Football is a team game but sometimes you might be stuck with a team that needs the inspiration of one man to drag them through results week in week out. There are a handful players in the world who can grab the game by the scruff of the neck and single-handedly carry his team over the line.
There have been many examples in the past of one man carrying his team over the line. Luis Suarez was solely responsible for Liverpool’s incredible season when they just fell short of the title.
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Gareth Bale made Spurs a team that could compete with the big boys and almost earned them a Champions League spot. So here are this season’s one man teams:
#5 Andrea Bellotti – Torino
Italy for the last few years have been lacking an international identity when it comes to the striking department. This season their prayers might have been answered thanks to the emergence of Andrea Belotti.
The 23-year-old has put in some brilliant performances and is competing with the best strikers in that league for the golden boot. Torino have always remained in the shadows of their rivals Juventus.
Last season they managed a modest 12th place finish but this year they are in contention for the Europa league places. They owe this improvement mainly to Belotti who has been banging in goals at a serious rate of knots.
Belotti is currently a goal behind top scorer Icardi and has the best goals per minute ratio in the league managing a goal every 105 minutes. Of the 36 goals, Il Toro have scored so far, Belotti has been directly involved in almost half of them scoring 13 and setting up another 3.
His performances have been brought to the notice of Jose Mourinho and Manchester United who see him as the successor to Zlatan Ibrahimovic
#4 Anthony Modeste – FC Koln
FC Koln have struggled to find another talisman for their club since Lukas Podolski famously switched allegiance to English club Arsenal a few years ago. Since then they have mainly been in involved in mid-table battles.
They have done impressively to sustain their status in the top flight of the German league but this season it has been all about one man and that is Anthony Modeste. The French striker has been in impressive form in front of goal having hit his peak this season
Last season he bagged 18 goals in the league to help his side to a respectable 9th placed finish. This season he has taken his game to the next level having already reached a tally of 15 goals which is joint top with Pierre Emrick Aubameyang.
To put that tally into context Koln have only managed 21 goals all season which makes these stats all the more impressive. Koln seem to have found their new talisman and if they are to try and push for European places this season they will be banking a lot more on the 28-year-old to come up with the goods.
#3. Jermain Defoe – Sunderland
Our first Premier League entry on this list is England striker Jermain Defoe. Where would Sunderland be without Jermain Defoe? Well, exactly where they are right now in the relegation zone but without a chance of survival.
Such has been the Blackcat’s reliance on the Englishman that their hopes of staying in the Premier League would have evaporated without a trace even at only the halfway mark of the season if not for his goals
David Moyes was brought in to try and bring stability to the team but so far they seem to be heading in the direction Aston Villa did last season. The red and white stripes have been flirting with relegation for the last few seasons and Defoe was responsible for ensuring their survival last season.
While their defence has been in shambles they have only managed 19 goals, with Defoe contributing 11 of them and having assisted two. If Sunderland are not careful, Defoe could end up leaving this January transfer window.
West Ham seem to be interested in taking him from the Stadium of Light and his former teammate Jermain Jenas believes the move could happen as well.
#2. Dries Mertens – Napoli
The loss of Gonzalo Higuain to Juventus was a hard one to take for Napoli fans. He received an unsurprisingly hostile reception from the crowd which one would expect when joining direct Serie A rivals.
Many would have probably written off Napoli this season after losing their main man but Dries Mertens has stepped up in a big way this season to fill that goalscoring void. So far it’s his most prolific season in his career.
Mertens broke two long-standing records when he managed to score two successive hat-tricks in the league. The first was being the first Napoli player since 1974 to score four goals in a single game for the club and the second being the first player to score two consecutive hat tricks since 1977.
Napoli after a poor start are now third in the league, 7 points behind Juventus and just 3 behind second-placed Roma. They are in a very good position to push Juve all the way once again in the league even without Higuain.
In fact, Mertens has scored more goals than the Argentine at this stage of the league season. He has 11 goals to Higuain’s 10. Fans won’t remember him anymore and they now have a new hero.
#1. Alexis Sanchez – Arsenal
If you have seen the many angry faces of Alexis Sanchez then you understand his frustration. Arsenal after losing only one game in their first 15 lost their next two and are now struggling to keep pace with the top 4.
The Gunners made a strong start to the campaign but are now suffering from familiar failings. Alexis Sanchez is the only player who seems to be giving his 100 percent in every game and has been dragging his team through the dirt and over the line on several occasions now.
The Chilean is also the first player to be directly involved in 20 or more goals in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season, which is a better return than the two best players on the planet in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Without the little powerhouse, Arsenal would not even be in the Premier League title race. Arsenal fans must be fearing the worst for their superstar after his little outbursts in the last few games the Gunners have played.
The 3-3 draw against Bournemouth has probably sent him over the edge and it is possible he could leave in the summer if the rest of the team continue to underperform.
