The Unsung Heroes of EPL 2010-11 Season

Gary Cahill

Nationality: England

Position: Defender

Club: Bolton Wanderers

Previous Clubs: Burnley (Loan), Sheffield United (Loan) & Aston Villa

Right now one of the sought after defender in English football, Cahill has had an amazing 2010-11 season at the Reebok stadium proving to be the heart and soul of Bolton’s defense. Even though Bolton ended the season in the bottom half of the table this rock solid centre back struck the perfect note with his fellow defenders Zat Knight and David Wheater. After his loan spells at Burnley and Sheffield United from Aston Villa this Yorkshire born defender has grown incredible in his lone season at Bolton earning his full cap for England against Bulgaria in 2010. Coming through the youth system at Villa I am sure today they are ruing the day when they let Cahill leave and would have felt the pinch .

Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny

Nationality: Poland

Position: Goalkeeper

Club: Arsenal

Previous Clubs: Brentford (Loan)

Popularly known as Szczęsny, this lanky polish defender has a history in football with his dad Maciej Szczęsny also a former goalkeeper who played in top division Polis league. But the worth of this young 21 year old gunner was known this season under critical situation at Emirates Stadium with all the three goalkeepers Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone out injured. Wenger had no choice but to go to his fourth choice keeper who was still in Arsenal’s youth system and as it proved this decision of the Magician turned out to be the perfect solution to the goalkeeping problem at Emirates. The Pole had the perfect Champions League debut against Barcelona with 2-1 victory for Arsenal and Szczęsny came out as the star of the match along with another youngster Wilshere.

Leighton Baines

Nationality: England

Position: Left Back

Club: Everton

Previous Clubs: Wigan Athletic

Baines is an attacking and tenacious Left back who is good on both side of the field. Ample of energy and high speed makes him the most versatile defender in English Premier League. And that’s what he proved in the past season playing 44 matches for Toffees and scoring 7 goals that’s actually a good track record. Many of us thought that after the sale of Lescott to Manchester City the Everton defense would fall apart which actually did happen at the start of the season when the Toffees were hovering in the relegation zone, but then Baines got his act together and formed a good partnership with Distin, Jagielka and Heitinga to bring Everton to a respectable 7^th position.

Matthew Jarvis

Nationality: England

Position: Midfielder

Club: Wolverhampton

Previous Clubs: Gillingham

Matt is another English player who achieved his first cap for the national side all because of his hard work at Wolves. Jarvis has been a revelation for his club and has shown the world what he is actually capable of. He has the ability to rush up the field with great ease on the left flank then may be beat the defenders with his bag of tricks or just provide an inch perfect pass into the box all this has proved to be a great asset for the Wolves and helped them get out of the relegation zone. Another weapon in Jarvis armory seems to be his ability to take control of the dead ball situation be it FK or corners, he surely is a talent that Capello has his eye on.

Cheick Tioté

Nationality: Ivory Coast

Position: Midfielder

Club: Newcastle United

Previous Clubs: Roda JC (Loan), Anderlecht, Twente

This Ivorian midfielder is known for his no nonsense attitude which does get him on to referees book quite often but the speed and technicality he possesses its an attribute that any defensive midfielder would love to possess. Tiote last season would mostly be remembered for his left footer thunderous volley against Arsenal which completed the return of Newcastle to end the match 4-4. He is young and still has lot of room to develop and I think the Toons should do everything to keep him at the club especially with the eye of Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid already on him.

Peter Odemwingie

Nationality: Nigeria

Position: Striker

Club: West Bromwich Albion

Previous Clubs: Lille, Lokomotiv Moscow

Supposedly bought in 2010 at very small sum from Moscow by former Manager Di Matteo, Odemwingie today is the prized possession of the Baggies. No one had thought the Nigerian striker to be a big thing in England but he surely proved all his critics wrong when he ended the season with 15 goals in 32 appearances that is almost one goal in every two matches. These many goals were not only important for Albion to achieve 11^th position in the table but these goals came when they were most needed by the club. Known for his versatility to play as a winger and also a lone striker the Nigerian has bag of tricks matched with ultimate presence of mind and great speed. It would be interesting to see how Fulham fame and Liverpool shame manager Hodgson uses him next season.