EPL Team of the Year 2009 - Central Midfield

The Volt

I can see this one being problematic. Before I put a poll up I'm going to give people a chance to nominate players. I also would like some feedback as to how we should do it. Would the fairest way be to have the players with the top two votes deemed selected? Or do people want to do two separate polls, one for each position?

Poll now added. You can select more than one, please try just select a pairing and no more.

curry-muff

If you split it into two positions defensive and attacking, theres going to be very few choices for the defensive side. I say just vote for two midfielders.

Johner

Essien.........................................

Instant Karma

Nigel De Jong

flahavaj

Essien and Fabragas

/thread

Seriously.

Johner

flahavaj wrote: »

Essien and Fabragas

/thread

Seriously.

Agreed. Although no doubt Fletcher will get in ahead of one of them.

curry-muff

The obvious ones like:

Fabregas
Fletcher
Carrick
Lampard
Essien
Gerrard

Alonso (Don't Bite)

And then those who have also been important to their teams:

Petrov
Cattermole
Palacios

kryogen

1. Darren Fletcher---fantastic midfielder and form has been outstanding

2. Michael Essien-- world class player and somewhat unsung imo

3. Stilian Petrov-- excellent for Villa the last 12 months

probably could put in a few more but im tired

One Cold Hand

Lucas.

Seriously though,

Cesc
Lamps
Essien
Petrov
Fletcher

rossie1977

flahavaj wrote: »

Essien and Fabragas

/thread

Seriously.

alonso was fantastic from january to may

curry-muff

Im going to throw myself amongst the wolves again but has Essien really been that important to Chelsea this year???

Esse85

How the hell is Arteta mentioned, he's hardly played and he never played in CM.

leninbenjamin

I agree with curry-muff's suggestion, one poll for defensive and one for attacking would be good.

edit: misread curry's post. I think two polls is better tbh.

flahavaj

rossie1977 wrote: »

alonso was fantastic from january to may

Essien was imperious from August 2005 to December 2009.:pac:

The Volt

Esse85 wrote: »

How the hell is Arteta mentioned, he's hardly played and he never played in CM.

Injured in February, hasn't played since. Wont be in the poll He does play CM though

Johner

curry-muff wrote: »

Im going to throw myself amongst the wolves again but has Essien really been that important to Chelsea this year???

Yes.

Have you been living under a rock or just don't pay much attention? Essien has been injured for the last few weeks and Chelsea's form has taken a sudden dip. He is sorely missed by us, he along with Drogba are our most important players. He is just world class, this season he has been exceptional in the holding role, not much will ever get by him,he has a great range of passing not to mention an eye for a goal.

We miss him badly he is one of the best players in the world.

curry-muff

Esse85 wrote: »

How the hell is Arteta mentioned, he's hardly played and he never played in CM.

Soo-ry didn't mean to offend you :rolleyes:

mikemac

Essien & Fletcher

Johner

Personally I'd have Essien and Fabregas, then Fletcher.

Esse85

curry-muff wrote: »

Soo-ry didn't mean to offend you :rolleyes:

You didnt offend me, i like the player mentioned but clearly not as much as you do.

Mr Alan

essien and fabregas. no question.

Bandit12

Mascherano/Fabregas

Xavi6

Fabregas and Ireland.

Johner

How do you think Ireland has done this season for you lot? He was fantastic last season has he maintained that form? I haven't seen that much of City.

curry-muff

Bandit12 wrote: »

<Insert player from my favourite team who isn't actually that great>/Fabregas

Really do you think Mascherano deserves to be in the team, or is this the fabled sarcasm that ive been hearing about on the match thread :pac:

flahavaj

Johner wrote: »

How do you think Ireland has done this season for you lot? He was fantastic last season has he maintained that form? I haven't seen that much of City.

Nowhere near as good. Pales in comparison to Essien.

Bandit12

curry-muff wrote: »

Really do you think Mascherano deserves to be in the team, or is this the fabled sarcasm that ive been hearing about on the match thread :pac:

Yes yes i do. Opinions huh.

newbie2

flahavaj wrote: »

Essien and Fabragas

/thread

Seriously.

This.
Also like to add:
Lampard
Gerrard
Barry
Alonso
Gardner
Hunt
Delap

curry-muff

newbie2 wrote: »

This.
Also like to add:
Lampard
Gerrard
Barry
Alonso
Gardner
Hunt
Delap

I thought about Barry.


And then thought again

jesus_thats_gre

flahavaj wrote: »

Essien and Fabragas

/thread

Seriously.

Both have been tremendous this season but what about last season?

