The title of Player of the Season has gone to many international superstars over the years, but on six occasions has been awarded to an English man. Most of the time people assume that the winner of the award will be the player who has scored the most goals in the season, take Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo for example. However on a lot of occasions it's either won by the midfield playmaker or defensive rock; Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Nemanja Vidic.
In my opinion there are four main contenders for this most coverted of prizes; Jack Wilshere, Robin Van Persie, Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez, in no particular order.
The season 2012-13 has been a very rich one for British talent, most of which actually breaking, deservedly, into their national squads. Jack Wilshere has arguably been the difference for Arsenal between success and failure, and is starting to look as though he will be a great replacement for Cesc Fabregas nearly a calender year since he left for the heat of Barcelona. If you look back at previous teams that have won the Premier League, there is always a midfielder that stands out from the ranks, as a player that you can always rely on to make the play and create oppertunites for the strikers. For Arsenal this campaign, it is Wilshere, although you could say that if Arsenal had more consistent or to be more blund, better strikers, they might actually be challenging for the top three places. But as it stands at the moment, seven points off Spurs in third, it looks unlikely that Wengers men are going to land Champions League football next season, which would require some serious questions to be asked of both the management and the team itself. I honestly believe that without Wilshere, Arsenal are just your average Joe making up the numbers and thats why I think he has to be on the shortlist for Player of the Season.
Robin Van Persie transered from Arsenal to Manchester United for £22m last summer and it seems likely with a 15 point lead at the top of the table, that he has won them the league. United have always had the determination and confidence to not play well and yet grind out results but this year, with Van Persie bagging 19 Premier League goals so far this season, playing poorly looks a thing of the past. Sure they were a bit weak at the back at the beginning of the season, conceding goals left right and centre, but Van Persie made up the difference with a prolific scoing spree in important games. Perhaps his greatest moment this season was when he scored a freekick against bitter rivals, Machester City, with the last kick of the match and that goal may be proven to have been the pivotal moment in the season for United. He may have been fighting for Champions League football last year with Arsenal but this year he's all but won his first league title, and it's nearly all down to his sumptuous volleys and awe inspiring left foot.
A debate that has sprung up in recent months is that of whether Gareth Bale is the best player in the world at the moment, behind Messi and Ronaldo. It's true that he's in an extremely rich vein of form, scoring 11 goals in the last 10 league games, but is he world class just yet? Your Spurs fan will definitely say so but to the rest of us, the sam could have been said about Theo Walcott a few months ago, but that faded as quickly as it had started. I think Bale is different though. He seems to possess something that's hard to put your finger on but at the same time it makes his game look very similar to that of Cristiano Ronaldo; pace, strength, the ability to dribble past defenders and most importantly, a venomous finish. People have sneered at me when I've suggested he's even close to Ronaldo, but I think there are clear indications that if he carries on as he is, he will be there or there abouts in only a couple of years, if that!
Luis Suarez has had a very tough time of it since he arrived on Merseyside from Ajax in 2011. He was involved in the aweful racism with Patrice Evra and has always been prone to diving, which hasn't gone down (pun unintended) too well with the fans. However, recently he has given Liverpool fans a reason to believe in him; he's the top scorer in the league after smashing in a hattrick against strugglers Wigan. Personally, I have never been that fond of Suarez as I find him incredibly petulant and arrogant, but as solely as a player, he has undoubted God-given talent. This has helped him keep a sometimes lifeless Liverpool in Europa League contention for next year. He showed this talent when he almost single-handedly beat Zenit St.Peterburg when Liverpool were 2-0 down and Suarez brought it back to 3-2. That was until Zenit scored a lucky away goal with help from Jamie Carragher and knocked Liverpool out.
In my opinion, the title should go to Gareth Bale, because he has shown the most growth as a professional football player and is carrying Tottenham towards a guarenteed Champions League spot. On the other hand though, the competition is so tight I might just leave it to the experts to decide.
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