Regardless of what Pep Guardiola would have you believe, Mohamed Salah has been the Premier League's standout player this season.
On Friday, the Liverpool forward was named FWA Footballer of the Year, and he is a strong contender for PFA Players' Player of the Year, PFA Fans' Player of the Year, and Premier League Player of the Season. As the Premier League's top scorer and playmaker, with 22 goals and 13 assists, such honours should be no surprise.
That didn't stop Man City manager Pep Guardiola from getting his nose in a twist. Given that Guardiola's team is currently a point clear at the top of the table, the Spaniard will be irritated if his players fail to win individual awards if they are the ones to win the title at the end of the season.
It would not be the first time he has objected to such awards, having seen Salah and Virgil van Dijk named PFA Players' Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season in 2018 and 2019, despite City winning both. In 2018, the Egyptian also won the FWA Footballer of the Year award, as well as the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award for both 2018 and 2021.
Guardiola, oddly, had no problem with Kevin De Bruyne winning both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Premier League Player of the Season in 2020 after Liverpool won the title, but that's none of my business. And it didn't stop him from giving a salty response when asked about Salah's latest award.
""Congratulations to Salah," the Spaniard said to the press. "Jurgen (Klopp) stated that they have the best keeper in the world, the second-best second keeper in the world, the best central defender, the best holding midfielder, and the best striker, so it's natural that they win all the awards.""
If Guardiola wants to stand by such a claim, he should re-examine the list of honorees. Ruben, in addition to De Bruyne, Salah, and Van Dijk, Ruben Dias, Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, and Sadio Mane have all won some of these individual awards in the last five seasons, along with former Chelsea player Eden Hazard, since Liverpool emerged as Man City's main title rival.
Recent honors have clearly been shared by the standout players from the two standout teams, rather than any hidden agenda against the Spaniard's side. Salah has unquestionably been that player this season.
While he has admittedly not maintained his electric form from the first half of the season throughout the season, with a combination of fatigue, international heartbreak, and uncertainty about his future all contributing to his drop-off 2022, he has still been the Premier League's elite performer this season.
At the very least, Guardiola cannot deny him the Premier League Golden Boot if he maintains a comfortable lead over Son Heung-Min and Cristiano Ronaldo with four games remaining. Similarly, Anfield appears to be the frontrunner for the Premier League Playmaker award, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson Salah as the closest competitors, while Alisson leads Ederson in the race for the Golden Glove.
However, Man City manager Pep Guardiola may have a say in whether Liverpool's Egyptian King wins another prestigious individual award this year - the Ballon d'Or.
This year, the most coveted individual award in European football will be awarded based on seasonal rather than annual performance. And, given Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's drop-off from previous seasons this year, Salah had dominated for the majority of the season.
However, he was defeated in the Africa Cup of Nations final, did not qualify for the World Cup, and went two months without scoring from open play, while also scoring just once in the Champions League knockout stages to date.
In contrast, Karim Benzema has emerged as the European Cup's leading goalscorer this season, scoring 14 goals, including a whopping nine goals in five knockout matches, including back-to-back hat-tricks to defeat Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. Meanwhile, his brace in Real Madrid's 4-3 semi-final defeat to Manchester City in the first leg has given the La Liga giants a fighting chance of reaching the final when they host Guardiola's men at the Bernabeu.
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