Chelsea, Barcelona only clubs nominated in three or more FIFA awards
By George Perry
Chelsea led the Premier League in nominations for FIFA’s 2017 awards, with finalists for men’s player of the year, men’s coach and women’s coach. The Premiership had more clubs nominated than any other league.
The nominees for FIFA’s 2017 awards reinforce common descriptions of the Premier League versus Europe’s other top leagues. La Liga and Serie A have a few extremely powerful clubs, while the Premiership has more depth distributed across its clubs.
Chelsea have four nominees, the most of any Premier League club: Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante for men’s player of the year, Antonio Conte for men’s coach and Emma Hayes for women’s coach. The only category in which Chelsea are not represented is women’s player. No other club has nominees in three categories, and only Barcelona have contenders in all four.
In addition to Chelsea’s duo of Hazard and Kante, three other Premier League players received nominations: Harry Kane, Alexis Sanchez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Of those five players, only Sanchez has a manager not under consideration for manager of the year. Conversely, Pep Guardiola and Leonardo Jardim of AS Monaco are nominated for manager of the year, but none of their players received an individual nod.
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The Premier League’s five player nominations are a distant second to La Liga’s 12. Those 12, however, come from only three clubs: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico. Likewise the Bundesliga had four nominees from two clubs and Serie A had three nominees, all from Juventus.
The breakdown by team reflects a common observation contrasting the Premier League with leagues in Europe. The Premier League has more talent distributed throughout the table than the continental leagues. Stoke is a more formidable 10th place opponent than their counterparts in Spain or Italy (cold, rainy Wednesday nights or otherwise). No other league in Europe could produce a story like Leicester City (except perhaps RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga).
But the downside is that no English club has reached the finals of the Champions League since Chelsea won in 2012. The Premiership has the most drama, tension and capacity for surprise among its 20 teams. Beyond its borders, falls short next to the mega-clubs of Spain, Italy and Germany.
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Emma Hayes may be the most likely of Chelsea’s nominees to win. The size and stature of the other clubs in the mix weigh against any men’s awards. N’Golo Kante may have to take another turn to complete his clean sweep of player of the year honours.