With quality, there is no deadline, and that is the motto that we religiously follow when it comes to The Roller's Rob Turner and his team of the week.
Petr Cech - There’s not really a whole lot to say about Petr Cech. Everybody knows he is absolutely world class. However, his reputation has been ever so slightly tainted as of late with murmurs that he is losing his touch.
Against Blackpool, Cech succeeded in proving all his doubters wrong with a master class of shot-stopping, fingertip saves and overall defensive prowess. With Chelsea’s attacking flair, and this man between the sticks, I sincerely doubt that anyone will stop the Chelsea charge this season.
James Perch - Don’t let Everton’s poor form as of late fool you into thinking Newcastle found it a walk in the park. It took some last ditch blocks and tackles to keep the ‘toffees’ at bay. James Perch stepped into the limelight with a stellar performance in keeping with his defensive team-mates. The creativity of the Everton midfield was ground to a halt with a tough, but fair, defensive play.
Christopher Samba - Yes, that’s right. My team of the week has that Samba style yet again. This isn’t favouritism at work here though, but mere hard work and footballing talent. Similar to his performance last week, nobody was to get past the big man at the back, and the cherry on his proverbial cake was to grab a goal [that shouldn’t have been] and keep Blackburn’s point tally ticking over.
Jonas Olsson - The heart and experience in the ‘Baggies’ defence showed why he still has a big part to play in the Premier League this season. Standing tall and using his ariel ability is what Jonas Olsson does best, and in this Midlands derby he did this all game long in both boxes. He kept Jerome and Zigic out after the initial goal and even popped up to score the West Brom third in a sensational three-goal second half.
Ashley Cole - The best English left back we’ve seen in many many years? On this form, and with continued performances like this, then the fact will become undisputed. Bombing forward at every single opportunity, Cole plays more like an attacking left winger than a full-back. You’d think somebody would have a word with Ashley for shirking his defensive responsibilities if it weren’t for the fact that he doesn’t. A box-to-box, attack-minded, English left-back. The first and only of his kind? More than likely!
Wayne Routledge - After impressing me initially in the game against Wolves at Molineux, Wayne Routledge has continued his rich vein of form against Everton. After being out of the Premiership’s gaze for what seems like forever, Routledge is back, terrorising defences again with his astonishing pace and tremendous close control. It makes you wonder what took him so long......
Rafael Van der Vaart - At a cut-price £8 million it would seem that Harry Redknapp has captured the bargain of the transfer window. And he still denies to be a wheeler dealer, people!! An interesting statistic is that Rafael Van der Vaart, whilst at Real Madrid, either scored or provided an assist at least one in three games in which he played.
Well, be it Real or Spurs, that statistic doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon. With a sublime touch and almost unrivalled passing ability, Rafael is now one of the best midfielders in the league. After providing Crouch with an assist in the Champions League last week, he stepped up to the spot to put away one for himself, allowing Tottenham to come back and take the spoils.
Ashley Young - With as much pace as Young has, I don’t think there is a full back in the league that wouldn’t find him a hand full. Bolton found out the hard way early on in the clash, when nobody could deal with the speed of Young, and he was continuously scythed down. This would be Bolton’s downfall, as not only can Ashley Young run with the ball, but he is also handy in a dead ball situation.
From a full 25 yards, Young lashed the ball over the wall, swerving into the near post to leave poor Bolton stand-in goalkeeper Bogdan with no hope of saving it. A sign of things to come this season for Villa and England.
Florent Malouda - Didn’t really get much of a look in whilst Mr Mourinho was at the helm but last season and the beginning of this one under Ancelotti has seen the French attacker really come into his own both in terms of assists and chipping in with goals of his own on more than one occasion.
Malouda is a part of the most potent strike force that any English league has seen in quite a long while and i don’t see that stopping at any point this season. After bagging himself a brace against the minnows of Blackpool his goal tally is already up to 6 in the league and if he doesn’t get into double figures i’ll eat my hat.
Peter Odemwingie - What a sensational buy this Uzbekistan-born Nigerian chap is for West Bromwich Albion. He has already appeared to attain a cult status at the Hawthorns, marking himself as a fan-favourite for giving 100% effort and never giving up. I’m sure the goals will help too. Another sleek finish was dispatched against Birmingham after his own good play lead to a hapless deflection off Scott Dann for the West Brom opener.
Dimitar Berbatov - Unquestionably the player of the weekend, and in my opinion, the headline performance of the season so far. Berbatov has been criticised by many, but adored by more than a few. In my opinion, we haven’t seen a player of this style since Cantona graced the Premiership.
The £32.75 million is looking like a bit of a bargain now isn’t it United fans? Berbatov is finally adding a few goals into his skillful game of subtlety. Three wonderfully taken goals, one of which was an overhead kick after setting himself up was sweet as it is but against bitter rivals Liverpool Manchester United couldn’t have asked any more of the Bulgarian magician. Simply outstanding.
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