The football season is half way through now and it’s been a weird one so far. At first it seemed Chelsea were favourites to win the league with ease. Then it appeared Manchester United were going to bother after all. Arsenal keep on entering the fray every now and again and Manchester City are knocking on the door of a the top four.
In fact, the year ended with the two Manchester clubs sitting pretty at the top of the league with only Arsenal in a real touching distance. Chelsea were sat outside of the top four, with Spurs nicking in, who would have though that would happen?
I thought with the season being at the half way mark I’d do a little top ten of the most impressive players I’ve seen so far this year, there’s been plenty of great players so it’s been tough to narrow it down to just ten. Here goes nothing…
#10 Javier Hernandez - Manchester United
Fergie bought Hernandez and the back end of last season for a steal at £7 million. Since then he’s gone on to make a name for himself at the World Cup in South Africa, giving United fans at least something to cheer about, not that many United fans are English of course. Since joining up with the squad though, the ‘little pea’ has made a big impact already scoring goals and creating problems in opposing defences. He even made history on Tuesday night scoring his sixth league goal against Stoke, becoming the highest scoring Mexican in Premier League history. Vela fans look away now. The reason he’s impressed the most is because he’s settled into the English game so quickly, usually it takes at least a year. Hernandez appears to have taken about a week.
#9 Asamoah Gyan - Sunderland
After impressing in the World Cup for Ghana, Asamoah Gyan made his big move to the Premier League with Steve Bruce’s Sunderland. Since then he’s bagged seven goals for the Black Cats and is one of the main reasons they’re in contention for a European spot. Relatively unknown before the World Cup, he has possibly become Sunderland’s best player, and his dance moves aren’t too bad either.
#8 Johan Elmander - Bolton Wanderers
Bolton are flying this year, playing some football Lancashire could have only dreamed of in the past. A lot of this is down to the manager Owen Coyle and I believe he’s had a big part to play in the resurgence of Johan Elmander. For the past two seasons Elmander has done very little, a goal here and there but nothing to shout about. All of a sudden he can’t stop scoring. He has nine goals to his name now, one more goal and he’ll match his total for the past two seasons combined! His contract is now coming up for expiry, I’d imagine he’d get a new deal.
#7 Gareth Bale - Tottenham Hotspur
Now, I know people are going to question why Bale is so low on this list, because, frankly, he’s been the most talked about player this season by a mile! However, as impressive as he has been, the San Siro sticks out in my memory the most, he hasn’t been as good as people have made him out to be. People seem to think that because the media are talking about him he must be amazing. I think he’s a great player who is having a great season, I for one am looking forward to his imminent return to the San Siro against AC Milan in February. There’s potential no doubt, I just hope he doesn’t turn into another Aaron Lennon, hyped up for nothing.
#6 Vincent Kompany - Manchester City
A strange entry into my list you may think but I believe this man is the most consistent player at City, okay that’s not the greatest compliment a man has ever given, might as well call him the thinnest kid at the fat camp, but nonetheless Kompany has been outstanding for them this year. Last year he was good, this year he’s been even better. All the talk at City is about Tevez and the rest of the big money attacking players, meanwhile Kompany sits at the back and gets on with it. A great defender and a superb leader, he really should be captain, no question.
#5 The entire Blackpool squad.
This year Blackpool have been nothing short of outstanding. Since being promoted they have been condemned to relegation and yet they have barely flirted with the idea of it this season. With very little resources and players who are just about of Championship quality, they have managed to somehow play their own game and not only cause teams problems but actually beat them. Currently they’re in mid-table, and could still get dragged into the dog fight going on at the bottom. But whatever happens they’ve exceeded expectations already.
#4 Samir Nasri - Arsenal
Now, when you think of the current Arsenal side, you think of their captain Cesc Fabregas, and to be fair he hasn’t been playing his best football this year. Their other top player, van Persie, has spent a lot of time injured so it came to someone else to lift the team and be the star performer. That man is Samir Nasri. He has scored some of Arsenal’s most important goals this season, has played consistently well week in week out and deserves the praise he gets. At this moment in time he is their top goal scorer and at only 23 Arsenal could well have unearthed another French gem.
