Bamford and Woodrow headline county select
THE new year is about resolutions, after all.
Let us all show resolve in the fact that hopefully later this year, when the skies are brighter and the breeze is milder, Yorkshire’s stadiums will stage matches in front of spectators once again.
In these fraught times when the country has just embarked on its third lockdown, football is providing a talking point or three amid the January gloom at least. In that spirit, The Yorkshire Post has resolved upon its Team of the Season so far.
No ordinary season, for sure. Many, such as Mateusz Klich, Alex Mowatt, Josh Emmanuel, Anfernee Dijksteel, Isaac Mbenza, Josh Koroma and Marvin Johnson miss out. Others such as Raphinha and Callum Brittain joined partway through the season. It is all open to debate, so feel free to let us know your thoughts.
In goal is a player for whom 2020 proved the best of times.
Step forward, Barnsley’s Jack Walton, who has turned from a boy into a man in doing his bit to help the Reds to a remarkable ‘ Great Escape’ at the end of 201920 and developing a reputation as one of the best young goalkeepers in the Championship in 2020- 21.
The first name in our threeman defence goes to a player who has operated for much of his career in midfield – and continues to do so for his country – in Middlesbrough’s Paddy McNair.
The Northern Ireland international – switched to the back four by Neil Warnock – is fulfilling the talent that marked him out as a young player of some repute.
Warnock recently labelled him as ‘ the best player in the Championship’. That is somewhat open to conjecture, but his acumen at the back – he is also a deadly set- piece taker – has shone like a beacon.
Tom Anderson of Doncaster Rovers was a regular in our weekly line- ups in 2020 and the wonderfully consistent defender has again forged one of League One’s best centre- half pairings alongside Joe Wright, who just misses out. But Anderson gets the nod.
The third place in our backline goes to a player who is quite simply a manager’s dream and someone whose levels rarely dip.
Huddersfield Town’s Harry Toffolo is a dedicated and talented professional who supporters treasure and bosses adore. The left- back has embraced Town’s new playing style under Carlos Corberan and rarely lets anyone down. A reliable seven- out- of- ten player, who has made our weekly XI on a number of occasions.
The first name in our fourman midfield is someone who also never lets you down in Leeds United’s Stuart Dallas.
The 29- year- old has reached the Premier League the hard way and few players have merited their crack at the big time more than Dallas, who has the full respect of his peers and one of the shrewdest judges of talent in world football in Marcelo Bielsa. Dallas’s displays have shown that he belongs at the highest level.
The inclusion of Doncaster captain Ben Whiteman should come as no surprise.
One of the stand- out central midfielders in League One, Whiteman is a leader, playmaker and a goalscorer and is Rovers’ top- scorer with eight goals.
Rovers followers will continue to enjoy him while they can.
The inclusion of Hull City’s George Honeyman is testament not just to a player who always possesses talent and creative ability, but also to his character.
Honeyman, another top professional, suffered as the Tigers plunged into freefall in the first half of 2020. His response has been emphatic and he is at the heartbeat of a Hull side well placed to bounce back to the second tier at the first time of asking.
One of the headline acts of Yorkshire football in 2020, Barnsley midfielder Callum Styles is a player with his star on the rise.
He produced some barnstorming acts during the Reds’ survival and has built upon them superbly. At just 20, Styles’s name will be appearing on the radar of many bigger clubs.
Back in tandem with the figure who has brought out the best in him in Hull City chief Grant McCann, Mallik Wilks – with nine goals already this term – is well on the way to producing another significant double- figure haul under McCann, as he did at Doncaster. Wilks makes the cut up front.
A player who has the predatory instincts of a striker, a hammer of a shot and the control of a winger, Wilks, at his best, is someone who will have a major say as to whether the Tigers achieve promotion.
Yes, he may have missed a few chances, but Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford’s moments of class have lit up Leeds’s return to the big time. One of the first names in our line- up.
Without Bamford, Leeds’s powers are seriously diminished.
Named in our line- up in ‘ 19- 20, the inclusion of Barnsley’s leader of the pack, Cauley Woodrow, should again be no shock. Since his league debut for the club in November, 2018, only three players have scored more EFL goals than Woodrow’s 38.
As for the manager of the season thus far, that honour goes to Marcelo Bielsa, just ahead of McCann, Darren Moore, Corberan and Warnock in no particular order.