Bitter Wenger slams PFA awards
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reacted bitterly to the final nominations for the PFA awards, which saw no Gunners shortlisted for either Player of the Year or Young Player of the Year. The Frenchman insists that if voting were conducted later in the season, Arsenal players would surely have featured.
And as voting takes place as early as February, much of his side’s 18 Premier League game unbeaten run was not taken into account.
“The players who are rewarded are those who played well until February,” complained Wenger.
“Now is the most important time of the season – April, May. I believe these awards just reward the players of the first six months of the season.
"A player who has been out until January has no chance to be voted, but he can still be very influential for the rest of the season.
“If they vote in May, I hope some of my players would be in there because that would mean we have done well tomorrow and later.”
Despite his disappointment, Wenger insists it is team results, not individual awards, that matter to him.
“We are in a team sport,” he continued. “I’m not too interested in singling out players. I am ready to vote what is the best team at the end of the season rather than individuals.”
And striker Emmanuel Adebayor echoed his manager’s words. “We are in April and the most important thing is not individual trophies – it is more about what we are going to win as a team," he said.
"I am not here to be the best player in the league. I am here to win things with Arsenal.”
The Gunners play Villarreal in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday. They are favourites to progress after a 1-1 draw in El Madrigal last Tuesday, in which Adebayor scored a spectacular overhead kick to secure a vital away goal.
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Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.