OPENROAD

Fabregas and Song.

curry-muff

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Both have been tremendous this season but what about the last season?

Id still keep Fabregas with that in mind. But over 2009 nobody has excelled like Fletcher. Was our most important midfielder brought us to the league victory and still holding strong during our weak start.

Mr.Nice Guy

curry-muff wrote: »

Im going to throw myself amongst the wolves again but has Essien really been that important to Chelsea this year???

No he hasn't. The guy hasn't even been an ever present for Chelsea. He is one of the most overrated players on this forum in general.

I would probably plump for Gerrard and Fabregas. At times in 2009 they have been unplayable and although the former has lost his way he still merits a place I'd say. Essien shouldn't even be a candidate. Lampard fair enough.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

No he hasn't. The guy hasn't even been an ever present for Chelsea. He is one of the most overrated players on this forum in general.

I would probably plump for Gerrard and Fabregas. At times in 2009 they have been unplayable and although the former has lost his way he still merits a place I'd say. Essien shouldn't even be a candidate. Lampard fair enough.

Gerrard's been horrible since September.:eek:

curry-muff

flahavaj wrote: »

Gerrard's been horrible since September.:eek:

Agree, but to be fair to him, he has struggled with injuries. Still highly doubt him making the team.

Johner

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

No he hasn't. The guy hasn't even been an ever present for Chelsea. He is one of the most overrated players on this forum in general.

I would probably plump for Gerrard and Fabregas. At times in 2009 they have been unplayable and although the former has lost his way he still merits a place I'd say. Essien shouldn't even be a candidate. Lampard fair enough.

You must be the only person I have ever come across that thinks Essien is over-rated.

Can you explain why you think he is over-rated?

Mr.Nice Guy

flahavaj wrote: »

Gerrard's been horrible since September.:eek:

True, but he was outstanding in Liverpool's charge last season and I'd say the good outweighs the bad.

Johner wrote:

You must be the only person I have ever come across that thinks Essien is over-rated.

He is overrated on this board imo. People rave about him and I don't see what they are seeing.

flahavaj

curry-muff wrote: »

Agree, but to be fair to him, he has struggled with injuries. Still highly doubt him making the team.

Regardless of the reasons, he's not worthy of a place in this team IMO.

Y2J_MUFC

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

Both have been tremendous this season but what about last season?

They were both tremendous.

Fabregas & Essien. Honourable mention for Fletcher.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

True, but he was outstanding in Liverpool's charge last season and I'd say the good outweighs the bad.



He is overrated on this board imo. People rave about him and I don't see what they are seeing.

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to put him in the poll for forward players anyway? He pretty much played behind Torres in 2009 rather than central midfield.

leninbenjamin

OPENROAD wrote: »

Fabregas and Song.

I know this looks terribly biased, but I have to agree.

The Fabregas bit goes without saying, you only have to watch the highlights of the Villa game to see the difference he makes.

As for Song, I know it's the controversial choice, especially considering how good Essien and Fletcher have been, but he's turned into an utterly fantastic player in 2009 without anybody noticing.

At times this year Song has carried Arsenal on his shoulders. He slots in CB when Gallas and Vermaelen/Touré go wandering, he positions himself so he can cover should Clichy or Sagna have the inevitable lapse in concentration, he throws himself about in the middle of the pitch and damn can he tackle. Over 2009 he's been as good as anybody for the DM role.

flahavaj

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I know this looks terribly biased, but I have to agree.

The Fabregas bit goes without saying, you only have to watch the highlights of the Villa game to see the difference he makes.

As for Song, I know it's the controversial choice, especially considering how good Essien and Fletcher have been, but he's turned into an utterly fantastic player in 2009 without anybody noticing.

At times this year Song has carried Arsenal on his shoulders. He slots in CB when Gallas and Vermaelen/Touré go wandering, he positions himself so he can cover should Clichy or Sagna have the inevitable lapse in concentration, he throws himself about in the middle of the pitch and damn can he tackle. Over 2009 he's been as good as anybody for the DM role.

No doubt he's gotten better, but he only became first choice for his team in August of the year and hes not in the top 2 CM's to have played in the league this year.

Mr.Nice Guy

flahavaj wrote: »

Wouldn't it be more appropriate to put him in the poll for forward players anyway? He pretty much played behind Torres in 2009 rather than central midfield.

Fair point. With the way it's done it's odd with Giggs being in on the left too.

To return to Essien, he hardly featured in 2009 and it wasn't like he ever hit a peak to match Gerrard or Fabregas's peaks.

