“Sympathy award”, “Show him Ferland Mendy and Real Madrid” – Rival fans furious as Liverpool superstar Salah wins ‘undeserved’ PFA Players’ Player of the Year award
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah won the PFA Players' 'Player of the Year' award for the 2021-22 season and rival fans are certainly not pleased. They claimed that the Egyptian's win was "undeserved" and that it was a "sympathy award."
Salah won the Premier League Golden Boot, sharing it with Son Heung-Min with 23 goals. He also won the Premier League 'Playmaker of the Season' award with 13 assists. However, his performances couldn't help Liverpool win the title as they fell short of champions Manchester City by one point.
The Reds won the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup but lost in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. After the PFA's award was announced, rival fans highlighted this to claim that Salah didn't deserve the award.
They took to Twitter to share their displeasure and here are some reactions:
Mo Salah is the PFA Players' Player of the Year for the second time 🏆🏆 https://t.co/2Jy3DNpDrg
@brfootball Of course, they have to console him
@brfootball Show him Ferland Mendy and Real Madrid
@brfootball Hows he deserved it? Man has ghosted in 4 finals and is stat padding pens and tap ins? 😭😭
@brfootball I knew this was going to be a joke
@brfootball When was the last time this man performed?
@brfootball Totally undeserved
@brfootball Sympathy award 🤣🤣
@brfootball first half of a season PFA POTY.
Salah started the season brilliantly but tailed off after January. He failed to impress with his performances, let alone with his goalscoring. He still finished with the most goals and most assists.
However, fans argue that stats aren't enough to win the award. Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane won the Golden Boot and the 'Playmaker of the Season' award in the 2020-21 season. He scored 23 goals and provided 14 assists, but the PFA 'Player of the Season' award was won by Kevin De Bruyne.
Many fans believe the Belgian should've been the winner this season as well, helping Manchester City lift their fourth title in five years. He scored 15 goals and provided eight assists in 30 league appearances.
Liverpool have six players in PFA 'Team of the Year'
The Reds had more reason for joy as they saw six players from their squad make the 'Team of the Year'. Alisson and Virgil van Dijk were key in Liverpool's defense last season. The Reds conceded the joint-least goals (26) and kept the joint most clean sheets (20), both with Manchester City.
Trent Alexander-Arnold made the second-most assists with 12 assists and added two goals to it as well.
Thiago Alcantara was masterful in midfield for the Merseysiders as were Salah and Sadio Mane in attack. Mane scored 16 goals and made four assists in the league last season.