EPL Talk » Joe Hart

Premier League Form XI

Kristian Downer — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:44:13 +0000

Is anyone in better form than Wayne Rooney at the moment? Image: MikeEgerton/Empics

The saying goes that ‘form is temporary but class is permanent’ and on many levels this holds true, however such a huge part of professional sport is the mental aspect of the game, which at the highest level can be just as, if not more important than the physical aspect.

With just 8 or 9 games remaining in the Premier League player form and the momentum it provides can be crucial to clubs fighting for something towards the end of the season. Classic examples include Fulham’s great escape in 2008 and Kevin Keegan’s Love it Rant as the momentum of 1996 title race shifted in Manchester United’s favour.

With this in mind I have been looking at the form players in the Premier League and which players managers would potentially want in their sides for the season’s run-in, should they have their pick of the division.

Adopting a 4-4-2 formation for nostalgic rather than practical reasons, players in this XI have made at least 20 appearances this season and are free from long term injury.

Goalkeeper – Joe Hart

Birmingham are having a fantastic season, chasing a Europa cup dream and this is in no small part due to the safe pair of hands on loan from Manchester City.

A good shot stopper and strong in the air, it will be a travesty if Joe Hart is not on the plane to South Africa with England on current form.

Right Back – Branislav Ivanovic

After signing for Chelsea in January 2008 the Serbian international seemed to disappear off the radar and it appeared as if Chelsea had uncovered a modern day Winston Bogarde.

However when given the chance Ivanovic impressed the Chelsea faithful with strong, powerful displays at both the centre and right hand side of defence. The injury of Jose Boswinga has allowed Ivanovic to show his value on a regular basis this season.

Left Back – Leighton Baines

With the injury to Ashley Cole,an England debut and regular starting berth in a resurgent Everton side gives Baines the nod over Patrice Evra and Stephen Warnock.

Centre Back - Ryan Shawcross

Despite the publicity surrounding the tackle that broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg the 22 year old has received a positive response to his actions in the aftermath of the horror tackle. He has a commanding, committed style that fits into the Stoke ethos that has allowed Tony Pulis’ side to assert themselves in the Premier League.

Shawcross been one of the stand out defenders in the league this season earning himself an England call up and an outside shot at a place at the World Cup.

Centre Back – Thomas Vermaelen

Bought by Arsene Wenger as a replacement for Kolo Toure the Belgian defender has helped plug a leaky Arsenal defence with some commanding defensive displays.

Costing a seemingly bargain basement €10 million the defender has also shown a keen eye for goal netting an impressive 7 times already this season.

Whilst there have been some doubts over his ‘big game’ performances he edges others such as Richard Dunne and John Heitinga.

Central Midfield – Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas has been one of the best midfielders in the Premier League for many years despite his young age. This season has arguably been his best so far with the Spaniard adding goals to his creativity at the heart of the Arsenal midfield.

Likely to make the first team at any club in the world, Fabregas is an uncontroversial central midfield choice.

Central Midfield – Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard has scored more than 20 goals in each of his last five seasons at Chelsea, despite having detractors dating back to his days at West Ham the player has a record that dumbfounds the criticism.

After a slow start to the season, attributed to his role in the Ancelotti diamond, Lampard has returned to form and looks set to reach 20 goals for a sixth successive season.

Winger – James Milner

Aston Villa are once again challenging at the top end of the table, and this can largely be attributed to the speed and skill of their wingers, although now being played centrally by Martin O’Neil, James Milner has shown he is adept out wide and adds versatility to this XI.

An English player having a fantastic season, Milner looks likely to play a large role in England’s World Cup campaign.

Winger – Damien Duff

After seemingly fading into obscurity at Newcastle a move to Fulham has rejuvenated Damien Duff’s career, back to his dazzling best he has won many plaudits this season and scored some incredible goals.

With plenty of attacking options in the league it is the work ethic and consistency of Damien Duff which has given him the edge over Ashley Young, Nani and Florent Malouda.

Centre Forward – Wayne Rooney

The easiest selection of the lot, with 32 goals this season Wayne Rooney has come to the boil in a World Cup year and is seemingly single-handedly dragging Manchester United towards yet more silverware.

The first name on the England and Manchester United teamsheets, I doubt any manager in the world would hesitate to name him in their eleven given half a chance.

Centre Forward – Didier Drogba

During his Chelsea career Drogba has been prone to sulking and picking up ‘minor’ knocks with greater ease than most, particularly odd considering his bullish style and excellent technique. Under Felipe Scolari it seemed as if his days in the Premier League were numbered, but under Guus Hiddink and now Carlo Ancelotti the striker is back to his best, hassling defenders and chasing down Wayne Rooney in a bid for the golden boot.

