Fans fume with the Premier League's 40-man Team of the Season shortlist
Fans are furious after the Premier League revealed their 40-man shortlist for the Team of the Season.
The league shared the list of names in partnership with EA Sports and FIFA 23 on Monday evening and encouraged supporters to put together their own XI - which will in turn create the final side.
Voting is now open and will be until Thursday 20 April at 6pm BST time, giving the public three days to have their say on the best players in each position with just seven matchdays remaining.
But while a slew of high-profile names like Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford were in the mix, and there was recognition for Kaoru Mitoma, Sven Botman and Palhinha, there was widespread disapproval over the shortlist.
A big sticking point was the amount of Chelsea players featuring despite a dismal season for the Blues, who are eleventh in the table.
Kepa Arrizabalaga, Thiago Silva and Kai Havertz are all in but some of the glaring omissions include Ben White, Granit Xhaka, Nathan Ake, John Stones and Bruno Fernandes.
David de Gea has the most clean sheets in the league this term but he too has been overlooked - as has the league's third top scorer, Ivan Toney.
One fan was left fuming and wrote: "The nominations are too irritating for me to vote. What foolish criteria are they even using."
A second concurred: "The most useless nomination list ever."
A third weighed in: "There are so many problems with this list."
Another fumed: "Some of the inclusions in this are laughable."
A fifth opined: "Scandalous that my man Bruno Fernandes is not there. PL awards/ratings get funnier every year."
A final user vented: "How Havertz made the list but Bruno didn't is beyond me."
Here is the list in full:
Attackers
- Miguel Almirón – Newcastle United
- Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal
- Jack Grealish – Manchester City
- Erling Haaland – Manchester City
- Kai Havertz – Chelsea
- Harry Kane – Tottenham Hotspur
- Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City
- Darwin Núñez – Liverpool
- Marcus Rashford – Manchester United
- Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
- Ollie Watkins – Aston Villa
Midfielders
- Rodrigo Bentancur – Tottenham Hotspur
- Bruno Guimarães – Newcastle United
- Casemiro – Manchester United
- Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
- Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Tottenham Hotspur
- Alexis Mac Allister – Brighton
- James Maddison – Leicester City
- Solly March – Brighton
- Kaoru Mitoma – Brighton
- Martin Ødegaard – Arsenal
- João Palhinha – Fulham
- Rodri – Manchester City
Defenders
- Sven Botman – Newcastle United
- Gabriel – Arsenal
- Lisandro Martínez – Manchester United
- Ben Mee – Brentford
- Christian Romero – Tottenham Hotspur
- Rúben Dias – Manchester City
- William Saliba – Arsenal
- Luke Shaw – Manchester United
- Thiago Silva – Chelsea
- Kieran Trippier – Newcastle United
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – Arsenal
Goalkeepers
- Alisson – Liverpool
- Kepa Arrizabalaga – Chelsea
- Bernd Leno – Fulham
- Nick Pope – Newcastle United
- Aaron Ramsdale – Arsenal