EPL: Ryan Giggs, Jamie Carragher and Each Team's Most Valuable Asset
Fernando Torres cost Chelsea £50 million. Andy Carroll is the most expensive British player ever at £35 million. Even Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the top two players in the world and maybe in history, had a price.
But there are some players who are worth so much more. Each team has that one player who is just invaluable, and some of them are lucky enough to have more than one. Some teams will one day have to name a price for their priceless assets while some are lucky enough that they'll be able to hold on to their treasure forever.
So here is, in my opinion at least, each English Premier League's team most prized possession (current squad), one they really can't afford to lose though some may have to one day.
Arsenal: Samir Nasri
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Samir Nasri hasn't even been at Arsenal for a full three seasons, and already he is one of the team's biggest assets. He doesn't score a ton of goals, but he sure can create them and is a killer from set pieces.
He can take over the midfield and give his forwards all sorts of support throughout a game, and when he goes down (what did Arsenal do to piss off the injury gods?), the Gunners struggle to look as creative and talented as they are.
Some would say captain Cesc Fabregas is priceless to Arsenal, but Barcelona is going to match that price pretty soon and I see the Gunners recovering well enough. They'll struggle a bit at first, but not near as much as what would happen if they were to lose Nasri.
Aston Villa: Gabriel Agbonglahor
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Aston Villa has a great squad on paper, so it's really surprising to see them struggle as they have this season. Many of its stars are perennially surrounded by trade rumors, but Gabriel Agbonlahor makes a bigger impact than anyone.
He has a great ratio of goals per games, and he always looks to be working hard on the pitch. His real problem is that he always seems to be lacking support. He'll be lacking even more if the likes of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing both leave this summer, as many pundits predict.
Agbonlahor though is one guy Villa just can't live without. He's also the kind of player who means so much more to his team than any other team can possibly understand. Villa may one day come close to letting him go, but he could carry the team far enough that they don't have to.
Honorable mention here to goalkeeper Brad Friedel who, even at pushing 40-years-old, seems to make impossible stops and still has a few years left in him.
Birmingham City: St. Andrews Park
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No one player is more important to Birmingham City than their home stadium, St. Andrew's. The Blues finished last season, after promotion, ninth in the Premier League, due in huge to part to defending the home ground, losing there three times but all coming in the early weeks.
Everton ended Birmingham City's year-long unbeaten run at St. Andrews last October, and they've since lost twice at home, two weeks ago being the latest, which has taken a bit of shine off the place.
However, it's not as if the team really has an entirely different strategy at home than away. There's just something about St. Andrew's. This season has already seen Chelsea beaten and Manchester United only escape with a draw.
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Blackpool: Ian Holloway
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Blackpool started the season as a revelation just up from the Championship, and there is one big reason: Manager Ian Holloway.
He may make some interesting tactical decisions every now and then, but he definitely knows what he's doing. No one is shocked anymore when Blackpool come away with all three points because other teams know to take this guy seriously from now on.
Especially since his newly promoted side did the double over Liverpool.
And speaking of taking people seriously, Holloway is a journalist's dream from the way he bashes FIFA, cracks jokes about other players and threatens to resign, he always makes his press conferences enjoyable.
Charlie Adam certainly has a price, and we'll find out exactly what it is this summer. Blackpool may go right back down, or they may stay up. Regardless, as long as they've Holloway at the helm, they'll always be in the mix.
Bolton: Gary Cahill
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Gary Cahill is a player who has made a huge impact for every team he's been on. He's also constantly a favorite of the manager, team and most importantly, the fans.
A guy like that is hard to put a price tag on. He's only 25-years-old, and he certainly looks like the future for England's defense.
If he keeps playing the way he's been lately, he'll be chased by all the top EPL clubs, and we know Chelsea will match just about any price tag, no matter how absurd.
Chelsea: John Terry
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Despite what kind of things he gets up to in his spare time, John Terry is a great defender. And despite Chelsea being a store-bought club, he's been with them since he was a kid, so you can't really say Terry is all about the plastic.
