I have looked at the last three Premier League winning squads (assuming nothing catastrophic occurs in the remainder of this season at United) and then looked at their "second eleven", that is what I deem the best eleven should they be without every single player they would start with.
I believe the Chelsea second eleven of 09/10 to be the weakest of the three looked at. Hilario is of questionable quality, and made only 2 Premier League starts in the title winning season.Whilst Alex (shown on the image as Costa) is a quality centre back and Bosingwa and Ferreira are solid full backs, Bruma is a weak link and only included due to lack of other options. It is also worth noting that Ferreira is out of position, favouring a role at right back. Mikel is an able enough understudy to Essien, Belletti is played out of position (once again due to lack of other serious options) and Deco provided real quality, albeit on ageing legs. Joe Cole and Zhirkov are a definite class below Anelka and Malouda. Finally Kalou does little to inspire confidence should Drogba be missing a game, but beyond Anelka and Drogba Chelsea lacked any true strikers of real class.
The Manchester City team contains undoubted quality speckled with players less gifted. Pantmillion still only stands out to me due to his lanky frame and Pokemon-esque name, he has yet to prove anything to me as a goalkeeper. Richards is a quality right back and Toure also a valuable centre back to have. Kolarov is as good a player as you can hope to have in the absence of a starting eleven player. De Jong is also a crucial player, definitely better than Javi Martinez, and only misses out on the starting eleven due to the quality of Yaya Toure and alienating loyalty to Barry. Pizarro was an odd player to bring in on loan and made just one Premier League start. Balotelli is, whilst controversial and prone to self destruction, also a highly talented footballer. Milner is a workmanlike player who is versatile and a valuable player due to this. Adam Johnson, limited to only ten starts, has since gone elsewhere to try and find first team football, indicative of his contribution at City. Dzeko is, in my opinion, a vastly underrated player. Scoring 14 goals in 16 starts and 15 sub appearances is good by anyone's standards.
The Manchester United team is one which possesses few stars, but also very few weak links. Lindegaard is probably the best of the three goal keepers. Jones as good at right back as anyone mentioned (especially when consistency is taken into account), Evans is hugely improved and has played exceptionally this season, Smalling also a player who is steadily proving himself to be a capable centre back, finally Buttner is unlikely to add vastly to his current 2 Premier League starts but has shown himself to be exciting going forward. Anderson, whilst sketchy of late, is without doubt a better centre midfield option than Belletti or Pizarro and Scholes is a player capable of controlling and changing big games. The 3 playing behind Hernandez could give most defences a run for their money, once again without a blatant weak link. Kagawa has had a bright first season, Welbeck proven himself to be exciting and hardworking, whilst Nani has a few seasons of good Premier League form to back him up. Hernandez, similarly to Dzeko, scores goals. With 8 goals from 6 starts and 15 substitute appearances, he can be expected to reach double figures comfortably by the end of the season.
If I had to make an XI from all 3 teams?
Lindegaard. Jones, Alex, Evans, Kolarov. Scholes, De Jong. Welbeck, Balotelli, Nani. Dzeko.
That makes 6 Manchester United players, 4 Manchester City and just the 1 Chelsea player. Does this show that depth is becoming a greater factor in winning the title?
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The squads were chosen and displayed on the new and fantastic @EPLindex tactics app
Appearances and goals scored found on the ever reliable Wikipedia
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