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Golden oldies
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was recently crowned PFA Player of the Year, with Manchester City winger Leroy Sane scooping the Young Player prize for those under the age of 23 at the start of the season.
Yet who would win an Old Player of the Year award? We’ve ranked the nine leading contenders for 2017-18…
9. Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea, 32)
Carlos Carvalhal deserves great credit for tightening up Swansea’s defence since his arrival at the club, with the Welsh side having conceded fewer goals than each of their fellow relegation candidates.
Fabianski has been a huge part of their success in that regard. The Pole is an excellent shot-stopper whose concentration and reflexes help him pull off numerous saves on weekly basis, as typified by a superb showing in the recent 0-0 draw with Huddersfield. Away from the glare of Arsenal, he’s turned into an excellent goalkeeper.
8. Nacho Monreal (Arsenal, 32)
Few Arsenal players have enhanced their reputations this term, but Monreal is one of them. He’s nobody’s idea of a world-beating left-back, but the Spaniard has performed consistently and gained something of a cult following for his (strangely good) goalscoring record.
Monreal has popped up with six in 2017-18 – which isn’t bad considering he only got two last season, and one in the two-and-a-half campaigns before that. He’s been dependable in a back three or four, often slotting in at centre-half in the former setup.
7. Antonio Valencia (Manchester United, 32)
When the Ecuadorian first filled in as a full-back he looked lost; a man out of place – because he was, as a winger asked to do a defender’s job. But over time he’s adapted to be one of the most reliable right-backs in the division.
Nothing too fussy, nothing spectacular, just steady consistency – enough to earn him Manchester United’s Player of the Year award in 2016-17. Jose Mourinho certainly rates him highly, describing him last year as the world’s best right-back. That might be high praise, but who's better?
6. Stephen Ward (Burnley, 32)
When Burnley signed Charlie Taylor from Leeds last summer, Ward must have feared for his place in Sean Dyche’s starting XI. But Taylor has barely played this season, largely thanks to the form of the 32-year-old.
Bar a couple of months out around the turn of the year, the Irishman has been an automatic choice for Burnley. It may or may not be a coincidence that they didn’t win any of the fixtures he missed; Ward may not be the first name that springs to mind when you think of the Clarets, but he’s among the most important players at the club.
5. Glenn Murray (Brighton, 34)
The benefit of being a player who has pretty much always looked 34 – in face, body, movement and style – is that actually reaching 34 suddenly isn’t such a big deal.
"Glenn has always had a know-how on how to score goals,” said Brighton manager Chris Hughton earlier this season – and apart from some curious phrasing, he wasn’t wrong: the 13 goals Murray has scored already this season match the total he’d managed in his previous four top-flight campaigns combined. If Albion stay up, they’ll owe a debt of gratitude to the former Crystal Palace frontman.
4. James Milner (Liverpool, 32)
Plenty of Liverpool players have received credit this season, but Milner continues to go under the radar. He’ll be used to that, though: his has been a career of steady consistency, and it’s been no different this time around.
After filling in at left-back last season, the 32-year-old has been back in midfield in 2017-18: not an automatic choice, but once again proving himself as a Swiss Army knife player, doing a job wherever required. Fifteen top-flight seasons, dozens of caps, reliable in several positions – imagine the fuss if he were Spanish or German.
3. Ashley Young (Manchester United, 32)
Young’s transformation from inconsistent, ill-balanced winger into a dependable and enjoyably nasty full-back has been one of the weirder developments of the last few years. Clearly he’d rather be back in his old position, and is playing where he does now out of necessity: it’s left-back or nothing.
Yet Young has taken to the task brilliantly, proving tough in the tackle and regularly whipping in dangerous deliveries with either foot. His adaptability and dependability might yet take him to only his second tournament with England.
2. Fernandinho (Manchester City, 32)
Pep Guardiola knows a thing or two about being a top-class midfielder, so it was interesting to see the Manchester City man share his thoughts on the Brazilian earlier this season. “No way. No way,” the Catalan said in December, when asked if he would have got into his City side. “Fernandinho is much, much better.”
The 32-year-old is the point around which most of City’s play revolves, and when he’s not there they can look rather chaotic. One of City’s biggest tests in transfer windows to come will be finding someone to replace him.
1. David Silva (Manchester City, 32)
Even though his shaved head still makes him look like Stephen Ireland, Silva has been as magnificent as he’s ever been this season – which is all the more remarkable considering his age, but more importantly the fact he’s done so with his newborn son ill in hospital.
Most of us couldn’t concentrate on making a cup of coffee under those circumstances, but the Spaniard has been sensational in directing play with his understated genius. Slightly absurdly, he’s only been in the PFA Team of the Year twice: 2011-12, and this season. Thank you, David.