A tough choice but Drogba just about edges out Rooney’s former team mate Carlos Tevez for the second striker position due to his goal return and ability to terrorise even the strongest of defences.

Substitutes: Gomes, Modric, Young, Pienaar, Valencia, Heitinga, Tevez

There have also been many stand out performers this season that did not make the line up, for this reason I have named a strong bench. Last year’s villain Heurelho Gomes is now the hero at White Hart Lane and constitutes the goalkeeping option. John Heitinga is rewarded for his fine form by being named as the main defensive back up.

The game changing options are provided by a strong midfield quartet and Carlos Tevez.

A certainty less than a month ago would have been Ashley Cole who despite his off field woes was having his best season in a Chelsea shirt, before injury made him a doubt for the World Cup and gave England a left-back dilemma.

Interestingly notable players such as John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Rio Ferdinand have been left out. The reason for exclusion is due to either injury or in the case of Steven Gerrard them not being hitting the high expectations they have set in previous years.

All in all I think that any manager in the league would be happy to name this line up on form alone given the choice, it may not be the best XI in the league but on current form each player would be a test for any opposition.

The England Outsiders#1 The Goalkeepers

Paul Bestall — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:04:31 +0000

The halcyon days of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were apparently a boom time in England’s glorious history of great goalkeepers. From the benchmark that was the great Gordon Banks and his understudy, Peter Springett, to the rotation of Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton in the 70’s and early 1980’s, England always had a top class goalkeeper.

As Chris Woods and then David Seaman continued the tradition, despite every other pundit claiming the English goalkeeper was a dying breed, but until Seaman’s retirement from England duty in 2002, that looked an empty prediction. Since then England’s number one has rotated between David James, Paul Robinson, Scott Carson, with sporadic appearances from Robert Green, Ben Foster, Chris Kirkland and Joe Hart. An unusual situation after decades of stability between the sticks, which clarifies a pressing issue for Capello. Just who can he trust with the number one shirt?

The obvious choice is David James, but the situation at Portsmouth has had far reaching consequences. James found himself in a situation were Portsmouth wouldn’t play him as it would trigger a clause in his contract rewarding him with an extension. Of course, being the goalkeeper of a side marooned at the foot of the Premiership table and with a worrying tendency to implode under pressure, is James really the best English goalkeeper?

Euro 2004 saw James’ performances came under criticism after admitting he hadn’t studied French set pieces, when England were undone by 5 minutes of madness in the opening game of the tournament. A penalty from Henry and a free kick from Zidane saw England collapse and ultimately end up with the harder run of the tournament.

Yet since those rickets, consistency has returned to his game and as one of English footballs more eloquent footballers, James would be one of the three goalkeepers for me and probably keep the No.1 shirt unless his form completely collapses before the end of the season.The other two places are realistically up for grabs.

To all intents and purposes, the stand out English goalkeeper of the Premiership season has been Joe Hart and what a season. He’s certainly been one of the key reasons that Birmingham City have had such a successful season so far. In fact,I was stunned that Hart didn’t make his second appearance for England in Wednesday nights friendly against Egypt. I’ve been very impressed with his form throughout the season and felt for him when Manchester City splashed out big bucks to bring Shay Given to Eastlands in January 2009.

One criticism that seemingly comes Hart’s way from some quarters is his age. It seems a perennial English trait that players are perpetually too young to play for their country. Hart has plenty of international experience, with his time with the Under-21 squad even scoring a penalty for his country. Yes, it may not be the same level of intensity, but competition experience is invaluable, what ever level it is achieved at. The future England custodian of the gloves for me and a shoe in for the second goalkeeping place.

The final place is the one that several people have a real chance of grabbing, but I’ll rule out the three who I wouldn’t consider. Poor Scott Carson, another one who was touted as the future of English goalkeeper until a wet night at Wembley in 2007 that saw the end of the dreadful Steve Mclaren reign. Critics blamed the pitch, oblivious to the wonderful football that Croatia played. Tactically inept and with his powers of spin unable to cover his failings, Mclaren went down taking Carson’s England career with it.

He’s never recovered and several high profile mistakes last season saw his hopes of an England recall all but disappear. Carson simply hasn’t had any luck with certain mistakes perhaps over analysed in the media but I think this World Cup has come too soon for him. Add to that with him not playing Premiership football as well coupled with not being the best English goalkeeper in the Championship and it’s doubtful he’ll get a sniff unless bubonic plague strikes the England goalkeeper set up.

