With less than four hours to go in 2015, it’s safe to say no player with make an error that would doom the first 364 days of their year.
So combining the second half of last season’s Premier League, won by Chelsea, with the whirlwind start to this year, led by Leicester City, who really fits the bill of a PL Best XI of 2015?
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This won’t be a team that is able to function, rather a culling of the best players with a GK, D, M or F by their name in the position column.
Lots to consider here: Sergio Aguero is unquestionably the deadliest goal scorer in the Premier League, but missed a lot of time. Phil Jagielka has been out for a while as well, but was dominant at the back for Everton.
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Jamie Vardy, Jack Butland and Yohan Cabaye have been electric in the first half of this season, but the first two didn’t star last season and the third wasn’t even plying his trade in England.
Let’s give it a go.
Premier League Best XI — 2015 — (3-4-3)
Goalkeeper – David De Gea (Manchester United)
Honorable mention to Butland’s season so far and Hugo Lloris for Spurs is a close second over the duration of 2015.
Defenders – Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), Jose Fonte (Southampton)
Ashley Williams of Swansea was incredible last season, but Fonte gets our last slot ahead of Jagielka due largely to the Englishman’s injury.
Midfielder – Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), David Silva (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
This is basically a batch of five international midfielders who play similar games. Hazard’s drop-off isn’t enough to undo his first half of 2015, though Ross Barkley‘s amazing start to the year doesn’t make up for a fairly difficult finish to last season. Santi Cazorla, David Silva and Philippe Coutinho also earn an honorably-mentioned shout.
Forwards – Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Aguero still gets his look here despite injury, and Alexis Sanchez deserves a shout, too. Both are guys you’d instantly select over Vardy, and probably Kane, in a world free of fitness worry. But that’s not what we’re doing here.
