Manchester City are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performances by Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero in the three nil victory over Burnley at the weekend at the Etihad Stadium was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected the duo as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
De Bruyne:
‘It wasn’t the best game I have seen Kevin de Bruyne play this season but it was still good enough to destroy Burnley and get him into my team of the week. What I notice every time De Bruyne picks up the ball these days is that the opposition back off and retreat towards their own goal or, worse, freeze. This was true late in the first half on Saturday when the Belgian provided Sergio Aguero with an opportunity to get his second goal of the match, which Burnley keeper Nick Pope foiled with his feet. It was De Bruyne’s quality of pass for Leroy Sane’s opener – and City’s third goal – that had fans rising to their feet in anticipation of the goal to come. With De Bruyne in this mood, abet at 6-1 for City to win the Champions League isn’t bad at all. I might have a flutter myself.’
Aguero:
‘When Bernardo Silva went down under the challenge of Nick Pope during the first half of Saturday’s game between Manchester City and Burnley, there was plenty of debate about was it a penalty or not. I was in the Final Score studio and saw the reply half a dozen times and still wasn’t absolutely sure whether referee Roger East got his decision right. Well, having seen it a number of times since, it was a penalty and East deserves a medal for getting a decision right that many would get wrong. How appropriate then that Sergio Ageuro should be given the stage to underline East’s excellent decision by scoring the penalty that equalled Eric Brook’s all-time goalscoring record for City. The most remarkable feature of this outstanding achievement by the Argentine is that Leicester’s Jamie Vardy has won the converted Footballer of the Year award and his team-mate Rihad Mahrez the PFA Players’ Player award, while Aguero has won neither. How can that be? He is one of the few world-class strikers in the Premier League and has an unparalleled goalscoring record, yet finds himself unrecognised by football’s elite. It would be quite shameful if we allowed this man to leave these shores without paying him the honour his services deserve. He has been the best striker in the league for years.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to both for their recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.
Full Team:
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Tommy Smith (Huddersfield Town), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Shane Duffy (Brighton), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Aaron Mooy (Huddersfield Town), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Glenn Murray (Brighton), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham).
