After another thrilling weekend of Premier League football, BBC pundit Garth Crooks has once again put together a ‘Team of the Week’ and below you can see who made the cut this time!
Do you agree?
GOALKEEPER – JACK BUTLAND (Stoke City)
A worthy mention must go to Sunderland’s Vito Mannone, who after an early error recovered very well to play his part in a credible 2-2 draw against Southampton. But my selection goes to Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland, who made three consecutive saves that were out of this world in the 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace. Even Eagles manager Tony Pulis had to acknowledge the Butland triple save in his post-match interview.
DEFENDER – BACARY SAGNA (Arsenal)
A player very much in keeping with Arsenal’s traditions, dependable in defence and adventurous in attack. Former Arsenal full-backs who have held the position with distinction include Kenny Sansom, Lee Dixon, Lauren and Ashley Cole. I suspect Bacary Sagna will be spoken of in those terms eventually.
DEFENDER – LAURENT KOSCIELNY (Arsenal)
Those of you who follow my Team of the Week will know that earlier in the season I criticised Koscielny for his often reckless challenges and irrational behaviour. Fortunately, the calming influence of Per Mertesacker seems to have had a profound effect on the France defender. Together they looked a formidable partnership against Fulham.
DEFENDER – RON VLAAR (Aston Villa)
Aston Villa’s Ron Vlaar was hugely impressive in defence against Liverpool and could not have done any more to keep Uruguay international Luis Suarez at bay.
DEFENDER – DANNY ROSE (Tottenham)
Seeing Mousa Dembele miss the target, much to Emmanuel Adebayor’s disgust, after impudently ignoring the unmarked striker when well placed to put Spurs 3-0 up against Swansea was frustrating. Danny Rose showed the Belgian precisely how it should be done minutes later when, in exactly the same position, he squared the ball to Adebayor to put the game beyond the hosts. It just goes to show that you don’t have to be an expensively acquired midfielder to make the right decisions.
MIDFIELDER – YOHAN CABAYE (Newcastle)
This lad is playing out of his skin, and what is more, he is scoring some fabulous goals. Last week, Newcastle felt so aggrieved because of a disallowed goal that they allowed their game to fall apart. Not so this week. Manager Alan Pardew and his team kept it together, and look what happened – three points in the bag against West Ham.
MIDFIELDER – YAYA TOURE (Manchester City)
I do not always agree with Robbie Savage. In fact, I seldom agree with anything he says, but on Saturday he said on Final Score that he thought Yaya Toure was currently the best midfield player in the world. Having seen another super display of pace, power, goals and control from the BBC African Footballer of the Year against Cardiff, I find myself agreeing with every word. Scary!
MIDFIELDER – JASON PUNCHEON (Crystal Palace)
Anybody who has the mental capacity to miss a penalty so badly against Spurs and recover so quickly to produce a stellar performance the following week against Stoke clearly has something about him.
MIDFIELDER – SANTI CAZORLA (Arsenal)
When you have as many football technicians as Arsenal, it is only a matter of time before one of them unlocks the most stubborn of defences. Santi Cazorla’s first goal was so beautifully constructed by his team-mates that they practically undressed Fulham.
FORWARD – SAMUEL ETO’O (Chelsea)
A few people questioned the wisdom of Jose Mourinho bringing the Cameroon international to Stamford Bridge, particularly having let Romelu Lukaku go to Everton on loan. But a fit Samuel Eto’o finally appears to be making a world of difference to Chelsea’s attack. His hat-trick against Manchester United may convince Mourinho that his strikers are capable of scoring. Manchester United, on the other hand, are in desperate need of some inspiration.
FORWARD – EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (Tottenham)
A colleague said to me recently that he got the distinct impression that “some people in the game” felt that Tim Sherwood’s 4-4-2 approach to football showed him to be tactically inept. Considering Sherwood has won five of the six games since he took over – the latest a 3-1 win at Swansea – suggests to me that ‘those people’ don’t know what they are talking about – whoever they are. That apart, he’s one of the very few coaches that can get Adebayor to perform to his potential.
What are your thoughts? Write your comments below!
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
