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
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