Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice have been included on the eight-man shortlist for the 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Season award.
The Arsenal club captain is nominated for the second season in succession while Rice, the club’s record signing, makes the list for the first time.
While Odegaard hasn’t hit the same heights as last season in his key numbers, there’s no denying his importance to Mikel Arteta’s midfield. The Norway international has eight goals and eight assists in 33 appearances and, according to the Premier League, has created 16 big chances, which ties him fifth in the top flight.
Rice has featured in all 36 of Arsenal’s league games this season and recorded a personal best tally for goals (7) and assists (9) during his debut season at the Emirates. Signed for £100 million from West Ham, some wondered how he might cope with the burden of such a big price tag. He’s made light work of it.
Rice and Odegaard are likely to be considered outsiders for the award. Phil Foden, already voted FWA Player of the Year ahead of Rice (2nd) and Odegaard (4th), is considered the favourite. He along with Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Cole Palmer have also been nominated for the Young Player of the Season award. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins make up the other contenders.
EA Sports Premier League Player of the Season Nominees
Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Erling Haaland, 23 (Manch115ter City)
Phil Foden, 23 (Manch115ter City)
Cole Palmer, 22 (Chelsea)
Alexander Isak, 24 (Newcastle)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Fans have until 12pm (BST) on 13 May to vote. The votes from the public will then be combined with those of a panel of football experts to decide the winner, who will be revealed on the eve of the final day of the season.
Who would everyone vote for as our POTS (apart from Cedric, obviously)?
I think for consistent brilliance it’s Declan Rice, in my opinion.
What you saying?
Also, got to acknowledge there is no way VVD should be ahead of Gabriel, White or Saliba in the candidates for this
💯 on the last part. We’ve now conceded 10 less goals than puddles. For me:
1.(A) Ødegaard
1.(B) Rice
3.(A) Saliba
3.(B) Gabriel
5.(A) Saka
5.(B) White
1-2. Dectin Øderice
3-5. Bengabrilliam Whilibahaes
First place, Rice as he’s transformed our team
Odegaard second because he’s our best player and dictates our game
3rd, White he’s been exceptional, he plays 4 positions every match and i honestly can’t think of any player who’s analogous
4th place Havertz, he’s gone from timid number 8 to assertive and productive centre forward when we’ve needed him down the stretch
Gabriel 5th, been our best central defender over the season, dropped a place or 2 in the last month or so as i feel he’s lost his composure a little.
Evaluating defenders as individuals is difficult. You have to extrapolate the team dynamic around them and what they are being asked to do. VVD plays the equivalent of free safety (in NFL parlance, the fastest guy who is the last line of defense) and also quarterback, particularly when Trent didn’t play. Saliba or Big Gabi in those same moments would’ve had some uncomfortable situations they probably didn’t encounter as much at Arsenal because of the superb out of possession structure and all purpose barricade in Declan Rice. Their passing range is also a lot more conservative. If I had to… Read more »
Ødegaard hands down. But the judges of course will just be looking at the easy raw numbers instead of his advanced metrics and influence. He’s also the best defensive attaching player in world footie. The awards always ignore 50% of the game (defending). Rice is very close behind, but of course mach115ster will sweep up all the awards and there will be another greasy, oily stain on the league’s history.
just goes to show since Rodri didn’t even get a shout out…
That’s a travesty to be honest. He’s had a sensational season.
I’ll admit I have pictured an Arsenal midfield of Rice, Rodri, and Marty O…
We’d literally be invincible.
Honestly I think they look at both, if they just looked at simple raw goals and assists Saka would be a top candidate so I think they got it right by picking two of our players who don’t stand out in that sense but have been consistently superb in all other ways. But then also half the nominees are strikers so it seems kind of weirdly indecisive, like some sort of nonsensical compromise.
In the end they’ll pick Haaland again or Foden because they’ll get the least amount of controversy for doing so. Cowards.
I’m thinking it would be a dead heart for me ! Raya sunshine Benny Blanco Big Willie Big Gab Rice Rice Baby Martin Ooooooodegarrd Thomas Partaaaaaaaaay George Gino Star Boy Kai Kai Kai Kai Havertz Leo Leo Leo Trossard Jesus nothing further Gab Martin Elly Super Tomi Zinny Edddddddddiiiiiieeeee Kivior (or nobody just him!) E Yes R Reiss the volley The legend of Rambo Hein mighty Paddy Viera Mo Mo Mo how do you like it ? Finally Cedric has to be in there !!! Ultimately don’t care but I’d go with the two selected with a massive MASSIVE heavy… Read more »
Well deserved. I’d add Saliba and Saka to that number. Naming them in the YPS category is derisory, for me. That should be for emerging talents, and Saliba and Saka are not, irrespective of age.
Why is Cole Palmer, for instance, not among the YPS nominees?
Saka should not only be on this list, but he should be topping it.
Yes!!!
