Player of the Season (Other than Messi!)

[maz]

By the way, what's wrong with the current generation of football fan? Why can't people choose the obvious choice? I mean I'm starting to worry that if I did include Messi, everyone would vote for Xavi because Messi is the "easy choice"! There's a reason he's the easy choice!

 

[Xavi Hernández Creus]

Xavi & Piqué

 

[yusuf]

xavi for sure but pedro, pique and valdes were very close and all had amazing seasons

maxwell also deserves some credit for the way he played for us down the stretch

 

[G.J]

It'll be interesting to see where Pedro stands in the overall MOM topic, because as much as Xavi is/was majestic for 2 consecutive seasons, Pedro has been the difference maker in so many la liga games and the 3 cups we won earlier.

 

[Fourteen]

By the way, what's wrong with the current generation of football fan? Why can't people choose the obvious choice? I mean I'm starting to worry that if I did include Messi, everyone would vote for Xavi because Messi is the "easy choice"! There's a reason he's the easy choice!

If you're refering to my post, that's not what I meant you bum face!

When I say a choice is "too easy" it means that it is the choice you pick when not looking at the bigger picture. To look at the bigger picture, you take into account Victor Valdes clean-sheet performances and crucial one-on-one saves. You look at Keita's non-stop running to cover defensive duties, make important tackles to break down opposition play. With Pique you look at his solid tackles and interceptions, his strength and assurance on the ball, his amazing distribution and being the first person to start off an attacking move and the last between the attacker and the keeper. It's very easy to notice Xavi and Messi's contributions to the game, therefore i've choosen to acknowledge Pique who is the master at what he does and at the moment, an all-round ultra-talented central defender, one of a kind.

 

[JCCR_FCB]

Xavi, of course! The brain of the team!

 

[maz]

If you're refering to my post, that's not what I meant you bum face!

When I say a choice is "too easy" it means that it is the choice you pick when not looking at the bigger picture. To look at the bigger picture, you take into account Victor Valdes clean-sheet performances and crucial one-on-one saves. You look at Keita's non-stop running to cover defensive duties, make important tackles to break down opposition play. With Pique you look at his solid tackles and interceptions, his strength and assurance on the ball, his amazing distribution and being the first person to start off an attacking move and the last between the attacker and the keeper. It's very easy to notice Xavi and Messi's contributions to the game, therefore i've choosen to acknowledge Pique who is the master at what he does and at the moment, an all-round ultra-talented central defender, one of a kind.

Whatevs....

Ok I see your point. I do think Piqué is well up there with the best of them.

 

[antimadritista]

Tough one. Voted for Pique.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

Xavi (the obvious vote) maintained the same mind-blowing level as last season.

My vote went to Valdes. He not only maintained his form from last season but he showed tremendous improvement with his overall game. Third Zamora trophy to add to his cabinet.

 

[maz]

I loved the reception Valdés got from the fans last night. It's a shame for the stick he's got (heaven knows how much I've defended this guy in the past!), but I'm soo happy that he is appreciated now. He has been very crucial in previous seasons, but I don't know what he's done to make him be more appreciated now. He still makes mistakes (like last night - thank god for Puyi), but people are giving him his dues. What's changed?

 

[XaviMessiGirl]

Picked Valdes due to his great improvement throughout the season... Xavi was an amazing player but he wasn't any BETTER than before, like others mentioned

 

[Pepe Silvia]

His committment has always been through the roof, but his confidence was patchy and showed up in spells. I don't know who the new coach that was assigned to him this season was, but the heightened confidence elevated every aspect of his game.

Furthermore, the new-found confidence kept him afloat when the pressure of making Del Bosque's squad surfaced week after week and comparisons to Iker as Spain's best were neverending. He kept his head down and focused on Barca winning when we needed him most, and saved our asses dozens of times when our backline fell asleep.

 

[maz]

But hasn't he done that for many seasons? I think that people loved to hate valdés, but his consistency has always been pretty high. However he would make one mistake and everyone would be on his back. Then you'd show them videos of all the top keepers making recent mistakes, and they'd write them off as human error, whereas with vv it was "he's not good enough..simple as that". Well..he is good enough! And always has been.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

All of the hate only added to the pressure for him to perform and he overcame it. He turned that negative energy around to fuel his goals. What's more is that people have no CHOICE but to respect him now. They can't say "he's not good enough" any more.

High-profile saves and domination between the posts.

 

[Metaphysical]

Messi deserves to be in everyone's number 1 place. It's like putting maradona's teammate above maradona just cause maradona was expected to be world class. I'm just asking about the next player.

what you mean like last season when everyone kept voting iniesta above messi?

anyway it's a good poll and a good idea but you should have taken xavi out of the equation as well.

those two are obviously our best players this season. our third? now THAT is a debate...