His skills may not be what makes him so important to Chelsea, even though he does score a decent amount for a defender, but his leadership is pretty darn priceless. It seems like there's really nothing he can do to make the Chelsea fans (or his wife) leave him.
Manchester City tried to put a price on him, but no one on the outside would ever rank Terry as highly as Chelsea does.
Honorable mention here goes to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich because without him, Chelsea and John Terry are meaningless.
Everton: Mikel Arteta
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Mikel Arteta is a great passer, has a fantastic eye for goal and has been one of the most creative midfielders in the Premier League since his arrival on Merseyside in 2005.
He's been an integral part of manager David Moyes' plans since then, and he is the center part of the Toffees attacking play. England manager Fabio Capello must be ruing the fact that Arteta played for Spain at the under-21 level meaning he cannot play for England, and Arteta must feel the same way. The guy for some reason couldn't buy a spot on the Spanish National Team.
But he'll be with Everton for five more years, so that's a long time in which he could help his team and himself out a lot.
Honorable mention to goalkeeper Tim Howard who has saved Everton more times than I count.
Fulham: Clint Dempsey
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I really can't figure out why Clint Dempsey isn't the subject of more trade rumors, but maybe it's because no team could match his worth to Fulham.
He has great ball skills and can play in pretty much any attacking position. So that being said, he's like having three or four different players all on his own. His biggest contribution to Fulham is probably that he never disappears from games as he used to do with Team USA.
He does very well handling pressure for Fulham (barring that recent, awful penalty against Chelsea), and he's gotten better with his national team as well.
If he were to move to another team, he'd be a part of the plan, not the focal point. But at Fulham, he's the player they need to build around as he can make things happen from any situation.
Liverpool: Jamie Carragher
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If only there were more players like Jamie Carragher in today's game. A total team-first player who puts his whole heart into every game and nothing less.
If Fernando Torres is worth £50 million to Liverpool, Carra is worth at least three times that. The Reds will never sell him though, so that's a moot point.
His pace has fallen off a bit as he has gotten older, but at 33, he stills gets to balls and makes spot-on tackles he has no business making. He's scored more own goals than goals for Liverpool, but that doesn't matter to Reds fans.
He's truly priceless.
Manchester City: Sheikh Mansour
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Even more so than Chelsea, Manchester City is completely irrelevant right now without the insane financial backing of Sheikh Mansour. You don't become a Champions League or Premier League title contender overnight because of a great coach or one great signing.
But you do after a mega-rich royal decides he wants to build a winning franchise.
A slight honorable mention could go to Carlos Tevez I guess because of his crazy goals per games ratio, but he'll want out soon enough and City won't match the £25 million they paid for him.
Sheikh Mansour doesn't care. He knows his worth to the team is way off the charts.
Manchester United: Ryan Giggs
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Awesome. Just awesome. And that's from a Liverpool fan.
Ryan Giggs has actually scored at least once every Barclay's Premier League season and all for Manchester United. At 37-years-old, he can still boss around any midfield and out run any fresh-faced 22-year-old who thinks he's good enough for the EPL.
It's not like he's frequently warming the bench either, compared to most midfielders his age, who are actually more likely warming their couches. I sometimes wonder why Rio Ferdinand has the armband over Giggs, but that's for Sir Alex Ferguson to decide. I must say, both of them deserve a nod in the MVP of Man United category as well.
Even five to 10 years ago, if a club had been interested in Giggs, Fergie would've laughed them off because his worth is truly immeasurable. He's a lifetime Red Devil and without doubt is up with the greatest. Cristiano Ronaldo going at £80 million doesn't come close to Giggs' asking price.
The fact that Giggs still plays as often, as hard and as well as he does and has played for as long as he has is just awesome.
Newcastle: Joey Barton
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This is a tough one because Newcastle's owner Mike Ashley seems a bit off his rocker.
Chris Houghton apparently didn't do enough to keep his job after easily gaining promotion after one season in the Championship and guiding Newcastle to the top half of the table.
Then he sold his club's brightest talent and possibly its future in Andy Carroll.
