Let me say it loud and clear:
Ruben Dias is my Player of the Season.
And yours too, officially.
We’ve seen attackers win it. Midfielders. The guys with the highlight reels and the top bins curlers. But this year? It went to the guy who did the dirty work. The guy who stood between chaos and calm. The guy who made a back four feel like a brick wall.
Ruben Dias. 2020/21. A debut season for the books.
🛡️ The Fix We Didn’t Know Would Be This Perfect
When we signed him from Benfica, I thought, "Yeah, solid defender. Good head on him."
What I didn’t know was that we were getting Vincent Kompany 2.0 — with wi-fi.
He didn’t just settle in — he led.
From matchday one, Dias looked like he’d been in the Premier League for years. He barked orders. He made last-ditch blocks. He headed everything. He slid into tackles with the kind of timing that would make a Swiss watch jealous.
And the clean sheets? Fifteen.
City looked different with him. Like we weren’t just playing to win — we were playing like nothing could get through.
🔥 Not Just a Defender — a Game-Changer
You can throw the stats around all day — 135 recoveries, 35 interceptions, 23 blocks, 24 tackles, and 23 wins in 32 games. All sick.
But if you watched the games, you felt it.
He brought a sense of control, of calm, of command. Every time the ball came near him, it was like, “Don’t worry. Dias has it.”
We went on a 15-match winning streak with him leading from the back. That’s not just form. That’s influence.
🏆 Player of the Season. Like, Officially.
This wasn’t just the fans hyping him up. The vote was a mix of fans, all 20 Premier League captains, and a panel of experts — and Dias still beat out some serious names:
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Kevin De Bruyne
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Bruno Fernandes
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Mo Salah
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Harry Kane
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Mason Mount
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Tomas Soucek
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Jack Grealish
Absolute ballers — but Ruben made every one of their jobs harder this season. And that’s the kind of impact that deserves a trophy.
🧱 For the Defenders Everywhere
Only four defenders have ever won this award.
Kompany. Vidic. Van Dijk. Now Dias. That’s elite company.
And let’s not skip this:
Only two Portuguese players have ever won it. Cristiano Ronaldo... and now Ruben Dias.
From Champions League nights to grinding out wins on cold February afternoons, Dias never disappeared. Never ducked a challenge. Never played like it was “just another match.” He gave everything.
🙌 One Word? Leadership.
We’ve missed that Kompany energy for a while — that guy in the dressing room, on the pitch, in your ear, keeping standards sky-high.
Dias brought that. And he’s only 24.
So yeah, Player of the Season isn’t just deserved.
It’s earned, every block, every recovery, every clean sheet at a time.
Here’s to Ruben. The rock. The voice. The new heartbeat of City’s defense.
The Player of the Season — and my personal new favorite reason to love a 0-0 just as much as a 5-0.
— A fan still wondering how one guy made defending look so cool
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