No Gray Areas - Young is better than ever
We're a couple of months into the season now and I've been having a think about which players have caught my eye so far. We all know what the likes of Frank Lampard, Cesc Fabregas and Didier Drogba can do but it's always interesting to see players who have improved over the summer and come back as better footballers, playing at a consistently higher standard.
Gareth Bale is playing the best football of his Spurs career after being a bit-part player for them for most of last season. He has also started to add goals to his repertoire which is a priceless asset to any midfielder.
Andy Carroll caught the eye with that hat-trick at home to Villa and has shown some promise which is never easy for a newly-promoted side just playing the one man up front. Jack Wilshere has been sublime for Arsenal and that's a name we'll be hearing for many years to come.
Then there are a couple of others who we've known all along are class acts but seem to be coming good this season. One of those is Ashley Young. He looked a really exciting prospect at Watford and has been an automatic starter since arriving at Villa Park but prior to this season never really kicked on.
With the emergence of Marc Albrighton he's been given a slightly different role and that seems to have brought out the best in him. He's playing with greater freedom, he's scoring goals and is a player Gerrad Houllier will be desperate to hold onto in January.
Lastly, there's Dimitar Berbatov. He's no youngster so it's hardly a case of reaching his physical peak but the quality of football he's playing at the moment is unreal.
It could have been his retirement from international football that made the difference or it may have been the fact that Wayne Rooney's form has suffered for any number of reasons, and that he' s felt he's the main man all of a sudden. Either way, his hat-trick against Liverpool was the display of a man who has re-found his love of the game and bad news for defenders everywhere.
Andy Gray is now on Twitter so follow him for his exclusive tips and his take on the biggest stories in football each week.
Published: 27 Sep 2010
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