As we near the beginning of spring and league tables throughout the country take shape, the talk will soon head towards who the best players of the season have been. Playing in a 4-2-2-2 formation, similar to Manchester City’s system, this is an early look at the Premier League team of the season so far.
Wojciech Szczesny
After some difficult seasons, where he saw his mental toughness questioned and was dropped for big games, Szczesny has begun to fulfil the potential he showed when first breaking into the Arsenal team.
With 12 clean sheets and 28 goals conceded to his name, Szczesny is having his best season to date. Despite not leading the charts for clean sheets – Petr Cech does with 13 – the Polish goalkeeper has made 87 saves, which come once every 29 minutes on average. He has faced 5 penalties throughout the campaign saving one.
Seamus Coleman
The Irish full back continues to improve with every season and this year is no different. The passing style of Martinez , which looks at his full backs to get forward, brings out the best of Coleman.
Like his Everton counterpart at left back, Leighton Baines, his defensive abilities are sometimes underrated due to his good ventures going forward. Scoring 5 goals from full back and creating 29 chances is just reason for this, but 53 tackles and 41 interceptions shows that Coleman is very capable on the defensive front.
John Terry
Being reunited with Mourinho has resulted in some calling for Terry to come out of international retirement for this summer’s World Cup as the Chelsea captain reaches the performances that saw him regarded as one of the best in the world.
Able to pass the ball out of defence with comfort and ease (89% passing accuracy) – something that other English centre backs are not so comfortable with – Terry allows the players in front of him to focus on attacking without foolishly giving away possession.
On the defensive front Terry has continued to be reliable for Chelsea, making 189 clearances – the most for London club – and his leadership has helped the performances of Gary Cahill improve.
Per Mertesacker
Another Arsenal player who has recovered from difficult periods, Mertesacker has been a dominant force in defence and the leader Arsenal have craved for years as the costly mistakes made in the past have dried up.
Now adapted to the English game, his lack of pace has not been exposed as much this season due to his excellent ability to read the game – the number of offsides provoked (22) and interceptions (49) proves this. Unsurprisingly, Mertesacker has been Arsenal’s best aerial defensive player with 120 headed clearances.
Luke Shaw
The young English full back has built on a impressive debut season in the Premier League, especially as a 17 year old, and the man seen has the long term replacement for Ashley Cole could exceed expectations by doing so this summer.
Having a somewhat rare ability in a full back in the modern game, Shaw is equally as good at defending as he is going forward. Winning 41 tackles (84% of his tackles) and 114 ground duels shows his strength and maturity despite his tender age; while Shaw has created 22 chances alongside the 101 crosses into the box.
Aaron Ramsey
Now, if he doesn’t play between now and the end of the season he won’t get his place in these line-ups, but the exceptional performances Ramsey had during the first half of the season haven’t been bettered by anyone else.
Both on the attacking and defensive front, Ramsey summed up the upturn in fortunes Arsenal have experienced since the arrival of Mesut Ozil. The Welsh midfielder’s work rate to get up and down the pitch saw him score a record 8 goals in the league, create 26 chances, and his 56 tackles won is still a season high for Arsenal.
Yaya Toure
The Ivorian midfielder has returned to his colossal, dominating best, which helped Manchester City to win the league two years ago.
The signing of Fernandinho has been a big factor in his return to form as the Brazilian midfielder allows Toure to venture further up the pitch. The scorer of 13 goals with an extremely impressive conversion rate of 37% has helped combat injury troubles up front. Toure is also the link between defence and attack and the number of passes completed (1689) shows this.
Eden Hazard
During Chelsea’s more lacklustre performances this season Eden Hazard has stepped up to inspire his team to victory with some sensational performances. His direct running and dribbling has seen Hazard create 79 chances – the most in the Premier League – assisting 7 goals, alongside being Chelsea’s top goal scorer (13) with an impressive conversation rate of 30%. Hazard’s hard-working attitude has also seen him make the most ground duels for Chelsea (207).
Adam Lallana
The biggest breakthrough of the season for any player has to be Adam Lallana. Likely to be in the England World Cup squad with rumours starting to circulate of a move to a bigger club shows how good his performances have been this season.
Calm in possession, quick with both his feet and mind when on the ball – this has transpired into 54 chances created with 5 assists, 103 dribbles attempted and 7 goals.
Luis Suarez
After a summer of transfer speculation and the second half of his ban for biting Ivanovic, not many would have predicted Suarez would have such a successful season.
An improvement in his conversion rate has seen Suarez score an incredible 24 goals in 23 league matches; whilst his hardworking, busy-body attitude around the 18-yard box has seen Suarez top the assist chart as well as the goal scoring chart with 10 assists from 69 chances created.
Daniel Sturridge
The potential Daniel Sturridge has possessed has always been evident, yet never fully materialised on a consistent basis until his move to Liverpool. His first full season at Liverpool has been impressive beyond belief and Sturridge’s 18 goals has helped fire to Liverpool to a probable return to the Champions League for the Merseyside club.
A record of a goal every 95.92 minutes has been well documented due to being the best in the ‘big 5’ European leagues. The partnership with Suarez has helped to develop his game as the England international has become less greedy in his play and the 5 assists proves this.
Subs: Cech, Joel Ward, Cahill, Henderson, Fernandinho, Silva, Aguero.
