Michael Cox’s Team Of The Year

David De Gea, Manchester United

When big clubs endure difficult campaigns, their goalkeeper usually shines – he has more opportunity to make eye-catching saves. When Liverpool dropped to seventh in 2009/10, Pepe Reina endured an excellent campaign – probably his last.

His fellow Spaniard De Gea has experienced something similar. His reaction saves have always been impressive, but there’s no hint of his previous weaknesses – his initial reluctance to come out to claim crosses, and a slight vulnerability to long-range shots. He’s become the complete goalkeeper.

Seamus Coleman, Everton

Roberto Martinez’s appointment at Everton was always likely to be good for the full-backs – but while their best player last season, Leighton Baines, has been good rather than spectacular, Irishman Coleman has been superb.

He started his campaign with a goal and an assist in Everton’s 2-2 draw at Norwich on the opening day, and his attacking quality has been obvious throughout. He’s scored six goals from open play, the most of any full-back, and his crossing has improved. A couple of fine through-balls – see the assist for Kevin Mirallas at Manchester United – shows his passing ability too. His defending can still improve, although Everton’s system means he can concentrate on getting forward.

Dejan Lovren, Southampton

The Croatian centre-back endured a mixed spell in Ligue 1, but proved to be Southampton’s best purchase of last summer, outshining both Dani Osvaldo and Victor Wanyama by a distance.

Southampton’s start to the campaign was highly impressive, riding high in fourth position at one stage, and this was mainly because of their excellent defensive record. Lovren is a good all-round defender – formidable in the air, intelligent with his tackles, happy bringing the ball forward, as well as being comfortable in a high line, vital for Mauricio Pochettino’s system. His headed winner at Anfield in October, meanwhile, is one of the most underrated goals of the season.

John Terry, Chelsea

Considering he started just 11 times last season, it seemed Terry’s time as Chelsea’s leading centre-back was coming to an end – but under his old favourite Jose Mourinho, Terry has been highly dependable, missing just three matches and forming a reliable partnership with Gary Cahill.

Both have been excellent, but Terry gets the nod because his leadership skills are so vital. In his absence, Chelsea’s defensive positioning is often sloppy, dropping too deep too early – but while many criticise Terry’s lack of pace, he’s keen to push the defence up, away from goal. Aside from his own goal against Crystal Palace, Terry has been flawless.

Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea

Luke Shaw has unquestionably enjoyed a good campaign, but his position in the PFA Team of the Year feels like a reflection of transfer rumours and his potential, rather than his performances this season. Other than Southampton fans, it’s doubtful most would be able to name three matches where he’s played particularly well.

Azpilicueta, however, has shone in some big games – he was excellent in both matches against Arsenal, as well as the 3-1 win over Manchester United and the brilliant 1-0 victory at the Etihad. A right-back by trade, his positioning on the left means he plays a more defensive game than he’d like, but he’s barely made a mistake.

Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal

The Welsh midfielder missed three months of the campaign – in PFA voting terms, the worst three months to miss – but when Ramsey has been fit, his midfield play has been remarkable. Nine goals and eight assists from 19 starts is a good record for any player, but it’s particularly impressive from a central midfielder.

Ramsey’s energy has been obvious throughout the campaign – he’s often Arsenal’s most prolific tackler but also a regular goalscoring, showing his old-school, box-to-box tendencies. His technical quality shouldn’t be forgotten, either, and his display against Newcastle on Monday featured some brilliant crossfield diagonal balls. He’s nailed-on to be named Arsenal’s player of the season.

Yaya Toure, Manchester City

There were some teething problems in the opening weeks, with Toure’s new midfield partner Fernandinho not a natural holding player, and therefore unaccustomed to playing in deep positions to support Toure’s continual forward charges.

But the more they’ve played together, the more their relationship has developed. Fernandinho has been one of the division’s best defensive midfielders, allowing Toure to concentrate primarily on impacting the game in the final third. His powerful runs in possession are nothing new, but his free-kick ability has surprised many, and he registered his first-ever hattrick against Fulham.

David Silva, Manchester City

Usually, the divisional leaders of the ‘passes played’ and ‘chances created’ statistics are entirely different types of players – the former usually deep-lying central midfielders, the latter more attacking players. This season, however, Silva leads both categories – underlining his ability to conduct games, as well as playing the incisive final pass.

Silva’s positioning, his ability to play first-time passes on the half-turn, and his penchant for clever through-balls means he’s one of the best technicians around, and occasionally his performances have been staggering. His second half performance in the 3-2 defeat at Liverpool was particularly noteworthy, with Silva continually outfoxing Steven Gerrard and desperately getting City back into the game. More goals would be nice, but Silva has been magnificent.

Eden Hazard, Chelsea

Hazard has now been named in his division’s Team of the Year five years running – three for Lille, two for Chelsea. At 23, he was the clear winner of the Young Player award (although the PFA surely need to revise the definition of ‘young’) and his status as Chelsea’s top goalscorer and top assister underlines his importance.

Three games stand out – he was consistently dangerous throughout Chelsea’s fine 1-0 win at Manchester City, scaring the life out of Pablo Zabaleta with his acceleration. He was also a constant menace in the 3-1 win over Manchester United, leaving Nemanja Vidic for dead a couple of times, which eventually prompted the Serbian centre-back to chop him down, earning a straight red. But his performance in the 3-0 win over Newcastle in February was the most impressive – he ran the show, and scored a great hattrick.

Luis Suarez, Liverpool

After a self-induced delayed start to the campaign, Suarez quickly made up for lost time with arguably the finest run of performances the Premier League has ever seen from an individual towards the end of 2013. In December, for example, there was a run of four matches where he scored ten goals and added four more assists too – with his customary thrashing of Norwich a particular highlight.

As the league’s top goalscorer and top assister too, perhaps only Thierry Henry has been as capable of scoring goals and providing them in the Premier League era. The only weakness has come against big teams – he’s scored 0 in 6 against the top four, compared to 30 goals in 25 games against everyone else. But there’s much more to his game than goals, and his display in the 5-1 win over Arsenal showed he was happy to be a facilitator rather than the star, and therefore accusations of selfishness no longer apply.

Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool

20 goals is usually enough to be Liverpool’s top goalscorer, but while Sturridge has played second fiddle to Suarez, the two have formed a brilliant old-fashioned strike partnership, encouraging Brendan Rodgers to use unusual systems like 3-5-2 and a 4-4-2 diamond to play them close together.

Whereas Suarez has scored his goals in ‘blocks’, Sturridge has been quietly consistent. He’s managed 20 goals, but only twice has he scored more than once in a game. Scoring a goal in each of the first four games this season (three of them 1-0 wins) meant Liverpool started strongly in Suarez’s absence, which formed the basis for their title charge.

Subs

Petr Cech: still highly dependable – he’s closing in on the Premier League’s clean sheet record.

Gary Cahill: alongside Terry, he formed the best centre-back combination in the league.

Mile Jedinak: a combative, aggressive, ultra-physical midfield player, and vital in Crystal Palace’s surprisingly successful season.

Steven Gerrard: a more understated role than usual, but amongst the Liverpool captain’s most consistent seasons.

Adam Lallana: an intelligent, creative, elusive playmaker who has deservedly become an international.

Raheem Sterling: started the season as a promising talent, ended it as one of the most devastating attacking weapons in the league.

Romelu Lukaku: often unstoppable, and more selfless than given credit for.