PFA Team of the Year line.
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