The Arsenal POTY is clearly Bukayo Saka. No other player comes close to his level of consistency, availability and game breaking contributions. His offensive output is up there with the best in the league this season despite also being asked to chase his fullback for 90 minutes each game, responsibilities not shared to even close to the same degree by the likes of Salah, Palmer or Foden. He also doesn’t have an offensive minded fullback behind him (Salah has Trent!) or elite wing dynamics on the left hand side to take the creative and scoring burden off of him. Foden… Read more »
I thought I heard the peak of excuse making for why Saka’s inferior numbers were in fact superior than his peers but this takes it to a whole new level!! Saka is literally the spearhead of our most dynamic side of the pitch. He benefits greatly from the proximity of playing next to White and Odegaard, two players that have been fit the entire season. The suggestion that his 16 goals are somehow better than Palmers 21 because he plays in a better team is truly bizarre. I’m a big Saka fan but oh my some people really aren’t capable… Read more »
Strange comment. You can disagree without proclaiming a lack of objectivity on my part.
Let me distill this down further. To me the POTY is the one player without whom the team can’t function and Saka represents that better than Martin, Saliba or Rice, though they have all been incredible.
Palmer is a me first player on a dysfunctional team, incredible offensive talent but not leading his team on a title charge against City so no comparison really.
Not for me, of the 3 on the right hand side I think Saka would be the easiest to replace.
I can’t think of a single player who can do what White does playing in 4 positions every match and there’s no no.8 with Odegaards work rate, pressing, productivity or ability to dictate the tempo of our game.
😳😳😳
K.
I don’t think this team functions at all without Rice or Odegaard in it this season. Without this season’s Saka it would be definitively worse, but not dysfunctional. Despite not having any decent backup for him we’d only lose about 8 open play goals and a few open play assists, the penalties and corner assists would be likely taken over by Odegaard and a combo of Jesus and Nelson would chip in a few goal contributions too covering him in that position, and both are capable of the same defensive effort and output that Saka is. I think he’s pretty… Read more »
I agree, personally think Saka is a 25 goal a season player.
I also think Martinelli is as well, fingers crossed our recruitment this summer focuses on unlocking that side of the pitch. That’ll also open the right up a bit more
Hopefully Timber being back or having a more defensively solid Zinchenko type will do some of that, then yeah, might be nice to have a right footed midfielder who’s some sort of cross between Odegaard, Jorginho and Partey for the left 8, a technical ball mover with good vision who can also defend. That kind of sounds unrealistic and too good to be true when I put it like that, but surely a player like that exists out there…
I like Paqueta in that position but I’m sure there are others and I hope that’s the type of player we go after this summer for those games we need a more technical attacking passer at 8.
A really left field name for that position that I’m sure will get loads of down votes is Dwight McNeil. Any time I’ve had the misfortune of watching Everton I’ve always liked the look of him.
For me that left 8 is still the position where we have room to add an other attacking dimension to the team
Dwight McNeil! 🫣
Sorry but you need to reevaluate how you rate footballers. If you want a high volume accurate crosser to a target man and box crashing midfield colossus then sure, he’s your guy. Kieran Trippier without the defending. Perfect for Sean Dyche’s Everton. At Arsenal he could not be one dimensional and rely on his single superpower. He would need to use his weak foot in the buildup, hold up the ball, he would need to defend in space, he would be tasked with central ball progression and he would be destroyed in duels in those areas.
The first thing i see is a player whose technical gifts are wasted playing for Sean Dyche. So i have to separate out the instructions he’s given, i.e. long balls and crosses with the bits i like for this Arsenal team. Remember how one of Declan Rice major qualities was the big cross field pass? how often does he play that at Arsenal? He’s good on the half turn, well paced line breaking passes, good through balls, he’s a good size, moves well, puts in the defensive work. I think he has the potential to be a very interesting left… Read more »
That’s part of my point, look how little thrust we have from the left from settled play. If that improves, Saka would have even more room to express himself. He’s routinely double teamed and teams are clamping down so hard on his side of things because they know that’s the key to stopping Arsenal.
I don’t think he’s getting double teamed quiet as much as he was in the early part of the season. I think putting Havertz up front and Rice a little further forward has opened up some space.
But I agree opening up the left will help further and thats when i think we can see Saka getting properly impressive numbers
I respect your opinion but I disagree vehemently. Nobody else on the team could replace what he does, Gabi J comes the closest but doesn’t have the durability. He’s literally good at everything and awesome at many things. He plays as an outlet in transitions with the strength to shrug off center backs, similar to Ollie Watkins. And has a devastating weak foot finish in addition to an unstoppable trademark left foot curler. He plays as a 1 v1 threat as our go to creative option, similar to Neto or when Guardiola decides to chuck Doku on. He can create… Read more »
A lot of your points have little to do with the subject. How does his age matter to whether he’s been our most important player this season or not? He’s one of the club’s most prized assets and easily one of its top 3 talents, that much is certain. As for how much worse we’d have been this season without him, I think Rice and Odegaard are very clearly ahead of him there. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if next season he tips the scale and is hands down our player of the season.
Very clearly ahead of him based on what?
