Top 10 Premier League players of 2014

The Premier League is without a doubt the most entertaining league in the world. As difficult as the race for the top four is, the unpredictability is what makes is so very challenging and tough for the teams. Many players stood out for their teams due to their performances throughout the year and almost single-handedly led their teams to good seasons. This article also focuses on the best players in England during the calendar year 2014. With the season now at the halfway point, let us take a look at the top 10 Premier League players of the year 2014.

#10 Mile Jedinak

At the start of the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season, a lot of pundits had given Crystal Palace very minimal chances of retaining their top-flight status. Palace finished a comfortable and respectable 11th in the league courtesy some inspired management from Tony Pulis, who enabled them to retain their spot in the Premier League for the first time in their recent history.

Arguably, the most stirring factor in their fantastic surge was a rock in their mid-field who went by the name of Mile Jedinak. The Aussie has been immense for Palace and has off late also managed to add goals to his repertoire courtesy his towering headers and dead ball skills. He averages around 4 tackles per match in the Premier League and intercepts the same number of balls per match too.

Add to that his 5 goals and a couple of assists and it is quite a contribution to a mid-table Premier League side. It is his stellar performances from defensive midfield in 2014 that earns him a spot at number ten on this list.

#9 Morgan Schneiderlein

Another defensive mid-fielder on the list, Southampton had all but lost Morgan Schneiderlin in the sequence of their numerous summer exits, and after he publicly tweeted his dismay at not being allowed to switch over to Spurs, one was not predicting a happy stay for him at Southampton.

It is actually a testament to his importance at Southampton that they chose only his transfer to put their foot down on, when so many of their players were being transferred elsewhere. Only four Premier League players have made more successful passes this year and despite him missing as many as six games through injury, only two players have made more tackles.

Also, he has shown splendid professionalism to continue plying his trade when denied a move to a higher level and although he might still want a move away from St. Mary’s, for the time being, he is the engine that runs Southampton.

#8 Pablo Zabaleta

Football increasingly has been moving to the side with the ongoing debate about who the best individual to grace the game is. But if anyone of the current generation of footballers summarizes the ‘team-work’ part of the game, it is Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta. Particularly industrious with his running, his sense of understanding of a midfielder’s passing ability and vision and the fact that he is strong in the tackle makes him one of the best full backs in the world.

In addition to the 3.3 tackles he manages per game in the Premier League, he is quite regularly the furthest forward for City. He also featured in each of Argentina’s matches in their run to the finals of the World Cup in Brazil and Manchester City’s number five truly reflects how a majority of City fans see him as the “heart and soul” of their football.

#7 Christian Eriksen

Tottenham invested the ‘Gareth Bale’ money into getting a plethora of promising footballers but sadly, only one of them has truly lived up to his billing. Christian Eriksen has been the reason Spurs have managed any respectability in the past year. He has been a part of almost all of their attacking moves throughout the year. Quite literally, everything flows through him at Spurs.

In the current season, Eriksen has directly won as many as 15 points for Spurs with many of his goals coming in one-goal victories. He is their top goal scorer and assist provider for the year and has created almost three times as many chances than any other Spurs player. Staggering, isn’t it? He really is that good. Had he played for another club he might have been higher, but number seven it is for Eriksen.

#6 Nemanja Matic

It is often debated to decide who has been the most vital signing for Chelsea over the past year. Is it Diego Costa who has been amassing goals and in him Chelsea clearly got themselves a striker they dearly missed last season? Or is it Cesc Fabregas who in his deep-lying role has crafted some truly brilliant moves going forward to help the attacking players ahead of him?

While Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas have been contributing in terms of goals and assists, it is Nemanja Matic, who has been Chelsea’s signing of the year. Matic is immense as a defensive mid-fielder and covers the complete arc in front of his back four but what really makes him stand apart from fellow world class defensive midfielders is his ability to spark moves going forward too.

Chelsea have lost just one Premier League game this season, and call it what you may, but that was the only game this season in which the Serbian did not feature. Matic averages more than five tackles per match which is the most in the Premier League. Though he slots in at number six on this list, give him another year and he might even top it.

#5 Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling is the European Golden Boy for the year and that says a lot about what he has achieved over the year. Luis Suarez was the most influential in inspiring Liverpool’s surge last season, but his departure meant that Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling needed to step up in order to ensure continuity in the team’s form. Following Sturridge’s injury, all the Kop has had to smile about this season is their darling teenager.

His marauding runs are a sight of delight and he does possess the ability to calmly finish off moves. Liverpool’s new signings have struggled to flourish at Anfield, so much so that Sterling these days plays as the centre-forward. He has scored 9 goals along with 6 assists in this year and was second only to Eden Hazard in terms of successful dribbles completed. Alongside carrying Liverpool, Sterling is expected to be the next big thing for England too. No pressure kid, No pressure.

#4 Wilfried Bony

The problem of being exceptional for a smaller club is that you do get overlooked quite often. Bony is the Premier League’s top scorer in the year 2014 and has been a key component of Swansea becoming a stable top-flight club for the first time in their history. Alongside being a goal scorer, Bony has a fair number of assists to his name too, which underlines his importance to the club.

Swansea scored 52 goals during the calendar year and Bony got 20 of those goals. Also, Bony contributed only two fewer assists than Yaya Toure during the entire year. The club know big suitors are lining up for their main man and will look to get top price for him if a bid is submitted. Only a matter of time before we see him playing for a ‘top-top club’ in Europe.

#3 Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard is no more the young Belgian sensation, he is now the biggest talent in the Premier League. A nightmare for Premier League defenders throughout the year, the inch perfect Rabona cross he executed last season captured beautifully in one moment how good he was. Jose Mourinho claimed at the cusp of last season that he would be giving Eden Hazard the stats to match the very best in the world and Eden is well on his way to achieving that.

He has 12 goals, five assists and more chances created than all but two of his fellow Premier League players in 2014 and is the most often fouled player in the current season. There have been some absolutely splendid performances from the Belgian in the blue of Chelsea, and they will count on him doing the same going forward as they look to win on all fronts.

#2 Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure is objectively the best central midfielder in the world right now. His skills on the ball given his immense size and strength are astonishing. He is also gifted with raw pace and can be the worst kind of nightmare for a defender, especially late in the game. His attacking play led Manchester City to the Capital One Cup and the Premier League last season with his goal against Sunderland at Wembley being one of the most magnificent strikes in the whole of last year.

Personal issues did hamper his start to this season, but of late he seems to have gained his fervor back. He is the only midfielder to hit the 20-goal mark after Frank Lampard in the Premier League and while Suarez claimed the all the awards last season, Yaya took the title. It is difficult to stop Toure when he is on song, and is very aptly described by what they say in Manchester, “When Yaya sings his song, the City sleeps in peace.”

#1 Sergio \'Kun\' Aguero

Well, if Sergio Aguero didn’t get injured so frequently, he would be competing with the Ronaldos and the Messis of this world. When Aguero is on song, he is, well, quite frankly unplayable. Kun Aguero has been City’s season for a major part of their current campaign and his hat-trick against Bayern Munich summed up the quality he possesses.

A truly gifted striker, the ease with which he finds space first and then the net is at times spell-binding. He averages about five shots per game in the Premier League this season and only Cristiano Ronaldo manages to better that across all major leagues in Europe. Perhaps it is a testament to his performances that a team as gifted as Manchester City was branded as a one man team due to his performances.

Aguero takes about 108 minutes to score a goal in the Premier League which is the best in the Premier League era. Among the Premier League players, he has had the season to match the best in the world and hence, he is number one on this list. If only you could keep yourself fit Kun, if only.