Tim Sherwood has raised plenty of eyebrows with his Premier League Team of the Season so far.
The former Tottenham head coach was tasked with naming his best XI from the first half of the 2024/25 campaign, and one decision in particular got fans talking.
Appearing on Sky Sports’ Soccer Special, Sherwood was allowed to choose only one player per club in his team.
This made life difficult for the ex-England international, who admitted that he had initially picked a side packed with stars from runaway leaders Liverpool.
And with Mohamed Salah leading the Premier League in both goals and assists this term, having notched 30 altogether, this would arguably make him the Reds’ chief candidate here.
But this was not enough to convince Sherwood, who left the 32-year-old out of his lineup, in favour of teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The Englishman was joined in defence by Nottingham Forest‘s Nikola Milenkovic, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi and Bournemouth star Milos Kerkez, in front of Everton stopper Jordan Pickford in goal.
Sherwood’s midfield choices may also come as a surprise, with some positional liberties being taken.
Alongside Spurs’ Dejan Kulusevski and Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer was Wolves forward Matheus Cunha, who was moved back to form an attack-minded trio.
Up front, West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka and Newcastle striker Alexander Isak were selected in Salah’s absence.
And Sherwood’s selection was met with plenty of confusion on social media, with many questioning the prolific Egyptian’s omission.
Others argued that Salah’s 17-goal haul in the Premier League this season meant that he was more deserving of Liverpool’s single spot in Sherwood’s XI, ahead of Alexander-Arnold.
Credit: YouTube: @SkySportsNewsTim Sherwood’s team of the season sparked plenty of debate online[/caption]
GettyTrent Alexander-Arnold scored his first Premier League goal of the season in Liverpool’s final game of 2024 against West Ham[/caption]
A fan pointed out: “I get it’s one player from each team but you have to choose Salah over Trent.”
Another added: “Just put [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka as right-back and get Salah in.”
Meanwhile, some users were unimpressed by the former Blackburn midfielder’s choices elsewhere.
One fan also expressed their disapproval at Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and Salah’s teammate Ryan Gravenberch being left out in midfield, despite there only being room for one Reds star in Sherwood’s team.
And while Salah may have been left out of Sherwood’s XI, he was a unanimous pick among his fellow pundits, with Darren Bent, Michael Dawson and Clinton Morrison all selecting him.
In fact, former Spurs striker and current talkSPORT host Bent went as far as to label the Egyptian the Premier League’s standout performer of the season so far.
GettyMo Salah has spearheaded Arne Slot’s incredible start to life on Merseyside[/caption]
He said of him: “Mohamed Salah, he has been probably the best player this season in the Premier League, so he had to be in there.”
As well as leading Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland by three goals in the league’s goalscoring charts, Salah has also provided 13 assists this season.
This is three more than his closest rival Saka, and six ahead of Fulham’s Antonee Robinson in third.
With Liverpool eight points clear of second-place Nottingham Forest and favourites to land a 20th English title, while Salah targets the golden boot award, there is every chance Sherwood will be reminded of this decision throughout the rest of the season.
