Every club’s best and underrated player of the season

Welcome back to my blog, and today I will be giving out (through praise only not actual awards) player of the season as well as underrated player of the season for each PL club, with the exception of those relegated, instead praising players from the clubs who got promoted. Ready? Let’s get rolling.

Arsenal — Bukayo Saka and Tomiyasu

Arsenal have improved massively this season, but you still can’t say it was a great season for them as they failed to achieve CL football. EL football is a start, and they should aim to win it next year. However, one star who shone this season is young English winger Bukayo Saka, who has banged in 11 goals and laid out 7 assists in 38 Premier League appearances, establishing himself as an arsenal regular. On the other hand, one severely underrated player was right-back Tomiyasu, who has adapted to English football smoothly following his summer move to Arsenal. The fact that AFTV aren’t calling him a duck-footed clown of a defender tells you he’s been decent enough to appease the Arsenal fans, but his stats are pretty ok too. He would have played more had he not picked up a calf injury, but in the games he did play, his defending as well as attacking was on point and solid, something Arsenal defenders have lacked in recent years.

Aston Villa — Matthew Cash and Ashley Young

These two are weird picks, considering Jacob Ramsey, Ollie Watkins and more could have been picked as player of the season or even underrated player in Watkins’ case, but i decided on these two. Matty Cash has been one of the stand out players in this disappointing Villa side, and his contribution in defence and attack has been crucial for the games Villa won. His defensive stats are pretty impressive, and he’s chipped in with 4 goals to boot. Like Saka, he’s been a mainstay in his side, appearing in all 38 PL matches for Villa. He will be looking for a good start to the season to make Poland’s WC squad. Meanwhile, Ashley Young has been a solid player for Villa the whole season, all though no one seems to notice him much. The fact that he’s been this decent at his age when legend like Rio Ferdinand couldn’t perform is astonishing, and his valuable experience has made him a massive presence in the dressing room as well.

AFC Bournemouth — Dominic Solanke and Lloyd Kelly

The fact that both these players have been picked for the PFA Championship team of the season tells you how good they are, and I fully agree with their inclusion. Dominic Solanke has finally come good for Bournemouth, slamming in 29 goals and dishing out 7 assists for the Cherries as they got auto-promoted to the Premier League. Whether he comes good in the PL is a different question altogether, but he has been spectacular for Bournemouth all season. Lloyd Kelly, meanwhile, has finally got the recognition he deserves. Sure, he’s been praised heavily by Cherries’ fans and some Championship fans, but his stellar performances have gone largely unnoticed other than that. That may do some good for Bournemouth who would want to keep him after his solid campaign, but I’m surprised the Cherries’ young captain has not heavily linked with a transfer to Aston Villa or Tottenham after his great season.

Brentford — Nørgaard and Ajer

Brentford’s players were easy to choose, with two of them standing out as obvious choices. While Ivan Toney’s 12 goals in his maiden PL campaign is impressive, Nørgaard’s dominance in midfield was what made Brentford clicked this season. He was truly the reason why they didn’t go down. Eriksen when he came in and Nørgaard formed a formidable Danish pair as they controlled the game exceptionally for the Bees. The Bees’ fans have been raving about their silky Danish midfielder, and rightly so given his stellar performances. Meanwhile, despite not being in a PL squad for 10 consecutive games, Ajer has impressed me this season with his calm, assured performances for the Bees’ this season. I can honestly say he’s one of the better defenders in the bottom half and he would do a job at Everton if given the chance. He’s definitely better than the wet pudding of a defender that is Micheal Keane.

Brighton — Marc Cucurella and Mwepu

There are a lot of defenders of this list, but all of them have been too good to leave out. Marc Cucurella is certainly one of the better ones, having been the lynchpin in Brighton’s side this season. Brighton fans will have a jittery summer this season, with their main aim being not losing their star left-back to a bigger side. Cucurella has been a revelation for the Seagulls down the left side, and his defensive and particularly his offensive skills have been spectacular to watch the whole season. Probably the most consistent player for the Seagulls this season, his arrival at the South Coast side last summer has proved to be a masterstroke for Brighton, who have been fully repaid the fee they dished out for the Spaniard through his stellar season. Meanwhile, industrious Zambian midfielder Enock Mwepu has impressed with his performances for the Seagulls, and had it not been for injuries he would have been a regular. With fellow African Bissouma on the move to Tottenham this summer, Mwepu will have a larger role to play next season, and he should take the chance to shine for the Seagulls.

