EPL Half Season Awards - Defenders

Defenders of the Season

Goalkeeper

Joe Hart has been the best performed goalkeeper in the Premier League this season. Being English, relatively young and at the worlds wealthiest football clubs brings a significant amount of pressure but having seen off the challenge of Shay Given Hart has proven himself the competitions premier shot stopper amidst the decline of Petr Cech and retirement of Edwin Van De Sar. Tim Krul at Newcastle United has had a strong start to the season that has a number of clubs circling while goal scoring Tim Howard has continued a stellar Premier League career.

Right Back

Micah Richards continues a Manchester City flavour to the team of the season. After picking up the Man of the Match award for a maraudering performance in the demolition of Manchester United Richards was overlooked for Fabio Capello’s England squads. His omission is just plain baffling as he continues to dominate in attack and defence as Manchester City hold onto top spot. Kyle Walker scored a spectacular winner against Arsenal and has proved a threat down Tottenham’s right hand side.

Center Back

A season ending injury has robbed the Premier League of its leading defender as Nemanja Vidic watches Manchester United games from the sideline.  Traditional forces in John Terry and Rio Ferdinand have struggled to reach the high standards of their Premier League careers with a number of shaky performances at the heart of defence. On the other hand the leadership and poise of Fabio Collocini has propelled Newcastle United to staggering heights this season. For a club on the brink of turmoil as leading figures deserted a seemingly sinking ship, the performances of Collocini have gone some way to alleviating the anxiety of supporters.  Liverpool pair Skrtel and Agger have presented perhaps the competitons strongest pairing in defence however individually the class of Vincent Kompany has shone through at Manchester City again this season. After assuming the captaincy from Carlos Tevez, Kompany has continued his strong City career with a number of dominant performances in the competitons strongest defense.

Left Back

Left back is perhaps the weakest area of the English Premier League presently.  While Alexander Kolarov and Gael Clichy occupy the left hand side of the competitions strongest defence both have been ruthlessly outclassed at times this season. Ashley Cole is amongst the world’s strongest left backs but his performances this season have been inconsistent at best. At times he appears Chelsea’s only attacking outlet but his defending has slipped from his normally high standards. Another big name in Patrice Evra has also had a similarly difficult season. Jose Enrique has proven a reliable performer for Liverpool while Leighton Baines is as always one of Everton’s best performed each week. Without a standout performer this season the class of Ashley Cole stands just above a largely mediocre pack so far this season.

Joe Hart

Micah Richards         Vincent Kompany        Fabio Collocini          Ashley Cole

EPL Half Season Awards - Transfers

EPL Half Season Awards - Transfers

The January transfer window heralds the halfway point of the season. With the Manchester clubs establishing an early dominance over traditional rivals Chelsea and Arsenal it has been the challenge of Tottenham that has looked the most likely to challenge for a top two spot. After a bright start Liverpool have drifted back towards mid-table mediocrity, while Premier League newcomers Swansea and Norwich City have looked more likely to avoid the drop than their wealthy counterparts Queens Park Rangers. This series will announce a number of awards for Premier League clubs at the halfway point of the season kicking off with an evaluation of pre-season transfers.

A number of big name transfers took place in the lead up to the 2011-12 season. Players such as Samir Nasri, David De Gea and Stuart Downing found new homes amidst much fanfare, but have struggled to adapt to their new surroundings. Despite hitting the ground running Nasri has struggled to establish himself in the competition strongest squad while De Gea and Downing have not offered their respective managers anywhere near value for the 20 million spent. On the other side of the coin Sergio Aguerro and Juan Mata are examples of big name stars that have looked at ease amongst the competitions heavy hitters. 

Manchester United and Liverpool heralded the arrival of a number of exciting prospects at the opening of the season but the considerable investment has failed to return for either side yet.  Jordan Henderson and Stuart Downing are $20million players that have looked anything but while David De Gea and Phil Jones have failed so far to revitalise United’s ageing backline. As a result these two sides edge out Queens Park Rangers  as recipients of the mid season award for worst incoming transfers.

Newcastle United supporters went into this season with serious doubts over Mike Ashley and the direction of the club. After selling prized asset Andy Carroll last January, June and July brought the departures of first team mainstays Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique. While promising youngsters Davide Santon and Gabriel Obertan were brought in for combined fees of almost $9 million it was the $5 million purchase of Yohan Cabaye and free transfer of Demba Ba that propelled Newcastle to an unbeaten few months and a prized top 4 position heading into December. A run of tough fixtures has brought with it a sense of reality but as we move through January a top half finish and perhaps European football is a realistic proposition for Newcastle fans. While other sides have made strong signings the combined successes of Newcastles new boys makes them the clear winners of any award for incoming transfers at this point of the season.

