Players to watch out for in 2011-2012 season

With just a day remaining for the season to start, I’ve listed a few players who could shine for their clubs this season.

1. Ashley Young (Man Utd)

Giggs’ potential successor, the attacking player can play behind a striker and on both wings is also a dead ball specialist. Have been playing quite well for the past two seasons at Villa to earn a big money move to ManU, which he himself called was a “no-brainer”. Lots of young players in Man Utd to watch out for but its Young’s season to seize it. If he forms a good rapport with Rooney he may well be push himself in Capello’s plan for the upcoming Euro ’12 as well as the next world cup in Brazil.

2. David Luiz (Chelsea)

Luiz scored twice as many goals for Chelsea than Torres and cost half of Torress’ transfer fee last season. His stamina, all round display, tackling, dribbling and aerial ability make him a delight to watch. He could well be Zola among defenders. His goals against both the Manchester clubs shows that he can surpass Terry as Chelsea’s top scoring defender in a few years. Is prone to commit a little early and conceding needless fouls but he’ll definitely come full circle this season and stay as first choice CB for a good few seasons ahead.

3. Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

With impending transfers of Fabregas and Nasri looming over Arsenal’s head, Wenger will have to make make the best of Wilshere to end his trophy drought. His ability on the ball and even without it can cure cure the hangover caused by Fabregas’ absence sooner than you think. His performances of the past two seasons have been highlighted in the match against Barcelona at Emirates Stadium, where he proved he play against the midfield maestros Xavi and Iniesta, if not with them. Should lead the attack this season and provide killer passes to Van Persie, who CAN score (amongst other Arsenal forwards). He is also amongst the first names in Capello’s team sheets, ahead of Lampard, Gerrard and Barry. All this and he’s still 19!!!

4. Sergio Aguero (Man City)

Although I was very tempted to write about Balotelli but I chose him instead.
Forget Tevez. Man City now boast a marquee signing Sergio Aguero, Maradona’s “heir apparent”. Last season he scored 20 goals in just 32 matches for Athletico Madrid. He’s won UEFA Europa League 2009/10 creating both goals in the final for Forlan to score. He has two gold medals in FIFA U20 world cup in 2005 and 2007 while grabbing the golden ball and the golden boot in the latter one. The man can score and create goals and is still only 23. He’s denitely one for the future in Man City’s Abu Dhabi era.

5. Gareth Bale (Tottenham)

The next best thing that happened to Wales after Giggs, aptly nicknamed “Welsh Whiz Kid”. At just 21 years (22 now) he set the Champions League stage on fire last season. Defending champions Inter Milan were on the receiving end of his lightning pace, disciplined dribble and sensational strike, which shows he’s quite ready to play for the Holy Grail of European club football. Two seasons ago he helped Tottenham to Champions League spot will will give everything this season to regain it.

6. Charlie Adam (Liverpool)

Last season’s StevieG of Blackpool, fantasy manager’s delight (yes YPK I mean you) acquiring 192 points for just £6 million fantasy money, Blackpool’s talismanic captain moved to Liverpool this summer for £7 million. Tottenham’s loss is Liverpool’s gain and he may just take the pressure of Gerrard as the sole supplier of ball from midfield. His form couldn’t keep Blackpool afloat but he did put on a show every time he played for tangerines. He’ll have to claim the coveted midfield position alongside Gerrard as Liverpool are stuffed with midfielders this season with new boys Downing and Henderson and seemingly-going-nowhere Aquilani.

7. Jose Baxter (Everton)

Hailed as the next Rooney in Everton circles, has been called a more complete player than Rooney was at his age, i.e. 19, by Ryan Hall who managed Rooney when he was at Everton academy. Moyes has very few attacking options this season and may call Baxter to start on a regular basis. Although there are players such as Baines, Coleman (who won 2011 PFA Young Player of the Year Award) and Rodwell but I just think he may prove useful to Everton this season.

8. Bobby Zamora (Fulham)

Missed the majority of last season due to injury gaining only 5 league appearances, he should be raring to go again with new manager Martin Jol incharge. He was phenomenal in 2009/10 season when he was being considered as strike partner for Ronney in World Cup 2010. Also in the same season he completely hammered teams like ManU and even Juventus on the road to the final of Europa League that season. His partnership with Dempsey puts the team on the front foot and he may try to get back in the England squad for Euro ’12.

9. Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa)

Following departures of Young and Downing, Albrighton is thrown into spotlight as their replacement. Just like Young he can play on either wings and have loads of pace especially seen last season against ManU. He was also voted as Aston Villa’s young player of the year. Now with Alex McLeish in charge, Albrighton looks to feature more prominently this season as attacks will advance through him.

10. John O’Shea (Sunderland)

Five premier league medals, three Carling cup medals, Champions League, FA Cup and Club World Cup a piece. O’Shea has won just about everything that can be won with ManU but this season he has a new challenge, command a team with slightly inferior players than he has played with for the past decade. Steve Bruce stripped Cattermole from captaincy and gave it to O’Shea who has to control the defense with him being the focal point. Can his captaincy propel Sunderland above their last year’s league position to Europa League spot remains to be seen.

11. Ben Foster (West Brom)

Foster was Birmingham’s Player of the year and Player’s player of the year last season. Although he coudn’t prevent their relegation but manged to win Carling Cup playing against Arsenal in the finals. WBA leaked a lot of goals last season which could change if Foster is in top form between the posts for them this season. He would also want to deputise Joe Hart at the upcoming Euro’s (right now he has taken a “sabbatical” from the national team).

12. Gabriel Obertan (Newcastle)

The fact that he has an uncanny resemblance to E.T. has nothing to do with his out of the world dribbling skills. Trained initially at Clairefontaine Academy who boasts Henry, Anelka, Gallas, Saha and Diaby among their graduates, Obertan was nothing but a fringe player at ManU. Pardew bought him for his pace and dribbling skills to boost Newcastle’s attacking options and increase the team’s tempo. Equally proficient with both his legs and his stepovers are so effortless that even C.Ronaldo would be proud of. He can play on both wings and as a striker too. Let’s see where Pardew utilises him.

13. Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City)

Was made the youngest captain in the Premier League by Tony Pulis last season. He’s a no-nonsense tough tackling (ask Aaron Ramsey) defender also a threat during set pieces. Under his captaincy Stoke went to FA Cup finals and also grabbed UEFA Europa League spot this season. Is under Capello’s radar for quite some time and may get wild card entry to the Euro ’12 if he remains consistent (and manages to ward off Cahil, Jones, Smalling etc. etc.).

14. Next Loan Signing (Bolton)

Owen Coyle’s astute loan signings have been spot on for the past two seasons. Jack Wilshere has become a regular in Arsenal as well as England national team while Sturridge is claiming a spot with Torres or Drogba in Chelsea. We just have to wait and watch who he ropes in this time. Although do watch Gary Cahil and Chris Eagles.

15. Adel Taarabt (Queen Park Rangers)

His sensational form last season saw him guide QPR, as captain, to win Championship and secure promotion to EPL. Onthe course of last year he scored 19 goals and have 19 assists to him name in 43 matches. He can play in wings and midfield, is known for his passing range and perfectly weighted crosses. Throws tantrums when benched for any match.

16. Scott Sinclair (Swansea)

Scored a hat-trick at Championship Play-off Finals to secure promotion for Swansea. Scored 27 goals in 45 matches from wings. Has pace, dribbling skill and can put a good cross for the waiting striker. Left Chelsea on a sour note and may have point to prove to his former employer.

BLUE vs RED

As the time comes closer for the EPL 2011/2012 season start, there’s one common element seen throughout.

All the best derbies contested are invariably between clubs whose primary colour is either blue or red.

The derbies are
Manchester Derby – Man City vs Man Utd (Explosive, one already witnessed, 20M people tune in worldwide)
London Derby – Chelsea vs Arsenal (Drogba the constant scorer, 12 in 13 matches)
Merseyside Derby – Everton vs Liverpool (High scoring ones, 544 goals in 215 matches)

Five of those clubs are gonna form the top 5 this season (surprise suprise!!!).

