Troy Deeney follows suit of Garth Crooks naming unconventional team of week on Match of the Day 2 – as he opts for no wing-backs and plays one attacker out of position
Troy Deeney has followed the lead of former Match of the Day 2 presenter Garth Crooks and has assembled an unconventional squad for his Premier League Team of the Week. The team features no wingbacks and one surprise star in defensive midfield.
Former Manchester United striker Crooks was known for his unconventional choices during the second day’s match, misplacing players and loading his team with attackers.
He was succeeded on the show by former Watford striker Deeney, who announced his team of the week for the second round of Premier League matches.
Last week, the 36-year-old had opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Kai Havertz leading an attacking midfield of Bukayo Saka, Karou Mitoma and Mohamed Salah. Harry Maguire and Ruben Dias were named as his centre-backs, with Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, and Newcastle’s Dan Burn on the other flank.
This week Deeney has opted for a rather unique formation, namely 3-5-2, which has left his team with a noticeably lack of width.
Troy Deeney (pictured) has followed the lead of former Match of the Day Two presenter Garth Crooks by naming an unconventional selection for his Premier League team of the week
Crooks was known for taking players out of position and adopting some unique formations
“Obviously I started with David Raya in goal – his save was the turning point in that game,” Deeney said on Match of the day 2pointing to the Spanish goalkeeper’s outrageous close-range save from Ollie Watkins during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
The 36-year-old then fielded a defensive three consisting of West Ham’s Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Max Kilman, before revealing why he selected the three defenders.
‘The lads here have all scored or assisted as centre-backs, they’ve done really well and have been a huge force, so they all deserve to be in the team.’
Van de Ven and Romero both featured in Spur’s 4-0 win over Everton, with the latter closing the match with a 71st-minute goal. Kilman would also introduce Jarrod Bowen who scored West Ham’s second goal in their away win over Crystal Palace.
Interestingly, Deeney then selected 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 of Smith Rowe’s performance this weekend. “He seemed to play with freedom and he seems to be growing into the game as Fulham’s main man, which he clearly wanted to be at Arsenal. He scored a really good goal but caused problems all day.”
Deeney opted for a 3-5-2 formation and loaded his team with attackers including Erling Haaland and Joao Pedro
Deeney also surprisingly chose attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe as one of his defensive midfielders
Cristian Romero was another player he selected after he scored in Tottenham’s 4-0 win over Everton
Noni Madueke scored a hat-trick in Chelsea’s 6-2 win over Wolves at Molineux
He then appointed a midfield consisting of Noni Madueke, Cole Palmer and Son Heung-min.
‘Looking ahead, we talked today about the two boys for Chelsea [Madueke and Palmer] and Son was also a joke yesterday.
‘And then the strikers, Erling Haaland and another Watford legend in Joao Pedro.’
Deeney’s players scored a total of 13 goals this weekend, with Haaland and Madueke both scoring a hat-trick.
Deeney subsequently picked Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler as his manager of the week after the Seagulls secured a last-minute win over Manchester United on Saturday to draw their first two Premier League games in a row.
But BBC Match of the Day Two presenter Mark Chapman was astonished by some of Deeney’s choices, with the announcer even claiming his team were not very defensive.
Mark Champan was surprised by some of Deeney’s selections, claiming it’s ‘not the most defensively solid team’
But Deeney then gave his reasoning behind the selections, stating he was going for ‘an all-out attack’
He said: ‘But you’ve deployed your centre-backs because they’re going on wild runs or scoring goals, so it’s not the most defensively sound formation. [team]…’
But Deeney justified his decision by saying: ‘Have you looked at this? No one defends themselves any more – so we’re going all out on the attack.’