Troy Deeney has followed suit of former Match of the Day 2 presenter Garth Crooks, naming an unconventional squad for his Premier League team of the week, that features no wing backs and has one surprise star starting in defensive midfield.
Former Manchester United centre-forward, Crooks, was well-known for making some unconventional selections during his time on Match of the Day Two, picking players out of position while loading his team with attackers.
He was succeeded on the show by former Watford striker, Deeney, who has named his team of the week for the second round of Premier League fixtures.
Last week, the 36-year-old had opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Kai Havertz fronting an attacking midfield of Bukayo Saka, Karou Mitoma and Mohamed Salah. Harry Maguire and Ruben Dias were named his centre backs, with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming in as right back, with Newcastle’s Dan Burn on the other flank.
This week, Deeney has opted for a rather unique formation, of 3-5-2, with his side notably lacking a lot of width.
Troy Deeney has followed suit of former Match of the Day Two presenter Garth Crooks, naming an unconventional squad for his Premier League team of the week
‘Obviously, I’ve started with David Raya in goal – his save was the turning point in that game,’ Deeney said on Match of the Day 2, noting the Spanish shot-stopper’s simply outrageous save to deny Ollie Watkins from point-blank range in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa.
The 36-year-old would then go on to pick a back three of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and West Ham’s Max Kilman, before revealing why he had selected the three defenders.
‘The boys here have all either scored or assisted as centre halves, did really well and have been a colossal force so they all deserve to be in the team.’
Van de Ven and Romero were both standouts during Spur’s 4-0 trouncing of Everton, with the latter wrapping up the match with a goal in the 71st minute. Kilman would also tee up Jarrod Bowen who netted West Ham’s second goal during their away victory against Crystal Palace.
Interestingly, Deeney then went on to pick Fulham newcomer Emile Smith Rowe as a defensive midfielder alongside Man City’s Kevin de Bruyne.
‘I really enjoyed the way he played,’ he said, on Smith Rowe’s performance this weekend. ‘It looks like he played with freedom and it looks like he is growing into the game as Fulham’s main man, which he obviously wanted to be at Arsenal. He scored a really good goal but created problems all day.’
Next up, he named an advanced midfield three of Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer and Son Heung-min.
‘Looking forward, we’ve spoken about the two boys for Chelsea today [Madueke and Palmer] and Son was a joke yesterday as well.
‘And then the strikers, Erling Haaland and another Watford legend in Joao Pedro.’
Deeney’s picks scored a combined 13 goals this weekend, with both Haaland and Madueke scoring hat-tricks.
Deeney went on to pick Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler as his manager of the week after the Seagulls orchestrated a last-gasp victory against Manchester United on Saturday to go back-to-back in their opening two Premier League matches.
But his team left BBC Match of the Day Two presenter Mark Chapman perplexed by some of Deeney’s choices, with the broadcaster claiming his team wasn’t very defensive.
He said: ‘But you’ve put your centre halves in because they went on rampaging runs or scored, so it’s not the most defensively solid [team]…’
But Deeney justified his decision by stating: ‘Have you been watching this? No one defends any more – so we’re going for an all-out attack.’
