adminLuis Suárez found some consolation after the dejection of Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea after being named the PFA Player of the Year. His fellow striker Daniel Sturridge, though, was pipped to the Young Player of the Year award by Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard, preventing double Anfield glory for the much acclaimed ‘SAS’ partnership. Hazard was runner up in the main prize with Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure third.
Suárez’s recognition by his peers in a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London completed his rehabilitation in English football, a year on from the Uruguayan’s 10-game suspension for biting the Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.
It is quite a turnaround for a player who missed the first six fixtures of the current campaign because of that incident. In the previous season Suárez was banned and fined for using racial language towards Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.
At that time, there were questions as to whether Suárez would flee English football, but aside from the occasional diving controversy his disciplinary record has improved greatly over the past 12 months and, added to his performances, is said to have even persuaded Evra to vote for him.
Suárez thus took his applause from his peers with the much-coveted individual honour. “The Premier League is full of really great players and so it is a great honour when these players recognise your work on the pitch,” he said. “I always try my best for the team and it is nice to get awards but really this is for my team-mates and the staff at Liverpool because without their help I wouldn’t have this prize.”
The Uruguay forward has scored 30 goals for his club as part of what has been an unexpected title challenge this season, including some of the most exciting individual performances Anfield has witnessed in years.
Suárez has been compared to Thierry Henry for his ability to score every type of goal, while he has also been seen as the third-best player in the world behind Cristiano Ronaldo, of Real Madrid, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
As well as being the Premier League’s top goalscorer this season, Suárez is also on course to be the European Golden boot winner.
Suárez headed to London on a private plane immediately after Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat by Chelsea, his attendance planned in advance of the game at Anfield. The Uruguayan has been the favourite to win the award for several weeks and is expected to make it an awards double with the Football Writers Association ballot held over the next few weeks.
In the young player category, Hazard beat Sturridge into second place and Southampton teenage left-back Luke Shaw into third.
“It’s always good to win awards because it means you’ve had a good season, but I prefer to win things collectively and I must say thank you to all my Chelsea team-mates, the staff and the fans,” he said.
Suárez won the players’ vote ahead of his Liverpool team-mates Steven Gerrard and Sturridge, with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, Manchester City’s Yaya Touré and Southampton’s Adam Lallana also among those nominated. — Telegraph
Online Reporter