Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ashley Young. Tim Cahill? The oft-mentioned list of contenders for the PFA Player of the Year award is missing one very notable name.
Cahill is no longer a nuisance. He is no longer a midfielder who likes to get forward. He is no longer just a pest. He is no longer in the second bracket of Premier League players. It is no exaggeration to say that he is right up there with the best of them.
The pesky Australian has transformed himself into something altogether different to that which he was seen as when he moved to Goodison Park from Millwall all those years ago. Quite what that ‘something’ is, who knows? Is he an attacking midfielder? Is he a defensive striker? Whatever it is, it is mighty effective.
My mind wonders to Lampard when trying to think of a player who has made so much out of himself. The parallel between Cahill and the Chelsea midfielder does not stop at their tireless work ethic. Like Lampard, Cahill is bursting with quality.
It is no secret that he can header and it is no secret he can pass. What goes all too unnoticed by so many is his movement. Seriously, the next time you watch Everton, watch Cahill. Against West Brom he was always looking for space, always looking to make himself available, always looking to keep the ball moving.
So what more is there to his game? Did we mention he’s good in the air? I mean really, really good in the air. His exceptional aerial ability does not come from him being the tallest man on the field, it comes courtesy of two other attributes – intelligence and strength. It is these two same qualities that make him equally adept as a target man...how often do you see him give the ball away?
If he had all this and didn’t score goals he’d be half the player. But he does – bucketloads of them. Seven in twenty Premier League games this season doesn’t sound bad. When you consider that the original goalscoring midfielder Lampard has struck nine in twenty-six, it sounds even better . He and Gerrard are the only two so-called midfielders to be ahead of him in the goalscoring chart – not bad company to be in.
It would be folly to argue that Cahill has the natural skill of a Ronaldo or the heroic qualities of a Gerrard. What is reasonable however is to suggest that there has been no better player for their club this season than he.
He won’t win any awards. He won’t even come close. It would be nice to see his name mentioned a little more often though.