FPLH's Players of the Season

Best “Alternative” Premier League Player of the Season:

1^st - Clint Dempsey
Overall Reason: Number of goals scored from midfield and impact on team’s results.

2^nd - Tim Krul

Overall Reason: Consistent form and sheer number of clean sheets kept.

3^rd - Grant Holt

Overall Reason: Goals and importance to his team’s survival.

Premier League Player of the Mid-Season (1st Half) - GWs 1-19:

1^st - David Silva

Overall Reason: The play-making match winner that inspired his team to the top.

2^nd - Robin Van Persie

Overall Reason: Goals, goals and goals in saving Arsenal’s reputation and season.

3^rd - Gareth Bale

Overall Reason: Providing the creative spark to Spurs’ outside title challenge

Premier League Player of 2012 (2nd Half of the Season) - GWs 20-38:

1st - Papiss Cisse

Overall Reason: Adapted quickly to his new team’s style of play and scored at will.

2^nd - Gylfi Sigurdsson

Overall Reason: Supplementing Swansea’s ethos and proved to be a match winner.

3^rd - James McClean

Overall Reason: Didn’t start under Bruce, yet proved himself in style under O’Neill.

Recommended Player for Gameweek 27

Recommended Player for Gameweek 27 - Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

I probably should have endorsed him publicly on the blog earlier in the season, but it's not late to do so now, my recommended player for Gamweek 27 is Clint Dempsey (Fulham).  Craven Cottage's so-called "Captain America"/"American Dream" scored 12 league goals (and provided 5 assist) last season which brought him much acclaim.  Such form doesn't appear to be a one-off as he has thus far scored 10 goals and bagged 3 assists with 11 GWs still to play of the current season.  With a credible 25 goals in 83 international matches to his name, Dempsey's goal scoring exploits are not just limited to club football.  In fact, he scored a memorable winner against Italy for the USA only this week.  Dempsey is Fulham's main goal scoring threat, complemented with the presence of goal-shy strikers and absence of on-form strikers.  If you don't already have him in your team it is definitely worth picking him, especially due to Fulham's upcoming fixtures:

Wolves (H)

Aston Villa (A)

Swansea (H)

Currently valued at 9.1, he is considerably cheaper than many other attack-orientated Premier League midfielders such as Bale, Gerrard, Nani, Silva and Lampard.  With Dempsey you have the peace of mind that he is an irreplaceable piece to Fulham's midfield and not prone to squad rotation.  He may not have scored in Fuham's last three league matches, but two of those matches were away and in the last home match he effectively scored, but was technically marked down as an assist.  Prior to that he scored 4 goals in 2 consecutive home matches.  With the above points in mind, why wouldn't you pick him?

I will post My GW 27 blog team (with confirmation of my selected captain and vice-captain) a night before the Gameweek commences.