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Ruben Dias gets another gong

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    Ruben Dias gets another gong

    FWA Player of the year. A surprise really, inasmuch as they haven't given it to a defender since Steve Nicol, and have yet to give it to de Bruyne (although he did get the Players' Player last year).
    Last edited by Rogin the Armchair fan; 20-05-2021, 10:14.

    #2
    He's this year's VVD in terms of turning a good team into a great one by locking the back door and initiating attacks from the back. But why did VVD not win this last year?

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      #3
      I'll be honest and confess that his stellar season has rather passed me by.

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        #4
        He's getting an awful lot of credit for man city's ultra defensive tactics, and the death of forwards running around.

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          #5
          This season, more than any other I can recall, hasn't really had a standout player, but maybe that says more about my diminished engagement.

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            #6
            Did AB mean to highlight the "dearth" of forwards running around, or really credit Ruben Dias for their "deaths"? Because you'd definitely think VAR should have picked up on the latter.

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              #7
              I'm rather ashamed to say I was only vaguely aware of the existence of this player. I would not be able to recognise him in a photo.

              Anyone else, or is it just me?

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                #8
                Originally posted by cantagalo View Post
                I'm rather ashamed to say I was only vaguely aware of the existence of this player. I would not be able to recognise him in a photo.

                Anyone else, or is it just me?
                Yep, me too. And I've never seen FWA abbreviated before so I really had very little clue what was going on..

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                  #9
                  Four Man City players have previously won the award. Impress us by naming them off the top of your head, or scratch that head and check here:

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FWA_Fo...er_of_the_Year

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                    #10
                    I didn't even know that one of those guys had played for Manchester City

                    I knew Trautmann and Sterling

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                      #11
                      Ginola winning it in 1999 is still hilarious

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                        I didn't even know that one of those guys had played for Manchester City

                        I knew Trautmann and Sterling
                        I didn't know that one of them had actually been a player (as opposed to a manager) and certainly not one that well renowned.

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                          #13
                          Scott Parker's stellar 2010-11 must have passed me by, I can't remember which trophies West Ham won that year. But he was very polite to the journalists, I'm sure.

                          I also could not pick Ruben Diaz out of a line up.

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                            #14
                            Dias has been very good this season and can be probably more recognized because he turned John Stones back into looking a reliable center-back.

                            A combination of a less showy position and first season in England likely help few to know who he is. It's a good choice though - these things should go to defensive players more often.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by The Awesome Berbaslug!!! View Post
                              He's getting an awful lot of credit for man city's ultra defensive tactics, and the death of forwards running around.
                              I think we really need to see your working here. Top scoring ultra-defense?

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                                #16
                                It seems to show the power of the FA Cup back then because Man City players won the award in 1955 & 56 despite Man City finishing below the Top 3 both seasons. OTOH the practice of just giving it to a player who won the title (or came very close) seems quite recent. Bruno Fernades would perhaps have won it had he been at the other Manchester club (or been at Man U in the Fergie Time era).

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by caja-dglh View Post

                                  I think we really need to see your working here. Top scoring ultra-defense?
                                  The way city have played this season has been quite different to the way they have played other seasons under guardiola. It comes down to two major factors. City started the season at a massive disadvantage to everyone else, other than Man utd, in that their 19-20 season went on until after everyone else's holidays were over. Meaning that city started the season at a fairly substantial physical disadvantage, in terms of overall conditioning which would affect them throughout the course of the season, but also a lack of match fitness which combined made a bollocks of the start of their season. City had 12 points after eight games. The other thing was something that he mentioned after the League cup final, which was to asked about the coaching miracle he had implemented to turn the season around, and he said there was no coaching this season. There was no time to coach because it was game after game. All they did was go to their principles. (This makes this article by jonathan wilson look a bit silly. https://www.theguardian.com/football...premier-league)

                                  Essentially what this boils down to is that a hell of a lot of man city's games this season went much the same way. At half time city would have had 70-75% possession, one shot on target, one shot off target, and the opposition would have either 0 and 1. City would spend the first half patiently passing the ball around among themselves, moving the opposition around, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. If they could get a goal from a corner or a set piece, or a player taking advantage of a mistake, then they'd happily pounce on it. But normally what would happen is that city would pass the ball around until the other team lose concentration and then city would pounce. They wouldn't necessarily be doing very much to force the game, but they didn't really have to, and they had another game in a couple of days. Mourinho used to talk about resting on the ball, and that's what city were doing in spades.

                                  Given the first two things i outlined above, this makes perfect sense, and it worked out very well for them under the circumstances of the season, but City won't be playing like that next season. They a) won't have to play like that and b) the opposition will make it hard to play like that so City will broadly revert to the way they were playing before, because that was a good way of playing. It will be interesting to see what kind of defender Dias is then.

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                                    #18
                                    There should be a Football Photographers' Player Of The Year too. Not infrequently won by goalies who like to make their saves look spectacular.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by delicatemoth View Post
                                      There should be a Football Photographers' Player Of The Year too. Not infrequently won by goalies who like to make their saves look spectacular.
                                      Record winner right here:

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by caja-dglh View Post

                                        Record winner right here:


                                        All great, of course, but not a patch on that one of him upside down in the Old Trafford moat.

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