VOTE: Who Is Your Player of the Year?

Much has been made of this years PFA Player of he Year short-list, with there being controversy, particularly among Manchester United fans over seeing certain players left out, in United's case, Luis Nani. Above is the official list, and to avoid naming every player who has had an above average season, there is an added selection in which you can choose a player who you believe has had a season worthy of praise.
Below, are the players profiles:

Nemanja Vidic


Vidic has been a massive part of Manchester United's title push this season, being a solid, imposing and aggressive figure in the back four. A reliable defender who is never afraid to put his body on the line for his team has won countless contests with strikers this season, helping his veteran goalkeeper Edwin van der sar to keep 12 clean sheets in the league as well as being a threat from set pieces, scoring four goals in an outstanding season for the Serbian.

He has coped exceedingly well in the absence of his partner Rio Ferdinand, which was helped by the introduction of an impressive Chris Smalling. Vidic was given the captain's armband at the start of the season and has shown throughout that it was no mistake. A born leader, a brave defender, and a real contender for the Player of the Year.

Carlos Tevez


Just as Vidic is vital to United's defence and team as a whole, Carlos Tevez is also a crucial figure at City with his all round team displays. He never stops running, and plays with an admirable passion to win that is somewhat questioned by his off-field behaviour towards his contract. He has however recovered from certain differences he had with staff at Manchester City and continues to be a threat up front, and has his attentions turned to overtaking Dimitar Berbatov as the Leagues leading scorer.

19 goals and 6 assists in 27 league games emphasize the importance the Argentine has at City, who often struggle for goals and general creativity without him.Despite his troubles with the club in December, and his written transfer request, he remains a player who torments the best defenders, leads from the front and another strong contender for the award.

Charlie Adam

The Blackpool midfielder was the catalyst in helping his side to promotion to the Premier League and has this season been the very same thing in the clubs attempts to stay there. He has had a fantastic season, with his passing range and set piece ability worthy of praise alone. Indeed, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said of his corners: "his corner kicks are worth £10m". His inspired performances for Blackpool attracted interest from Liverpool, but petty offers were rejected by Ian Holloway, who claimed Adam to be worth well over the £4 million offered. 


9 goals in the League from midfield and 5 assists are impressive for a promoted player, but do not tell the whole story of his contribution to his side. However, he has been criticized for too many "Hollywood" passes in games, often giving the ball away in dangerous areas when a simple pass is on but this only highlights the 25 year-old's ambition and confidence in his ability, which he does have in abundance.

Gareth Bale


The Tottenham left midfielder has been raiding the left flank all season, and as a result has been subject to a few injuries which have, unfortunately for Tottenham halted his outstanding progress from the beginning of the season. He played the biggest part in beating Inter Milan in the Champions League, as he tore one of the supposed best right backs in the world to shreds with his blistering pace. His Premier League partnership with the strikers of Tottenham has also worked a treat with his crossing ability helping to score important goals for Spurs as balls are headed down by Crouch to the awaiting Dutchman and fellow nominee Rafael van der Vaart.

He has been excellent going forward on the flanks, but also has the goalscoring touch, with 7 goals and an assist to his name. Certainly a dangerous player who has come into the spotlight this season and is rated by his optimistic manager as worth the same as Crisitano Ronaldo.

Scott Parker


Scott Parker is a player whose passion, commitment, and desire to do whatever it takes to win ooze from him on the pitch. It is a phrase that is used a lot, but he really has almost single handedly kept West Ham in the fight for Premier League survival. He is just outstanding. There is no flashy business about him, or hogging of the limelight, like United's Paul Scholes, he gets on with his business because he loves to do it and because he is great at it.

His team mates confirm he is inspirational in the dressing room, and everyone who watches him play can confirm he is inspirational on the pitch. 5 goals and 2 assists are good for him, but is not what he is about. He is my favourite.

Samir Nasri


Arsenal are still fighting for the Premier League crown, and it is thanks in no small part to Samir Nasri, whose contribution to the title chase has been very much worth of praise. He is capable of pretty much anything in attack, and is a formidable attacking option for Arsenal, with his unpredictability being key to his quality and scaring defenders. It is a joy to watch him weave effortlessly in and around players as if the ball is stuck to his feet, and there is no doubt his performances this season are worthy of recognition.

His Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described the 23 year-old French play maker as "young, quick and technically outstanding player", and I'm not sure anyone can disagree. His passing and movement are outstanding, links up perfectly with his fellow mid fielders and has scored 9 goals this season in the league.


