Swansea City are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by Tammy Abraham in the two nil victory over Crystal Palace at the weekend at Selhurst Park was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Abraham as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘I first noticed this lad in the Under-21 European Championships in the summer. He was impressive during that tournament but I didn’t think he was ready for first-team Premier League action. However, having seen Abraham give Manchester United a hard time, and then play his part in destroying Crystal Palace, I have decided to revise my position. Abraham is athletic, willing to work the channels and brings his team-mates into the game nicely when required. There is also a useful partnership developing between Abraham and Jordan Ayew which, given time, could prove to be a determining factor this season for Swans boss Paul Clement. As for the Eagles, well they are as close to a crisis as it gets. I said in my team of the week, after their defeat against Huddersfield two weeks ago, that I wasn’t sure manager Frank de Boer could do this job and I am still not convinced. While there is no need for Palace to panic just yet, I couldn’t help but notice director Steve Parish paying an awful lot of attention to his mobile phone messages when his team were 2-0 down. I wonder if he was texting Sam Allardyce?’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to Abraham for his recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.
Full Team:
Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Joel Matip (Liverpool), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Tammy Abraham (Swansea City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool).
