Twenty years after winning without a loss, only five members of this year's team were produced, and only the championship was left

Aug 21, 2024

Source=PFA Homepage Capture

Source=Sky Sports

Surprisingly, the PFA Team of the Year had more runners-up than the winner. It was re-established at the awards ceremony that Arsenal are the leading club.

Arsenal produced the most five players in the Team of the Year category at the 2024 PFA Awards held at the Manchester Opera House on the 21st (Korea time).

Midfielder Martin 외degaard, Declan Rice, defender William Saliba, Gabriel Magalyangis and goalkeeper David Raya visited the ceremony in suits and received uniform trophies with their jersey numbers and names.

This year's player is Manchester City's Phil Foden, and Chelsea's Cole Palmer is the Young Player of the Year, but he has produced one more player than the winner Manchester City in this year's team.

Manchester City, which beat Arsenal by two points in the 2023-2024 season and won four consecutive EPL titles, sent four players to this year's team, including striker Elling Holan, midfielders Phil Foden and Rodri, and defender Kyle Walker.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins were listed in the other two positions. All 11 were made up of the first to fourth teams last season. No Tottenham player, including Son Heung-min, ranked fifth, was selected.

AFP Yonhap News

APYonhap News

Arsenal's production of more than five players in the PFA Team of the Year dates back to 20 years ago. In the 2003-2004 season 'King" Thierry Henry, as many as six players were selected for the team of the year, including Robert Fyre, Patrick Vieira, Lauren, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole. At that time, Arsenal won the only unbeaten championship in EPL history under the leadership of Arsène Wenger.

Arsenal also produced five players for the 2002-2003 season, including Henry, Vieira, Pire, Cole and Campbell. In that season, he finished second after fierce competition with Manchester United.

Arsenal's heyday seems to have returned for the first time in 20 years like a trend. Arsenal, who finished second in the 2002-2003 season and produced five players for this year's team, last took the presidency in the 2003-2004 season, wants to take the same path as then. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is aiming to win the league for the first time in 21 years in the 2024-2025 season, taking advantage of last season's runner-up finish.

It's off to a good start. On the 17th, he won the league's opening game against Wolverhampton with consecutive goals by Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka. Gary Neville predicted Arsenal would beat Manchester City to win the game in the `Sky Sports' rankings. However, Manchester City also proved to be a formidable opponent by beating Chelsea 2-0 in the absence of the majority of the main players.

yoonjinman@sportschosun.com