Chris Kirkland is another that time has not been kind to. Touted as the next great England keeper, injuries stalled his career development and it is only in the last couple of seasons that he has managed to get a consistent level of appearances together. The irony of goalkeeping was shown in no clearer light than on November 22nd when Kirkland conceded 9 goals in Wigan’s mauling at the hands of Tottenham.

Remarkably, without Kirkland, Spurs would have probably scored more, he saved a further 7 shots on target. Classed as injury prone, despite playing over 80 league games in his last 3 seasons, Kirkland has fallen behind Hart and would currently be 5th in my opinion. At 28, time is certainly not against him, but it’ll be a major surprise if he gets back to England duty.

Ben Foster currently can’t get on Manchester United’s bench which says it all and he is a real pickle at Old Trafford. Bags of potential but I don’t care how good you are, playing for Manchester United reserves occasionally isn’t anywhere near the level of getting in to the England set up. I’ve a real fear that he could disappear like Richard Wright did after joining Arsenal and then a disjointed spell at Everton. Now back at Ipswich Town, his is a career of real missed chances.

Which brings me to my final two choices. Paul Robinson and Robert Green. Last night Capello seemed to give Green the chance to prove he could be part of the squad by playing the whole 90 minutes of the friendly. This seemingly would draw a curtain on Paul Robinson’s chances of making the squad unless James, Hart or Green falls injured. Green didn’t really have much to do and he has certainly been fairly consistent over the last 3 seasons at West Ham United.

So overall I think Capello will pick James, Green and Hart with Robinson as 4th choice on stand by. The wild card would be Chris Kirkland but overall, I think Fabio will stick with the devil he knows but what do you think??

Can Joe Hart Become England’s Number One?

Paul Bestall — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:07:50 +0000

With just over 15 weeks left until the 19th World Cup begins in South Africa and one player is making a real case to force his way in to the starting line up. Joe Hart could have been put out by Manchester City signing Shay Given last January, a smack in the face for his aspirations to make himself City’s number one. Thankfully for Hart, Alex McLeish rode to the rescue in the summer taking the young stopper to Birmingham City on a season long loan and what an inspired piece of business it has turned out to be.

Of course, at the beginning of the season, Hart seemed a little unsure of his surroundings and his place at St. Andrews but over the last few months, he has been head and shoulders above every other English goalkeeper in the Premiership. Week by week, Hart’s performances have left his club manager purring and now Fabio Capello has re-affirmed the praise for the shot stopper by announcing he’ll start the friendly match against Egypt next week.

Capello’s reign has been pointed in the fact that he has been careful not to build his players up too much, but saw fit to break from that tradition last week. FAbio stated that “Hart has been fantastic this season and before he made mistakes but he makes fewer now because he plays regularly and has more confidence”. That is a ringing endorsement of the likable Shropshire lad and he now has a chance to make the Number One jersey his own.

With David James embroiled in the daily hell that is Portsmouth’s season, Ben Foster unable to make it on Manchester United’s bench most weeks, though he started tonight’s match against West Ham United and Paul Robinson still seemingly out of favour, Hart has a real chance of taking his place in the starting line up. Of his other rivals for the shirt, Robert Green still shows massive inconsistency on a regular basis, Chris Kirkland’s injury problems still linger in the background and Scott Carson is still making errors in the Championship.

Since he forced his way in to Shrewsbury’s first team back in 2005, ending the season as the Second Division Goalkeeper of the year, Hart has long been expected to eventually force his way in to being an England regular. A consistent performer for England Under 21’s, who showed the strength of his nerves by saving and then scoring a penalty against Sweden in last summers Under-21 European Championships, Hart has now brought that consistency to his league form.

The majority of England’s first team picks itself, but it’s in defence where Capello will beginning to have real concerns about the strength, confidence and fitness. Ashley Cole faces a race to be fit and his wife has left him today, Glen Johnson has also suffered from injury this season, Ferdinand still seems to be struggling with his back and the less said about John Terry the better. Would it be too much to expect Joe Hart to be able to cope with such a fragile looking backline in front of him.

Of course, 15 weeks is a long time in football and all the concerns that currently hang over the English defence may have evaporated by then and Joe Hart will be walking out with the England team for the match against the U.S.A. on June 12th in Rustenberg. I for one would have no fear for the young lad representing us at the World Cup as our starting goalkeeper and I look forward to him starting against Egypt next Wednesday night.