Rafael van der Vaart


The former Real Madrid midfielder made a blistering start to his Tottenham career with goals here there and everywhere. His buy proved an absolute bargain on Harry Redknapp's behalf, signing the player just before the deadline for a knock-down fee of £8 million. His passing ability has proven to be fantastic throughout the season, and like Nasri, is capable of creating something out of nothing with shots coming from his powerful left foot either just missing the target or bulging the back of the net.


An injury in December halted his progress really, and his form from the start of the season has not really been shown since, but the 28 year0old Dutchman remains a threat at Tottenham, with his tally for the season an impressive 10 goals and 6 assists. 

Marek Hamsik to Man Utd or Chelsea?

Despite being treated to a January transfer window filled to the rim with big money, big name, controversial moves here, there, and everywhere, the next transfer window is already being eagerly anticipated with rumours starting to fly around like paper aeroplanes in an unruly classroom. They just can't be stopped. Even if the player involved in a rumour has only recently signed a new contract with his club, they are linked to moves away. Probably because money is far more powerful than loyalty nine times out of ten in today's footballing, business-like world.

Getting to this rumour, and Manchester United are still searching for that special talent (and they need to be special) to replace Paul Scholes in the centre of the United midfield. Charlie Adam of Blackpool was linked to a move in January, but Sir Alex Ferguson recently accepted that Blackpool needed him for the rest of the season for them to stay in the division.

Nuri Sahin, the German born Turkish international playing his football for Borussia Dortmund is also rumoured to be interesting Sir Alex with his creative ability, passing, awareness and vision that have made Scholes such a great player.

Stephen Defour, again, another name that Ferguson is keen on. It is well known the admiration Ferguson has for the Belgian midfielder as he wrote him a get well soon letter after the Standard Liege play maker broke his leg in 2009.

But it is Marek Hamsik, the Slovakian 23 year-old who is apparently bleeping loudly on the Manchester United radar. Hamsik has received wide admiration for his ability on the ball and has been linked to many a top club including Chelsea and Liverpool, while the player himself said it would be "difficult to say not to Manchester United". In an interview, Hamsik praised the English League and the atmosphere in England while his agent claimed that a move is a "possibility".

The price? Well, you don't have to know much about football to know that even average players are currently being sold for well over what they should be realistically being valued at. That's not to say that Hamsik is average, but £35 million is a lot of money for a player unproven in England and would be one hell of a risk for that amount.

Having said that, Chelsea are also strongly linked. They just paid £50 million and £25 million for Torres and David Luiz respectively. They don't mind a risk or two (or three) it seems. The price is so high because Hamsik signed a contract extension at his Italian club Napoli only recently, and to buy that contract obviously increases the asking price.

I can't see Ferguson spending £35 million on Hamsik, despite his obvious talent. I am also unsure, as many people are about this UEFA fair play money rule. How can Chelsea get round it if they splash another ludicrous amount to add to the £75 million they have already spent, when this is exactly the kind of spending that UEFA were supposedly trying to stop.

It is just a rumour.

Carroll to Liverpool Confirmed, Adam on His Way

Liverpool announced on their website that the club have agreed a fee for Newcastle and England striker Andy Carroll. The deal is apparently worth in excess of £35 million, which is absolute madness when you consider Torres was bought for £20 million in 2007, while David Villa, World Cup winner and proven goalscorer was bought by Barcelona for £34 million.

 There is a whole host of players that can be named who were bought for better value in the market, and considering Carroll has only spent 6 months in the Premier League with a newly promoted side, it is certainly a big gamble for Liverpool as they throw over half the expected transfer money from the Torres sale at Newcastle's gaping mouth and impossibly wide eyes probably filled with pound signs.

I suspect the hefty price is to do with the fact that Carroll is English, which always raises the price of players; Darren Bent and James Milner for example. Not to mention the fact that Liverpool are desperate to find a Torres replacement before the window closes, and will evidently do all they can to find one.

Charlie Adam of Blackpool is on his way to Liverpool in a car sent by Liverpool to sign for Liverpool. The car is an Audi, if that is of any importance. Oh yes, and the deal is reportedly worth £14 million. Madness.

But let us remember, that it is goals that win games, not massive transfer fees, so the players that are bought, although massively overpriced with inflated figures of stunning magnitude, must have time to prove their worth with the thing that counts the most - match winning goals.

