Bournemouth of England midfielder, Phillip Chinedu Billing has been named the ‘unofficial’ best player in the club so far this season, as he gained more marks than most of his colleagues in a poll conducted by a leading British sports website, megasportsarena.com gathered.
In the ratings gathered by sportsmole.com, Billing was the only one of the four Nigerian-born players in the squad that came up for a mention, as Dominic Solanke, Arnaut Danjuma and Jordon Ibe all missed out of reckoning on the charts.
Billing was cited as a rare shining light for Bournemouth, who the experts noted have plenty of work to do if and when the English Premier League resumes, with Eddie Howe’s side currently sitting in the relegation zone with nine games of the campaign remaining.
The spotlight noted that it has been a disappointing season for a team that has rarely seriously flirted with relegation in the last three years, although their final positions of ninth, 12th and 14th in that time do point to a steady decline.
It will now be up to Solanke, Danjuma and Ibe to step up their game when the season resumes, in order to hit personal marks and help their club, who currently sit in the bottom three on goal difference, but one win could lift them as high as 15th.
Dramatically, while Billing got two of the experts’ nods, along with The Cherries’ goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, while one went to Harry Wilson, the Nigerian-born lad has better citations on the scorecards, as two of Sports Mole editors rated him higher than all others in the team.
Barney Corkhill stated: “No single player has really stood out for Bournemouth this term, and all their key attacking men – namely Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Joshua King – have failed to live up to their standards from previous campaigns. When it comes to an all-round contribution for 2019-20, though, it is difficult to look past Philip Billing for me.
“The midfielder has made significantly more tackles and won more aerial duels than any of this teammates, while he also ranks in the top three for overall passes, shots, clearances and interceptions, proving that he is having an impact all over the field.”
Similarly, Matt Law wrote: “Only three Bournemouth players have made more Premier League appearances than Philip Billing this season, with the 23-year-old featuring on 27 occasions for the Cherries. Callum Wilson certainly deserves a mention in this category, but Billing has been consistently impressive for Eddie Howe’s side in the middle of the park.
“Operating in a holding midfield position, the former Denmark Under-21 international has shown that he is every inch a Premier League player, and it would not be a surprise if sides bigger than Bournemouth were keeping an eye on his development.”