Chelsea — Mason Mount and Hakim Ziyech

These picks were pretty straightforward, with ‘Money Mase’ managing to cement his status as one of Chelsea’s key players with a stellar campaign. 11 goals and 10 assists for Mount meant that he was a creative beacon for the Blues in an uncertain season, which helped them secure CL football with relative ease.Meanwhile, Hakim Ziyech has quietly had a decent season for Chelsea. His stats do not exactly shine for a player of his calibre, but he has been an attacker Tuchel can rely on. In 23 PL appearances, he has managed 4 goals, which may not be the most impressive but is a definite improvement on his goal tally last season. The Moroccan would have featured much more if it was not for the squad depth Chelsea have in attack, and he will be looking to cement his place as a Chelsea mainstay next season if he wants to go down in history for being a decent player with a magic left foot rather than a flop.

Crystal Palace — Gallagher and Andersen

The Eagles had plenty of impressive players this season, but the one player who stood out to me was Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea Loanee has learned a couple of things from Patrick Viera, and became a dynamic enforcer in the Palace midfield this season. His 11 G/A in 34 PL games isn’t the best, but is impressive considering this is his first real challenge in the Prem. He will probably stay with Chelsea this season, but what a player the young Englishman was for Palace. Meanwhile, someone slightly overlooked by PL fans was Joachim Anderson, who put in solid performances every game he played in. He was a mainstay in this Eagles’ side, and the ball-playing CB has clicked perfectly with Chelsea academy graduate Marc Guehi, who misses out on a player of the season pick from me barely.

Everton — No one really

Yup. This season was terrible for Toffee fans, and no Everton player really deserved either award. Next!

Fulham — Mitrovic and no one

Serbian striker Mitrovic has had the season of his life this season, ending the season with the championship golden boot after his mind-blowing 43 goals and 7 assists in 44 games for the Cottagers. This season was truly phenomenal for the Serbian, and he will surely go down as an all-time Championship great after this record. As for Fulham’s underrated player, I couldn’t really find anyone as the players have all been pretty decent and on the same level with one another(with the exception of Harry Wilson and Mitrovic).

Leeds United — Raphinha and Meslier

While the first player was easy to pick, the second one is a bit of a wildcard pick from me. Raphinha is easily Leeds’ player of the season, as he ended it as top scorer of their side. He’s a tricky winger with pace and skill, and he’s definitely too good for Leeds. He’s eyeing up a move to Barca this summer, and Leeds fan will definitely feel aggrieved by his departure. Meanwhile, I chose Meslier as my underrated player for Leeds as he’s been pretty decent as a keeper, and has only conceded such a large amount of goals due to the catastrophe of a defence Leeds have. The young French keeper has done well under pressure for Leeds, and did his best to stop goals from going in no matter how terrible his defence was playing.

Leicester City — Maddison and Lookman

The Foxes weren’t great this season, which is why it was hard for me to pick an underrated player for this season. The POTS clearly belonged to Maddison, as he chipped in with 20 G/A in 35 PL appearances this season. He actually scored more than Mason Mount, and will feel disappointed at not getting an England call-up alongside Jarrod Bowen, who only got 2 assists more and the same amount of goals as him. Meanwhile, Ademola Lookman was actually NOT the disaster of a signing I predicted him to be, as he bagged 6 goals in 26 PL appearances. Not the best of records, but given the fact that he only started a few matches and was mostly an impact sub, he did pretty ok. He also provided Leicester with a creative spark they lacked at times, and he probably could shine at the King Power stadium if given the chance to return next season.

Liverpool — Salah and Jota

Liverpool have had a fantastic season, reaching three cup finals, winning two and even losing the Prem by just one cruel point, and thus it was pretty easy to discern who the top and underrated player was for the Scousers. Mo Salah has been on fire for the past 5 years at Liverpool, and this year he clinched both the Golden Boot and the Playmaker of the Season in the Prem as Liverpool clinched a painful second place finish behind Manchester City. The Egyptian has written his name into PL history, and hopefully his next (and perhaps last) campaign in the Premier League is as electrifying. Meanwhile, one Liverpool forward who hasn’t gotten as much credit as he would have wanted to is Diogo Jota, who has subtly faded into the shadows since Luis Diaz’s arrival. His stats are still top notch though, scoring 15 times in 35 PL games. He has played a larger role in the Scousers’ PL campaign, yet Salah and Mane have hogged the spotlight with sumptuous goals and stats this season. Rest assured, the Portugese is still deeply appreciated by Scouser fans and his manager and will have a major role in this Liverpool side for the next few years alongside Luis Diaz and new signing Darwin Nunez.

Manchester City — Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri

Two magnificent midfielders have been chosen for Man City, with KDB clinching POTS and Rodri clinching underrated player. KDB has been spectacular for City this season, bagging 23 G/A in 30 games. That’s almost a goal contribution a game, and the Belgian shows no signs of slowing down as he ages. He has been consistently spectacular for City and for Belgium, and he truly deserves this POTS shout. Meanwhile, Rodri has been an unsung hero in this City midfield, as he has been a warrior at the heart of Pep Guardiola’s side. His silky passes and tidy tackles have helped City’s possession-based side click, and he simply does not get the recognition he deserves.