Ten Premier League Players To Watch In 2010

Jesse Chula — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:07:10 +0000

A new decade, a new year, and 10 players I’ll be keeping a watchful eye on for one reason or another in 2010. We all know Drogba, Rooney, Torres, Defoe and the lot will get their 20+ goals and single handily place their teammates on their shoulders and march onwards. But what about the role players that could make or break their clubs championship winning run, help their club break into the top 4, or save their club from relegation and a year in the Championship?

Lest we not forget the players on the brink of earning a ticket to South Africa. Most of, if not all of the 32 nations competing in the World Cup Finals have their starting eleven solidified, but there’s still a few valuable bench spots left open for those fringe internationals that will have a few short months to prove their worth and make the trip of a lifetime.Without further ado, I’ll attempt to explain why I’ll be watching these 10 Premier League players and what’s at stake for them in 2010.

Joe Hart – Birmingham City, Goalkeeper – The Good – In my opinion and on current form, I believe Hart to be England’s #1. A regular for the U21’s, Hart has been called up by Don Fabio a few times but has only seen limited action. On loan at City (Birmingham) from City (Manchester) Hart recently displayed arguably the performance of the year in goal at home in a 0-0 draw with league leaders Chelsea. A major contributing factor in Birmingham City’s current 8th place position. Strong, commanding and solid in goal. The Bad – Age and experience. Will need more top-flight matches under his belt to break into the senior England squad. Will need to prove he can sustain top form over the course of a 38 game Premier League season. Must also maintain his current run of form to be noticed by Capello. What to Watch For – A ticket to South Africa.

Gabriel Agbonlahor – Aston Villa, Forward – The Good – Incredible pace, strength and he’s a goal scorer (he recently scored the winner at Old Trafford). Villa have been flirting with a top four finish for a few years now with Agbonlahor contributing his pace and goal-scoring abilities to a team largely made up of English players. The Bad – Currently carrying a heavy work load for Villa – risks burn out and also like Hart, still young and in need of more experience. Also has a slight tendency to disappear from big matches from time to time. What to Watch For – Slim chance of making South Africa, so more important to Agbonlahor and Villa fans, a top four finish.

Eduardo da Silva – Arsenal, Striker – The Good – The Brazilian-born Croatian is a natural goal scorer. He could be the difference between Arsenal winning the title and simply finishing 3rd. At his best, Eduardo is easily a 20+ goal a season scorer. The Bad – much talked about (and I’m sure still remembered by Eduardo himself) horrific leg injury from 02/2008. Eduardo still hasn’t returned to top goal scoring form since the comeback. What to Watch For – The league title. If Eduardo can regain his predatory instincts in front of goal, the high-flying Gunners have just as good a shot at the title this year as any team. Arsenal will need a fit striker to help relieve some of the burden on Cesc Fabregas if they are to stay in the hunt before the return of Robin van Persie.

Dimitar Berbatov – Manchester United, Striker – The Good – Silky-smooth passer, proven goal-scorer (all time leading goal scorer for Bulgaria), creative player that when on his best can score three goals or set up three goals just as easily. The Bad – £23.40 million price tag that in all honestly hasn’t been paid off just quite yet for United. Often criticized for his lack of pace, movement and effort, the languid striker has work to do and goals to still score for United. What to Watch For – Manchester United’s fourth league title in a row. Like Arsenal, United will need another proven goal scorer if they are to finish top. Berbatov could risk losing his spot to Michael Owen if Owen starts scoring regularly for United.

Jozy Altidore – Hull City, Striker – The Good – the 20-year old American striker has a physique like a bull, he’s strong with the ball at his feet and has pace. He’s definitely headed to South Africa as long as he’s fit. He’s scored meaningful goals for the United States, but will want to start scoring goals for Hull City to stay playing. The Bad – Altidore is currently on loan to Hull City from Spanish side Villarreal where he didn’t impress. Villarreal loaned him to Xerez in the Spanish Segunda where he suffered a minor toenail injury never actually making an appearance for Xerez. Jozy needs to fit in at club level quickly. Although he’s only just 20, he won’t want to be continually shipped back and forth to different clubs and never settle. What to Watch For – Hull City face a tough relegation fight and Altidore could be the bit of pace and quality they’ll need to get a scrappy goal or win a penalty (like he did against Manchester United recently). Will also want to prove to United States teammate Clint Dempsey (Fulham) that he too belongs in the Premier League.

