Premier League Draft Picks Thread

LuckyLloyd

Alvaro Arbeloa

For two and a half years Arbeloa was a solid dependable presence for a Liverpool side that competed strongly for the CL and League. His form at Liverpool warranted him a return to Real Madrid where he has gone on to have a great career. Liverpool have yet to replace him unfortunately.

SherlockWatson

For my pick as left winger, I am glad to be able to get this guy, he had it all, tricky feet, blinding pace and one of the best left feet I have ever seen in the premiership, you give this man time or space at your own peril.

Gives me a strong option on Set Pieces, and scrorer of one my favourite ever premiership goals, I give you, Laurent Robert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D4QFwQIUUs

Liam O

A lot of people still need keepers so this can't wait any longer. At his peak in the PL he was simply sublime. A great clean sheet record and only overshadowed somewhat because the United team at that time were defending better than any team in the league ever has.

A record of 134 clean sheets in 285 PL games has his ratio above everyone bar Cech in the over 100 CS club.

Jose Reina

GavRedKing

Posting on behalf of a PM I got for ASOT.

His next pick is Kevin Nolan.

GavRedKing

Posting on behalf of a PM I got for Frankie Lee

His pick is Gary Kelly.

redzerdrog

Exceptional in his first year with Arsenal and named in the team of the year. Another leader who became Arsenal captain after his first season. His last season was blighted by injury but still done enough for Barca to fork out 15m for him. Most of all he fits my team perfectly and I'd expect him and Carra to dovetail well in the CB.

Thomas Vermaelen

Ferris_Bueller

Had to decide between a RB and GK, but I think there are more people in need of goalkeepers so best to get that out of the way first. My choice is Joe Hart. Not the most popular on here and for the past 18 months or so he arguably hasn't been at his best, but when on form he's one of the best in the league. PFA team of the year in 2010 & 2012, Premier League Golden glove three seasons in a row and has two premier league titles to his name, Englands best goalkeeper since David Seaman and already has ~250 PL games under his belt despite only being 27. Won't be the best goalkeeper in this draft but I am delighted to get him at this late stage.

bucketybuck

For my round ten pick I'm going for a guy with nearly 400 appearances for Manchester United, 5 premier league titles, 3 league cups, an FA cup and a European cup. Although always appreciated, United fans never fully understood what he offered until he was gone, the silky John O'Shea.

An incredibly versatile and reliable player, I will have O'Shea in the right back position he made his own in 2009 culminating in playing there in a European cup final. His versatility and ability to play on the left also allows me to swap him and Irwin to opposite sides without losing any effectiveness should I want to. Also, John O Shea once nutmegged Luis Figo.

SlickRic

Probably the only ex-footballer today who could beat Razor Ruddock in a pie-eating contest.

Scary good for Everton though. Another of these goalkeepers who, at any point, could very easily have one of those games where you just couldn't beat him.

The man.

The legend.

Neville Southall.

Chrissybhoy

I need someone who can head the ball. With the quality from delivery I have in my team.

Niall Quinn

Chrissybhoy

To complete my back four a player who was vital to Villa when they were pushing for champions league. Good enough to play for the top teams IMO

Melberg

Blatter

And to round off my first XI, I'm happy to pick up Sylvain Wiltord.

Often overshadowed by the likes of Henry, Bergkamp, Pires etc. but Wiltord was a very decent player for a number of seasons at Arsenal. He averaged 10 league goals a season during his first 3 in England, the vast majority coming from the right wing. A solid worker on the right hand side with a touch of class and a good eye for goal, he'll obviously be fondly remembered by Arsenal fans after he clinced the league title for them at Old Trafford in 2002. He won 92 caps for France between 99-06 (a golden era for French football) scoring 26 goals including a last minute equaliser in the Euro 2000 final v Italy. Happy to get him at this stage.



Schmeichel
Evra
Gallas
Southgate
G. Neville
Malouda
Dacourt
Di Matteo
Wiltord
Bergkamp
Shearer

Andersonisgod

My pick is the very talented and tall Aussie goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer.