Manchester United: David De Gea and No one

Honestly, this was a terrible, disastrous season for United. All the United players have been quite lacklustre the whole season, with the exception of Ronaldo and De Gea. However, De Gea solely deserves the POTS award given his massive contribution to this United side. He has single handedly saved an influx of shots to at least maintain United’s standards of playing in Europe every season. This United side would have finished 10th without De Gea and all United fans are grateful the Spaniard has been in the form of his life this whole season. As for underrated, not one United player has been decent enough to be named underrated. Next, please.

Newcastle United — Joelinton and Matt Targett

Newcastle have had quite an impressive second half of the season, and the January signings as well as Joelinton is there to thank for that. The Brazilian was Newcastle’s record signing, and was disregarded as a flop till this season, when he thrived as a box-to-box midfielder in Eddie Howe’s side. Howe experimented with Joelinton at midfield one game when Clark was injured, and quickly realised the Brazilian was best suited for the role. He has since then impressed PL fans with his solid performances, and wholeheartedly deserves POTS. Meanwhile, one January signing who hasn’t got as much credit as he would have liked is Matty Targett. The left-back has put in solid performance after solid performance, yet Newcastle fans have been captivated mostly by Brazilian duo Guimaraes and Joelinton as well as Trippier. He has permanently signed for the Toon this summer, and you can expect a decent campaign from the Englishman.

Nottingham Forest — Brennan Johnson and Joe Worrall

This one was a bit tougher to decide, but I had to go with Brennan Johnson. 25 G/A in one of the toughest divisions at such a young age is a hard feat to manager, yet Johnson has done it in 46 games. That’s mighty impressive to me, and the young, exciting attacker deserves this award completely. Meanwhile, centre-back and childhood fan Joe Worrall has been quite the rock at the back along with Steve Cook all season, and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the Premier League next season.

Southampton — James Ward-Prowse and no one

It was yet another average season for Southampton, but at least they weren’t in a relegation scrap for long. The reason for that is their talented captain, James Ward-Prowse, whose free-kicks and dominant performances at the middle of the park kept Southampton safe; for now. Meanwhile, no one in this Southampton side were really underrated as all of them were kinda bang average.

Tottenham — Son Heung-Min and Bentancur

Tottenham have had quite the season, and their success of qualifying for CL football can be credited to talisman winger Son Heung-Min. The Korean winger has become the first Asian to win the Golden Boot as he was truly world class throughout the season, scoring 23 goals without penalties. That is quite impressive, and without him Spurs’ season would have been much different. Meanwhile, Rodrigo Bentancur has been quite the revelation since signing for Spurs in January, but deserves more credit from PL fans. He easily makes top 10 best midfielders in the league, and the Uruguayan’s hard tackling dominance and silky passes has combined well with Hojbjerg to provide Spurs with a top midfield partnership for the next two seasons at least.

West Ham United — Jarrod Bowen and Fabianski

West Ham have a decent season this year, and that’s thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s crucial goals.12 goals in 36 games is not a bad goal to game ratio, and the fact that these goals often came at crucial instances further emphasises the importance of Bowen. The forward has inspired West Ham’s front line with goals and creativity, and he will surely have a large part to play this season. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will clinch the title of underrated player. The Polish keeper has been outstanding for West Ham these past few years despite his age, and is one of the more consistent keepers in the Prem. This season, he was at his best, saving crucial shots and protecting his goal well, and he surely will want to end this season on a high if it becomes his last one at the London Stadium.

Wolves — Jose Sa and Conor Coady

Finally, we reach the last team on this list. Wolves keeper Jose Sa has been a huge hit since his arrival to the Molineux from Olympiacos last season, and has played a crucial part in Wolves’ top half finish. He has been flying all over the place, making stunning saves and organising his defence, and is truly one of the best keepers in the PL. He came into this team with big boots to fill after Rui Patricio’s departure, and has done superbly to fill them. He can truly be proud of himself after such a fantastic debut season where he kept 11 clean sheets in 37 games. Meanwhile, Conor Coady has done quite a tidy job for Wolves at the back this season. The Wolves captain has always been regarded as one of England’s better centre-backs, and this season he truly has been exceptional. Sure, he has seemed shaky at times and may make defensive errors once in a while, but he definitely has done better than Tyrone Mings or Harry Maguire. He deserves a chance in the England team, and if he keeps this form up he should make it into the 25 man squad for the World Cup.

That’s all for this article, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do look out for my next article on my TOTS, and till next time, adios!