Picking a 2016/17 Premier League Team of the Season So Far
With 2016 winding down, what better way to wrap it up than with a Premier League team of the season so far?
This has to be a viable lineup, so we can't have a 2-1-7, attack-minded formation.
With Chelsea utterly dominant under Antonio Conte, we are celebrating that by opting for the 3-4-2-1 that has worked so well for the Italian at Stamford Bridge.
Goalkeeper: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
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Thibaut Courtois seems back to form and David De Gea spent much of the early part of the season continuing to preserve Manchester United’s flimsy dignity, while Tom Heaton, Lee Camp and Jordan Pickford have all been excellent lower down the league, but Tottenham Hotspur's Hugo Lloris remains the Premier League’s outstanding goalkeeper.
He's made a handful of remarkable saves, most notably away to Bayer Leverkusen, and is supreme in his reading of the game and willingness to leave his line, something that allows Spurs to push high with confidence.
Right Centre-Back: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
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It may not be the shape that Arsenal play but 3-4-2-1 is without question the voguish formation of the season. Shkodran Mustafi can operate on the right side of that, a proper defensive defender in an era when the traditional skills of heading, marking and tackling are going out of fashion.
Arsenal have looked unusually solid this season, and the German’s partnership with Laurent Koscielny has been key to that, so much so that Arsenal haven’t lost this season when Mustafi has played.
Centre-Back: David Luiz (Chelsea)
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There was much mockery when Chelsea re-signed David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, but he has excelled in the centre of Chelsea’s back three. That he is comfortable on the ball isn’t a surprise, and he has been able to step out and link with the midfield effectively, but what has been less expected has been his defensive solidity.
Perhaps it’s simply that Chelsea’s shape and discipline are so good that he doesn’t get exposed, but Luiz’s concentration seemingly improved during his time in France.
Left Centre-Back: Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)
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One name has topped every list of suggested defenders the title contenders may sign, and for good reason.
Virgil van Dijk is tough, strong, good in the air and can tackle, but he is also comfortable on the ball and is probably the biggest single factor in Southampton once again defying the doubters to maintain their place in the top half of the table.
Right Wing-Back: Victor Moses (Chelsea)
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Has there been a more unlikely renaissance than that of Victor Moses? The Nigerian began the season as a journeyman winger who had been out on loan for three years, with no team seemingly willing to take a risk on him. But Conte must have seen something in him from the start.
This time, he wasn’t loaned out. And after Chelsea's 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in September, he was drafted in as a wing-back, a role he’s taken to with remarkable speed. He’s scored three goals and registered an assist in 12 starts.
Left Wing-Back: Danny Rose (Tottenham)
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Around a year ago, there was a feeling that Danny Rose was excellent at getting forward but lacked a little defensive nous.
Now, as well as Ryan Bertrand is playing, Rose is unquestionably England’s best left-back, a powerful and direct runner whose defensive contribution is good enough that Spurs have conceded the second-fewest goals in the league (13) despite the upheaval caused by the lengthy absence of Toby Alderweireld.
Defensive Midfield: N'Golo Kante (Chelsea)
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This has been the year of N'Golo Kante. His summer move to Stamford Bridge transformed Leicester City from champions to relegation battlers and Chelsea from a mid-table outfit to champions-elect.
It’s not quite as simple as that, but his pace, energy and simple use of the ball have had a huge impact on both clubs he’s played for in England.
Defensive Midfield: Michael Carrick (Manchester United)
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Manchester United have this season played 28 games, winning 17, drawing six and losing five. On the 14 occasions when Michael Carrick has played, they’ve won 12 and drawn two, losing none.
At 35, the former West Ham United and Spurs midfielder remains one of the most elegant and intelligent players in England, somebody whose positional sense makes United’s defending far more solid and whose passing gives their attack additional thrust. His pass-completion rate in the Premier League is a remarkable 89.7 per cent, per WhoScored.com.
Right Attacking Midfield: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool)
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This has been a good season for those players who operate in what would have been called inside-forward roles half a century ago.
Pedro or Kevin De Bruyne could easily have got the nod, but Philippe Coutinho’s inventiveness just wins out.
There were some doubts as to whether he would relish in Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s high-octane, high-tempo style, but he is thriving on the responsibility of leading the press. Twelve starts this season have brought him five goals and five assists.
Left Attacking Midfield: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
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Nothing so sums up the difference between Chelsea last season and Chelsea this term as the form of Eden Hazad. Where last season he seemed sulky and disaffected, this he has been sharp and inventive, hardworking and devastating.
The question of whether he as better deployed as a winger or as a No. 10 has been solved by fielding him between the two in a position that defences find hard to combat, inside the full-backs but outside the holding midfielders.
He’s already scored nine goals and registered an assist this season and has become that most valuable of players: somebody who fits neatly into a system but has sufficient self-awareness and self-confidence to step outside the tracks that have been laid down for him and shake up a game that might be drifting.
Striker: Diego Costa (Chelsea)
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Alexis Sanchez has had an excellent start to the season, but nobody can oust Diego Costa, who has scored 13 goals in 17 league starts—and largely kept his temper under control.
After last season's sulkiness, he is back to being the most complete forward in the league, good with his back to goal or with the ball in front of him, a fine finisher and somebody capable of generating chances out of nothing, less it can seem by great technical ability than by force of will.
His winner at home to West Bromwich Albion on Dec. 11 was a classic example of that, outmuscling Gareth McAuley, cutting into the box and finishing brilliantly.
Substitutes
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GK: Tom Heaton (Burnley)
CB: Phil Jones (Manchester United)
RB: Kyle Walker (Tottenham)
DM: Fernandinho (Manchester City)
AM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
AM: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
CF: Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal)
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