Presenting the Alternative PL Awards: Who should have won what?

Welcome to the Alternative PL Awards. Here, we will give awards to players based on statistical excellence. These awards are free from bias and narrative because we just stick to the numbers. Some of these awards will replace existing Premier League awards whilst some will be categories where certain players have excelled and deserve a special mention.

Golden Glove (Best Goalkeeper) – José Sá

José Sá has stepped into Rui Patrício’s boots without missing a beat. Arguably he has surpassed his compatriot and could make a case for being the best keeper in the league.

Sá excels at all aspects of goalkeeping. He leads the league in save percentage with 79.3%, He is 3^rd for crosses stopped with 34 at a rate of 10.8% (2^nd in the league). He is a capable sweeper with 1.10 defensive actions outside his penalty area which ranks 3^rd.

His crowning glory however is the massive gap between his Post Shot xG and goals conceded. The Portuguese keeper has saved his team a massive 9 goals compared to what he would be expected to concede. This is 3 more than second place David De Gea. His contribution is why Wolves despite having an xG differential of -24.4 (the 18^th worst in the league) managed to finish 10^th.

Best Defender – Tyrick Mitchell

Tyrick Mitchell is unlikely to make the PFA Team of the Year or anyone’s list of best defenders this season. These awards are usually given to the best defender in the league’s best defence and ignore players for lower ranking teams who go through much more defensive work.

Mitchell has had a solid campaign resulting in an England call up but the amount of defensive work he has gone through is outstanding. In 36 appearances, he has won the 6^th most tackles (54), stopping 66.2% of dribble attempts against him, he is also 2^nd in successful pressures with 218 and is 7^th for blocks (76) with the majority of these are on passes attempted meaning he has blocked the 3^rd most passes in the league. His ability to stop passes has led to 79 interceptions, 8^th in the league. You combine these numbers and the Palace left back is 2^nd for tackles and interceptions. Lastly, he committed only one error all season, this was key in the Eagles recording the 5^th lowest xG against in the division.

Playmaker award – Trent Alexander-Arnold

Alexander-Arnold despite being an assist machine has never had the most assists in a Premier League season, he has finished 2^nd twice and 3^rd once, losing out to more attacking players such as  Eden Hazard, Kevin de Brunye, and most recently Mohammed Salah. The fact that the Liverpool right-back is competing with these more advanced players year in, year out is a testament to his consistency.

Salah just edged his teammate to this award by 1 assist but per the stats, Alexander-Arnold was the superior creator. He racked up a league-leading xA of 11.2 for 12 assists. He also led the league in key passes (89), completed open play crosses into the penalty area (26), progressive passes (278), and shot creating actions (150). He was also 2^nd in passes into the penalty area with 89 and was one of 10 players to complete 2000 passes.

It was a performance most midfielders would be proud to have and the fact it came from a right back makes it even more astonishing. Alexander-Arnold was in world of his own creatively and will at some point lead the league in assists.

Best Finisher – Son Heung-min

Son Heung-min shared the top scorer award with Salah but statistically, he was on a different level when it came to efficiency which is why this is dubbed the best finisher award.

Son might be the first player to win the Golden Boot with more goals with his weaker foot than stronger foot goals as 12 of his goals came with his supposedly weaker left foot. According to FBref.com Son is 85% right footed which makes this accomplishment even more impressive.

Son ranked 5^th for xG (16.4) compared to Salah who ranked 1^st (21.8), the most impressive feat was the difference between Son’s non-penalty xG and his goals which was 6.6. Simply put, Son should have scored about 16 goals based on the chances he received. The only player who performed better was Kevin de Bruyne who smashed his xG by about 8 goals.

Considering only non-penalty goals, Son was twice as efficient as Salah with a conversion rate of 27% to Salah’s 13%. In fact, only Jaime Vardy was more efficient than the Spurs man with 28%. Son was a worthy winner of the Golden Boot not only in volume but in efficiency as well.

Best Dribbler – Allan Saint-Maximin

No one was better at beating their man than the Newcastle winger. He completed 140 dribbles at least 65 more than any other player. If a player completed 65 dribbles he would rank 5^th in the league yet that is the difference between 1^st and 2^nd.

Saint-Maximin’s dribbles have not been for nothing as he has 5^th most carries into the penalty area. Considering, how deep Newcastle have played at times the Frenchman’s ability to carry the ball is a valuable asset. The only weak area of his dribbling is the lack of nutmegs where managed only 4 far below the league-leading mark of 21 recorded by Emmanuel Dennis.