The Dependables

The Premier League is one which rewards strong sides. Sides which contain the fewest weak links within their starting XI. One player does not make a team, and reliance on the scoring of one player or a couple of players can ultimately lead to failure.

Here are three players from different teams who are, more often than not, depended upon more than anyone else in their side.

Tim Cahill – Everton

There’s no doubting Tim Cahill’s ability. He is a world class midfielder, certainly one of the best footballers at heading the ball, and is at the heart of the majority of Everton’s attacking play – as well-rewarded fantasy football managers will soon tell you. The problem is with Everton is that they lack an out and out striker. Despite the Toffees fielding a 4-5-1 formation, it seems impossible to predict who will be the lone forward in their attack out of Louis Saha, Ayegbeni Yakubu or Jermaine Beckford – who have mustered up a measly three league goals between them this season. Tim Cahill has scored nine out of Everton’s twenty goals to date. While this demonstrates his attacking threat and eye for goal, his side will struggle to fulfil their potential and break into the top six this season unless their strikers find some consistency, or manager David Moyes is given the opportunity to delve into the transfer market in 2011.

Andy Carroll – Newcastle

With eleven goals so far this season, Andy Carroll is currently the third top goal scorer in the Premier League – amongst names such as Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez, and more than Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka combined. In Newcastle’s first home game of the season, Carroll netted a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Aston Villa, throwing down his own gauntlet for the rest of the campaign. In fact, fourteen of Newcastle’s 22 points have come when Carroll scores. But such expectation of a 21 year old, brand new to the Premier League, must come as a lot of pressure to the striker - who picked up his first England cap earlier this year. This is not to undermine Carroll’s ability; he has proven himself as a huge threat in front of goal; but the fact that Chris Hughton was sacked earlier this month seems to be a clear indication that chairman Mike Ashley is expecting more than just survival - or even a mid-table finish (Newcastle were eleventh when Hughton lost his job) – for the Magpies this year. Should Carroll happen to miss a string of games through suspension or injury, Newcastle could struggle somewhat due to their inconsistent home and away record this season.

Carlos Tevez – Manchester City

This might sound a bit of an odd one, but before (and probably still now) the drama surrounding Tevez’s future in English football and a possible rift between himself and manager Roberto Mancini, Manchester City fans would have told you that the Argentine international provided the real cutting edge to their side’s attacking play. Tevez has scored twelve goals, all of which have come in seven of City’s eleven league wins. Although Manchester City enter into 2011 joint top of the Premier League, they have scored the least goals out of the top four sides. Although Mario Balotelli is beginning to find his feet, no other player apart from he and Tevez has scored more than twice in the Premier League for Man City this season. The argument could therefore be made that the Blues can score goals from anywhere on the pitch – which might be expected with an abundance of quality players within the squad – but Mancini is right to be looking at bringing in another striker in January (namely Wolfsburg’s Edin Dezko, if reports are correct) – to provide another goal scorer and continue Manchester City’s title ambitions – especially as goal difference could prove to be vital in May next year.

Plymouth 0-2 Newcastle - 19th April 2010

Newcastle United sealed the Championship title with a 2-0 win at Home Park which confirmed Plymouth Argyle’s relegation to League One.

First half goals from Andy Carroll and Wayne Routledge gave the away side their 29th win of the season, and their highest ever points tally in the second tier of English football – overtaking their previous record of 96, when Kevin Keegan guided the Magpies to promotion in 1993.

Defeat for Plymouth left them six points adrift of safety, but with Crystal Palace and Sheffield Wednesday still to play one another on the final day of the season, their drop to League One was mathematically confirmed.

Newcastle needed just one point from their 800 mile round trip to wrap up the title, whereas anything less than a draw would all seal Plymouth’s fate – a difficult task for the Pilgrims, who boasted the division’s worst home record.

Plymouth looked lively in the opening exchanges of the match, with Steve Harper doing well to keep out Jamie Mackie’s shot, while Bondz N’Gala’s unmarked header from the ensuing corner sailing over the bar.

But it was Newcastle who drew first blood when Danny Guthrie’s corner found Andy Carroll’s in the penalty area, who header found its was through a crowd of Plymouth defenders and into the net for his sixteenth goal of the season.

The away side soon doubled their lead with a goal that showed true quality, as Joey Barton’s precise through ball split the Plymouth defence to find Wayne Routledge, who coolly took the ball around Plymouth goalkeeper David Stockdale and fire home from a narrow angle.

The gulf in class between the two sides soon started to show, although Plymouth had some good opportunities at the end of the half with Bradley-Wright Phillips and Alan Judge both firing over from long distance.

Paul Mariner’s men pushed forward in the second half, as another audacious effort from Alan Judge struck the crossbar from distance, but as has been the issue for Argyle all season, there was little end product.

Newcastle began to turn the screw in the last ten minutes of the match as Leon Best’s fine strike smashed off the crossbar, and Joey Barton’s close range effort was spectacularly saved by Stockdale.

Although Plymouth continued to fight for their Championship status in the closing stages, it was simply too little too late, and yet another defeat at Home Park saw them relegated to League One.

Newcastle, on the other hand, can look forward to a swift return to the Premier League next season.

Man of the Match – Wayne Routledge