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The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index is the official player rating index of the Barclays Premier League, and measures a player's all round contribution to the success of his team. EA SPORTS have now used it to find out the English players who should be making the 23 man squad to face Slovenia in the EURO qualifiers based on their statistical performances this season. They used the same to form a combined playing eleven involving players from Manchester United and Manchester City during the derby last week.
Southampton’s full backs Ryan Bertrand (on loan from Chelsea) and Nathaniel Clyne make the squad on the back of their team’s brilliant start to the season. There are a few surprises as Wayne Rooney is left on the bench in favour of West Brom’s Saido Berahino and QPR's Charlie Austin who have scored 7 and 5 goals in the league respectively so far.
Manchester City’s Joe Hart loses his number 1 spot to Fraser Forster, but manages to keep his place in the squad. West Brom and West Ham have the most number of players in the 23 man list.
The final 23 player squad is:
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster, Joe Hart, Ben Foster
Forster has conceded just five goals in the league for the Saints, averaging 3.6 saves per goal conceded and that puts him ahead of Hart despite few English fans backing the Manchester City stopper for England Captaincy recently.
Full backs: Leighton Baines, Ryan Bertrand, Aaron Cresswell, Nathaniel Clyne
Everton left back Leighton Baines leads the charts with a PPI score of 186, which is 15 ahead of Bertrand. West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell comes in next followed by Clyne. While Bertrand has played two matches for England, the other two are yet to make their debuts.
Centre backs: Phil Jagielka, Gary Cahill, Ryan Shawcross, Craig Dawson
Only nine players from the World Squad are present here, and among them only the CB pairing remains unchanged as Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka retain their spots ahead of Ryan Shawcross and Craig Dawson.
Central Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, Mark Noble, Gareth Barry, Tom Huddlestone
The retirements of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have paved way for others to step in and it looks like Henderson is going to do just that. With a PPI score of 144, Mark Noble will be partnering him.
Wingers: Raheem Sterling, Stewart Downing, Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge
Swansea City duo Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge make it to the list, but won’t be starting ahead of Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling and West Ham’s Stewart Downing who have a PPI score of 211 and 207 respectively.
Strikers: Saido Berahino, Charlie Austin, Frazier Campbell, Wayne Rooney
No other striker even comes close to Berahino as he has a PPI score of 235, with the next best being Charlie Austin with 156. Rooney is way below the pecking order at the fourth spot with a score of 127.
Even though the squad won’t be picked on the basis of these ratings, they surely do give us an idea of the country’s best performers in the league this season.
