RTK View: Liverpool’s Player of the Season candidates

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Liverpool’s Player of the Season award has been hotly contested for the last number of years.

However, this season, it is all change.

The Reds have had a dire campaign, with very few of the players playing anywhere close to their regular form.

With five games to go, RTK will present our three candidates to be Liverpool’s player of the season.

Performances from all competitions are under consideration.

Certain players, like Andy Robertson and Gini Wijnaldum, had super starts to the season before dropping off after Christmas.

Others were poor at the beginning before picking up in recent times, like Nat Phillips and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Injuries ruined the chances of Diogo Jota, who has played under 1000 minutes of football at the time of writing. If he had managed to keep up his form in recent weeks, he would have probably made the shortlist anyway.

The same can be said of Thiago, who suffered from having to play in a depleted side after his great start was ruined by Richarlison’s lunge.

So, with those five honourable mentions out of the way, here is our top three.

Of course, all statistics are accurate at the time of writing.

Mohamed Salah

46 games played. 29 goals scored. Enough said?

While everyone else around him has floundered, Mo Salah has been his usual self this season.

He has broken the 20 goal mark in the Premier League yet again and is second only to Harry Kane in the race for the league’s Golden Boot.

What best sums up Salah’s season is Liverpool’s shock 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa in October.

Despite everyone around him crumbling in dramatic fashion, the Egyptian still managed to bag a brace for himself. It was an indication of the relentless mentality that he possesses.

The 28-year-old can frustrate when given a chance on his right foot. He could do better with some on his left too. His dribbling technique is not exactly aesthetically pleasing, while his touch can be poor at times.

Yet he is still one of the very best players in the world. His output is simply elite.

Statistically, Salah leads the squad for goals, xG, shots and goal-creating actions.

He should be in the running for PFA Player of the Year, while he should also secure a spot on the right-wing in the Team of the Year.

Basically, if he was not in the team, Liverpool would be mid-table at best.

With rumours of a potential summer exit floating about, let’s hope that we see Mo Salah at Anfield for years to come.

Fabinho

Fabinho has a case to be called the most underrated player in the game. While everyone rates him highly, it is nowhere near highly enough.

The Brazilian is world-class. In terms of out-and-out No 6’s, he is the best on the planet.

The fact that he has played the majority of the season at centre-back and is still in contention for Liverpool Player of the Season is a fantastic compliment to his quality.

He looked a certainty for a team of the season place at centre-back before injuries started to come into play.

In fact, he has had three separate lay-offs this season, missing a total of 11 games (per Transfermarkt). Had he not missed so much action, he would probably be the best candidate.

The team is simply so much better with him in it.

Since his latest return, the 27-year-old has been restored to his best position. Jurgen Klopp clearly feels that it is more important that he protects the defence than it is actually having him back there.

Fabinho does his job perfectly. He does it better than anybody else in Europe.

This season, he has shown that he is capable of doing other people’s jobs better than most as well.

Salah is the obvious shout, but the footballing purists will recognize that Fabinho is right up there with him.

Jordan Henderson

The third candidate was a difficult one to choose. Eventually, we settled on Jordan Henderson.

It feels like the captain has not played enough football to be considered. However, his 2113 minutes are the ninth-most in the squad.

The biggest compliment Henderson can be given is that you know when he is not there. And no, he cannot be given the award based solely on what he hasn’t done, but it does give us an idea of just how important he is to the team.

Everyone talks about his leadership and organizational skills. But not enough people pay attention to his footballing ability.

His long-range passing, his aggressive tackling, his ability to dictate a game’s tempo. Henderson is a brilliant footballer.

Like Fabinho, the Englishman had to fill in at centre-back at times. He did not adapt quite as well as his usual midfield partner but was by no means bad either.

The lack of competition helps him. But one can only imagine that Liverpool would be looking much better for a place in the top four had Henderson not missed so much action through injury.

At 30-years-old, he is going to prove to be near-impossible to replace in a few short years.

The captain is as good a candidate as any for Liverpool’s player of the season.