Premier League Team of the Weekend - 29th April 2013

There were some big and well documented performances this weekend and a few came under the spotlight. This is my Premier League team of the weekend:

Team of the Weekend – Liverpool: It’s hard to overlook Liverpool despite a good showing from West Brom, because of the absolute dismantling of Newcastle that they dished out. A supposed one-man team and shorn of that one man, they played with fluidity and enterprise and things look very promising for next season. This team will wear their kit.

David de Gea – Manchester United: De Gea has been the best keeper in the league over the last few months and he won United a draw at the Emirates with some stellar saves and penalty box control. The former is his hallmark but the latter is increasingly becoming a key component in his game. One save against Cazorla saved a certain goal.

Seamus Coleman – Everton: This is the second time Coleman has found his way into the team and his re-introduction at right back has given Everton a different dimension lately. His attacking work has always been solid but lately his defensive improvement has been huge. The Fulham left flank has provided most of the creativity lately but were completely shut down by Coleman and assuming Everton don’t replace him, he could be set for more of the same next year.

Laurent Koscielny – Arsenal: Koscielny has always looked talented but has been error prone. Just lately though, the errors have been eradicated and his partnership with Mertesacker has been the making of him. But for a catastrophic sequence of errors from Bacary Sagna, they would have recorded another clean sheet together and Koscielny kept van Persie and Rooney quiet all day. If he can keep at this level, he still has time to develop into a top player but he needs to keep showing the same application as he did on Sunday.

Daniel Agger – Liverpool: Agger has been a bit hit and miss this year but he was very good at Newcastle. He grabbed the important opening goal for Liverpool with a clever header and it flooded a team, that might have been rocked by losing Suarez, with confidence and they went on a tear. He was neat and tidy on the ball and kept the ever dangerous Papiss Cisse out of the game.

Leighton Baines – Everton: No stranger to this team, Baines was at his best against Fulham and was unlucky not to have claimed at least one assist, possibly two. Fulham posed no threat on the right and could not contain his foraging runs and relentless directness.

Steven Gerrard – Liverpool: Gerrard has under gone a metamorphosis under Brendan Rodgers over the last few months, starting to become a deep lying playmaker with occasional license to roam forward and he is flourishing. Against Newcastle he set a positive strong tempo and even reigned in his natural tendency to try big passes and just kept things simple but on a couple of occasions, devastatingly effective.

Frank Lampard – Chelsea: Lampard started on the bench and Chelsea struggled, he came on when Ramires was injured and less than 20 minutes later he had been involved in both Chelsea goals. Coincidence? He took hold of the midfield which when Luiz and Ramires play together lacks leadership, and drove them on to a very important win.

Jordan Henderson – Liverpool: Henderson has come in for a whole bunch of criticism at Liverpool but now that Brendan Rodgers is deploying him correctly, he is showing why Liverpool bought him in the first place. It’s a big thing to say, but he is looking ever more like a young Steven Gerrard with his all action style and massively increased goal getting and making capacity in his new position. Who better to learn that role from than the man himself? One to watch next year.

Daniel Sturridge – Liverpool: He’s such an enigma. He’s absurdly talented and has a cannon left foot. So why doesn’t he destroy teams more often? Newcastle couldn’t get near him, and for the second time in a row he scored the best goal of the weekend. There were still some poor decisions and a bit of selfishness at times which needs to be ironed out if he is to become consistent but he was excellent.

Romelu Lukaku – West Brom: Maybe I’m missing something with Lukaku. Maybe I think he’s better than Chelsea do if reports of them trying to sign a striker are true. Lukaku scored one and made the other two in West Brom’s unexpected thrashing of Southampton. Again.

He’s up to 14 league goals and 7 assists now which means that he is directly involved in a goal every 82 minutes. That’s better than everyone other than van Persie. Better than Bale, better than Mata, better than Suarez. And he’s doing this at West Brom where he’s directly responsible for nearly half of their goals! And he’s doing this at 19 years of age. If he was English, he’d be talked about as the next leader of the national team and every team in the country would be queuing up to pay £30-40m for him. What am I missing?

Philippe Coutinho – Liverpool: Coutinho is the Player of the Weekend and by a considerable distance. With Suarez banned, the young Brazilian played in the number 10 position and ran riot. He created Sturridge’s first goal with a deft scoop straight in to his path, a la Suarez last week. He set up another and also played the pass before the assist on three of the other four goals. He roamed around in constant space and was a serious menace. He’s taken to English football with ease and could prove to be Liverpool’s best signing since Torres.