FourFourTwo have named Martin Dubravka as a candidate for their “alternative Footballer of the Year” award.
After seeing Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne just miss out on the award to Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson today, these unofficial nominees consist of players who were never expected to pick up the official prize but warrant real praise for their performances across 2019/20.
The Slovakian joins a list which consists of Southampton’s Danny Ings, Wolves star Adama Traore, Sheffield United’s unsung hero Oliver Norwood, Leicester goal machine Jamie Vardy and Manchester Utd maestro Bruno Fernandes.
Here’s what FourFourTwo said about Dubravka following his nomination:
Above all else, you want your goalkeeper to make saves – and nobody has done that more times this season than Newcastle United’s Martin Dubravka. The Slovakian’s 137 stops put him comfortably ahead of second-placed Tim Krul (128), and are a key reason behind the Toon’s solid and largely surprising mid-table finish this season.
Dubravka also ranks third in the charts in terms of expected goals saved. The 31-year old has been the difference between 11.3 more goals conceded, according to expert estimations. Expected Goals (xG) might not be for everyone, but there’s no denying Newcastle have had a considerable bargain on their hands since they snapped Dubravka up for a measly £3.5m in 2018. He’s been sensational again this campaign.
Some well deserved praise for one of our top contenders for player of the season along with Allan Saint-Maximin.
Dubravka has made more saves than any other goalkeeper this campaign (137), so his position on the list cannot be called into dispute.
He has become an integral member of our side over the past two-and-a-half years since his £4m switch from Sparta Prague, and his outstanding efforts have seen him awarded with a new six year deal.
The 6ft 3′ stopper is calm and collected yet a beast between the sticks, with his displays easily earning us more points than any other player in what has been a largely dull, and very long, season.
Without him, we may well have been one of the sides battling to stay in the Premier League on Sunday!
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Though he is without a doubt a brilliant shot stopper 137 saves in a season doesn’t necessarily make Dubravka the best keeper in the league so much as it makes our defence the worst.
I think he’s been our player of the season, as was Krul when we finished fifth, but personally I would prefer if we had a defence that didn’t force our keeper to make all those saves.
Helen Clarey(Quote)