Today, the Premier League Player of the Season nominations have been revealed – with Manchester City duo Phil Foden and Erling Haaland among those in contention to win.
Foden has been absolutely sensational this term, scoring 24 goals and making 11 assists across 49 appearances in total.
The star has been breathtaking at times playing in a central role, and stepped up massively when Kevin De Bruyne was out injured.
Haaland hasn’t quite hit the same heights as he did last year. He was probably never going, but he’s still had a fantastic campaign, scoring 25 goals in the league.
Whatever City’s final trophy haul is in a few weeks’ time, these two players will have played a major part in the success.
But there is another player who has arguably been even better than Foden and Haaland, who has been completely disrespected today by not being named on the shortlist…
Manchester City midfielder Rodri not being on the Player of the Season shortlist is an outrage
City fans were delighted this morning to see that Foden and Haaland were on the shortlist for Premier League Player of the Season. The duo are also nominees for Young Player.
But fans then realised there was actually no place for Rodri, with Ollie Watkins, Virgil van Dijk, Declan Rice, Cole Palmer Alexander Isak and Martin Odegaard making up the rest of the list.
Quite simply, it is a travesty that Rodri is not among the nominees for this award.
We have seen this season just how pivotal he is to City, with Pep Guardiola‘s side losing all four games he was unavailable through suspension for.
£63 million man Rodri has played mostly as a holding midfielder again this season, but he has taken his game to a whole new level this term by scoring eight goals and providing 14 assists across all competitions. Seven of those goals have come in the league, with nine assists.
So that’s 16 goal contributions, for a player primarily operating as a defensive midfielder. Only five Premier League players have managed more than nine assists this season and all but one (Kieran Tripper) are attackers.
But then we get to Rodri’s bread and butter which is dictating and dominating games through possession, and providing protection for the backline.
Pretty much every single game City play, he is the player who finishes the game with the most touches and the most completed passes – often with the highest accuracy.
Everything goes through him, and it is absolutely shocking he’s been overlooked once again.
Rodri disrespected, just like at the Ballon d’Or
Who knows at this point what more Rodri has done to receive the acknowledgment he truly deserves.
In fairness, all the players on the shortlist do deserve to be there. But for Rodri to miss out is nothing short of a travesty – and it’ll look even worse if City go on to win a fourth straight league title.
In 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings, Rodri only came fifth, behind Lionel Messi, Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and De Bruyne. Given how many big moments he had for City last season, it was felt by many fans – both of City and neutrals – that that was too low a ranking.
It really is sad how disrespected Rodri still is. Pep called him ‘an unbelievable player’ back in February, and he has got to be the best in the world in his position. He is also now right up with the best of anyone playing the game regardless of position. For him to not be in these conversations is just an insult to him.