With fifteen Premier League goals on a free transfer Demba Ba has undoubtedly proven to be this season’s finest piece of transfer window business. Honourable mentions must be given to Sergio Aguerro, Juan Mata and Yakubu.

The next article in A View From The Top’s half season awards will be the Defenders of the Season.

Eavaluating the Top Six in the January Transfer Window

We are now well into the January transfer window and the rumors are flying thick and fast with a number of deals reported to be in the works. I'm going to go through the top six sides and offer a signing that I think most benefits them and is of course at least a little realistic while picking through some of the rumours we've already heard.

Manchester City
Traditionally are linked with everyone that comes onto the market and most that don't. Have not been linked with too many players so far although there are murmurings about interest in Gary Cahill and Wesley Sneijder. Gary Cahill for me is not of sufficient quality to improve the City rearguard and while I would agree they could use another center back I would say only if someone like Thiago Silva was on offer. That won't happen though and for me the best signing for City would be that of Daniel De Rossi. City play with two midfield anchors and while Yaya Toure is absolutely world class, Nigel De Jong, James Milner and Gareth Barry are not. With Yaya away for ACN De Rossi would further strengthen the strongest squad in the EPL.

Manchester United
Have been linked with a number of midfielders including Jack Rodwell, Wesley Sniejder and even Frank Lampard earlier today. Their midfield is no where near the level needed to compete for the title and their position on the table defies their lack of quality in this area. Check Tiote would provide the midfield steel that United lack and anywhere up to 20 million would be a good deal for both parties. Jack Rodwell is a promising player but not quite ready to lead a side like United and Sneijder is simply not what United need. The Dutchman plays too far up the field to plug United's gaps and has been injured most of this season anyway.

Tottenham
Are linked with anyone and everyone. Have a quite deep squad but also seem to have a number of injuries. King, Modric and Bale hold the key for Spurs but each is also quite fragile. Like every side in the EPL are wishing they went in for Demba Ba six months ago and instead are trying to find a way to make Adebeyor's stay permanent. Could use another central defender and names such as Samba and Cahill have been thrown around. Links with Ganso and Kaka wont happen although long time target Leandro Damiao would be a superb signing. Hard to say exactly who would improve Spurs as they cannot afford the quality of player that would immediately improve them but perhaps need the most cover in central defense as King is injury prone at best and Gallas and Kaboul have been a little shaky. Subotic for Borussia Dortmund should be their number one target and would immediately boost both their physical presence and ability on the ball at the back. Having fallen out of the first team due to injury and the form of his replacement Dortmund may be willing to do business.

Chelsea
In a transition phase. Need a central defender and two midfielders. Have agreed to a fee for Gary Cahill and a partnership with John Terry has looked promising for England. Jose Moutinho and Hulk from Porto have been rumored to be following AVB ever since he left the club but it looks unlikely either will be in London by February. More than anything though they need a right back and while fans might dream of a Dani Alves or Sergio Ramos the Uruguayan Pereira is the most likely target. Due to the complete ineptness of Bosingwa I would prefer this signing to be made a priority over all others. However would be best served by at least three signings during this window. Will really struggle to hold out Arsenal for fourth spot if RVP stays injury free.

Arsenal
Have completed the two month loan signing of Henry but what happens if RVP goes down injured in two months time. Arsenal need to prepare for this now because if it happens its curtains to their Champions League hopes. Could do with some fullbacks as well as injuries have rid them of all options in this area. Lucas Barrios would be an available and good signing for the club while Cissokho is a world class option at left back. The latter is unlikely to happen though as it will halt the progress of Kieran Gibbs who will be a good footballer if he ever gets out of the injury ward. Perhaps the most unpredictable side to anticipate during this window as Arsene Wegner appears to have thrown his transfer philosophy out the window.

Liverpool
Some say they got the deal of the century when offloading an out of sorts Torres for 50 million last January but have squandered the bounty and more on entirely average signings Downing, Carroll and Henderson. Would love Lucas Podolski but he wont be leaving Koln until at least the end of the season. Plain and simple Liverpool need a finisher and while he may not dribble the ball well or even touch it that often Klaas Jan Huntelaar scores goals. I dont know how he does it but at club and international level he bangs them in and Liverpool should go after him before he signs a contract extension at Schalke. Have been linked with Darren Bent recently but surely after the failure of their English signings so far they realise how overpriced local talent is.