5Dimes Soccer News – English Premier League announces player and team of year
In 5Dimes Soccer news, the English PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) handed out its annual awards on April 27. The big winner was Liverpool’s Uruguayan international striker Luis Suarez as he was named the player of the year. It was the first time the 27-year-old has won the trophy, which is voted on by his fellow players in the football association. He’s also the first Liverpool player to be named the top player since English International midfielder and Reds skipper Steven Gerrard captured the award for the 2005/06 season.
Suarez has had an excellent season and is one of the main reasons Liverpool are still leading the league with just two games remaining in the campaign. Suarez has scored 30 goals this term and is just two behind the all-time Premier League record of 32 in a season, which is held by Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo. He also has 12 assists to his name this season. Suarez finished ahead of Gerrard, Liverpool teammate and England international Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea’s Belgian international Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Ivory Coast international Yaya Toure and Southampton’s English international Adam Lallana in this year’s voting.
Hazard was named the PFA’s Young Player of the Year. The 23-year-old has 14 goals so far this season and has helped Chelsea reach second place in the league. The PFA also announced the Premier League’s Team of the Year, which included both Suarez and Hazard. The team of the year is made up of three players each from Liverpool and Chelsea along with a pair from both Manchester City and Southampton and one from Everton.
In goal for the English Premier League team of the year is Czech Republic international Petr Cech of Chelsea. The back four is made up of Irish international Seamus Coleman of Everton, English international Luke Shaw of Southampton, Belgian international Vincent Kompany of Manchester City and English international Gary Cahill of Chelsea. The four midfielders are Hazard, Lallana, Gerrard and Toure with strikers Suarez and Sturridge rounding out the squad.
After her received the award, Suarez said the English league is filled with some exceptional players and it’s a great honor to be recognized as one of the best by your peers. Suarez is the first Liverpool player to score 30 league goals in a season since the 1986/87 campaign when Ian Rush achieved the feat. Suarez might have scored more goals by now if he didn’t have to sit out the first five contests of the season due to a suspension.
He received a 10-game ban late last year for biting the arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Suarez would also have more goals by now if he took Liverpool’s penalties, but that job is left to Gerrard. Suarez has also helped Sturridge become a better marksman as well as Sturridge has chipped in with 20 goals this season while partnering Suarez.
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers realizes his club depends on Suarez for goalscoring and is thankful the player is in top form this season. Rodgers remarked, “He’s a remarkable player. His determination and his desire is at such a high level. He gets his rewards. He’s a world-class player who is enjoying his football and long may it continue.”
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