Every Monday, for some unknown reason, former Tottenham and West Brom midfielder Garth Crooks picks his selections for the BBC Premier League team of the week.
So normally, every Monday, BBC readers scratch their heads and ask themselves one very simple question... "What?"
This Monday is one of those Mondays, as Garth has offered us a view into the mindset of someone who seemingly has a different set of guidelines when it comes to evaluating player performance than the rest of the world, with his selection of Radamel Falcao in his team of the week.
Now, Falcao didn't play badly against QPR by any means, but to be singled out as one of the best performers in the league this weekend? Consider for a moment Dwight Gayle, who scored twice as Crystal Palace came from 2-0 down to beat Burnley, or Andy Carroll who bullied Hull City and bagged a goal on route to a 3-0 win. There is also no place for Eljero Elia who scored twice at St.James' Park as Southampton beat Newcastle 2-1. His reasoning for picking Falcao is also baffling:
I don’t know what Louis van Gaal said to Falcao last week, having left the Colombian out of the game against Southampton, but based on what I saw against QPR at Loftus Road Manchester United must keep this striker at the club.
His work rate was phenomenal and it was only Robert Green who denied the player a hat-trick.
Keepers are normally what comes between strikers and scoring goals, as you are supposed to hit it around them.
Of course, it's not just goals that dictate who gets in the team of the week, but that argument is totally invalid as in most cases Crooks picks his teams based solely on who scored or got an assist, as can be seen by Antonio Valencia's inclusion at right-back, despite the Ecuadorian having a distinctly average game before laying on a pass for Marouane Fellaini to score.
Next weekend is an FA Cup weekend, so unfortunately there will be no Garth Crooks team of the week for us to decipher.
via 101greatgoals.
