CARLOS TEVEZ



This is the second successive year Carlos Tevez has made the shortlist, though he would probably have stood a better chance of winning if the voting had taken place a little earlier in the season.

Tevez's form has dipped marginally over the past month or so, the penalty against Sunderland last weekend being his first goal for eight matches, his longest barren run since joining the club. Even so, it has been another exceptional season from the Argentinian. Tevez is not the kind of striker who knocks in the final goal of a 4-0 rout. He is a man who makes things happen. He has opened the scoring in eight different league matches this season, more than any other player. Of his 19 league goals, six have been winners – again, the highest in the top division.

With a further six assists, Tevez has either scored or made more goals than anyone: 25 compared to Dimitar Berbatov's 23. Many City supporters would argue that Vincent Kompany is City's player of the season. Or even Nigel de Jong. Yet Tevez, once again, has been the talisman regardless of the dispute that led to him and his adviser, Kia Joorabchian, issuing a transfer demand in December. Daniel Taylor

SCOTT PARKER



Eight years after making his England debut Scott Parker's international ambitions finally have lift-off, the reward for what has been the season of his 14-year career.

Sold for more than £23.5m in a five-club CV that has taken in Charlton Athletic, Norwich City (on loan), Chelsea, Newcastle United and West Ham United, Fabio Capello has suddenly decided Parker can be trusted in Euro 2012 qualifiers, recognising what experts already know: that he is in the top rank of English midfielders.

At West Ham they need no convincing, conscious that without their totem whirring through midfield the team would be deep in relegation trouble, instead of being a point behind the team in 17th.

Parker is now 30 and has scored seven goals this campaign, his best ever, returned while often being surrounded by colleagues who do not share his iron belief that any cause can be saved.

When losing 3-0 at West Bromwich Albion in February Parker gave the half-time chat, of which Carlton Cole said: "We were diabolical but Scott was inspirational." Three goals in a rousing second-half comeback allowed West Ham to draw, and believe. In the next league outing, Liverpool were soundly beaten 3-1.

Consistently top-drawer, and consistently affecting results: Parker is surely the player of the year. Jamie Jackson

CHARLIE ADAM

Charlie Adam might be an outsider for the award, but he has one thing in common with the favourite. Like Gareth Bale he came from nowhere to dominate football conversations this season, and only Bale has earned more rave reviews for being unexpectedly, jaw-droppingly good.

This time last year hardly anyone had heard of Blackpool's playmaker, yet during the January transfer window he managed the unlikely feat of being simultaneously coveted by Aston Villa, Liverpool and Spurs. While staying with the Seasiders was never going to match the glamour of Bale's swashbuckling adventures in Europe or Carlos Tevez's impressive goal tally for Manchester City, Adam has contributed massively to the success of his side. Take Adam away, as Ian Holloway has said on about a thousand occasions, and Blackpool are not the same team.

Given that Blackpool are universally acknowledged to have been a breath of fresh air in the Premier League this season, yet are still perilously close to the relegation zone, it might be an idea to award them something solid and lasting before they sink without trace. Which they are quite likely to do once their best player moves on. How many of the other candidates can you say that about? Paul Wilson

NEMANJA VIDIC

Only one defender has won Fifa's world player of the year award: Fabio Cannavaro, in 2006. Centre-backs remain the least appreciated breed. But a useful exercise is to list the players a top team would most hate to be without. At Manchester United, Nemanja Vidic is indispensable.

On his bad days — West Ham last Saturday — Vidic emits a kind of desperation and hangs off strikers, chopping or grappling them to earth.

Most weeks, though, he is a plague on centre-forwards. In the first-half of this campaign he was frequently the difference between United winning and drawing games. Formidable in the air and agile on the ground, Vidic takes a kind of perverse delight in being assailed. For evidence, revisit the 0-0 draw between Spurs and United at White Hart Lane.

None of the attacking players on the PFA shortlist can present an overwhelming case, though Carlos Tevez has carried Manchester City at times in the way Vidic has held United together, in a season where Rio Ferdinand's injuries have caused extra strain. His defensive obduracy has compensated for a lack of creativity in the United midfield and driven a team in a rebuilding phase to the top of the table. If the most influential player should take the prize, Vidic wins. Paul Hayward

SAMIR NASRI

This is a season in which Arsenal have been frustrated by familiar problems but may, at least, have forestalled a future one. The pickle of how to replace Cesc Fábregas if he goes does not seem quite so daunting now that Samir Nasri is fulfilling his ample potential. The 23-year-old thrived in a playmaker role whenever Fábregas was out injured in the first part of the season, allying his trickery and shrewd passing with a renewed eagerness to dance past opponents and increased poise in front of goal. When Fábregas was fit Nasri took his skills to the wings, where his deceptive speed helped him continue to flourish. Charlie Adam has occasionally displayed an equally deft range of passing but does not have the same dribbling flair, and Luka Modric has frequently been ingenious for Tottenham but lacks the scoring prowess of Nasri, the Premier League's most influential schemer this season. Nasri has also become vital for his country, notably playing a leading role in France's dismemberment of England at Wembley in November. In fact, Nasri has been so good this term that instead of Arsenal fans questioning whether he is truly suitable for the club, Nasri must be wondering whether Arsenal are worthy of him: he has yet to sign the new contract he has been offered. So maybe the problem has not been solved at all … and Arsenal could soon lose two world-class creators? Paul Doyle

