There were plenty of opportunities for players to prove themselves worthy of a place in JOE’s five-a-side team over the last few days and here’s who deemed worthy of wearing the coveted bibs.
It was a very big week in the Premier League but despite the potential for movement at both ends of the table, not a whole lot changed even though many teams were in action twice.
At the top of the table, Manchester United are still firmly in control of their own destiny, Chelsea and Arsenal gained a slight advantage in the race for the Champions League places, while Everton ensured that they are not quite out of it just yet.
At the other end, Sunderland were the big winners thanks to their emphatic win in the Tyne-Wear derby, results for Stoke, Aston Villa and Wigan mean that they’ll be sweating furiously over their precarious positions for a while longer yet and Reading and QPR confirmed what we knew already, that it will take a miracle of biblical proportions for them to survive.
Included in all of those big games were some half-decent individual displays and here’s who we hand-picked to wear the sought-after JOE five-a-side bibs this week.
Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy (Reading)
There was plenty of competition for places for the rest of positions throughout the side but there was no disputing who was going to get the goalkeeper’s jersey after Alex McCarthy’s frankly incredible performance between the sticks against Liverpool on Saturday.
Liverpool had 23 shots on goal in total and ended up with no goals thanks to McCarthy’s heroics, with saves from Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez standing out above the rest.
Brendan Rodgers has a tendency to over-exaggerate at times but he was bang on the money after the game when he said: “I can’t remember being at a game where a goalkeeper has performed like that, either as a manager, coach or spectator. He was brilliant.”
Defence: Seamus Coleman (Everton)
The Ireland right-back has come into his own in an Everton shirt of late and deservedly attracted rave reviews for his excellent showing against Arsenal at the Emirates.
Busy and energetic as ever going forward, he also made a number of telling interceptions in his own penalty area and was unlucky not to win the man of the match award, having been pipped to the gong by the also excellent Phil Jagielka.
With a few crucial games coming up for Ireland between June and September, let’s hope Coleman’s current run of form extends well into next season and beyond.
Midfield: Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal)
The Welsh midfielder is often maligned by Arsenal fans and normally only comes to prominence for his somewhat morbid tendency to score the day before the death of famous people, but he has been excellent for the Gunners in recent weeks.
Full of industry and invention against Norwich and Everton, he also delivered some telling passes in the final third that would have turned into goals had the recipients been more composed with their finishes. He didn’t score himself though so celebrities around the world can rest easy… for now at least.
Midfield: Stephane Sessegnon (Sunderland)
One of the reasons Sunderland are where they are is Sessegnon’s failure to reach the heights he hit last season, but he stepped up in his side’s hour of need to deliver a man of the match performance in the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday.
He took his goal extremely well, but apart from that he was a constant threat buzzing in between the Newcastle midfield and defence and will probably be the Black Cats’ most important player in their bid to beat the drop.
Forward: Robin van Persie (Manchester United)
He was quite clearly offside for his equaliser against West Ham last night, but that’s two goals in two games now for the Dutchman, who hadn’t scored in the league since February 10 prior to his penalty against Stoke on Sunday, the personal significance of which was plain to see for all afterwards.
Now on 21 league goals for the season, it looks like a straight fight between himself and Luis Suarez to see who can claim the golden boot come the end of the campaign.
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