Top 10 Premier League leaders

Who’s the best man to lead your team on the pitch?

To be successful in the Premier League, you need a lot of things.

You generally need a safe pair of hands in goal, a commanding centre-back, a box-to-box midfielder, and a world class striker. To sum up, you need a strong spine, and even better, within that, a leader for your team.

Right now, there are a fair few out there. The types that pull their team by the scruff of the neck while they’re behind and almost single-handed salvage points for their side.

So who is the Premier League’s number 1 leader? Here is the list…

10) Paul Pogba – Manchester United

He’s not been at Old Trafford long, but you can really see how Paul Pogba has control of his midfield, and the opposition, at all times. He’s a quality player who is going to bring a lot to United.

9) Ryan Shawcross – Stoke City

Often not praised for his playing style and this guy is often considered to be a ‘dirty’ player, but there is no questioning his value to his team. He’s been a loyal captain to Stoke since their promotion and has guided them to stability in the Premier League over recent years.

8) James Milner – Liverpool

Ironically, Liverpool’s vice-captain is a much better leader on the pitch than their actual captain, Jordan Henderson. Milner is one of those top professionals who doesn’t care about money, doesn’t care about media exposure, he just wants to get on with playing football. He’ll play wherever his manager puts him and doesn’t stay on the floor after a solid tackle. Top class James.

7) Phil Jagielka – Everton

Jagielka’s consistency is something to be admired. He’s retained the captaincy at Everton for several years now because, week in week out, he gives his all for his team, and that’s all you can ask for from a football player. One of those players you hope to see lift a trophy for his team one day.

6) Mark Noble – West Ham

The long running joke of Mark Noble being unable to make an England squad is based on a true concern, this guy is such a hard worker and has performed to such a strong level constantly for many years now, he’s a valuable asset to the Premier League.

5) Hugo Lloris – Spurs

A goalkeeper is always a smart choice for a captain because he sees everything. He can command his back 4 in particular and overall can have a very strong position on the pitch despite being rather restricted to one area of the pitch. Lloris does this better than anybody, and Spurs’ defensive record shows that.

4) Wayne Rooney – Manchester United

After Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs all retired, Wayne Rooney was rightly handed the captains armband for a club he’s done so much for in all competitions. He’s now won everything he can possibly win as a Manchester United player, making his one of the highest achievers in terms of honours on this list.

3) Wes Morgan – Leicester City

This man was immense last season as he guided his team to an incredible Premier League title, which he got to lift in May. With countless efforts of fantastic defending and even some crucial goals too, Morgan is one incredible leader that will go down in Premier League history for what he and his team achieved.

2) Vincent Kompany – Manchester City

This man is arguably the most valuable man to his team on this list. It’s so obvious how much Man City miss their big centre-back when he’s injured, and he’s had his fair shares on injury over the last couple of years. He’s lead the club through their most successful period in their history and he was a massive influence in that period.

1) John Terry – Chelsea

While often criticized for his actions in his personal life or off the pitch (even his choice of phrase on the pitch sometimes), JT is an English football legend. He, like Rooney, has also won everything he could possibly win at Stamford Bridge, and even though he couldn’t win on a international stage, he will always be remembered in the Premier League.

By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10