Neville and Carragher split on Bruno Fernandes in Skysports awards

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher named nine of the same players in their 2025/26 Premier League Team of the Season on the final Monday Night Football of the season, but they went separate ways when it came to Player of the Season. Neville chose Bruno Fernandes, while Carragher went with Declan Rice.

Neville and Carragher on skysports

Their shared XI featured Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, O'Reilly; Semenyo, Rice, Fernandes, Silva; Thiago, Haaland. Carragher's version changed only two spots, replacing Timber with Nunes and adding Doku, while Neville kept Timber at right-back and left Doku out.

Neville made his case for Timber in direct terms, saying, "I was toying between Elliott Anderson in midfield and putting Bernardo Silva somewhere else, he was my last pick. I was unequivocal at right-back. Timber has been injured the last couple of months, but he's the best right-back in the league by a mile. He has it all." Carragher backed Nunes with similar force, saying, "I went with Nunes and O'Reilly because at the start of the season, when I saw who Man City had at full-back, I didn't think for one minute they could win trophies or challenge for the title. Nunes is a midfield player but he plays every game, he's consistent, brilliant defensively and really good on the ball. Timber has had a few injuries. Doku has been fantastic."

Bruno Fernandes and Declan Rice

The split at the top was sharper. Neville voted for Fernandes after weighing Rice, Gabriel and Bernardo Silva, and said, "I could say Declan Rice, Gabriel, Bernardo Silva, but Bruno getting level with Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry puts him in the very best company in terms of what the Premier League has to offer creativity." He added, "I could look a fool in a couple of weeks as Rice and Gabriel could end up with a Premier League title and Champions League double, but Bruno deserves it for playing and persisting in a struggling team for half the season and then excelling in the way he has."

Carragher stayed with Rice, arguing, "I'm a huge fan of Bruno Fernandes, but you're picking a player whose games haven't had any real jeopardy. I'd go with Declan Rice. He was outstanding in the Champions League semi-finals against Atletico Madrid." He also said, "He's been a driving force for Arsenal. He dropped off a little bit around the Man City games and the cup final was because of a little bit of fatigue. They've constantly been playing midweek games because they're in all the competitions."

For readers tracking the season's end-of-year judgments, the takeaway is simple: Neville and Carragher agreed on most of the league's elite names, but their final award choice exposed different standards for deciding who carried the most weight across 2025/26.

"Man Utd went out of both cup competitions; they didn't have Europe, I can't think of many big games that Bruno has been involved in," Carragher said, drawing the sharpest line between the two cases. Neville's vote rewarded Fernandes' output for a struggling team, while Carragher leaned toward Rice's work in Arsenal's heavy schedule and knockout run.