But even Ashley has to know how invaluable Joey Barton is to the club. He's had his issues, but there's no doubt he's a great player. He's a great tackler who has refined a bit so he'll stay out of trouble, and he rallies his teammates in each game, much like he did against Arsenal when Newcastle came back from four down to steal a draw.
Even though he's got a reputation for some dirty tackles and for being a bit too rough, Newcastle fans love that. It's impossible for an outside to really understand how much Barton means to the club.
The trouble for Newcastle fans is Mike Ashley seems to be an outsider.
Stoke City: Rory Delap
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Rory Delap's javelin throws are the reason Stoke plays the way it does. His skill is the reason the team has so many big men on the field and why they constantly play for throw ins as opposed to corners.
So basically, Stoke is best when they don't have to use their feet. Just kidding... sort of.
They've won and drawn plenty of games employing this tactic, and even though every team is prepared for it, it doesn't help at all when trying to win.
Bottom line: It works, so why stop?
Sunderland: Lee Cattermole
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Much like Joey Barton of Newcastle, Lee Cattermole doesn't have the best reputation if you leave the Northeast, or Sunderland at least.
He's seen by many as a dirty tackler, but he's just tough. His teammates, fans and obviously his manager all love him and what he does for the team. He's always got the energy to chase after the ball and can provide an excellent sliding tackle when needed.
He probably would't fetch a very high price on the open market, but Sunderland fans wouldn't know what to do without him.
Tottenham: Harry Redknapp
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Tottenham were drowning, worse than drowning, when Harry Redknapp came in in October 2008. They just missed out on European places that season.
The next season, Redknapp led Spurs to the real European places, and they've been nobody's charity case in their first season in the Champions League.
All of this is because of Redknapp. He's been a brilliant, although annoying, tactician, has turned standard players into sublime ones and pulled off stunning transfer coups. He's also run his mouth a bit much, but that is every manager's right.
His price will likely be the England job (in the middle of next season if you ask me), so Spurs should soak up the glory while they can. Redknapp is the reason Tottenham is where it's at and the Spurs need him if they want to stay there.
West Brom: Chris Brunt
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It's hard to pick a Most Valuable or priceless player for West Brom, but I decided on Chris Brunt because he has the versatility and scoring touch a struggling club needs.
He's scored some big goals, and that makes him pretty invaluable for the club. He scored the goal in April of 2008 that sealed West Brom's promotion to the Premier League and was then the team's leading scorer the next season. West Brom was one up, one down, but Brunt again scored the goals to put the Baggies back in the top flight a year later.
He's not scoring much this season, but nobody is for West Brom, and Brunt is still someone the Baggies absolutely need on their team wherever they may be.
West Ham: Robert Green
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It's a bit funny to call Robert Green priceless when he's made such glaring mistakes. Note, I'm saying he's priceless to West Ham, not England.
Alas, a team fighting for it's life often needs its goalkeeper more than anything. Green is a very capable stopper, and that spill from Clint Dempsey against the U.S. in South Africa (had to mention it) is likely a once in a career thing.
Other than that, he does well between the sticks and often doesn't deserve to be on the losing side.
If West Ham goes down, Green will likely stay with the team and bring them back up in one season. If the Hammers manage to stay up, it'll be because Green is keeping balls out of his net.
Wigan: Roberto Martinez
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Roberto Martinez (not to be confused with The Bachelorette Season Six winner by the same name) and Wigan may be fighting relegation, but Martinez isn't in the hot seat. He always had a huge impact as a player and clearly has the biggest one as a manager.
Especially for a man who isn't much older than many of his players and their opponents (he's seriously only 37).
He's got some big wins on his record, home against Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. That balances out the heavy losses (9-1 at Tottenham). If Wigan go down, which is likely, they better keep Martinez on if they want to play Premier League football soon after.
Wolves: Matt Jarvis
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Matt Jarvis fought to win Wolves' promotion to the top flight, fought to keep them there and is again fighting off relegation.
He's a tough midfielder who is an automatic first team player for Wolves, though he'd be a squad player on many other Premier League clubs.
It's likely he won't be ably to keep Wolves up this season, despite beating Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, but he'll definitely be crucial in them coming back.
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