Rushden

I'll take premier league clean sheet record holder David James as my goalkeeper

bucketybuck

For my final pick I am going for one of the best midfield enforcers in the game today, Nigel De Jong. The world cup finalist played 104 games for Man City and was an integral part of the resurgent City team that won their first Premier league title and the FA cup. God only knows why City let him go, I would have taken him at United in a heartbeat.

For my team he is going to play beside David Batty in the middle and those two will provide a rock solid core to my team. They both have great passing ability but their main task will be to make the centre midfield a no-go area while allowing the likes of Ginola and Ronaldo to do their thing.

Ferris_Bueller

For my right back slot I'm picking Seamus Coleman, still feels like a relative newcomer to the league but has almost amassed 150 PL games already for Everton, has come a long way since he first moved over to England but even early on he showed his potential by getting nominated for PFA young player of the year in 2011. Last season he was by far the best right back in the league getting into the PFA team of the year, making it into Sky Sports team of the year and also winning Evertons players' player and supporters player of the year award. He is the only player in my starting eleven not to have won a league title or a champions league, but considering he's my last pick I can't be too disappointed!

IncognitoMan

A man who has over 400 appearances in the league and has only got better with age Sylvain Distin. I think he'll work very well with Adams

Liam O

I'm going to go a bit left field with my 11th pick. In terms of substitutes this man won't last the next round so I'm taking him now. Was capable of being a starter but his proficiency from the bench is what made him a hero. Had a swan song in his career on the right and was great there too so opens up a lot of options for me.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

eagle eye

I'm taking, my first central defender, Sami Hyypia's partner in one of the meanest defenses in the Premier league. Together as a central defensive partnership they conceded less goals than anybody else in the league in '99/00 and again in '01/02. My 11th pick is

Stephane Henchoz

Frankie Lee

Still developing but already world class, voted in the PFA team of the year in 2012/13 as he won the premier league title and was one of the only players in his team to enhance his reputation the following disastrous season.

LuckyLloyd

you'll never beat Des Walker, you'll never beat Des Walker



Gone under the radar here imo. While Walker's first two or three years in the premiership were the tailend of the peak of his career, between 1993 and 1996 he was one of the best center backs in the league. A superb athlete who was a brilliant natural defender. In all, he made over 300 Premiership appearances for Wednesday and I'm delighted to pick him up at this stage.

redzerdrog

I have no doubt that if this guys career took place in the 00's rather than the 90's he would be gone 5 rounds ago.

Steve mcmanaman says he is the best defender he ever played with. If it wasnt for injuries Gary Neville be lucky to have half his England caps. 3 times in the PFA team of the year. Delighted to pick him to finish my team.

Rob Jones

SlickRic

From 2001-2005, he was up there with the best full backs in league.

Injury, then Ashley Cole, screwed up his Chelsea career after being first choice under Mourinho to start with.

He was one of Southampton's most important players as they had mid-table security at the start of the noughties - no mean feat for a LB.

Pacey, strong and technically sound.

He is Wayne Bridge.

ASOT

Third time lucky 349 premier league apparences with 121 clean sheets Tim Howard

Pudsy33

I'm gonna take two time pfa team of the year nominee and premier league winner Tim Flowers.

Pudsy33

Ok the next 2 picks are for SherlockWatson.

He's gone for Jonathan Woodgate and Oscar.

Pudsy33

And I'm on the board again. I reckon I need some wide players, my current formation is very narrow and I may need to mix things up. So I'll take a man who has a fantastic working relationship with my left full Le Saux, its Jason Wilcox.

ASOT

From what i can see he hasnt been picked, Captain of the premiership winning Blackburn team and to add to my weak in comparison midfield, none other than Tim Sherwood.

SlickRic

Talk about giving me a different option.

Big, strong, and helped form one of the most devastating partnerships in the history of the Premier League. Sorry to Blatter if he'd been thinking of adding him as an option with the other half, Shearer.

But he's mine.