Here are the games he was involved in last season:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/gamelog?id=9799&season=2008&cc=5739

He featured from March to May and didn't finish a lot of the games then.

Honestly I think there is some hold over a lot of people on this board when it comes to Essien that they think he needs to be included in every team XI. The hype machine for the guy is unbelievable.

Why is there such a push to have him in this team in light of his lack of games?

Bukman13

curry-muff wrote: »

If you split it into two positions defensive and attacking, theres going to be very few choices for the defensive side. I say just vote for two midfielders.

Completely agree with this.

Give everyone 2 choices in the poll. This gives everyone a say on both positions rather than just picking one player.

It also gives people the option of voting for a player they feel have contributed greatly throughout the year but wont win (Eg Cattermole, Ireland,) without wasting there vote on Gerrard, Essien or whoever it may be.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Fair point. With the way it's done it's odd with Giggs being in on the left too.

To return to Essien, he hardly featured in 2009 and it wasn't like he ever hit a peak to match Gerrard or Fabregas's peaks.

Here are the games he was involved in last season:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/gamelog?id=9799&season=2008&cc=5739

He featured from March to May and didn't finish a lot of the games then.

Honestly I think there is some hold over a lot of people on this board when it comes to Essien that they think he needs to be included in every team XI. The hype machine for the guy is unbelievable.

Why is there such a push to have him in this team in light of his lack of games?

I always find him to give at least an 8/10 performance every time he plays a match. He can do everything literally and usually does. He's one of those guys who's excellence you take for granted until he's missing. When Chelsea really needed something in the CL semi vs Barca, he was the one that popped up with an absolute screamer, not Lampard or Drogba. IMO he ererves every bit of praise he gets, if anuything hes underrated.

The Volt

Fabregas
Essien
Fletcher
Gerrard

Obvious ones, there are some unsung heroes at lower clubs too. Parker, Dunn, Reid, Danny Murphy wont get voted for but worthy of a mention at least I think

Mr.Nice Guy

flahavaj wrote: »

I always find him to give at least an 8/10 performance every time he plays a match. He can do everything literally and usually does. He's one of those guys who's excellence you take for granted until he's missing. When Chelsea really needed something in the CL semi vs Barca, he was the one that popped up with an absolute screamer, not Lampard or Drogba. IMO he ererves every bit of praise he gets, if anuything hes underrated.

I'm not saying he's not a great player. I think he is. He's certainly one of the best in the world in his position, but I don't think that has been the case in 2009. I think a lot of people are giving him credit for his high reputation in the game and his performances in years gone by rather than in 2009.

As for the CL semi-final, it was a sensational goal alright but let's not forget his careless pass giving away possession in the dying seconds contributed to Barcelona's late equaliser.

flahavaj

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I'm not saying he's not a great player. I think he is. He's certainly one of the best in the world in his position, but I don't think that has been the case in 2009. I think a lot of people are giving him credit for his high reputation in the game and his performances in years gone by rather than in 2009.

As for the CL semi-final, it was a sensational goal alright but let's not forget his careless pass giving away possession in the dying seconds contributed to Barcelona's late equaliser.

I can't think of anyone whos been a better CM than him this year anyway.

Tis one of those ones we could rant and rave about all night in fairness MNG, pure difference of opinion.:)

leninbenjamin

flahavaj wrote: »

No doubt he's gotten better, but he only became first choice for his team in August of the year

He started 20 times for Arsenal last season, most of which came in the second half of the season. He was shaky early on all right, but I don't think there has been any midfielder who has been totally on top of his game this calender year.

flahavaj wrote: »

and hes not in the top 2 CM's to have played in the league this year.

I disagree. Song has been Arsenal's best player this season. It's been set pieces and some dodgy goal keeping that have cost Arsenal points, not the midfield despite what some lazy analysts might say. Arsenal's midfield have been the best in Prem this season (heck they even dominated Chelsea, only to be let down by some awful defending), and Song's commanding performances have been the reason for this. He's up there.

therokerroar

If we're going defensive and attacking then:

Essien and Fabregas.

Pro. F

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

He [Essien] is overrated on this board imo. People rave about him and I don't see what they are seeing.

Great first touch, vision, passing, movement/link up, shooting, tackling, stamina, industry and strength. He is the all action central midfielder. That's what everybody is seeing.


You're spot on though, about the number of games he's played this year. He's been injured, and then recovering, for a fair bit of 09.

And i agree with people saying that Song has a good shout for this. He's real quality and he's been on form for the calendar year.


Gerrard shouldn't be in for this position. He plays second striker.