EPL Best XI: Chelsea, As Expected, Dominates Team of the First Half
By Mike Cardillo
The 2014-15 English Premier League season sits at its halfway mark with 19 games in the books. The finish line hovers in the distance in May. Chelsea’s stroll to the title isn’t a fait accompli, with Manchester City lurking only three points back. Since it’s the halfway point, why not pick the league’s best XI of the first half? Seems like something that a sports blog would publish, right?
This year it was actually fairly easy to pick an actual team you could line up in a standard 4-4-2 formation. The toughest question was either a) how many Chelsea players to include or b) how many Chelsea players to omit.
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Goalkeeper: David De Gea, Manchester United
Picking the Spaniard probably can be chalked up to the “eye test” more than anything else. United’s defense remains an ever-changing merry-go-round, with De Gea the lone constant. United have allowed 19 goals in 19 matches, but that total would be much higher if not for De Gea’s shot-stopping ability and excellent positioning. If United — currently in third — qualify for the Champions League, he’ll be one of the main reasons.
(GFY h/t “MP”)
Also considered: Thibaut Courtois, Chelsea; Hugo Lloris, Tottenham
Wide Defenders: Gaël Clichy, Manchester City; Nathaniel Clyne, Southampton
Clyne is probably the best two-way outside back in the EPL at the moment, scoring twice and playing on the right in Southampton’s stout defensive unit. Clichy isn’t the flashiest player in the world, but he’s been a steady, sturdy hand on the left for Manuel Pellegrini. Manchester City’s defensive strength usually lies in the center of the field but this season you could argue both Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta have been better than highly-regarded club captain Vincent Kompany, et al.
Also considered: Aaron Cresswell, West Ham United; Ryan Bertrand, Southampton; Pablo Zabaleta, Manchester City
Central Defenders: John Terry, Chelsea; Jose Fonte, Southampton
Fonte remains ever-present for Southampton, which has only allowed 15 goals and a league-low 9.2 shots per game. Terry, meanwhile, will probably end up playing forever. The much-loathed 34-year-old continues to do what he does: marshal the back line, score on set pieces and annoy everyone who isn’t a Chelsea partisan. There is something to be said about the intangible qualities of toughness and grit Terry brings to the field every 90 minutes. The former England international also remains locked into the soccer world’s worst haircuts starting XI and is a pending first-ballot Hall of Famer, in fact.
Also considered: James Tompkins, West Ham United; Curtis Davies, Hull City
Defensive midfielder: Nemanja Matic, Chelsea
A brief argument could be made Matic remains Chelsea’s most-important player as the two-way link in the middle of the field, playing the role of Cesc Fabregas’ bodyguard. Mile Jedinak’s played great on a struggling Crystal Palace side, but Matic is still a smidge better all-around, despite the Australian international scoring five goals (mostly from the penalty spot) to the Serb’s one. The two players are Nos. 1-2 in tackles won with Matic leading the way with 51 followed by Jedinak’s 50.
Jedinak can take some small solace in owning the EPL’s best beard. Saul Berenson would be jealous:
Also considered: Jedinak, Crystal Palace; Morgan Schneiderlin, Southampton; Victor Wanyama, Southampton
Central/attacking midfielder: Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea.
Another Chelsea player? Yep. Hard to leave out a guy who set a record with 13 assists in the first 19 games of the season. As far as central midfielders go, there isn’t a more complete package than the ex-Barcelona player.
Also considered: Yaya Toure, Manchester City; Christen Eriksen, Tottenham; Santi Carzola, Arsenal; Wayne Rooney, Manchester United; David Silva, Manchester City; Gylfi Sigurdsson, Swansea City; Angel Di Maria, Manchester United; Stewart Downing, West Ham United.
Wide midfielders: Eden Hazard, Chelsea; Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
Honestly, I’d like to hear someone try to mount an ESPN “take” show-style opinion that either of these two players should be excluded from a best XI list. I’m not sure it could be done. Well, it could and it would warrant a “take down” sports blog post in England.
Also considered: Raheem Sterling, Liverpool; Dusan Tadic, Southampton.
Strikers: Sergio Agüero, Manchester City; Diego Costa, Chelsea
More no-brainers. Agüero leads the EPL with 14 goals in only 13 starts. Costa transformed the Chelsea attack, chipping in 13 goals for the league-leaders.
Also considered: Wilfried Bony, Swansea City; Saido Berahino, West Brom; Charlie Austin, QPR.
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Best Overall Player: Hazard
Eden Hazard is the best player in the Premier League. It’s easy to forget this, given the strength of Chelsea’s team in every area of the field but it’s the truth. Yes, the Belgian attacker has seven goals and four assists — numbers that don’t exactly cause your eyeballs to pop out the back of your skull. More impressive is his durability, starting all 19 games and playing 1,671 of a possible 1,710 league minutes for Chelsea. Isolated wide on the left one-on-one, there isn’t a better player than Hazard in England. Again, Hazard almost feels underrated because he’s not a flashy player, i.e. Neymar or a powerful player, i.e. Ronaldo. Instead he’s smooth and more like Messi in that it’s impossible to get the ball away from him. When you game plan against Chelsea there are so many things to consider … on top of everything Hazard can do to punish you within the blink of an eye.
Most Valuable Player: Sanchez
On goals (and the table) Sergio Agüero remains more valuable to any particular team, but I’d rate Sanchez ahead on durability. Agüero has more goals –14 — but Sanchez has played almost 450 more minutes, doing a little bit of everything for Arsenal on a consistent basis scoring 10 times to go along with six assists. Criticize Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy as necessary, he got this one right. For all the inconsistencies and injuries at the Emirates this year, Arsenal remain on track for the Champions League yet again. Without Sanchez week-in, week-out, that wouldn’t be the case.
[Photos via Getty]