Also there’s Second City Derby – Birmingham vs Aston Villa, but we may have to wait for next season to see it again (assuming Birmingham gets promotion sans Alex McLeish, who is the new Judas of EPL, relief for Owen Coyle).

Community Shield Match Report & Player Ratings:

 

 

What a brilliant start to the season we’ve had.

A nail-biting,edge of the seat kind of a game to start the season.

Man United once again proved that no amount of money or fame can surpass the sheer hunger to win.

Here is my rating of each and every player involved in the game.

Man United:

1. David De Gea – Was nervous from the start but settled in later, was at fault for Dzeko’s goal but did make some decent saves  in the second half, and his distribution was excellent——–>(6/10)

12. Chris Smalling – Played out of position at Right Back but justified SAF’s selection by a solid performance, took his chance well and scored a vital goal, all in all a brilliant performance——–>(8/10)

5. Rio Ferdinand – Didnt have good game, was troubled a lot by Dzeko and Silva——–>(5/10)

15. Nemanja Vidic – Cool and calm as always, put in a good performance as expected from him———->(7.5/10)

3. Patrice Evra – A quiet performance by the frenchman, focused more on defence than on attack but did his job well ———->(7/10)

17. Nani – Man of the Match performance by the portuguese, 2 goals says it all, combined well with Cleverley,Rooney and Young and capitalized on Kompany’s mistake———>(9/10)

16. Michael Carrick – Started the game well but his game detiriorated after 35-40 mins——–>(5.5/10)

8. Anderson – Loads and loads of energy, has big shoes to fill and he certainly looks to be heading in the right direction———(7/10)

18. Ashley Young – Gave Man United an edge in the set piece department which Man United have been lacking since the departure of Ronaldo, assisted Smaling’s goal and almost gave his 200 % in the 2nd half———->(8/10)

10. Wayne Rooney – Played in the hole behind Welbeck, linked up well with the midfield and his sheer presence makes a lot of difference to the team morale———>(7.5/10)

19. Danny Welbeck – Good start to the game,always kept the defenders on their toes and linked up well with his team-mates the only thing lacking was  the goal———->(6.5/10)

Substitutes:

9. Dimitar Berbatov – Came on for the last few minutes, but unable to crack into the 1st team even in the abscence of Chicharito says a lot.

4. Phil Jones – Came on at the start of the 2nd half and put in a decent performance, his partnership with Smalling was great but his positioning at times was flawed———–>(7/10)

23. Jonny Evans – came on at the start of the 2nd half, played well and surprisingly made a few attacking runs from the centre of the park, all in all a good performance———–>(6.5/10)

21. Rafael Da Silva – Came on for Evra and captained the side for the remainder of the game, was good in attack as well as defence but City’s widemen didnt trouble him———>(7/10)

35. Tom Cleverley – BlockBuster performance by the youngster, combined well with Rooney,Young,Nani and Welbeck. Played major part in United’s 2nd goal and his 1-Touch passing was brilliant, his performance makes me wonder how good the Wilshere-Cleverley partnership will be———–>(8/10)

SuperMario or Superbad

Sorry for the cheesy title but that was his latest attempt in a friendly against LA Galaxy, cheesy. His talent have been acknowledged by managers such as Ancelotti, Mancini and even Mourinho but rarely we’ve seen it apart from FA Cup 2011 semi-final against their neighbours. His man of the match performance was marred by confrontation with Ferdinand at the end of the match (pictured above).

According to me, Balotelli represents everything that is wrong with football today. Over priced transfer fee and wages, sky high arrogance, abundance of talent but rare commitment or respect for the game, are just the few things that defines him and a few other players.

If Mourinho calls a player arrogant, that dude has to be for a lack of better word, arrogant.

His skills can earn him first team place on any club playing in Champions League, but his mentality is that of a star player in an amatuer club (no offense to StevieG).

With Aguero on City’s roster now chances are depleting quickly for him. Dzeko too may have yet too prove his price tag but looks more assured of a run in than Balotelli.

SuperMario’s latest theatrics against LA Galaxy was universally despised by his team mates, manager and fans, and it may just be the final nail in his City colour’s coffin.

The video below is of his “cheesy” attempt.