#3 Dimitar Berbatov - Manchester United
Where has Dimitar Berbatov been? Well wherever he was he found his form, he now has an astonishing 14 league goals to his name already this season. He’s the Premier League’s leading scorer at the moment, and the closest player to him at United is Hernandez and Nani with six a piece. Prior to this season, Berbatov had a total 26 Manchester United goals to his name, I wouldn’t put it past him getting 26 this season! He’s been slated a lot in recent years by United fans for his lethargic attitude towards the game, but without him this season I doubt United would be in pole position.
#2 Andy Carroll - Newcastle United
Although Newcastle’s number nine has had a terrible season off the field, he’s had a spectacular one on it. Andy Carroll has been integral to Newcastle’s success this year, scoring the vast majority of their goals. With 11 of them to his name this season already, he has certainly turned a few heads, even some of the big boys are looking at him with a watchful eye. People questioned whether or not he could make it in the Premier League but he has proven that he most definitely can. Last season he finished with a total of 19 goals, chances are he’ll top that this year, which would be a massive boost to the Toon, and should keep them up.
#1 Rafael van der Vaart - Tottenham Hotspur
Yes, the most impressive player of this season so far is a Tottenham player. Who would have thought it? But it’s definitely true. Harry Redknapp’s purchase of Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid, for a mere £8 million, is his best ever buy. Tottenham are a good team without van der Vaart in it, but they are a great team with him in it. When he plays, they play, you can see the difference in them when he is missing from the line-up. If he’s in the starting eleven you wouldn’t fancy playing Spurs but you know you’re in for a chance should he be out. Van der Vaart made little impact at Real Madrid but since entering the Premier League he has proven his world class status and impressed by the bucketful; he scores goals, sets them up, brings players into play, is brilliant off the ball, calm in front of goal, everything you could want from an attacking player. I fear that Tottenham will need to finish in the top four this year to keep him, not an impossible task, but it will be hard for them. Still, with him in the side the sky is the limit.
Not all players can make the top ten, but some players deserve some recognition. Bolton have a few players who have been outstanding this year, Kevin Davies is always consistently good, but Stuart Holden is the other big standout player this year, now in his first full season at the club, the American is starting to cement his place in the Bolton line-up with some impressive performances. Jordan Henderson of Sunderland is another player who has played very well for his club this year, even earning him a call up to the England squad. Marouane Chamakh has been in great form for Arsenal, another young one Arsene Wenger has found from nowhere. Charles N’Zogbia and Tom Cleverley offer Wigan fans a ray of light in their fight against relegation, as does Craig Gardner of Birmingham. Tim Krul, the Newcastle goalkeeper, deserves a mention for filling in brilliantly for Steve Harper until January. And I can’t finish the list without mentioning Stoke in some way. They’ve impressed me every time I’ve seen them this year and prove to be a match for any team in the league. Out of them all Robert Huth has impressed most, even chipping in with a few goals himself, not bad for a defender.
You’ve probably noticed that there are no players mentioned from Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham, Everton, Fulham, Aston Villa, Wolves, Blackburn and West Brom. The Baggies have been a little like Blackpool this year, in that they haven’t had one individual player who has stood out, yet their team has been more than impressive. Blackburn have also been good, up until Big Sam was sacked, since then they’ve been weak. As for the others, it’s no surprise they weren’t mentioned, as they’ve been pretty lacklustre this year.
Liverpool don’t seem to want to play for their manager, Chelsea are still missing Ray ‘Spot’ Wilkins, West Ham rely on Scott Parker who can only do so much, Fulham have not got going yet this season, nor have Everton. Wolves, even though they’ve just beaten Chelsea, have been poor if a little unlucky at times and Villa, well, that’s just been one disaster after another.
It will certainly be interesting to see who impresses in the second half of the season. I’m looking forward to finding out.
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