Not a great season for our midfielders to be fair.
Usually a more successful team's top midfield performers average around 3000 mins played through the league season. Matic and Cesc approached that mark for Chelsea in 2014/ 2015, Toure for City in 2013/ 2014, Carrick for United in 2012/ 2013 to name a few - and they were all instrumental to their team's title aspirations. Even in terms of consistency - Carrick was a bit below par through the early parts of the season, Young was probably our most consistent midfielder player but in all honesty - more towards the above average side of things for the bulk of the season, Ander was dropped and didn't really become a first team fixture until the turn of the year, Blind's form petered out as the season progressed, and so forth.
Carrick and Ander really stood a notch above a rather mediocre bunch IMO, especially in terms of what standards we should expect from our midfielders. Might be harsh on Young and Fellaini and Blind, but that's the harsh truth, according to me atleast. Could've voted for either Carrick or Ander, they were both equally deserving in terms of overall quality of their displays, but ultimately decided on the latter, and by a very fine margin mind. More like 1a and 1b, if that makes any sense.
Ander really added another dimension to the team, in terms of bringing a dynamic element to the center of the pitch IMO (something that was crucial in a starting XI that was at times devoid of balance, and even fleet of foot and mind), and showed flashes of what he could develop into, as a high octane box-to-box passer, goalscorer and orchestrator for the team - next season and beyond. The excitement of finally having a young-ish central midfielder who has the potential to be one of the best in the league, and the general aesthetic appeal of his style of play, probably colors my judgement too.
