PL End of Season awards: Aakash edition
Welcome back to my blog, and today I’ll be doing a more light-hearted, innovative type of article. I will be “presenting” end-of-season awards such as Player of the Season, etc. through this article and perhaps recapping these players' or teams' seasons. Without further ado, let the ceremony begin!
Player of the season: Erling Haaland (Man City)
There was only one man who was going to win this. 52 goals in 53 games is a crazy amount of goals to score, especially considering he’s scored 36 in 35 and 12 in 11 in the PL and UCL, respectively. Haaland is an elite goal-scoring monster of a player who proved all his doubters (e.g., Rory Jennings) wrong by absolutely obliterating numerous goal-scoring records and opposition. What a season from the Norwegian Machine!
Team of the Season: Manchester City
Sadly, there is only one team who can claim this title, and it is my team’s noisy neighbors," Manchester City. The Sky Blues have done the unthinkable by winning the Treble this season, a feat unmatched by any team since United’s 1999 treble. They have been phenomenal this season and have destroyed numerous teams in their charge to all three titles. A thrashing of Real Madrid was surely the highlight of their season, but a close second is surely the trashing of Arsenal, which somewhat derailed Arsenal’s title challenge, ensuring that the Citizens emerged on top. While seeing our rivals shine like this, it’s hard to deny that this is one of the best teams of the century as well as one of the best PL teams ever.
Signing of the Season: Casemiro (Manchester United)
Call me biased, but I simply cannot look past Casemiro in this category. Despite Haaland’s impact on this city team, I choose Casemiro as the signing of the season, as he has clearly revolutionized our midfield and dragged this club towards an upward trajectory. Our midfield has often been utter dross over the past few years, but the signing of Casemiro and Eriksen has ensured that our midfield emerged as one of the best in England before injuries and suspensions broke apart the dream trio. Despite some less impactful and even anonymous performances towards the end of the season, Casemiro’s passion, hard tackles, and passing have secured a top-4 finish for United.
Flop of the season: Richarlison (Tottenham)
Richarlison has not been complete trash the entire season, but anonymous performances and an overall lack of impact despite a 60 million-pound price tag are why I have put him here. 1 goal in 27 matches is nothing to be proud of, especially considering all the chatter he has created with some social media spats and alleged feuds with former manager Conte. He definitely has the opportunity to come good (especially if Kane leaves) next season, but he’ll have to do a whole lot better than this to prove that he’s worth $60 million.
Surprise of the Season: Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United)
Lisandro Martinez has been colossal for Manchester United this season, much to the surprise of half of England. Everyone was convinced a ‘short’ center-back like Martinez would struggle to defend in the physical Premier League and would be a complete flop. I am extremely overjoyed to report that all of you were WRONG. The only player who was perhaps a better signing this season for the Red Devils was Casemiro, and perhaps Martinez could have proved to have a greater impact if it weren’t for his unfortunate injury, which kept him out for the business end of the season. Nevertheless, his no-nonsense defending and excellent ball-playing and carrying skills made United’s defense 10 times better when he was in it.
Most Improved: Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
This category is debatable to a certain extent, but I genuinely feel that Grealish has had the most drastic improvement in form this season. The Englishman was struggling to break into Manchester City’s starting 11 and was being written off as a 100 million-pound mega-flop by many before Raheem Sterling’s departure, as well as some stellar cameos that provided the Birmingham-born winger a platform to shine and become one of City’s undroppables. The left winger is well-loved by all in the football community for his charisma, and he bolstered that love with an outstanding season under Pep this season. While I’m sure his goalscoring numbers can improve massively, he has still played a massive part in City’s treble hunt and will aim to play an even larger part next season. If only he had joined United.
POTS outside of the top 6: Declan Rice
This special award is to recognize players who have played spectacularly this season but may not get as much recognition because they don’t play for one of the major teams. There were many contenders for this award, including Kaoru Mitoma, Mac Allister, Ollie Watkins, Guimaraes, and many more, but I wholeheartedly believe Declan Rice deserves it the most. Arguably one of West Ham’s best ever players, the English midfielder has been impeccable the whole season while also leading the Irons to silverware. He has scored crucial goals in the UECL while also holding the fort in midfield during PL games. His numbers in midfield are outstanding, which is why it is no surprise that Declan wants to leave and that many top clubs are lining up to sign him.
That’s all for this article, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you want more of these types of articles, do let me know in the responses below. With that, adios and look forward to my next article coming soon.
