Picking an Alternative PFA Young Player of the Year Shortlist
The candidates for this season's PFA Young Player of the Year award were confirmed on Thursday as the process of determining the 2014-15 campaign's brightest young talent got underway.
Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Philippe Coutinho, David De Gea, Raheem Sterling and Thibaut Courtois all made the six-man shortlist, but there were undoubtedly other contenders to miss out on the cut.
Looking at this season's Premier League performances, we've put together a selection of stars who might be disappointed to have been begrudged a spot or were at least considered potential inclusions for the accolade.
Per the Professional Footballers' Association rules, the Young Player of the Year refers to those aged 23 or under at the beginning of the season, meaning anyone born before August 16, 1990 is ineligible.
Let us know who you would like to have seen nominated for the end-of-season award in the forum below.
Honourable Mention: James McCarthy
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It’s been a tough season for all at Goodison Park as Everton struggle to cut out a top-half finish coming to the end of the term, but James McCarthy is one of those managing to maintain typically strong standards.
Roberto Martinez’s shift in tactics has seen the Toffees’ methods change in the months gone by, but McCarthy’s displays from the team’s engine room have remained a key part of the Spaniard’s approach.
Last term, his performances alongside the likes of Gareth Barry and Darron Gibson earned rave reviews, and although that tandem hasn’t held up in terms of quality, McCarthy as an individual has remained resolute.
If anything, extra responsibilities at the Everton core have seen McCarthy perhaps even improve as a more rounded midfield utility, but a knack for breaking up play and disrupting enemy movements is still his biggest forte.
1. Saido Berahino
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Were it not for a mid-season contract dispute around Christmas time, Saido Berahino may well have carried his momentum throughout the entire 2014-15 campaign to make the Young Player of the Year shortlist.
However, that Hawthorns controversy did its part in upsetting the striker’s scoring forum, which was enough to earn him his first call-ups to Roy Hodgson’s England squad earlier this season.
Thus far, the 21-year-old has 12 goals in his 32 appearances, and Tony Pulis’ takeover initially gave Berahino a route back to prominence with the Baggies, again bringing goals along with him.
It was clear from his 2013-14 season that Berahino had potential, but it’s now entirely more evident the Baggies have among their ranks a genuinely dangerous and versatile asset in attack.
It’s unfortunate the breakdown in contract negotiations suggest Berahino’s professional attitude may need some assessing, but he’s nevertheless managed to shine as part of an attack that sometimes looks dull without him.
2. Aaron Ramsey
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He hasn’t been the same Aaron Ramsey who was such a joy to behold last term, but Arsene Wenger’s midfield technician has still brought an air of success to this Arsenal team when fit.
Amid the injury troubles of Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta, Ramsey has been the jigsaw piece Wenger has needed in the engine room, bringing a similar threat in creativity and certainly on goal himself.
His average passing accuracy of 85 percent is also one of the highest in Wenger’s squad, while two tackles per game shows another string to his bow.
Scoring five goals and making five assists in the 23 appearances he has managed, the Welshman assuredly could have made another run at the Young Player of the Year award had he been more omnipresent.
Even with that being the case, though, Ramsey’s numbers are impressive, having a direct hand in a goal in just under every other game on average, adding a solidity to the Gunners’ core that they desperately need.
Having turned 24 in December, this is the last season in which the former Cardiff City star would have been eligible for the Young Player of the Year trophy, and it’s just a shame injury has again blocked his rhythm.
3. Christian Eriksen
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It’s common for individual merits to be judged on exactly how much any one player brings to his respective team, and one could argue that no player was more crucial to his side’s success than Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen.
The Denmark international has taken his level of responsibility to previously unforeseen heights at White Hart Lane, although Ajax fans may argue it’s typical of the midfielder to shoulder such hefty weight.
An ever-present gem in Mauricio Pochettino’s lineup, Eriksen’s nine goals have been of massive influence to the north Londoners this term, winning five WhoScored.com Man of the Match awards in the process, the joint third-highest tally in the division.
In fact, without his scoring exploits, Spurs would be 13 points worse off than their current status.
The aforementioned Kane may be considered Tottenham’s brightest jewel of the 2014-15 campaign, but Eriksen isn’t far off in terms of importance, laying a firm foundation just behind his star striker.
4. Danny Ings
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Relativity is assuredly a factor worth taking into account with these Player of the Year nominations, so while the likes of Hazard and Courtois thrive at Chelsea, the work Danny Ings has produced at Turf Moor is admirable.
Leading a club of Burnley’s stature to any kind of prosperity among the English top flight is a mountainous task, but the forward has enjoyed superlative form for long spells, scoring nine goals and making four assists this season.
Clarets manager Sean Dyche has been overjoyed to have the 22-year-old spearheading his attack, and Ings has done magnificently to ignore all summer transfer speculation in order to maintain his success.
Like Berahino, Ings was also among those who earned calls to be capped by England; those calls have thus far gone unanswered, but it’s a sign of the striker’s ability that they’re present at all, given that Burnley have scored just 26 goals in total.
5. Carl Jenkinson
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To some, a season-long loan at Upton Park may have spelled the end of Carl Jenkinson’s Arsenal career. Wenger brought in Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers last summer, with Hector Bellerin also excelling in the Gunners’ first team of late.
However, coming to the end of the 2014-15 campaign, Jenkinson’s reputation is higher than ever, and an extremely profitable season of first-team football has done wonders for the former Charlton Athletic ace.
Jenkinson has made 26 appearances in total and made two assists for the Hammers, winning 47 percent of all tackles in the process. It’s a marked improvement on the player who once had to settle for sitting as Bacary Sagna’s No. 2.
According to the Daily Star's Jamie Anderson, West Ham United are unsurprisingly working to tie down the defender on permanent terms, with Liverpool also interested in his services.
6. Nathaniel Clyne
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Ronald Koeman picked his prizes well when choosing which stars to keep at St. Mary’s upon being appointed Southampton boss last summer, with Nathaniel Clyne one of those to prove his worth since.
The right-back has been a crucial component in the Premier League’s tightest defence this season, helping keep 15 clean sheets and providing an extremely useful attacking outlet down the right flank.
The Saints star is one of several at St. Mary’s to have earned a Three Lions call-up in recent months, having made his debut under Hodgson in November last year, providing evidence of just how his rise has continued in 2014-15.
Over at Old Trafford, injuries and a struggle for consistency have seen Luke Shaw struggle since completing his summer switch to Manchester United, but Clyne has thrived after choosing to remain.
BBC Sport reports the defender has been handed an ultimatum in penning a contract extension, with the Saints looking to extend his deal as soon as possible, but interest in Clyne’s signature will be high in the months to come.
