Ten match days remain, 10 gloriously insane weekends of unfettered, transient emotions and footballing delight, before the 25th season of the Premier League, the world’s greatest league, or so the media and marketeers have us believe, comes to an end.
In this celebratory Premier League season, a number of players have stood out. They have wielded great influence in their teams and altered the narrative of the league. In no particular order, Scroll.in takes a closer a look at those players.
1. Ngolo Kante
The king of the Premier League? Kante is just 1.69-meters tall, but his dominance is towering in England. He is a giant. First, he excelled at Leicester City in that story of stardust and sensation, and now, he is starring at Chelsea. Here is the catch with Kante: under Antonio Conte, he has become an even better midfielder.
The long-busting, freakishly energetic Frenchman is the cog of Chelsea’s XI. He is three players in one: a number six, a number eight and a number 10. Chelsea’s number seven has adapted to life in west London to marshal his club’s midfield, arguably in a secure environment of ball-possession. Even so, Kante has retained his destructive traits and steel, and all the feverishness that so galvanised Leicester City last season. Since 2015, he has run 701.8km in the Premier League.
2. Eden Hazard
If Kante is Chelsea’s rock, Eden Hazard is the club’s shining and shimmering diamond. He is a protagonist, who has exhibited a virtuosity this season hitherto unseen from the Belgian: the individual actions, the constant motion, the incessant infiltration, the pace with the ball at his feet, the penetration. Everything about Hazard is high-quality.
Last season, he cut a forlorn figure as Chelsea were beset with problems and disharmony. A remarkable 29 league games went by before he scored his first goal. This season Hazard is galvanising Chelsea, with his all-round play, as opposed to picking his moments and providing flashes of his quality as he runs inside from the left wing.
Hazard has scored eleven goals so far, with a superb solo strike in a season-crowning win against Arsenal. The Belgian collected the ball on the halfway line and ran, and ran, and ran, with the ball glued, like yoyo, to his right foot. He threw off the assailing Francis Coquelin. Laurent Koscielny retreated, so much so that Hazard entered the box, wrong-footed the Frenchman – a ballerina versus a tap dancer – and finished with a low bobbler into the net.
A caveat to this eulogy: Hazard needs to perform more consistently to become a true great.
3. Santi Cazorla
Not Alexis Sanchez, then? The Chilean is arguably a beacon of hope in the nondescript lifelessness that paralyzes the red and white half of north London, where another season has imploded, a piteous multi-layered collapse provoking more cantankerous parley about the fading managerial powers of head coach Arsene Wenger. The self-parody at Arsenal is palpable, but Alexis, with all his fine footballing powers, has tried to resist the inevitable.
Yet, in the last few weeks not even the Chilean has been recalcitrant, the tide of disaster unstoppable. One then wonders if Arsenal’s season could have been any different? Perhaps, yes. The simple answer is Cazorla, the nifty Spaniard whose ankle injury has sidelined him until the end of the season. Without Cazorla, Arsenal’s midfield has become very monochrome. Think of the endless inferior combinations, with arguably inferior players, Wenger has tried this season. The inept Francis Coquelin and the rash Granit Xhaka spring to mind. Arsenal have missed Cazorla’s guile and vision.
4. Steve Cook
If stats are telling, then Steve Cook may well topple Kante as man of the season. His influence at Bournemouth is unmistaken. The central defender puts in the hard yards. His role may not be glamorous and won’t make the headlines, but he is key to Bournemouth’s set-up.
Just contemplate the following stats: He has played almost every minute this season, with 2,610 minutes on the field. He tops the ranking for both clearances and headed clearances, 277 and 181 respectively. Cook credits the simple process of hard work on the training ground behind recent improved defensive displays. Indeed, wins against West Ham and Swansea have lifted the Cherries away from the relegation zone on 33 points.
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Does the mercurial Swede need further introduction? “I won’t be king of Manchester, I will be god of Manchester,” announced Ibrahimovic at the start of the season, eloquent as ever. But he has justified his grandiloquence. The tall striker has been box office, a Manchester United player in every sense, with a swagger reminiscent of Eric Cantona. He is the new king in town.
Zlatan has scored 15 goals and attempted 109 shots so far. His conversion rate may be “low”, but he is dangerous from all angles. His successful season can’t be reduced to mere stats, it has a deeper significance. The Swede won 13 league championships in 15 seasons, scoring not far off 400 goals in the process, but the English footballing community always regarded him as a continental curiosity, a player who succeeded in lesser leagues.
All those traits – the bombast, the truculence, his cockiness for which he was once derided on the British isles – are now a source for admiration; the refinement, the friendliness and the confidence. Zlatan has conquered the last bastion of resistance to his own greatness.
6. Romelu Lukaku
The bulky Belgian is the league’s top scorer at 21 goals. He is an old-fashioned number nine – big, quick and powerful. He hustles, he bustles, he heads and he scores. Lukaku can simply muscle opponents of the ball. His style of play may not be aligned with the gifted ballerinas of our time, but the 23-year-old is very lethal. He has scored a free kick, but his other 20 goals have all come from inside the box, nine with his left foot, six with his right and five with his head. That areal ability is another of his virtues.
With the goals flowing, the rumour mill has been incessant. Lukaku hasn’t extended his contract at Everton, so where is Rom going next season? Liverpool, Barcelona, Chelsea or Manchester United? That is, of course, all speculation. He is not the perfect striker. His movement isn’t always refined, his first touch can be heavy. At Everton, he is the focal point of the team and its forward propulsion. Bigger clubs won’t adapt their formation and style to Lukaku. For now though, the Belgian will just want to continue his blistering form.