…my own subjective opinion of course! 😉 Look I could quote you a bunch of advanced stats but in the end determining the weight of each of them is still very subjective, especially when comparing different positions. In the end for me I can’t see anyone who could give us anything near what Ode does in all aspects of the pitch (and to a slightly lesser extent Rice) whereas there are at least 4-5 wingers out there who have done as well as Saka this season or better. Not admitting that I think might be a tad too much homerism.… Read more »
I respect where you’re coming from and I agree with you about Odegaard in a lot of ways. I just haven’t seen a single piece of data to support that he has been more important than the guy playing wide of him. I think it’s easy to look past him like people look past Rodri, especially if he is not sparkling and curling in golazos. He still creates 4-5 chances while causing gravitational pull of defenders to him and defending his side of the pitch. There is no other player in world football who does that. If you don’t believe… Read more »
I disagree even more on your added statement. For sure we need Saka, but his goals-shots ratio is not great. If Jesus was fully fit, I would feel much more comfortable playing with Jesus at RW (without Saka) than I would with Jorginho at #8 (instead of Rice; alongside Partey) or Kiwior at RCB (instead of Saliba) and even less comfortable if it was ESR or Vieira at #10 (instead of Odegaard). I say all this with Saka being my favourite gooner (although Marty is now maybe neck-a-neck), but he has been good, not great this season. Take the pens… Read more »
Jesus is a versatile, world class player, and probably our second best overall attacking threat. So of course you feel better with that caliber of player backing up Saka, and he did great against Man City in that role. But he hasn’t played RW enough for us to even begin a discussion that he could make Saka redundant there, even if he was fully fit. If you want to see some non-mediocre Saka numbers, check out the links I posted below. It’s not just about the nonpenalty goals. Imagine if Bukayo played on a positionally less conservative team, his fullback… Read more »
The thing that has impressed me most about Saka this year is his defensive workrate and execution. That felt lacking in previous years and it shows in those stats below, which is why I’d rather him than those other guys, but I still feel in the box there is still space for improvement based on this season alone. Rice and Ødegaard have been basically flawless offensively and defensively. Without doubt Ødegaard is the best off ball attacker in world football and Rice is as good as any midfielder in the world right now.
Saka compared to Foden and Palmer from Scott Willis.
https://x.com/scottjwillis/status/1787893928978440404?s=46
I’ll just leave this little graphic here too that shows he’s responsible for the most added goal probability in the league this year. https://x.com/scottjwillis/status/1788621372643491976?s=46
What’s does this stat even mean and how’s it calculated?
The fact that neither Foden or Haaland are on that list but have contributed more non-penalty goals must set them out as truly exceptional and vastly superior players?
I can’t tell if you’re trolling but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. The statistic rewards players who progress the ball and are very creative. If you “just” get on the end of a cross you’re not going to as well on this metric as if you play 5 crosses that result in shots.
I’m not trolling, I saying that perhaps it’s a useless stat and could be interpreted that it doesn’t flatter Saka in the way you think.
Surely it demonstrates Saka’s relative inefficiency compared to Foden and Haaland?
I’d rather have the top scorer in my team than the guy at the top of a rather specific and some what arbitrary stat
In fact i could say it proves what my eyes tell me and that with the quantity of the ball he gets he doesn’t do enough with it. Certainly not from an output level.
It says on the bottom of the graphic. It’s how a player’s actions impact the chances of his team scoring. Shots, passes, crosses and the like.
That’s not quite what it says. “Goal Probability Added” “estimates the change in a team’s chance of scoring for a player’s on-ball attacking actions.” I presume Scott has tallied up all these micro-“estimates” for each player over the whole season and divided by minutes played. Then he multiplied that figure by 90 minutes per game. It rewards players who are on the ball a lot. Thus, Haaland will be nowhere near the leaders on this metric despite the fact he wins the Golden Boot each year. In short, it is a metric to identify players who are heavily involved in… Read more »
Notice I haven’t said a SINGLE bad thing about Martin Odegaard, nor do I intend to. I just want to heap praise on B, because he deserves it. Look at this comp. https://x.com/91cheefv2/status/1788603314877206541 This is our guy putting the ball on a plate for his team mates time after time after time despite being surrounded by defenders. The way you can tell an all time talent is that there is no way to stop them from hurting you. Look at what he can do in these scenarios: You back off him. He rolls the ball back onto his left and… Read more »
No one is saying anything bad about Saka, he is sensational. Many of us just feel he has another gear. When he finds that and is banging in chances at an elite conversion rate he’ll be truly world class and among the best attackers in world footie…that’s what we have to look forward to because Bukayo Saka is inevitable.
Exactly, I don’t have anything bad to say about Saka, i think he’s fantastic but like you think he needs to score more to go to that next level. 10 non-penalty goals from 100 shots just isn’t elite or player of the year worthy in my book. My criticism is with those that elevate everything he does. To some a Saka penalty is no longer the most eminently trainable single action in football that 92% of the time results in a goal but some existential battle that’s require mythical powers to overcome. Missing penalties is an unfortunate professional hazard but… Read more »
Individual awards for players are basically rubbish and not worth arguing about. Our entire first team is brilliant, as a team.