It's All To Play For - Part 2

Remember last week, where I talked about my revised Premier League standings now that we’re getting into the middle stretch of the season? Well, this is going to be the part two to that post. It only made sense for me to revise my picks for some of the individual honours as a lot has changed over the last few months. Some players have excelled whilst others have underperformed. I have a feeling that my selections are going to be quite a bit different to last time. Let’s get on with it shall we?

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Player of the Season: Erling Haaland

My original pick for this price was Kevin De Bruyne. While he has still been good this year, by his standards, I don’t think he’s quite been his usual self. That’s why I’ve now chosen Erling Haaland. Despite City not being their dominant selves, the Norwegian has taken the league by storm. There was a little bit of apprehension (including from myself) that he wouldn’t be able to adapt to the Premier League (given the history of Bundesliga players having a tough time settling in England). However, he’s scored a remarkable 25 goals in just 20 appearances, and he’s virtually guaranteed to break Mohamed Salah’s record of 32 goals. It's the little things like always being in the right place at the right, the anger when he doesn’t get the ball in behind or when he misses a chance. That’s what makes this guy so good. Even if City don’t win the league, I think he is many people’s favourites to win PFA Player of the Year.

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Young Player of the Season: Bukayo Saka

Ironically, the thing I hate the most about Bukayo Saka is that you just can’t hate the guy! At his tender age, his temperament is first class, and he almost has this innocence about him which makes him such a likeable person. Aside from his personality, he’s so far been not only the best young player this year, but he has also been the best winger in the country. When Arsenal faced United a few weeks back, he tore apart poor old Luke Shaw. That second half especially, he tormented, bamboozled, and downright destroyed the English full-back. He's done this to countless full-backs this season and has really taken his game to the next level. His performances have been influential in helping the Gunners lead the pack, with 14 goal contributions in 20 appearances. I honestly think he could miss the rest of the season and he’d still have this award in the bag, he’s been that good!

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Manager of the Season: Mikel Arteta

There are several managers who could be in with a shot at this award: name such as Thomas Frank, Roberto De Zerbi and Marco Silva. But I simply can’t look past Mikel Arteta. The fact that Arsenal are title favourites shows the impressive job that Mikel Arteta has done. Last term, if it wasn’t for their damaging defeat against Spurs, they would probably have qualified for the Champions League football. I expected Arsenal to keep improving this term, but no way did I genuinely think they’d be in with a shot of winning the league. Sometimes his pitch side antics can irritate fans and other managers. Putting that aside, he’s got Arsenal playing a brand of football like some of the best Arsenal teams of yesteryear. It looks like those years under Guardiola have done him a world of good!

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Top Scorer: Erling Haaland

I think it’s obvious who will be top scorer that I’m not going to talk about this prize too much. The only competition Haaland really has is Harry Kane, who is currently 8 goals behind him. It will take a remarkable loss of form from Haaland coupled with a ridiculous run of scoring from Harry Kane to prevent City’s main talisman from winning the coveted Golden Boot.

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Best Signing: Casemiro

A lot of people were left scratching their heads after United forked out £60m+ for Casemiro. We had spent the whole summer pursuing Frenkie De Jong and then completely out of the blue, we ended up signing the Brazilian, who is a very different player to that of De Jong. People were quite dismissive of his arrival initially, considering his age and the price tag. However, he’s been a revelation since he joined the club. For the longest time, we’ve been crying out for a midfielder of Casemiro’s quality. He brings a sense of composure that we haven’t had in a very long time. His presence in the middle of the park has made United a far better team, both from a defensive and attacking perspective. He’s also busted the myth that he’s merely a holding midfielder, showcasing his passing abilities whilst popping up with a couple of goals. He’s been a game changer and will be a big reason why United are set for a top 4 finish.

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Worst Signing: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

I could have picked any of Chelsea’s a billion and one signings, but Aubameyang stands out as the worse one. He was signed by Thomas Tuchel during the summer, having been dismissed by Arsenal and then deemed surplus to requirements by Barcelona after they acquired Robert Lewandowski. Then no more than a week after he signed, the very manager that bought the Gabonese striker was sacked. I mean talk about a stinker! Granted, Chelsea have struggled this season, but he’s been terrible since joining. 1 goal in 11 appearances is nowhere near good enough. He’s also been omitted from their Champions League squad by Graham Potter, and he doesn’t look to have a future at the club. His demise is hard to understand as for those 6 months he was at Barcelona, he was playing well and scoring goals. But for Chelsea, he can’t buy a game let alone a goal. It can’t imagine he’ll be at Chelsea past this season.

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This Week’s Hot Take

I’m not sure exactly how the voting works for these awards, but Erling Haaland has a very good chance of doing a clean sweep. He could win the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, Fans’ Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season. I’m pretty sure it has never been done in the history of the English top-flight, but the Norwegian striker could be the first one to do it.