Ederson and Fernandinho Voted into PFA Team of the Year

Manchester City’s Ederson and Fernandinho have been voted into the Professional Footballers Association team of the year. The pair were voted into a team comprised of 6 Manchester City players, four Liverpool players and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba. Ederson and Fernandinho represent Brazil in the team. Ederson has become renowned for revolutionising what goalkeepers are […]
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sambafoot_admin
2019-04-25 19:40:00

Manchester City’s Ederson and Fernandinho have been voted into the Professional Footballers Association team of the year. The pair were voted into a team comprised of 6 Manchester City players, four Liverpool players and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba.

Ederson and Fernandinho represent Brazil in the team. Ederson has become renowned for revolutionising what goalkeepers are capable of with their feet, having notched 3 assists this season with his long kicking. He fended off strong competition from his compatriot and Brazil number 1 Alisson of Liverpool, who has been a revelation since joining the club from Roma last summer.

Ederson has been outstanding since joining City from Benfica back in the summer of 2017, he has won a league title at the Etihad already and City currently lead the league table with three games remaining. Fernandinho has also been recognised for his performances at the base of Pep Guardiola’s midfield.

Fernandinho has become a key part of Pep Guardiola’s record breaking Manchester City team. He has also taken some time out from international duty this season after receiving a torrent of abuse for his performance against Belgium in last summer’s World Cup. Ederson and Fernandinho are the first Brazilians to feature in the PFA Team of the Year since Chelsea’s David Luiz in 2016-17.

Other Brazilians voted into the team are Sylvinho (2000-01) and Philippe Coutinho (2014-15), while Chelsea’s Diego Costa was also voted into the team in 2014-15. Sylvinho was voted in for his performances in an Arsenal shirt in 2000-01 at left-back, though he was sold by Arsenal in the summer of 2001 and replaced by Ashley Cole. Coutinho’s collection of long range strikes for Liverpool sealed his presence in the team in 2015. Coutinho moved to Barcelona in a deal worth £114m last summer.

The curiosity is that neither Fernandinho nor Ederson are first choices for Brazil. Ederson is understudy to Alisson, while Fernandinho, though a valued member of Tite’s squad, is second choice to Real Madrid’s Casemiro in midfield. Fernandinho has decided to make himself available for this summer’s Copa America, but in the meantime, Pep Guardiola continues to struggle to find a long term replacement for his midfield player. Guardiola tried to sign Jorginho and Fred, who ended up at Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.

Aged 34, Guardiola needs to find an heir to Ferna at the base of his midfield, a player whose qualities the manager is very effusive about. Fernandinho beat off competition from the likes of Fabinho, Granit Xhaka, Moussa Sissoko, Declan Rice and Abdoulaye Dacoure to be voted into the 2018-19 team of the season.

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