Naughty or Nice: Who has been good in the Premier League this year and who hasn't?
NEWS NEWS BLOG SPORT looks at the heroes and villains of the Premier League season so far.
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| Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, Diego Costa and Louis van Gaal |
Naughty
Diego Costa
From
scoring 21 goals and guiding Chelsea to the Premier League title last
season to netting just four goals and hitting the headlines for all the
wrong reasons, Costa has been a shadow of his former self.
The
27-year-old striker has had a season to forget with a bust-up with
Arsenal’s Gabriel that resulted in him receiving a retrospective ban and
a £10,000 fine, a spat with now former Blues boss Jose Mourinho which
culminated in Costa throwing his bib at the 52-year-old and reaching a
new level of childishness when he made suggestions that Stoke’s Ryan
Shawcross had personal hygiene problems.
And we are only half way through the season...
Louis van Gaal
The
64-year-old Dutchman has had a difficult time this season at Manchester
United with fans and former players venting their frustrations at his
‘boring’ style of football and rumours about his potential sacking
intensify by the day.
His
job security at Old Trafford is particularly fragile at the moment with
United currently on a six-game winless streak, and in his press
conference ahead of the Red Devils’ Boxing Day clash with Stoke he lost
it with the media – dishing out a five-minute rant before storming out
of the press conference.
It
seems as if Van Gaal has lost all his patience with the Old Trafford
faithful and he could soon be shown the exit door with Jose Mourinho
waiting in the wings.
James McClean
McClean
has always been a bit of a livewire on the pitch and is one of those
players who is not scared of a putting in a crunching tackle.
But
his love for hard tackles went a step too far in West Brom’s 2-1 defeat
to Bournemouth as he lunged in late on Adam Smith with a studs-up
tackle that could have been potentially career ending.
Rightfully,
the 26-year-old midfielder was sent off and will now serve a
three-match suspension alongside team-mate Solomon Rondon, who was also
given his marching orders in the defeat at the Hawthorns.
Nice
Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy
Leicester
have been by far the biggest surprise package of this season, tipped to
go down at the start of the campaign but flying high at the top of the
Premier League table at Christmas. Quite incredible.
And
at the forefront of this success is the dynamic duo of Mahrez and
Vardy, scoring 18 goals between them and propelling the Foxes into
unchartered territory.
Vardy
earned his England debut and is in contention to make the cut for Euro
2016, which has been aided by the 28-year-old breaking Ruud van
Nistelrooy’s long-standing goal-scoring record – netting in 12 games in a
row.
But Mahrez has equally shone by bagging 13 goals and making seven assists in 16 league games.
Mesut Ozil
Following
Ozil’s £42million move from Real Madrid to Arsenal there were huge
expectations placed upon the Germany international’s head.
However,
in his first two seasons he struggled to deliver with injuries
derailing his progress as well as finding it difficult to deal with and
adjust to the physical side of the Premier League.
But
this season he looks like the finished article, racking up an
incredible 15 assists in the heart of the Gunners midfield and is well
on his way to equalling Thierry Henry’s Premier League record of 20
assists in one season.
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| senal's Mesut Ozil has racked up 16 assists already this season |
Steven Naismith
This one bucks the trend but seeing as it is Christmas why not spread the festive joy even more.
It
has not been a season to remember for Naismith, often finding himself
warming the Everton bench after making just four Premier League starts
this season.
However,
despite his lack of game time he has been putting in the hours to
spread joy for those less fortunate than himself over the festive
period.
The
Scotland international has been helping feed the homeless for the last
five years by sponsoring a Christmas lunch for Glasgow-based charity
Loaves and Fishes.
He also helps out the homeless at the Whitechapel Centre in Liverpool. Good on you Steven!