Alessandro Diamanti – West Ham United, Attacking Midfielder/Forward – The Good – The Italian applied his trade in the lower divisions of Italian football before impressing in 2008-09 with Livorno scoring 20 goals and assisting in their promotion to Serie A. The Bad – the 26 year old is new to English football and won’t have a comfortable settling in period as the Hammers have struggled in the first half of the 2009-10 season. What to Watch For – West Ham will need Diamanti’s experience in a gritty, grind-it-out type of match they’re sure to see as they, like Hull City, look set for a relegation dog fight.

Darren Bent - Sunderland, Striker – The Good – On current form, Bent cannot stop scoring goals for Sunderland putting in 13 this season thus far and while he’s at it, seems to have formed a pretty formidable strike force with Kenwyne Jones. He’s strong, a big target and has natural finishing abilities. The Bad – Sunderland’s recent dip in form could cause England boss Fabio Capello to not take notice. In Bent’s most recent call up – an international friendly with Brazil – he failed to impress in an abysmal England attack resulting in a 1-0 loss. What to Watch For – A ticket to South Africa. If Bent stays fit and continues to bang in goals for club, Capello will have no choice but to call him up. Bent is on pace to score 25+ goals this season.

Maynor Figueroa – Wigan, Defender – If you haven’t seen Figueroa’s goal v. Stoke City from his own half, check it out here. The Honduran’s absence was a large contributing factor to Wigan conceding 9 goals v Tottenham at White Hart Lane recently. The Bad – No offense to them, but Wigan seem to be one of the most unglamorous clubs to play for in the Premier League. Although they’ve been in the top-flight now since 2005, Wigan look set for mid-table mediocrity as long as they stay up. What to Watch For – Figueroa will represent his country in South Africa this summer and Wigan have no shot at a top four finish, so Figueroa will look to make a big summer move to a top four club.

Rafael da Silva – Manchester United, Right back – The Good – A Dani Alves type Brazilian defender who loves to bomb forward in attack, Rafael is a burst of pace and a hard tackle waiting to happen. With Gary Neville facing inevitable retirement sometime in the near future, Rafael could claim the starting right back spot for United. The Bad – Rafael could also be a yellow card or red card waiting to happen. His youth is equal parts positive and negative as he can run all day, but he needs to mature as a footballer and hasn’t proved beyond a reasonable doubt he can cope with the demands of United’s crowded fixture list year after year. What to Watch For – Unsure if Rafael has a shot at representing the loaded Brazil in the World Cup. More important for Rafael at this point is his contribution to a depleted United back line. With injuries continuing to pile up at Old Trafford, Rafael has a chance to be a major contributor as United look to claim their fourth straight title.

Nigel de Jong – Manchester City, Defensive midfielder – The Good – The Dutch international has quietly been incredibly effective for City this season as they look to become the new kid on the big 4 block. de Jong suffered a semi slow start to his career at Eastlands, he’s since claimed his midfield position with solid performance after solid performance as the holder in midfield. The Bad – Knee injury kept him out of World Cup 2006. He’s been a regular in the Dutch side ever since and baring match fitness will represent Holland this summer. What to Watch For – Possible top four finish. His spot with Holland confirmed, de Jong will prove a huge factor in helping City break the top four this year. City’s back line has barely looked stable this season in most matches. With de Jong at his best protecting City’s back line, City will have no problem banging in goals with their potent attack force.

There you have it, 10 players to definitely keep your eye on this year. Most of them won’t score 20 goals or be voted player of the year, but their small contributions week in week out for their respected clubs will go a long way in deciding the fate of their season and possibly their country at the World Cup Finals.

Time For Capello To Restore Paul Robinson As Englands No.1

Paul Bestall — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:50:32 +0000

For me, there is only one English goalkeeper that can be England’s number one for South Africa next summer and that man is Paul Robinson. After being so badly treated at Tottenham under Juande Ramos and unfairly blamed for giving away a soft goal for England against Croatia, Robinson has finally got back to his best. He was hung out to dry by Steve Mclaren after Gary Neville’s wayward back pass bobbled over his foot.

Everyone conveniently forgot the string of saves Robinson had made to keep England in a game they were a poor second best in that night. Right now, he is playing better than any of his counterparts, with probably the exception of Steve Harper at Newcastle United and Joe Hart at Birmingham City. Forget the Robert Green argument, he’s nowhere near good enough.

Of the goalkeepers available to Capello, Robinson is head and shoulders above all others and has been for the best part of a year. David James is injured and playing for a team in free-fall, both on and off the pitch. Robert Green is bang out of form and consistently makes mistake after mistake. He also has a tendency to try and deliberately foul players whenever possible.For all his bravado and wearing “England’s number 6″ on his gloves, he’s not good enough. He’s always been poor coming off his line and his aerial ability is not the best.

