Premier League Team of the Weekend, Dec. 6-7 Goalkeeper: Theres disagreement in the Team of the Weekend ranks straight away, with our three panellists choosing three different men to don the gloves. Gab Marcotti makes a fine case for Hugo Lloris on the basis that he saved Spurs bacon with some huge saves. Not for the first time, either, while Paul Mariner suggests Rob Green, who seems to be going through something of a purple patch, following up on his fine performance against Swansea with a clean sheet in QPRs 2-0 win over Burnley, and Steve Nicol goes for Allan McGregor, whose penalty save in Hulls draw with West Brom gave Hull a point they need desperately. Your correspondent therefore has to step in, and if only because it was his third save from the spot this season, the nod goes to McGregor. Right-back: There isnt such dissent for the right-back slot, though. Marcotti reckons QPRs Mauricio Isla deserves a shout as hes getting back to his best and reborn after his Juve days, but hes out-voted as our other two panellists pick Daryl Janmaat. The Dutch defender was purchased in the summer to replace Arsenal-bound Mathieu Debuchy, and given the Frenchmans injury problems it is definitely Newcastle who have emerged from that particular deal smiling. Janmaat played a big role in Newcastles rearguard action in their unlikely 2-1 win over Chelsea, and Nicol reckons he deserves his place in this XI purely on the basis that he managed to shackle Eden Hazard after the Belgians bright start. Its difficult to argue with that. Left-back: And were back to scrapping and differences of opinion on the other side of defence, with three selections from our three judges. Patrols his flank, helps out going forward, doesnt put a foot wrong, Marcotti says about doughty Newcastle utility defender Paul Dummett, back on the flanks of the Toon backline after filling in at centre-half. Mariner plumps for West Hams Aaron Cresswell, who has made an impressive transition from the Championship to top flight after his move from Ipswich in the summer, while Nicol praises the superb defensive positioning of Manchester Citys Gael Clichy. Once more, your fearless correspondent must make the final call, and the honour just goes to Clichy. Centre-back: The heart of our defence is a North-East affair this week, with Fabricio Coloccini and his outlandish hair filling one of the spots. The Argentine had the capacity to be something of a liability when he first arrived in England, and along with most of the Newcastle side his form can fluctuate from the solid to the slapstick. However, he was superb on Saturday as Alan Pardews men managed to keep out the Chelsea bombardment -- with or without a helping hand from the ball boys -- and he organised his defence magnificently to frustrate Hazard, Diego Costa et al. It is therefore an extra blow that Coloccini picked up an injury in the game and is doubtful for next weekends game against Arsenal. Centre-back: Meanwhile, Newcastles local rivals Sunderland were also frustrating a side with designs on the top of the table, holding Liverpool to another grim stalemate, and a big part of that draw was the old warhorse John OShea. Unaffected by the Kop, by Liverpool, by everything around him, Marcotti says. Big part of the reason why Liverpool couldnt get a shot on goal until late in the game. Nicol concurs, simply calling the former Manchester United man a warrior. OShea is the very epitome of reliability, and in a season that has had some rather shaky moments for Sunderland, thats exactly what Gus Poyets side needs. Midfield: Stoke are sometimes an easy side to take against, and in some respects Steven Nzonzi personifies that -- a massive bruising presence who can overstep the mark when it comes to physicality on occasion. But he can also be an excellent player, as he showed in Stokes 3-2 win over Arsenal. Indeed, as Nicol points out, he could be just what the Gunners themselves need in the centre of their midfield, so that they dont get bullied out of games like this quite so easily. Nzonzi was the powerhouse partly responsible for Stoke pounding Arsenal into submission, and for that reason he takes the role of enforcer in our side. Midfield: Its not often that a player can get himself suspended with a silly booking and still make our Team of the Weekend, but Moussa Sissoko was so good against Chelsea that its impossible not to include him. The brains behind the goals, Nicol says of the midfielder, who has been central to Newcastles recent revival. Sets up a goal, torments John Obi Mikel in Nemanja Matics absence, Marcotti says, and he will be another man Newcastle will sorely miss when they look to repeat the trick against Arsenal next weekend. Midfield: It might be a bit of a stretch to squeeze Yannick Bolasie into a three-man central midfield, but the mercurial Crystal Palace man was so good in their otherwise forgettable 0-0 draw with Tottenham that we had to find a place for him somewhere. In fact, as Marcotti notes, Bolasie would probably merit selection for just one moment: He makes it just for that ridiculous piece of skill against Eriksen. If you havent seen it, look it up. Thats magic. Thats different. Thats special. The winger can be a hugely frustrating player and goes missing as often as he makes an impact, but when he is on form he can be unstoppable, and perhaps more importantly for us neutrals, magnificent to watch. Forward: A couple of unanimous selections appear in our forward line, and its no surprise to see Papiss Cisse as one of them. After making a huge impact upon his arrival at Newcastle, Cisse was disappointing for the majority of last season but appears to have rediscovered his scoring touch recently. His two opportunist strikes against Chelsea were enough for his side to pull off this most implausible of victories, and made it three goals in two games for the Senegal forward. Marcotti recalled Cisses sensational pair of goals against Chelsea in 2012, during that initial period of success in a Newcastle shirt: He destroyed Chelsea before; he comes on and does it again. Right place, right time for a striker whos had some difficult periods. And all this from the bench, too. The Premier Leagues super-sub, Nicol says.Forward: The other man who got thumbs up all round was an old familiar face, back when we thought he might have gone forever. If you ever wanted to see a couple of goals that sum a player up so completely, all you had to do was watch West Hams 3-1 victory over Swansea on Sunday, in which Andy Carroll bagged a brace. But not just any brace -- a brace of pure Andy Carroll goals, both powerful headers, battered from his mighty forehead, and justifying Sam Allardyces decision to stick with him despite the return to fitness of Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia. Just when we thought West Ham were going all tiki-taka on us, the big man steps up, scores two and sets up another, Marcotti says. When hes like this, theres no stopping him. Not only did Carroll help himself to a couple of goals, he set up West Hams third too, flicking on for Sakho to smash one home himself. Frightening aerial power for his two goals and one assist, Nicol notes. Quite so, Steve. Quite so. Forward: Bojan Krkic -- or Mr Bojan-Goals, as we should really be calling him -- has had a slightly confusing and peripatetic career since those early days of such huge promise when he was lauded as the next great to emerge from Barcelonas academy. However, hes in Stoke now, and bagged his second goal for the club in their win over Arsenal, but also put in a terrific performance, along with many of his teammates, as they once again downed Arsene Wengers men. Will-o-the-Wisp among a land of giants, a poetic Nicol remarks, while Marcotti says that he may never live up to the silly next Messi tag but with confidence he is now spreading magic. Sometimes he does it on wet, windy nights in Stoke, too. Manager: It just gets better and better for Sam Allardyce. His successes this season have come with a completely new and almost unrecognisable style of play, but it was amusing to note that all three of their goals against Swansea could have come directly from the old Allardyce playbook. Still, West Ham fans wont care after another excellent result, firmly putting the Hammers in the Champions League spots, which is an almost surreal concept. Third in the table -- fantastic summer signings paying dividends now, Mariner says, but well leave the final word to Marcotti: Theyve done it through pace, passing and quickness, theyve done it through route one. Hes loving every minute of it. And rightly so. Damn right.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 09:41:23 +0000
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