Chris Sutton.

redzerdrog

Adds some energy to my midfield if needed will help me go 3 in the middle if i choose. Looking at some other teams and think he would have been perfecy for them so suprised he still available

Ramires

LuckyLloyd

Berbagoal

Berbatov is cool, technically brilliant, capable of the sublime. At Utd he demonstrated an ability to compliment and contribute from a wing forward role. I think he'll be a great option. Crucially offers a totally different stylistic option to Van Nisteelroy

Frankie Lee

Daniel Agger, allows me to go to a back three, might score from 40 yards.

eagle eye

Alex Ferguson once said that if he was 10 years younger he would be playing for United. That was when he was 36 and still at the top of his game for Blackburn Rovers in the Premier league. He was the playmaker in the Rovers team that finished 6th,10th and 7th in the three years from '05/06 to '07/08. My favourite Rovers players of all time,

Tugay

Liam O

Not many players in the entire draft can boast being player of the year in a league winning team but my next pick can. Since we are going by peak performance this man has no business being here and I'm delighted to pick him up at this stage.

Nani

IncognitoMan

My next pick is Darren Fletcher, sad what has happened to him but going back a few years he was one of the first names on the team sheet for Man Utd in all their big games. Covers every blade of grass

Ferris_Bueller

Killing me here IncognitoMan, was convinced Fletcher was gonna slide through until my go! In work here so can't post a picture but as a plan b I'll go with Alex Song, fantastic for four seasons at Arsenal which got him his move to Barcelona. Will give me a different option to Ballack and Barry and allows me to play three in the middle which will be needed against some of the teams with stronger midfields.

Can someone do me a big favour and PM whoever is next in the draft? On my phone and in work so stuck for time.

bucketybuck

With Batty and De Jong the enforcers anchoring my midfield I want to add a little more creativity to the attack, so I'm going to go for the mercurial dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart.

It was a bit of a shock to see him arrive at Spurs from Real Madrid, and for two seasons he was an integral part of their team as they began to reassert themselves as a big club, he played a massive role to help them into the top four and into the Champions league for the first time.

He had 28 goals and 18 assists in 2 seasons for Spurs, and is an excellent creative option for me, especially at this stage of the draft.

Rushden

I'll take javier Hernandez, himself and Rooney were an excellent partnership in man utd's run to the champions league final a few years ago and he gives me another option up front

Andersonisgod

Give me some of that James Milner versatilit. He's been around forever, he's cost big money, he's been a key player for City for a couple of years, he's an England regular.

Blatter

I'll take Park Ji-sung. He was one of the first names down on the teamsheet for Fergie when pretty much any big game came around between 2008-2011. He can play either side whilst tucking in and helping out the midfield, which is exactly the reason why Fergie played him and why I might want to use him at times. He scored lots of crucial goals too. He also successfully pissed off Pirlo.

Chrissybhoy

Don't think this fella is gone and gives me the option to go 3 in the middle. He oozes class.

Yohan Cabaye

ASOT

Pace to burn, tough as nails, Craig Bellamy

Ferris_Bueller

As my spare defender I'll pick Henning Berg. Won a PL title with Blackburn and then went onto win two with United, was unlucky with injuries at United but still featured quite regularly before moving back and captaining Blackburn, happy to get a player of his experience at this stage in the draft. Both of my full backs are quite attacking so this gives me an option of having a more defensive right back if needs be, he could also play centre back if I wanted to go 3 at the back at any stage.

Pudsy33

On the phone so can't link a photo but I'll take Antonio Valencia

LuckyLloyd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBQWeOFLQi4

eagle eye

Gotta go with the only man to win the FA Cup four times in the twentieth century.

Mark Hughes

Andersonisgod

With some of the best hair this league has ever seen, it's Mario Melchiot.

bucketybuck

With 126 Premier league assists , Darren Anderton is still in the top ten for most assists ever in the Premier league! He suffered from injuries, but played over 300 Premier league games and was one of Englands marquee players in the nineties, selected for both the Euro 96 and world cup 98 teams.

He can play on either wing or in the middle as an attacking midfielder, like most of my team he gives me great versatility on top of the obvious attacking threat. And 126 assists don't lie!

Frankie Lee

Past his best but was still quality for the early premier league seasons, football writers player of the year in 1992/93 season. One of the most graceful and technically gifted players England ever produced.

Blatter

Ill pick up Edu, Brazilian midfielder who played in 30 league games of that unbeaten season for Arsenal, and played pretty well!