GARETH BALE

This has been Gareth Bale's season, one in which he has transformed himself from domestic joke – a man whose very presence on the pitch seemingly prevented Tottenham from winning – to a superstar of continental recognition. Quite simply, Europe has had its breath taken by the 21-year-old from Cardiff.

Most prominent in the heart and mind remains the hat-trick Bale scored against Internazionale last October, the moment his reputation soared. The winger was prominent again in Spurs' 3-1 victory over the European champions two weeks later and, in general, has been the embodiment of his team's swashbuckling debut in the Champions League.

Domestically, too, there have been moments of wonder from the Welshman, most prominently his sky-slashing volley at Stoke in August. It was also Bale's goal that sparked Tottenham's remarkable comeback against Arsenal in November.

Overall, Bale has scored 11 goals in 35 appearances for Tottenham this season, making him the club's second top-scorer. He has also attempted more crosses than any other Spurs player — 89. But this is a player who cannot be defined in numbers. Instead it is the memories which make him the leading candidate. No player has thrilled more this season, with his contributions made more stunning by the sheer unexpectedness of them all. Bale, quite simply, is the choice of those who see football as a source of captivation. Sachin Nakrani

RAFAEL VAN DER VAART

After finally qualifying for the Champions League, Tottenham had probably imagined that attracting quality players to White Hart Lane would be a doddle. By the time deadline day approached, however, only two players – William Gallas and Sandro – had arrived, Harry Redknapp frustrated in his attempts to sign a striker suitable for the highest level. Redknapp had more or less given up the ghost when, suddenly, Real Madrid's Rafael van der Vaart became available for a mere £8m. If it looked too good to be true, Spurs had no time to think about that, and just about managed to rush through a last-minute deal. They wouldn't regret it.

An impressive debut away to West Brom had Redknapp purring, but Europe was where he was expected to shine. In Tottenham's first group game, away to Werder Bremen, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Van der Vaart set up Peter Crouch's headed goal, while he scored the opener in the home victories over FC Twente and Internazionale. Operating off a lone front man, Van der Vaart's exceptional touch, awareness and vision have been a revelation for Spurs, and he has also struck up a surprisingly effective partnership with Crouch in the league, regularly profiting from the striker's unselfish hold-up work. Van der Vaart may not appreciate the comparisons, but at times the pair have resembled a rich man's version of Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips.

While Van der Vaart has been relatively disappointing in the second half of the season, struggling with injuries and occasionally annoying Redknapp by storming down the tunnel when substituted, for a foreigner playing his first season in England, 12 goals and counting is hardly a record to be sniffed at. Jacob Steinberg

THE OMISSIONS

No goalkeeper has won the players' player of the year award since Peter Shilton in 1978 so there is nothing surprising about Edwin van der Sar's omission from the shortlist. But the Dutchman has been in masterly form during his final season for Manchester United behind an ever-changing back four, pulling off his usual share of impressively acrobatic saves and providing a constantly reassuring presence. If Peter Schmeichel could not earn the recognition of his peers, however, it was unlikely that his best successor would break the mould. The English game's blindspot when it comes to valuing a great goalkeeper endures.

Defenders, too, often get short shrift and while Nemanja Vidic is a fine candidate, we should not overlook the growing authority of Manchester City's Vincent Kompany, whose strength in the air, robustness in the tackle and creative vision of a converted midfielder has arguably had as pivotal a role this season as the headline-grabbing Carlos Tevez. City's defensive meanness is built on Kompany's skill and intelligence.

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere had a case to be included in both lists but his vision, accuracy of pass, self-confidence and old-fashioned dribbling wizardry will have to settle for fighting it out with Gareth Bale, who is up for both, for the young player's award.

Longer shots would include Manchester United's Nani, leading the Premier League for assists and foxing full-backs with his pace and adroit control with both feet. Kevin Nolan, the Championship player of last season, also continues to thrive for Newcastle with his goalscoring knack, whether playing behind a targetman or in a more orthodox central midfield role, and Tottenham's Luka Modric is unlucky to have been overshadowed in public perception by Bale. Where the Welshman is a scene-stealing solo act, the Croatia playmaker is the man who makes his team tick with his mastery of possession and positioning. Not only can he assess the most treacherous pass for the opposition defence, he has the dexterity to execute it. Rob Bagchi