Aguero and Silva are irreplaceable for Manchester City
Chelsea's Eden Hazard won PFA Player of the Year this season and there was not one Manchester City player on the six-man shortlist.
Though they could still finish second in the table, it is probably justified that no player made the grade given what has been a disappointing 2014/15 campaign for City.
They will finish at least seven points shy of last season’s points total of 86 – if they win their three remaining games – and they are 31 goals short of last season’s total.
So the summer will be about changes and several first-team players could leave – Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri, Vincent Kompany, Stevan Jovetic perhaps. There are question marks hanging over a few stars.
Two who will not be going anywhere are Sergio Aguero and David Silva.
Their importance to City and the club’s title hopes next season is immeasurable.
Aguero will likely finish top scorer this season, which is a sign of his ability given that he has started only 27 of 35 league games. There is not another striker like him in the Premier League.
Glance at the top scorers list – Harry Kane, Diego Costa, Charlie Austin, Olivier Giroud – and it is populated by target men with superb aerial ability.
Aguero, with his Lionel Messi-like stature, is a different prospect for defences.
He is just as dangerous with ball to feet, 30-yards out, as he is lurking in the box and perhaps only midfielders Hazard and Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez can match that low centre of gravity that makes him so hard to stop.
As he showed in the 1-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, he can break an offside trap as though it was not there.
The key element in that equation is Silva, whose ability to spot the run and execute a perfectly weighted through ball is also second to none.
His creativity was such a key element in City’s two title wins because of the way he can find a pass through a packed defence.
Aguero’s goal on Sunday was a fine example.
He timed his run to perfection, Silva spotted it and played a 20-yard reverse pass into his path.
Aguero had yards of space and no pressure to fire the ball past Hugo Lloris.
Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool – they will all improve in the summer, but City have two of the best players in England to rebuild their team around.
Juan Cuadrado going the way of Schurrle and Co.
Chelsea’s big January signing was the Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado, who cost £23 million (Dh128m) from Fiorentina.
He was so impressive at the World Cup, it appeared to be a clever buy for Jose Mourinho, especially as Cuadrado had been heavily linked with Barcelona and Manchester United.
He has not had much of an impact, though – he was substituted at half time on Sunday against Crystal Palace – and it is not really Cuadrado’s fault.
Mourinho’s success this season has been based on a compact squad.
Eden Hazard has played every game and the back four has barely changed, so much so that Filipe Luis, excellent at Atletico Madrid last season, has also barely played.
Cuadrado, a South American arriving in a new league, needs time on the pitch to adapt but he is not likely to get it in Mourinho’s system with several players ahead of him.
This has happened several times in the past few seasons to Chelsea players.
Kevin De Bruyne, Andre Schurrle and Mohammed Salah all could have had an impact at Stamford Bridge but were not give enough playing time and are all now doing well at other clubs.
Cuadrado seems to be going the same way.
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