Four Tottenham Players Make PFA Team of the Year

The 2016 PFA Team of the Year heavily features Leicester City and Tottenham players. Both clubs have four representatives in the starting eleven of a 4-4-2 formation.

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have just announced their Team of the Year — albeit earlier than expected because of an unfortunate circumstance (more on this later on) — and it is dominated by the Premier League’s top two clubs.

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Due to the amazing seasons that the league leaders, Leicester City, and the top-flight’s best offensive and defensive team, Tottenham Hotspur, have had it’s not surprising at all that more than half of the selections are comprised of players from the Foxes and Spurs.

In fact, it’s only right that eight out of the 11 positions are filled by this season’s best two teams. And while there was one particular player who got snubbed, Arsenal’s Mesut Özil, the entire PFA Team of the Year as a whole is representative of the best players at in their respective positions.

Now, as to why the PFA Team of the Year was shown much earlier — on Thursday rather than on Sunday along with the other individual awards — according to Sky Sports a person who attended the ceremony had leaked a photograph of the team and put it on social media.

Therefore, with practically everyone seeing who made the Team of the Year, the Professional Footballers’ Association had to react quickly, which was to officially announce it on their Twitter account (picture above) three days earlier than expected.

At the same time, the PFA put out a statement regarding the matter:

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“The PFA is disappointed that a member of the public has chosen to deliberately leak our representative teams from the official brochure of the Awards Evening.”

“As a matter of urgency, we are seeking a detailed explanation from the brochure printers as to how they were able to secure a copy of the publication.”

“The unveiling of the PFA representative teams are eagerly awaited by our members and football fans throughout the country and we hope that the unfortunate leak does not affect the wide-ranging debate and discussion which accompanies their normal release on the day of the event.”

While the PFA Team of the Year was announced (or leaked), the individual awards will still come out as scheduled. Which is set for Sunday, April 24.

Looking at the four players who make up Tottenham’s selections this season they’re all good choices as they have shown throughout this season that they are the best at their respective positions.

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Harry Kane, along with Jamie Vardy, have been the top two strikers in the Premier League this season. And with 24 league goals and counting, Kane no doubt deserves a place in the Team of the Year.

For Dele Alli, his inclusion was another no-brainer by having one of the best debut seasons in the Premiership with 10 goals and nine assists. While he’s only 20 (he spent half of the season as a 19-year-old), Alli has played an integral role in forming a dynamic one-two with Harry Kane, where the two have combined for 34 goals.

Lastly, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld — especially Alderweireld — had to be included for helping overturn a defense that conceded too many goals last season, into one which has allowed the least with only 25. While Rose and Alderweireld are mostly known for their defensive work this term, they have helped chip in on the other end of the pitch as well giving Mauricio Pochettino the best of both worlds: a dangerous offense and a stingy defense.