An interesting idea over at Soccer Lens. One of their writers has compiled an ‘unsung Premier League XI’ comprising players from outside the Big Four after Rafa Benitez’s shock revelation that Steven Gerrard should win the PFA Player of the Year Award.
The good news is that Clint Dempsey made the team. I don’t necessarily agree with the author’s assertion that Deuce might be a better player than McBride, but it’s nice to see Clint getting some praise.
Americans and football, eh? When will they ever learn. OK, so John Harkes was decent, Brian McBride was decent, even Joe-Max Moore had his moments (well…moment). But you wouldn’t sign one, would you?
Fulham have a pretty rich history when it comes to American players. McBride was a hero in his time at the Cottage, Kasey Keller was in goal as they staved off relegation last season, whilst Eddie’s Lewis and Johnson have plied their trade in West London with varying success. But in Clint Dempsey, the Cottagers have a player who — whisper this — may just be the best of the bunch.
Skillful in possession, a workaholic with an eye for a goal and an assist (5 goals, 2 assists at time of writing), Dempsey has been a major factor in Fulham’s solid season under Roy Hodgson. No fear of reputations either, the part-time rapper notched twice against Chelsea, and has assumed greater responsibility within the side (along with Danny Murphy and Simon Davies) since the January departure of Jimmy Bullard to Hull.
One of the comments questions why Dempsey’s team-mate Mark Schwarzer has been overlooked in favour of Bolton’s Jussi Jaaskelainen. Again, I don’t agree with the response but it’s interesting, particularly as he mentions he’s not sure about Pantsil, who has had an excellent season so far (like our goalkeeper).
Sorensen/Schwarzer- I am not a huge fan of either. I find it quite strange that Fulham have such a good defensive record with Schwarzer & Paintsil in the backline. Schwarzer to me makes a lot of errors, certainly not as secure as a lot of other keepers.
I’m trying to think of the number of mistakes Mark has made this season and bar the United juggling act and the goals against West Ham at home (if you are being ultra-critical) I haven’t come up with many. Care to help me out?
Hmm. I’ve only read what you’ve passed on, but to me this suggests that he doesn’t really know the game (I hate it when people say this, but what’s he suggesting here – that it’s a fluke we’ve been so good at the back?). To be surprised that we’ve defended so well with Schwarzer and Paintsil is perhaps understandable, but it doesn’t take much digging to work out that we’re extremely well coached and play with a very defensive outlook – it only takes a glance at our goals for and against to see that.
His comments on Schwarzer are just wrong though. There have been those two semi-blunders, and perhaps Frank Lampard’s free kick, but this misses the point. Schwarzer’s good enough to make hard saves look comfortable because of his positioning and know how, and is one of the best keepers in the league. To be fair Jaskalainen (sp?) is also pretty good, but all we can go on is what we see every week, and Schwarzer’s very, very good.
Got to agree with Rich here. His comments on Schwarzer are laughable really and the selection of Jaaskelainen (although he’s a good goalkeeper) when Bolton are still engaged in a relegation battle is odd.
And why no Hangeland?
I’ve made claims that Schwarzer has been the best keeper in the world at times during this season, so my position should be pretty clear. That may or may not have been hyperbole (ok, yeah it was), but you can’t deny that he’s had an amazing season. At very, very worst, he’s done all that is expected of him.
Has Titus Bramble finally shed his poor reputation? Or should everybody be snapping these underrated ex-Newcastle CBs?
Schwarz has got to be in line to be one of the signings of the season. He’s been a lot better than I expected and his organisation as a goalkeeper is one of the reasons why we’ve been so good at the back.
Colin – re. Titus Bramble: steer clear, surely? Perhaps some of the criticism heading his way has been a bit OTT over the years but I don’t think my heart could cope with him at the heart of our defence.