Named captain of TEAMtalk's Top M
Kompany: Named captain of TEAMtalk's Top Men
Six Manchester City stars, two Liverpool
aces and Fernando Torres are among TEAMtalk's Top Men, our elite Premier
League XI from the weekend.
Every Tuesday, we'll pick our Premier League team
of the weekend, explain our selections and then invite you - our loyal
army of readers - to pick your team of top men who caught your eye with
dazzling displays or powerful performances from Saturday April 28 -
Monday April 30.
You can choose any formation and there's no limit on how
many players you can pick from each team - so have a think, then get
involved.
TEAMtalk's Top Men (4-3-3): Howard; Zabaleta, Kompany
(c), Lescott, Clichy; Gerrard, Nasri, Yaya Toure; Torres, Moses, Suarez.
Danny Mills' Top Men (4-4-2): Al Habsi, Zabaleta,
Kompany, Terry, Walker; Moses, Van der Vaart, Yaya Toure, Nasri; Torres,
Davies.
Selected by Simon Wilkes and Pete Hall
Goalkeeper
Tim Howard (Everton):
Finishing above Liverpool for the first time since their Champions
League qualification in 2005 will certainly ease the pain of the
semi-final defeat a few weeks ago, and American stopper Howard is doing
his level best to ensure the top-seven finish.
The former Manchester United custodian has been in exceptional
form, leading to the Toffees once again finishing the season strongly,
and his performance against a Fulham side, led by the returning Pavel
Pogrebnyak, was as dependable as ever, with a suberb reaction save to a
deflected Clint Dempsey strike the pick of the bunch.
Pete Hall
Defenders
Pablo Zabaleta (Man City): The Argentinian hardman
produced a wonderfully energetic showing as he justified his selection
ahead of Micah Richards. He was rock-solid defensively and overlapped
tirelessly when United sat deep, adding width to City's right flank. Got
an 8/10 on our
player ratings and deserves his
place among our Top Men.
Simon Wilkes
Vincent Kompany (Man City): A captain's knock from a
truly fantastic leader of men - his desire to beat Chris Smalling to
the match-winning header encapsulated everything good about City this
season.
The Belgian has acted with dignity and grace in both victory and
defeat, and his goal celebrations showed just how much wearing the shirt
means to him.
City's stunning array of attacking talent has hogged most of the
headlines - but Kompany is the heartbeat of Roberto Mancini's City
slickers, and takes the captain's armband for our team of the weekend.
SW
Joleon Lescott (Man City): Often overlooked by
previous England bosses, Joleon Lescott's recent displays surely put him
in good stead to be part of England's Euro 2012 plans, even staking a
strong claim for a starting berth.
Facing the in-form Wayne Rooney, closing in on his best-ever
scoring return, the former Everton and Wolves centre-back had the United
hitman drawing a blank. Despite Kompany claiming the Man-of-the-Match
award, it was Lescott's calmness at the back and strength in the air
that suprisingly ensured Joe Hart had one of his quietest 90 minutes of
the season.
PH
Gael Clichy (Man City): Torn between Gael Clichy
and Gareth Bale's rampaging display at left-back for Spurs on Sunday,
the Frenchman just gets the nod for remaining cool under the pressure of
the Manchester Derby, and making his compatriot Patrice Evra look like
the understudy for a change.
Despite little attacking threat from the likes of Nani or Wayne
Rooney, the pacey former Arsenal full-back was rarely out of position,
sticking to his defensive duties, and focusing on the task at hand. Even
the late introduction of Antonio Valencia couldn't put the Frenchman
off his stride.
He seems to have nailed down the left-back
position at the business end of the season after facing fierce
competition from Aleksandor Kolorov, and if he continues to prove his
astuteness at the back, as well as going forward, he will be a big
factor in the title race.
PH
Midfielders
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool): Returned to the Reds'
starting line-up after being rested for the shock home defeat to West
Brom - and showed his class at Carrow Road, creating the opening goal
for Luis Suarez.
It was a joy to watch the understanding between Liverpool's star
duo, and Suarez clearly relishes having Gerrard's footballing brain in
the team.
SW
Samir Nasri (Man City): After a slow start, Nasri
slowly but surely has made his way onto the Manchester City teamsheet
almost unnoticed, and after scoring the crucial second goal at Molineux
last week, he followed it up with another classy display against the
reigning champions at the Etihad in Monday night's unmissable derby.
United's team selection was almost complimentary to Nasri and co,
but the attempt to stifle the intricate play in the Blues' midfield was
unsuccessful. Nasri's quickness in the touch and passing range were a
catalyst to much of what was good about City's play.
With the
crucial clash at Newcastle coming up, the Frenchman will be unhappy if
he doesn't retain his place in the star-studded line-up, and will want
to fulfill his ambition of winning league titles, the reason he moved to
Manchester in the first place. Another one to impress in our
player ratings.
PH
Yaya Toure (Man City): Found it hard to get going
in the first half due to an over-crowded midfield - but once he did get
going after the break, he was an unstoppable force.
United simply could not handle his pace and power once the
introduction of Nigel de Jong allowed the Ivorian ace to move further up
the pitch - and he went close to capping a supreme display with a goal
on several occasions.
SW
Strikers
Victor Moses (Wigan): Wigan's incredible resurgence
is well documented, and the results speak for themselves. A key factor
in this has been the form of Moses, and his two excellently-taken early
goals against a lacklustre Newcastle United side, coupled with a dynamic
overall performance, have put the Latics within touching distance of
safety.
The 21-year-old former Crystal Palace hitman has attracted the
attention of a host of big clubs, and if he continues to put in displays
like he did in the incredible first half the the DW stadium, more teams
will get blown away in similar fashion.
He added the clinical
touch to two excellent team moves, the finish that Wigan have been
lacking earlier in the season. Coming into form at the right time, if
the England Under-21 striker continues this hot-streak, then Roberto
Martinez and the Wigan hierarchy will struggle to keep hold of him this
summer.
PH
Luis Suarez (Liverpool): There is no doubting the
Uruguayan is one of the most talented forwards plying his trade in the
top tier right now - but his goals return has been largely disappointing
this season.
That all changed at Carrow Road on Saturday night, when Suarez
clicked ruthlessly with returning Reds captain Gerrard to stop the
Canaries fans from chirping away.
He bagged two first-half goals in clinical fashion - but saved
the best until last on 82 minutes, when he latched onto Glen Johnson's
punt up the pitch, spun off a Norwich defender then lobbed home keeper
John Ruddy with a delicious right-footed chip with the outside of his
boot.
The goal evoked memories of David Beckham's halfway lob against
Wimbledon - but I believe Suarez's effort was technically better due to
the speed of thought and speed of flight on the ball. Take a bow Mr
Suarez - now let's see if he can repeat his hat-tricks at Wembley this
weekend.
SW
Fernando Torres (Chelsea): It appears a huge weight
has been lifted from Torres' shoulders following his Nou Camp late show
- and poor QPR felt the force of Fernando's return to form as they were
hit for six at Stamford Bridge.
The Spaniard finally displayed the ruthless finishing which
yielded so many goals during his time at Anfield, and his movement
around the pitch once again resembled a Rolls Royce rather than the
clapped-out Robin Reliant Andre Villas-Boas had reduced him to.
After the midweek clash with Newcastle, Torres will have his
former employers in his sights at Wembley, and if he contributes to a
trophy-laden finale to Chelsea's campaign, he could well be a tip for
top scorer next season.
