Creme de la Prem — the all decade team

Soccernet has named its all-decade English Premier League team. It’s not easy to put such a team together, and the results will always be controversial. However, the following selections seem pretty reasonable to me:
GK – Shay Given
RB – Gary Neville
LB – Ashley Cole
CB – Rio Ferdinand
CB – John Terry
DM – Patrick Vieira
CM – Steven Gerrard
CM – Paul Scholes
LW – Ryan Giggs
RY – Christian Ronaldo
CF – Thierry Henry
Soccernet also named five substitues. They are Brad Friedel, Sol Campbell, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, and Ruud van Nistelrooy. The selection of Friedel, an American, as back-up goalkeeper took me by surprise. I was expecting to see Manchester United’s Edwin Van der Sar in that slot. But Freidel has, in fact, quietly put together an outstanding full decade in England, and on reflection his selection is reasonable.
Meanwhile, at the half-way mark of this year’s season, here is my all-Premier League side:
GK – Shay Given – Manchester City
RB – Glenn Johnson – Liverpool
LB – Ashley Cole – Chelsea
CB – Richard Dunne – Aston Villa
CB – Roger Johnson – Birmingham CIty
CM – Cesc Fabregas – Arsenal
CM – Frank Lampard – Chelsea
W – John Milner – Aston Villa
W – Aaron Lennon – Tottenham Hotspur
F – Wayne Rooney – Manchester United
F – Didier Drogba – Chelsea
Best Player – Drogba
Best Everton Player – Louis Saha
At the beginning of the decade Rooney and Dunne both were young Everton prospects. How we could use them now.

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