Manchester City are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks following the clash with Burnley.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performances by goalkeeper Ederson and Danilo in the one all draw with Burnley at the weekend at Turf Moor 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.
Ederson:
‘Ederson’s save from Ben Mee, as Manchester City drew 1-1 at Burnley on Saturday, was fabulous. However, I have to take you back to the 38th minute of the game. Nicolas Otamendi plays the ball back to Ederson, who is immediately put under pressure by Burnley’s Ashley Barnes. The Brazilian goalkeeper, unconcerned by Barnes bearing down on him like a train, casually passes it to Vincent Kompany. He moves the ball slightly more quickly to Kyle Walker, who flicks it around the corner to Bernardo Silva, who passes to Ilkay Gundogan. He turns, gives the ball to Kevin de Bruyne, who then carries the ball for 10 metres before firing an Exocet missile in the direction of Burnley’s Nick Pope. It was a most glorious move and it all started with Ederson. Is it any wonder that Manchester City are light years ahead of anything else the Premier League has to offer? Manchester United fans must cry themselves to sleep having realised that they got the wrong manager.’
Danilo:
‘When Danilo picked up the ball at Turf Moor, the space was there for him to exploit. All too often, full-backs don’t utilise the space in front of them because they can’t; they simply don’t have the ability. Not so Danilo. The Brazilian knew exactly what he was doing and planted the ball emphatically past Nick Pope – it was jaw-dropping. Dani Alves was another Brazilian player who loved to rampage forward with one eye on goal. So too was the legendary German full-back Paul Breitner, who made a career out of scoring spectacular goals. Chelsea have Marcos Alonso and Victor Moses, who have made scoring from full-back positions an art form. The last English player I can remember with this ability was Everton’s Leighton Baines. What a pity more English players don’t have the nerve.’
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 point.
Full Team:
Ederson (Manchester City), Jack Stephens (Southampton), Ben Mee (Burnley), Danilo (Manchester City), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal), Mario Lemina (Southampton), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Fousseni Diabate (Leicester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Jose Izquierdo (Brighton).