Poor old Ben Foster has suffered from some rather unnecessary criticism but still can’t shift the dreadful Thomas Kuszczak from between the sticks at Old Trafford.There is no doubt that the lad can go a long way in the game, but he’s suffering from a crisis in confidence at the moment, but he’s still a better goalkeeper than Kuszczak.

Scott Carson still suffers from a lack of concentration at West Bromwich Albion and still seems to bear the scars from the defeat to Croatia in November 2007 at Wembley. For all his shot stopping ability, Carson can still make some all mighty howlers from out of nowhere and seems to have fallen away from anywhere near the England team.

Poor old Chris Kirkland simply can’t keep fit, whenever he gets on a great run of form, his long standing back injury seems to flare up and take out of the side. Despite the 9 goal mauling Wigan Athletic suffered at White Hart Lane, it’s no exaggeration to say it could have been twenty if it wasn’t for Kirkland. He showed such promise at Coventry but injuries blighted his time at Anfield and he’s never been able to shake the tag of being injury prone.

Other than Robinson and Hart, the other stand out candidate for the three places in South Africa for me is Steve Harper at Newcastle. He’s now getting the opportunity to show just how good a goalkeeper he actually is week in week out after Shay Given left last January for Manchester City. Whilst most people would have been itching for a move, Harper has shown incredible loyalty to Newcastle over the years.

After 16 years service, with 12 of those as Given’s back up, he’s incredibly only played 151 games for Newcastle, with 86 of those appearances coming in the last four seasons. He has constantly served the club with pride and is now in the form of his life. Whilst others may have viewed Given’s depature as a real blow, having a player of the ability of Harper would certainly soften the blow.

Whilst some people seem to point out that you need a great goalkeeper to win the World Cup, with the exception of Buffon in 2006, you have to go all the way back to 1982 to find a team with a world class goalkeeper that won the World Cup. Every other winner since then has had good, and in some cases distinctly average custodians between the sticks. Paul Robinson is far better than average and Capello would do well to welcome him back into the fold. With Harper and Hart, that would be a dependable and quality set of goalkeepers to choose from.

Fantasy League – Valued Players To Buy

Kevin Coleman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:48:52 +0000

Looking for bargain players below the top price in each position? There are some great valued players to be had if you’re looking to free up some cash for that “big” signing. Kevin picks out two from each position and tells you why you should be investing in these great valued players.

Joe Hart (BI) – Birmingham’s on loan goalkeeper has already made four clean sheets, plus gathering a number of save points. With his next three games being Bolton, Burnley and Arsenal he is most certainly one of the best valued #1’s around, at just 4.1.

Thomas Sorensen (SC)- Like Hart, Sorensen is 4.1 but has racked up the same number of points after four clean sheets, two bonus points and a number of save points to boot. Stoke’s next three fixtures are Manchester Utd, Everton and West Ham, so caution over whether or not you feel he can score points.

Richard Dunne (AV) - Dunne’s price has gone up 0.2 since his move from Manchester City, and he’s now 5.2 which is still a great bargain. He’s played two games with Villa, and has helped them to two clean sheets, as well as scoring four bonus points in these two games. Get in quickly, you won’t find many better scorers at such a good rate, his price is only going to go up and up.

Joseph Yobo (EV) – After their dreadful start to the season, Yobo price plummeted to 5.8 – like a number of Everton players. With the Goodison ship now steadied, and the trio of Portsmouth, Stoke and Wolves coming up over the next few weeks Yobo will be a certain tip to pick up some valuable clean sheet points, and maybe even a goal.

Yossi Benayoun (LI) – After a quiet start to the season, Yossi’s price went down before shooting back up to 7.6 post-Burnley hat trick. The Israeli midfielder seems to have finally secured himself a starting eleven berth at Liverpool, and his dancing feet will most certainly pick up more goals and more assists as the season goes on.

James Milner (AV) – Milner’s price dropped to 6.9, but after picking up a fantastic 14 points last weekend against Portsmouth his value will go back up to 7.0 before the week is over. Milner has taken on penalty kick duties after the departure of Gareth Barry and Ashley Young’s misses, as well as playing a key role across the midfield. Expect more goals and assists from James over the course of thes season.

