Ten Breakthrough Stars Of The English Premier League Season So Far
The English Premier League season so far has been the most unpredictable season for a long time.
The newly promoted teams have been performing exceptionally and are sitting pretty mid-table and the top teams showing chinks in their armour more than once.
The established stars like Torres and Rooney have not fired at all this season. But there have been a large number of new stars emerging this year who have left a mark on the league in the last five months.
Lets have a look at the top 10 breakthrough stars of the Premier League this season.
P.S. This list's main focus is on the new emerging stars.
10. Lucas Leiva
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Ever since his signing in 2007, Liverpool supporters had always considered him to be one of the flop signings of Rafael Benitez. He seemed to make a number of mistakes which led to him being branded as 'not good enough' for Liverpool. He had always played under the shadow of players like Mascherano, Gerrard and Alonso which also robbed him of a consistent run of games.
The turning point seemed to have been the departure of Mascherano. This was the time when Lucas strung together some consistent performances to establish himself as the first-choice defensive midfielder of the team ahead of Christian Poulson. With his improvement every match including great performances in matches against Chelsea and Aston Villa, the Liverpool faithfuls seem to be warming up to the former Brazil U-20 captain.
With the injury to Steven Gerrard, he seems to have formed a good partnership in the centre with Raul Meireles and his form seems to be important if Liverpool want a reversal in their fortunes this season.
9. Dimitar Berbatov
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Manchester United would have been down in the dumps if Berbatov, for the first time in his Manchester United career, had not discovered his goal-scoring form.
Ever since his controversial move from Tottenham for £30 million, he had not been able to reproduce the form he had shown at Spurs. A lot of credit also needs to be given to Sir Alex for persisting with him even after his less than impressive performances over the last 2 years.
After a great start to the season which included a hat-trick against Liverpool, Berbatov experienced a brief dry run before netting 5 in a single match against Blackburn.
With Berbatov already equalling his last season tally before Christmas, one can expect Manchester United to blow away the opposition if even Rooney is able to rediscover his form.
8. Carlos Tevez
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Agreed Carlos Tevez has always been a consistent performer for all his clubs, but his performances have been so critical for Manchester City's fortunes that he gets a mention in the list.
Manchester City has looked toothless in attack when Tevez has been missing this season. Scoring 10 out of the team's 24 goals this season, Carlos Tevez has been the only real threat in attack from Manchester City.
His documented problems with Mancini and his latest transfer request lead to questions about his future at the City of Manchester but one thing is for sure - as long as he stays, he will score goals. Sadly though, his departure might be the end of Manchester City being seen as title contenders.
7. Nani
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Ever since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real, there have been questions about who would be filling those shoes by providing that bit of creativity on the field.
The departure of one Portuguese wizard led to the arrival of another on the big scene at Manchester United. Nani, though criticized early in his career for his inconsistency has really started stringing together performances reminiscent of Cristiano.
He possesses the same cockiness as Ronaldo and United fans would be hoping that he is able to give performances as good as him. It has been his play in the midfield that has helped United this season and if his form continues, there is no stopping United this season. Defenders beware!!!
6. Joe Hart
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Joe Hart lost out on the goalkeeper's job last season at the City of Manchester to the highly rated Shay Given. He was given out on loan to Birmingham City and was one of the reasons for their great defensive showing at home.
This year, he was chosen ahead of Given in the early matches and his performances have been so brilliant that he hasn't given a sniff of an opportunity to Given to get back into the playing 11 - a fact enforced by the fact that Given has asked for a transfer in the winter. His performances in front of the goal along with Tevez's performances are the reasons that City are fighting for honours this season.
Hart's quality compliments Mancini's belief in having a strong defensive showing. It is always said that a great goalkeeper is always required for a team that wants to win the league. Manchester City certainly have that department covered.
Is one Mr. Wenger listening?
5. Johan Elmander
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Bolton has always had a reputation of play boring football with the long passes being the only goal-scoring source. This year, under the highly-rated Owen Coyle's leadership, Bolton has started playing, what some people would call, more attractive football.
They have started passing the ball and no longer rely only on long passes for their goals. But for a successful strategy, there needs to be a striker who converts the chances and Johan Elmander has provided just that for Bolton. His partnership with the captain Kevin Davies is the reason that Bolton find themselves in Europa League spot this season.
He finally seems to have adapted to the premier league after his less than impressive first two seasons when he even had a goal drought of 9 months. But he seems to have left all that behind and seems intent only on goal-scoring for now.
4. Rafael Van Der Vaart
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Every transfer window, one sees deals being completed at the last moment. This summer, none was more important than the one made by Harry Redknapp in the last 2 hours of the window after a £18 million transfer to Bayern Munich had collapsed a day earlier.
This turned out to be the best bit of business done by any team in this summer's transfer window. His goal-scoring form especially at the White Hart Lane has baffled a number of pundits who always believe that a player needs some time to adjust to the ways of the premier league.
His recent problems with injury again have raised questions about whether he could adapt physically to the Premier League. Redknapp as well as the Spurs fans certainly would hope so, as a fully fit Van der Vaart would definitely fire them to that coveted champions league spot again.
3. Andy Carroll
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Carroll is being seen as the next big thing in Newcastle after Alan Shearer. A player that has risen through the ranks at Newcastle, he arrived at the scene through the departures of the strikers for Newcastle like Michael Owen and Mark Viduka.
Though still 21, he seems to have all the required abilities to be a great striker with a powerful shot and strength in the air - a quality that has earned him a call for the England squad in the friendly against France.
His temperament was the only thing that remained in question with a number of off-field controversies surrounding him. They have not seemed to affect his on-field performance which have only improved as the season has has progressed and has formed a great partnership with midfielder Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan.
This kid is showing no signs of slowing down and seems to be a player who will be seen on the scoring sheets for a long time to come.
2. Gareth Bale
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Gareth Bale's transformation from a kid with an unlucky record of not being on the winning side 24 games in a row spread over two seasons to the next big thing in the Premier League has been nothing short of miraculous.
Initially playing as a Left-Back, he received plaudits for his runs on the wing but always was criticized for his questionable defensive abilities with even Harry Redknapp openly saying, "He has to learn how to defend, learn how not to let people play balls inside him, learn to recover, just learn parts of his game".
His upturn in his fortunes seems to have come with him being transferred up-field as a Left-Winger. His pacey runs this season has traumatized almost all defences, not only in the Premier League, but in the Champions League as well. Such has been his form that he has already been linked with a number of big clubs such as Real Madrid.
Spurs would do well to keep hold of this potential great winger. Any team would love to have him play for them rather against them. I think all the defenders would concur.
1. Samir Nasri
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Till last year, Samir Nasri was one in the long list of young players that Arsene Wenger had marked as a potential match-winner. This year, he seems to have broken the shackles to become one of the most exciting prospects in the Premier League.
The 23-year old play-maker from France already has some of the best goals of the season to his credit including two brilliant solo efforts against Fulham.
He seems to have risen to the challenge posed to Arsenal in the absence of Cesc Fabregas and seems to relish the leadership role entrusted to him. His stupendous form, excellent dribbling skills along with his eye for a goal make him one of the most important, if not the most important player in the Arsenal squad presently.
His performances over the year have been so brilliant that he has been voted, quite rightly, as the France Football French Player of the Year. Arsenal already seem to be making a challenge for the title this year, and a fully fit Fabregas and Samir Nasri can take them there.
