Deciding which players should feature in a team of the season will always stir up debate.
In the Premier League, there are multiple accolades to honour the players but the significance of the Professional Football Association (PFA) awards is that it’s voted for by professional footballers, who have competed against one another throughout that season.
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The winning XI every year and the specific picks are open to interpretation, but looking at the bigger picture there is room to spot certain trends.
In the early years of the Premier League, English players dominated the PFA Team of the Year, but that presence dropped as the influx of foreign players grew year-on-year.
Between 1993-94 and 1997-98, the Team of the Year featured a minimum of seven English players in each season, but it has only managed that once in the subsequent 25 seasons (2004-05), with a low point of only one English player in 2021-22 — Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The lack of English midfielders in recent teams also sticks out. In the last 10 seasons, the PFA Team of the Year has only featured four: Adam Lallana (2013-14), Steven Gerrard (2013-14), Dele Alli (2015-16 & 2016-17), and Jordan Henderson (2019-20).
In that timeframe, there are multiple occasions when the English players included have come from the same team. In 2015-16, Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur provided three of the four Englishmen voted into the PFA Team of the Year. They raised that tally to four out five in the following season when Kyle Walker joined Danny Rose, Harry Kane and Dele.
Another instance occurred in 2006-07, when Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes provided a strong Manchester United English contingent in the PFA Team of the Year alongside Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard.
Conversely, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers all contributed at least one English player in the 1995-96 PFA Team of the Year — only 2004-05 comes close to that variety, with six teams.
Prior to last season, the last time at least four Premier League teams provided English players to the PFA Team of the Year was in 2011-12.
But times are changing. The rise of English talent in recent years has meant that it’s not only Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne or Erling Haaland who are competing to be in the Premier League’s best line-up. Furthermore, the English players haven’t been concentrated in one or two teams, but spread across the league instead.
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After featuring in the PFA Team of the Year in 2022-23, Bukayo Saka has continued his impressive form in the Premier League this season with 16 goals and nine assists. The right-winger’s dribbling ability, goalscoring threat, and importance to Arsenal’s right-sided combinations has been vital to the side’s title charge in 2023-24.
Saka’s varied finishes towards the far corner or the near one has added to his unpredictability in front of goal. Moreover, opponents doubling up on the England winger with two defenders has created spaces for other Arsenal players to attack.
Down the same wing, Ben White has solidified his position as one of the best right-backs in the league — if not the best — with his well-timed overlaps to support Martin Odegaard and Saka, ability to play in narrow positions in midfield, and defensive impact. That’s without forgetting his value to Arsenal’s set piece as a master of the dark arts.
Next to them, Declan Rice has been enjoying his best season in the Premier League as Arsenal’s No 6 or No 8. The England midfielder believes that he contributes most as a No 6, but has been evolving to thrive in any of the two positions.
“With No 8, the manager is massive on making runs (off the ball), threatening behind, occupying zones, and that’s unnatural to me — I’ve never done that in my life, so it’s my first year learning that, which has been really different,” Rice told The Athletic last month.
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Rice’s ability to carry the ball forward and drive past opponents has also been of use to Arsenal’s attack, as well as his involvement in their overloads in wide areas. On top of that, his impact on set pieces — whether it’s his delivery or aerial ability — is crucial to Mikel Arteta’s side position as one of the best set-piece teams in the Premier League.
Off the ball, Rice’s defensive abilities have been on show even before he joined Arsenal — it’s no surprise that he has been a key figure in Arsenal’s pressing this season. Add in his dominance in duels, physicality, and defensive presence across the pitch, and questions about that price tag answer themselves.
The other Englishman battling it out for player of the season is Phil Foden. The Manchester City forward’s versatility in the front line has been beneficial to City this season as Pep Guardiola has chopped and changed to adapt to a long list of absentees.
2023-24 has been Foden’s most prolific season in the Premier League with 16 goals and eight assists as Guardiola’s side continue their mission for a fourth successive league title. Foden’s ability to play in the pockets, receive on the turn, and combine with his team-mates makes him a menace between the lines. “Phil is exceptional with that,” said Guardiola last December.
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Another City academy graduate who is rocking the league this season is Cole Palmer. The 22-year-old forward’s creativity, vision, and spatial awareness complement his technical abilities on the ball, which have been the driving force behind Chelsea’s battle for a European spot next season.
“He is a player that understands the game and uses the half-positions — he plays in between the lines to confuse the opponent,” Pochettino said of Palmer. “He always gives options for us to play and to find the free man. He is a playmaker that links all the team-mates.”
Palmer’s 21 goals in the Premier League this season are skewed by nine penalty goals, but his effectiveness from the spot is a trait to admire rather than a stick to beat his goal tally with. When Chelsea travelled to Burnley last October, it was Palmer who stood up and took the penalty kick when no one wanted to take it — a reflection of his personality and mindset.
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The other English player in the upper echelons of the scoring charts is Ollie Watkins. The Aston Villa striker has ascended to a new level under Unai Emery, scoring 19 times and providing 12 assists in the Premier League this season as Villa look to seal fourth place — their highest position since finishing fourth in 1995-96.
Besides his impressive finishing, Watkins’ off-ball movement is one of his most important assets as a striker, especially when you mix it up with his accurate decision-making and physical profile. It’s a part of his game that Watkins has been developing, and he complements the work on the training ground by watching clips of himself and other strikers.
“We work with him on this,” said Emery towards the end of last season. “I had a very good player in (Edinson) Cavani. His movement was perfect to show other strikers. Not only him, but also (Carlos) Bacca in Sevilla had amazing movement.
“Ollie is very open in his mind to watch other players, but the best is watching his improvement as a player, making movements like we are demanding of him, every training session and every match.”
Another feature of Watkins’ game that has been central to Villa’s attack under Emery is his link-up play, with the striker able to drop and be an outlet for the centre-backs or the holding midfielders before he combines with the No 10s to play through the opponents.
Directly behind Watkins in the assists charts is Anthony Gordon, who similarly excels when it comes to off-ball movement behind the defence. Mainly playing on the left, Gordon has shown that he can occupy any of the positions in Newcastle’s attack, which is one of the things that impressed Eddie Howe before signing him last year.
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Gordon’s pace and intensity fit how Newcastle have been playing under Howe. His pressing and defensive input strengthens the side out of possession, and his speed makes him an attacking threat on the transitions, something shown in his total of six penalties won this season, twice as many as any other player in the division.
It’s not only about the speed of the movement though, Gordon’s speed of thought and execution gives him an advantage in one-versus-one situations even when there’s less space to attack.
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Further down the table, Jarrod Bowen, Dominic Solanke and Eberechi Eze have each been instrumental in West Ham United, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace’s seasons. And in terms of the relegation fight, Dwight McNeil’s crosses and corner delivery have been vital to Everton’s survival. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest will be hoping that Morgan Gibbs-White’s creativity and eye for a pass keeps them in the Premier League for another season.
There will never be harmony when it comes to choosing the best 11 players of the season but one thing is for certain: the breadth and depth of English talent in the Premier League is higher than it has been for a generation, with the promise of more to come.
(Top photos: Getty Images)