Darren Bent (SU) – Just look no further. After starting the season at 7.0, Darren is currently available at a whopping 7.4 – so there’s a big chance someone else in your league has him too. But after five goals, he’s become a bit of a necessity because you can’t get a cheaper striker on such hot form. His clinical finishing is sure to continue, and his price is going to keep rising, so fi you’ve a striker around the same price no scoring goals, get Bent in.

Craig Bellamy (MC) - This is an odd one, but Bellamy has been on superb form this season despite the arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez to City’s attack. He scored a fantastic brace last weekend against United, and with the suspension to Adebayor expect Bellamy to start the next couple of games. If he survives any FA charges after his “incident” last week, he might be a shrewd move and I doubt many other managers in your league would have him at 7.9

You can read more from Kevin over on his football site, Back Page Football, plus much more. If you’d like to get involved their, shoot him an email.

England Under 21’s Should Be Proud Win Or Lose Tonight

Paul Bestall — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:51:48 +0000

Fresh from giving England fans palpitations after Fridays semi-final win against host nation Sweden, England’s young lions have a chance to win some silverware for the junior lions for the first time since 1993. England Under 18’s triumphed that year, riding a week long wave of growing optimism and support to beat Turkey 1-0 in front of 25,000 fans in Nottingham. Tonight’s Under-21 final pits England against its greatest rivals of the modern era, Germany, in a repeat of the final Group A game.

England of course, will be missing three players. Joe Hart has failed in an appeal to get his second booking recinded after shadow boxing one of the Swedish players in the penalty shoot out. Agbonlahor also picked up a second booking and Campbell was sent off in extra time after receiving two bookings. Normally, that would be a big blow for any side, but with Theo Walcott desperate to finally get his tournament going, and a straight choice between Scott Loach or the very highly rated Joe Lewis, Pearce has the talent to fill the gaps.

It also seems to put a bit of a mockery on the claims that English youth football is suffering due to the influx of foriegn players. Pearce has led this side to the semi finals of the last two tournaments, with players such as Mark Noble, Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Theo Walcott at his disposal. These are not just players desperately thrown in to fill gaps, these are quality players, with plenty of Premiership experience between them.

Can they win tonight? Of course they can, the reserve team drew with the German side a week ago, so they will have not given anything away to their opponents. I’ve also seen that the Germans have changed their kit to red tonight to give them a psychological advantage which oddly means they’ve completely forgotten about Englands 5-1 destruction of Germany in Munich in September 2001. That night, the Senior side tried the same trick to stop England wearing red, but ultimately it blew up in their faces.

Of course the crucial thing here is not to put too much pressure on the side and the players if they can win tonight. England Under 21’s had a golden period in the early 1980’s, winning the competition twice in a row, 1982 and 1984. Those players perhaps didn’t move onwards as much apart from Trevor Steven and Mark Hateley perhaps but Howard Gayle, Paul Walsh and Mel Sterland never really made the step up.

There’s no doubt that the England Under 21’s side have shown that their are some positives for the future of English football, despite the doomongers and pessimists that worry constantly about the lack of English players at the Big 4. Of course we’d like to see more English talent given a chance, but Manchester United have always championed English talent, Liverpool have 2 or 3 outstanding prospects coming through also.

Pearce will be looking to bring the trophy home tonight from Malmo and improve his fast rising reputation in the England set up. His passion and pride for his country can never be questioned and before the team leave the dressing rooms tonight, Pearce will instill them just what winning this tournament will mean for these players.

What Now For Joe Hart?

Michael Timbury — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:05:30 +0000

When Manchester City signed Shay Given from Newcastle on Sunday, most at Eastlands will have been pleased by this capture. But not quite everyone. Given will instantly become City’s first choice goalkeeper, displacing Joe Hart. This in turn will leave the young goalkeeper as nothing more than a bench warmer, at least for the remainder of the season. He hasn’t been as impressive this season but who can blame him when he surely must have been unsettled for months at the prospect of losing his place to any of the big name keepers that were linked with City, not to mention the indifferent form of his teammates.

Hart could learn a lot from someone like Shay Given who is extremely experienced and more importantly, someone who has been a brilliant keeper for at least a decade now. But any mentoring from the Irishman would only go so far, as the best way for any player to learn is to be playing. The more games he accumulates at the tender of age of 21, the better he’ll be for it. There are also longer term repercussions for Hart too.

It has been well documented that Fabio Capello does not select players for the England squad that have not been playing regularly. Now he may feature in the squad for the friendly against Spain on February 11th but beyond that, it is difficult to see how Hart will gain a place in the squad for qualifiers later this season if he is not playing regular club football. There are a number of English keepers who play every game for their club and thus would be more deserving of a place in the squad.

