Van Dijk or Sterling? Players right, media wrong!

London, April 29

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk won the PFA Player of the Year award on Sunday, voted on by his fellow professionals, while on Monday, Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling was awarded the Footballer of the Year prize, voted on by the media.

Whilst Sterling’s award, according to the FWA chair, also recognised his admirable stance on racism in the game, on a purely football basis it is hard to argue with the players. Take Sterling out of the City side and with the likes of Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez as alternatives, they would still be a formidable force and likely in a very similar position in the league. Take Van Dijk out of the Liverpool defence and it is hard to imagine Juergen Klopp’s side suffering just one defeat this season and still being within a point of catching City.

Pragmatic Pep

Perhaps it was an over-reaction to the way his team let a place in the semifinals of the Champions League slip away from them, but Pep Guardiola showed that for all his commitment to attacking and attractive football, he too can do pragmatic.

City ended their 1-0 win at Burnley on Sunday with six defenders on the field after replacing Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling with John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. Such is Guardiola’s ideological commitment to his style of football that the extra defenders were a strange sight -- but he was quite right to do all he could to make sure that lead was kept intact.

There are, after all, no prizes for tactical purity.

CL failure could help Man U

While Liverpool and City look set to take the title race down to the final day — those clubs supposedly ‘fighting’ for Champions League spots are stumbling towards the finish line in pretty unimpressive fashion. The 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford was a better result for the visitors but the game was a real disappointment with United again running out of steam. But while the damage to their status will hurt, it might not be the worst thing for United to miss out on the Champions League.

Major changes are expected at United this close season and as well as new signings the club also hope to integrate some younger players into their first team. The Europa League is a much better arena for that sort of ‘bedding in’ than the elite competition. Better to return to the Champions League in another year. — Reuters