We’ve reached the 1/4 mark of the new season, making it a good moment to take stock of what we’ve seen so far. The Premier League asked their panel of pundits for their “most improved player” of the season so far in the top flight.
Out of a selection, 3 pundits chose Chelsea players. Tim Sherwood went for Levi Colwill, while Shaun Wright-Phillips and Shay Given went for Nicolas Jackson. Other popular picks included Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, and Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood.
You can see the pundits’ full list of picks in the image embedded here:
Two understandable choices – but Caicedo unlucky to miss out
They’re solid choices, although there are arguments for others.
Jackson has been much better this season than at this stage last season – although there’s a strong case to be made that his improvement has been slow and steady since he arrived at Chelsea, rather than seeing a major jump in the summer. His good form has been a continuation, rather than a step change.
Levi Colwill is another slightly odd choice – he’s been good, but in reality not significantly better than the games he played last year. He’s just been able to play consistently because of a lack of injury issues, and has been in a team getting better results. Still, he will be delighted with his form this season, and is a worthy choice.
There is also a glaring omission – Moises Caicedo has been one of the best midfielders in the league, and given he was pretty poor at the start of his Chelsea career, we’re surprised he’s not up there among the “most improved.”
Can you really say that Jackson and Colwill have improved more this season than Caicedo? We’re not sure we can.