David James currently has the England number one jersey locked down for now, but at his age Capello must also be looking towards the future as I doubt James will be around for the Euro 2012 campaign. Therefore, if Joe Hart has any aspirations of claiming the position, he needs to be playing week in week out, just to give himself the chance of being noticed. Yes, time is more than on his side but I feel that he is England’s most promising keeper and would personally have no objections to throwing him in as number one now. If he responded well to the challenge (unlike Scott Carson has previously), you could then easily have a keeper who would be first choice for his country for the next fifteen years.

It would be in Hart’s best interests to move on and find regular football elsewhere come the summer. There would be no shortage of Premiership clubs that would be interested in his services and could get him for a decent price. Even if he was to move to a smaller club, impressive form there wouldn’t hinder his international chances and could even land him a move to a side that regularly competes in Europe (with the smaller club making good profit on their investment). I hope that Hart has the ambition to be more than a number two and can go on to realise his potential, if not at City, then elsewhere.

Cristiano Ronaldo: What Were You Thinking?

The Gaffer — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:36:22 +0000

In today’s Manchester derby, what was Cristiano Ronaldo thinking?

After a cross had been floated into the box, Ronaldo jumped up but instead of heading it, he decided to knock down the ball with his two hands.

Ronaldo indicated to everyone that he heard a whistle before the ball reached him, so thinking that the game had been stopped, he decided to stop the ball with his hands.

Most professional footballers know that it’s best to play the ball instead of the whistle. In a stadium of almost 50,000 fans, all it takes is one idiot in the crowd to blow a whistle to try to put off an opponent — and this time it worked. Ronaldo received his second yellow card in the game for handball and got his marching orders.

Co-commentator Alan Smith seemed oblivious to the images of Ronaldo putting his fingers to his mouth to tell the referee and fellow teammates that he heard a whistle. Instead Smith lambasted Ronaldo for an obvious handball. When a player is wide open in front of goal and has an opportunity for a clean header, he’s not going to handle the ball like that Mr. Smith unless he thinks he heard a whistle.

But, as I said before, Ronaldo should have the maturity as a professional to know that he should have headed the ball whether he heard a whistle or not.

Despite Ronaldo’s red card, Manchester United held on to win the derby 1-0 after Rooney’s 100th career goal in the first half after Joe Hart spilled Michael Carrick’s shot. City had few chances to equalize in this game that United dominated for large portions of the afternoon.

Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal: Pathetic Gunners Crash Again

The Gaffer — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:21:16 +0000

When was the last time Arsenal looked so pathetic?

Today, they were defeated 3-0 away against Manchester City in a game where it could have easily been 4-0 or 5-0 to the blue half of Manchester.

I’ve never seen so many poor passes from Arsenal in one game. Their first half performance was dire. Man City’s play in the first half wasn’t that much better either but it took a defensive error between Gael Clichy and Mikael Silvestre to give Stephen Ireland the opportunity to knock the ball into the back of the net.

In the second half, City replied with two more goals. A beautiful chip by Robinho and a late penalty winner by Daniel Sturridge.

Arsenal deserved to get a goal back in the second half when City goalkeeper Joe Hart lifted the ball into the air before kicking it, but Robin van Persie nicked in and slotted the ball into the net. Unfortunately, referee Alan Wiley disallowed the goal.

There were so few highlights for Arsenal in this game. Whenever Arsenal received the ball, Manchester City players quickly pressured the Gunners to prevent them from playing their sleek attractive passing game. Watching this game, it didn’t really look like Arsenal on the pitch. They were that awful.

I was surprised by the performance of Arsenal. I honestly thought that William Gallas being away from the team would galvanize the players and help them focus on the task at hand. This Arsenal side is desperately lacking experience and, without Cesc Fabregas due to suspension, is missing a true leader.

Arsenal have now lost in the league to Manchester City, Aston Villa, Stoke City, Hull City and Fulham. Before the season started, most people who have put money on the Gunners to win all those games. Now Arsenal languish ten points from first place.

It’s time for Wenger to go back to the drawing board. His decision to start Gavin Hoyte for his first Premier League debut seemed mistimed and a poor decision in hindsight. When Aaron Ramsey came on for Hoyte in the 60th minute, the Welshman made an immediate impression which benefitted Arsenal’s midfield play.

Wenger doesn’t have much time to right the ship. Arsenal plays Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night in the Champions League. And who is their next Premier League opponent? None other than Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next Sunday. Luiz Felipe Scolari will be licking his chops in anticipation.