Picking an All-Flair Premier League Best XI

This season so far has been one of the most exciting in Premier League history.

There have been plenty of high-scoring games, most notably in matches involving the top teams playing each other.

But there has also been a higher level of flair, skill and—as I hear some of the kids are calling it these days—"tekkers" than normal, too.

Here is a best XI selected from the players with the most flair in the division. Since it is a flair side, it seems only right not to get too bogged down with that thorny and wholly unaesthetic art of defence, so it's deployed in a 3-5-2 formation.

Honourable mentions for players who did not quite make the cut go to Thierry Henry, Stephane Sessegnon, Sergio Aguero, Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia and Victor Moses.

Feel free to add your own thoughts on who should and should not have been included below.

GK: Ali Al Habsi

Liverpool's Pepe Reina and Arsenal's Wojciech Szczesny are both handy with the ball at their feet and can often be seen dropping a shoulder and sending an advancing striker the wrong way before coolly playing the ball out to a teammate.

However, if you are talking about flair in the discipline of goalkeeping, then it has to go to Ali Al Habsi.
Being in goal for Wigan Athletic means he has plenty of opportunity to make saves.

Only Swansea's Michel Vorm (97) and Wolves' Wayne Hennessey (135) have made more stops than the Omani keeper's 91 this season, but neither of those have made so many agile, sprawling saves that verge on the gymnastic.

DF: David Luiz

An absolute shoo-in for the heart of the Flair XI's defence, Chelsea centre-back David Luiz can often make things a touch too exciting at the back.

The Brazilian is clearly a talented player, blessed with the sort of ability to beat players with the ball at his feet that you would expect from playmakers rather than stoppers.

His patchy judgement and decision-making is enough to work manager Andre Villas-Boas into a frenzy on the touchline, but he is right at home in this team.

DF: Benoit Assou-Ekotto

These days, Tottenham left-back Benoit Assou-Ekotto's only hairy moments are when an opponent gets a mouthful of his Afro as they both jump up for a header.

The Cameroon international has a great turn on him and is not shy about pulling off a trick or two to help play his team out of trouble. It couldn't help but raise a smile when he calmly flicked the ball up and headed it back to his goalkeeper during Saturday's 5-0 mauling of Newcastle.

Mind you, he largely confines his flair to the pitch. Unlike his teammates, who all live in large mansions in north London or near Spurs' Essex training ground, "Benny" prefers to live in an apartment overlooking Canary Wharf and drives to work every day in a Smart car.

DF: Andre Santos

Andre Santos was brought in on deadline day last summer, supposedly to help shore up Arsenal's vulnerable defence.

However, it soon became clear that he is more like an auxiliary winger than a full-back. Always more comfortable roaming down the wing, running at the winger he would otherwise be marking, Santos can thrill and frustrate in equal measure.

It's a shame that, since he is Brazilian, none of his stylish Latin football is apparent in his dance moves, as his dodgy celebration of his goal against Chelsea proved.

MF: Nani

This is more like it, a proper flair player.

Nani has pretty much picked up where Cristiano Ronaldo left off, bamboozling full-backs with feet so quick his markers barely have time to check the logo on his boots before he's gone past them in a blur of red and black.

He may not quite have reached the heights of last season, when he claimed an outrageous 18 assists in addition to nine goals of his own in the Premier League, but his array of stepovers and flicks remains a potent armoury.

And, if nothing else, he gets in for his backflip celebration.

MF: Rafael Van Der Vaart

Most of the best Dutch players throughout the Oranje's illustrious history have brought pure technique to the table rather than flair.

In the Premier League, the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Robin van Persie and even the great Dennis Bergkamp excelled for the most part because of their almost cybernetic execution rather than fluid skills. Every movement, no matter how spectacular, is made to devastating effect with an unshakeable sense of purpose.

But Rafael Van der Vaart brings a frisson of panache to a Tottenham team not exactly lacking in that particular quality.

The former Real Madrid man is as likely to make a fool of his marker with a roulette turn to find a teammate with a cheeky backheel as he is to ping an efficient 40-yard pass across the pitch or deliver another reliable set piece.

MF: Adel Taarabt

Adel Taarabt has often been accused of being little more than a show pony, and with good reason. He was shipped out of Tottenham at a young age because he could not produce anything of use for his dazzling array of tricks.

In the championship with Queens Park Rangers, he was able to run riot as easily the most naturally talented player in the division, but his return to the top flight this season has more often than not seen him struggle again to prove himself at the highest level.

However, since he returned from African Cup of Nations duty to find a new manager in charge, the mercurial midfielder has put in a couple of flair-filled performances.

If QPR are to stay up this season, it will likely be in part because Taarabt has finally found a way to effectively harness his unquestionable talents.

MF: David Silva

Manchester City playmaker David Silva would probably be one of the first names on the team sheet for anyone picking a team such as this.

Although he has dipped below his usual exceptionally high standards at times over the last couple of months, the Spaniard remains one of the favourites for the end of season awards.

Silva eschews the ostentatious exhibitions of skill that some other players are so fond of doing for the cameras, but he is always an absolute joy to watch. Few players manage to combine balletic grace and a magical touch like the former Valencia player. 

As journalist Paul Hayward put it so poetically on Twitter during the weekend's win at Aston Villa: "The move of the match there by Silva on Hutton, who saw the feet move, felt the air stir, then watched from the floor as Silva danced away." 

MF: Hatem Ben Arfa

Newcastle United trickster Ben Arfa returned in September 2011 after his year-long absence due to a horrific leg break, and he wasted little time in showing the Magpies exactly what they had been missing.

He brings an outrageous amount of skill that leaves opposing defenders with twisted blood as they struggle to make out the blur in front of them, where the Frenchman's feet and the ball should be. He also brings a presence so unpredictable that manager Alan Pardew struggles to know how best to utilise his No. 10.

Ben Arfa is one of the most precocious talents in the Premier League, but Newcastle's fine first half of the season without him as a regular starter has meant he is in danger of being permanently filed in the slot marked "impact substitute".

Despite that, the former Marseille man is capable of giving any team nightmares, and whenever he scores, you can bet it will be a goal worth watching over and over again. 

FW: Mario Balotelli

A second entry for Manchester City, and it could so easily have gone to Mario Balotelli's teammate Sergio Aguero. 

The Argentinian striker enjoyed a blistering start to life in England, and although his scoring form has been curtailed somewhat in recent games, he still manages at least one jaw-dropping slaloming run into the opposition box per game.

But Kun is pipped to the post by Balotelli. This season, the Italian has finally gained almost as many headlines on the back page as on the front of the tabloids, scoring nine goals in 15 league appearances thus far.

While his muscular frame and moody demeanour do not fit with the stereotype of a player likely to get the crowd on its feet, the outrageous goal he scored against Norwich with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder brilliantly sums up his unique brand of flair.

FW: Dimitar Berbatov

So often, flair players also seem to be the most enigmatic. And there few more enigmatic footballers around than Manchester United's mercurial Bulgarian striker, Dimitar Berbatov.

There have been countless occasions when the club's record signing has left the Old Trafford crowd and United fans all across the globe apoplectic with rage, as he seems to lethargically flounce around the pitch, but then he will produce one moment of magic, which will make those prior transgressions fade from memory. At least temporarily.

He may not be a model of consistency, but Berbatov possesses a deft touch and vision that most footballers could only dream of having. The very definition of a flair player.