Liverpool Bid Just £12.7 million for Suarez as Babel leaves

Not only has Blackpool's Ian Holloway voiced his displeasure of a lowly transfer fee offered for Charlie Adam received from Liverpool, but now Ajax have asked for a more "respectful" bid to be made for their star striker, Luis Suarez.

Ian Holloway was recently angered by a £4 million bid for his captain Charlie Adam, and subsequently went on a little rant in his usual passionate fashion at a press conference in which the Blackpool manager also confirmed that Adam had submitted a formal transfer request.

Now, Luis Suarez, who has been subject of much speculation as to where his future lies, has been bid for by Liverpool in what Ajax believe is another unsubstantial offer.
An Ajax spokesperson said:

We'll have to wait for them to come back with something more respectful. We want to keep him - at least until the end of the season and preferably for the rest of his contract."

"If you compare the 15 million euros [£12.7 million] Liverpool want to pay for Suarez with other transfers you can imagine that it's far too low for us. Luis is our top goalscorer for the last three years and also the man with by far the most assists as well.

"He was one of the big guys for Uruguay in helping them come third in the World Cup in the summer and he still has a contract with us for two-and-a-half years."

These comments are completely understandable. Luis Suarez is obviously an integral part of the Ajax side, someone who scores a lot of goals and wins a lot of matches for both his club and country. The fact is, £12.7 million really isn't enough to persuade a side to let their star striker go anymore, especially one of Suarez's calibre.

Darren Bent was only recently bought by Aston Villa for around £24 million - a figure which I believe is quite overpriced, and I question the ability of certain Aston Villa negotiators in coming to such a price. However, this is the climate of the market at the moment, and even small teams like Blackpool are able to ask for decent money and get away with it.
The fact is, if Liverpool want to sign a top quality striker, they have to pay the full price, especially now that they have left it so late in the window. Ajax need time to buy a replacement, and need the money to do that, so Liverpool must get a move on to pick up Fernando Torres' partner who can drive both Torres and Liverpool to success in the Premier League table.

In other news, Ryan Babel has accepted personal terms and agreed to move to German club 1899 Hoffenheim (as I reported on on January 18th). A brief statement on the Premier League club's official website read:

"Ryan Babel has agreed a move to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The Dutch international will fly to Germany tomorrow to finalise the deal.

Wolves 0 - 3 Liverpool: Watch Match Goals

Wolves 0 - 3 Liverpool: Watch Match Goals Here

Fernando Torres scores two tap-ins and Raul Meireles scores a wonder goal to seal Kenny Dalglish's first win since his return to management with Liverpool.

As you would expect, Kenny Dalglish was delighted at his teams performance - an obvious improvement from the previous meeting between the two sides, when Wolves left Anfield with a shocking 3 points as Roy Hodgson headed for the exit:

"The feeling is elation because we won 3-0. Everyone is happy - the defence, the forwards. We got the success because we played as a team. Hopefully we can build on that.

"Wolves have been in a good vein of form and have beaten Chelsea here. For us to come along, play like that and go home with three goals and none against is a fantastic effort. It was not a flattering result. The players got what they deserved. It was a credit to their belief, hard work, effort and determination throughout the game."

“If you don’t compete at Molineux, you will walk away with nothing but a defeat. The players showed a lot of pride in their performance and pride in the football club. The way they have responded to Stevey Clarke, myself and Sammy Lee since we came in is great credit to them.”

The Wolves manager, Mick McCarthy told of how the influence of Liverpool legend Dalglish played a big part in his sides disappointing loss, especially when Wolves won the previous fixture under Roy Hodgson, whom McCarthy has sympathy for:

"We beat them when Roy was there. He is such a great guy and a top coach but it is Kenny Dalglish coming out of the stand.

"I think he is enjoying a support and a warmth Roy didn't. He has garnered and nurtured that and they are on a better roll than they were because of it."

Liverpool still have a lot of work to do to get his side back to their best, as Wolves aren't exactly the hardest opposition as they languish in the relegation zone, but Meireles' improvement over the past few games as well as Fernando Torres getting back on the score sheet can only be good for the Reds. The transfer window remains open, and Liverpool look keen on both Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam and Ajax striker Luis Suarez - both of whom would strengthen the Liverpool side. However, Ajax have warned Liverpool to get on with negotiations, as they won't sell at the last minute because they need time to find a replacement.

A good game for Liverpool, but will it continue?