UEFA revealed their 40-man shortlist for team of the year today and there are a few glaring omissions.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero has been overlooked despite constantly being touted by English football pundits as the best player in the Premier League as well as reaching the World Cup final with Argentina.
No place either for Wayne Rooney which is not as surprising as the lack of Aguero but the United captain’s presence on so many “team of the year” lists in recent years makes it a little strange to not see him even make the shortlist.
While the list is intended to encompass the whole year of footballing contributions, it’s unusual to see Cesc Fabregas not make the list when he’s been something of a revelation since moving to Chelsea in the summer.
Luis Suarez may be the biggest name to miss out after being named as “Europe’s most influential player” in a Bloomberg study before the World Cup. But then he went and bit Chiellini which kind of gives his exclusion some bit of an explanation.
Out of the 40 players there are a total of just 7 Premier League players which makes you think about the league’s standing among Europe’s top leagues, especially when you consider the fact that players like Courtois, Di Maria and Sanchez did most of the work to get them nominated in La Liga rather than in the Premier League.
The only players playing for English clubs before the summer who made the list are the Man City trio of Kompany, Zabaleta and Yaya Toure.
Sad state of affairs.
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Beto (Sevilla).
Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Diego Godín (Atlético), Joao Miranda (Atlético), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Jerome Boateng (Bayern), Medhi Benatia (Bayern), David Alaba(Bayern), Ezequiel Garay (Zenit), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Philipp Lahm (Bayern), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid).
Midfielders: Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Angel Di María (Manchester United), Arjen Robben (Bayern), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), James Rodríguez (Real Madrid), Koke (Atlético), Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Yaya Touré (Manchester City), Arda Turan (Atlético).
Forwards: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Chelsea), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern), Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Jonathan Soriano (Red Bull Salzburg), Carlos Tévez (Juventus), Neymar (Barcelona).
