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EPL Team Of The Season – Part Two
Published by Ian John on April 13, 2009
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So, from Part 1 we have our goalkeeper of Brad Friedel (Aston Villa) and a back line consisting of Glen Johnson (Portsmouth) at right back, Patrice Evra (Manchester United) at left back with Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) and Phil Jagielka (Everton) as the two centre halves. Let us now move on with Part Two of the Team of the Season by nominating our four midfielders. For this section I have decided to split the two central midfielders into one holding / anchoring midfielder and one attacking midfielder as that seems to be the system employed by most teams in the Premiership this season.
Anchoring Midfielder : Javier Mascherano (Liverpool) : The Argentinian is possibly the most underrated player in the Premier League at the moment. His energy and vigour in affording the Liverpool defence protection, allows the more offensive players for Liverpool, such as Gerrard, to be able to express their attacking instincts fully. Although Michael Essien (Chelsea) and Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) would usually challenge him for this position in the side they have both been sidelined for long periods this season and whilst the form of Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) has been impressive, for me Mascherano has the bigger influence on his team when selected. When you are named captain of Argentina, you know you are a half decent player.
Right Midfielder/Winger : Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) : To my mind Ronaldo is lucky to be in this team. Had Aaron Lennon (Tottenham) had a more productive and consistent season, or Theo Walcott (Arsenal) not been injured for a large part of it, I would have had no problem leaving the United star out of this side. His performances have at times, been excellent, but there is no doubting his production from last season has tailed off. His petulance and arrogance at times are also not befitting a player of his talent and indeed it is only because of his talent and the effect he has on United’s all round play that he gets into this team. He’s shown flashes of his quality and is a magnificent player but he gets into this team not because of how well he has done, but because the opposition against him were either injured or too inconsistent.
Left Midfielder / Winger : Ashley Young (Aston Villa) : Almost as confusing as Fabio Capello’s decision to go with a half fit Darren Bent or Carlton Cole ahead of Michael Owen for England, is his continual insistence that Stewart Downing offers a more viable alternative down the left hand side than Villa winger Ashley Young. Certainly Young can still improve, but he is showing plenty of evidence of that already this season. His pace and quality from wide areas have been key to Villa’s much improved performance this season and it is no surprise to see his name linked with the big four teams. He was by far the outstanding candidate for this position in the side ahead of the likes of Albert Riera (Liverpool), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) and Matthew Taylor (Bolton).
Attacking Midfielder : Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) : There’s plenty of players who can count themselves unlucky not to get this slot in the side. Tim Cahill has been outstanding for Everton, Samir Nasri has shown flashes of brilliance for Arsenal, Frank Lampard once again has been scoring for Chelsea, as has Michael Ballack, while Xabi Alonso (Liverpool) and Steven Ireland (Man City) have had outstanding seasons, but there is no question that Gerrard has been the best of the bunch by a long way. His importance to the Liverpool team cannot be underestimated and quite simply to even consider leaving him out of this side at the expense of any other player, would make a mockery of the team.
Strikers : Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool). Rooney’s selection is as obvious as Gerrard’s. The United man has been by far and away their best attacking player this season and his form has continued on into the England team. Torres selection may be more contentious, Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) has scored more goals, John Carew has been strong and consistent for Villa this season, while Afonso Alves for Middlesbrough has been nothing short of sensational… No actually, I’m kidding with that last one. Whilst Torres season has been interrupted with injury, he has still shown glimpses of rare talent and quality whilst half-fit, that he would even get into my side ahead of a fully fit Anelka. The truism of this is, that if Torres were a Chelsea player, I am sure that would also be the case. So he gets the nod.
So here’s the full team:
1. Brad Friedel (Aston Villa)
2. Glen Johnson (Portsmouth)
3. Patrice Evra (Manchester United)
4. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
5. Phil Jagielka (Everton)
6. Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
7. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
8. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
11. Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
Cue the arguments and all the Chelsea and Arsenal fans accusing me of blatant Northern bias…
Picture Credit : **phes999 ** at Flickr.com
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EPL Team of the Season - Part 1 | deciphersoccer.com on Mon, 13th Apr 2009 10:05 am
[...] Check out the next article as I finish off the Premiership Team of the Season with Four midfielders and two attackers… Is there space in the team for Lucas Leiva? Will I pick a Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal player? All will be explained in the next installment!(Part 2) [...]
Nabyl Charania on Tue, 14th Apr 2009 11:34 am
i’m very sad that Lucas Leiva didn’t make the EPL top 11