Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week: Pickford, De Bruyne, Gabriel, Morris, Rice

After every Premier League weekend, BBC football pundit Garth Crooks gathers his thoughts and gives you his Team of the Week.

Jordan Pickford (Everton): The Premier League is entering into a period of games where if you are a player, or football fan for that matter, incapable of holding your nerve then I suggest you stay at home for the next few weeks. What the pressure must be like for a goalkeeper, when the slightest mistake could be costly especially at this stage in the season, is almost unimaginable. However, it must help when you’ve faced the threat of relegation before and Pickford seems very comfortable in such circumstances. His performance in a midweek draw at Newcastle was outstanding and he then kept a clean sheet in a very nervy encounter – a 1-0 win at home to Burnley on Saturday.

Gabriel (Arsenal): How Arsenal defend in their next seven Premier League fixtures will determine whether they will be crowned champions or not. That is why their entire back five celebrated as if they had scored a goal when Gabriel blocked a shot in the dying minutes of a match that had already been won against Brighton. To concede at that stage in the 3-0 victory would have been a no more than a mere consolation for the home side.

Nonetheless, Arsenal’s fifth consecutive clean sheet away from home signifies something far more meaningful. It suggests they know they are on a roll and the momentum they have created could see them through to the last day of the season. Gabriel and William Saliba have been magnificent in this regard and they have created a formidable centre-back partnership. Arsenal have a tricky run-in, but none more so than their trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 28 April.

Micky van de Ven (Tottenham): What a strike – the goalkeeper never moved. We know he has pace and we know he has the composure but I never knew Van de Ven could strike a ball like he did in the 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest. It was about as good as a two-touch finish you will see. It was also a very important goal for Spurs whose inconsistency is their only threat to a top-four place.

The goal settled Tottenham down sufficiently to put a potentially troublesome Forest side to bed. Spurs go back into the top four with a mouth-watering tie against Arsenal looming in three weeks’ time. Both clubs need maximum points for very different reasons but defeat for either club could ruin their most cherished ambitions this season.

William Saliba (Arsenal): Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had every right to talk about the maturity of his team’s performance and the spirit within their ranks in his post-match interview, having dealt with Brighton so successfully.

Saliba was the first player to run to Gabriel after the Brazilian defender made an excellent late block, which was exactly the spirit Arteta was referring to. What is also conspicuous is the way Arsenal are stirring the emotions of their away supporters. The Gunners have some difficult journeys to make between now and the end of the season in order to lift the title and their players will need their passion and support. So celebrating their victories so vividly and openly is building even greater momentum, with everyone looking forward to the next away fixture. It’s a clever strategy and one that may in the end prove pivotal to their title challenge.

Declan Rice (Arsenal): Arsenal were taking no chances against Brighton, bringing four players back into their starting line-up after their midweek victory over Luton. Martin Odegaard was the star of the show against the Hatters in the absence of Rice, who made what seemed to be no more than a cameo appearance in the latter stages.

However, the game against Brighton posed a completely different challenge for the Gunners and one they rose to quite brilliantly. Rice was once again at the heart of a very professional performance. The former West Ham captain is as effective in attack as he is in defence, which is probably why Arsenal were prepared to pay £105m for the player in the first place.

Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle): He’s been a revelation for the team since he arrived at St James’ Park. The fans love him and his team can’t do without him. Guimaraes scored Newcastle’s winner against Fulham on his 100th appearance for the club. Manager Eddie Howe’s impromptu pep talk during the first half, where he pulled his players together and gave them what appeared to be a rocket, seemed to do the trick.

This has been a difficult season for the Magpies and they navigated the first part of it very well. However, if Newcastle are going to compete with the best teams, they will need a bigger squad and with Financial Fair Play rules hovering over everyone’s head it’s going to be very difficult to assemble the squad their owners can clearly afford.

Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United): The way Liverpool started against Manchester United they could have been 3-0 up after 40 minutes. Their missed chances spelt danger for the visitors and so it turned out. One mistake by the young Jarell Quansah and United were level. Liverpool’s counter-attacks were their biggest asset, but the fact that Virgil van Dijk is the only defender they can really count on in a crisis is really starting to affect their title chances.

Meanwhile, the longer the game went on the more Jurgen Klopp looked rattled. By the time Mainoo had put away the most glorious finish United were 2-1 up and Liverpool were the ones on the rack and Klopp looked like he was ready to explode on the touchline.

The good news for United is midfielder Mainoo is getting better with every game. The bad news for Liverpool is dropping two points at Old Trafford in the 2-2 draw has done Arsenal and Manchester City a monumental favour. The title is now well and truly up for grabs.

Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City): There can’t be many teams that can leave their star man out of their following fixture having scored a hat-trick, but Manchester City can. Despite his midweek treble against Aston Villa, Phil Foden sat on the bench and looked quite comfortable leaving matters to De Bruyne et al at Crystal Palace.

The equaliser from the Belgium international against Palace was so good it had manager Pep Guardiola blowing kisses to his player in sheer admiration. What then took place from de Bruyne was just pure class. He set up Erling Haaland to add further debate as to the whether the striker is just a goalscorer or not – and then proceeded to help himself to a second goal against Crystal Palace in a 4-2 romp away from home and his 100th since joining the club. This result was massive for City as it leaves them still within striking distance of Liverpool and Arsenal, and Foden fresh to face Real Madrid on Tuesday night in their Champions League quarter-final. Now that’s how you manage your resources.

Carlton Morris (Luton): Finally, Luton close out a game. I said at the start of the season Morris can’t score all their goals but he’s made a very healthy contribution with nine. The Hatters don’t have enough scoring power to stay in the league – a point I raised at the start of their campaign, but my goodness they’ve had a go. The finish by Morris against Bournemouth which provided Luton with a 2-1 win and three very valuable points demonstrated just how capable the striker is in front of goal.

However, even with Nottingham Forest’s four-point deduction by the Premier League, which has given Luton a lifeline, they remain in the bottom three and still have a mountain to climb to survive the season. To stand any chance of staying up they must win at least three of their remaining six games.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton): When did goalkeepers start becoming footballers? When Manchester City boss Guardiola decided to revolutionise football, that’s when. Burnley are paying the price for such boldness and Calvert-Lewin the grateful recipient of Clarets keeper Arijanet Muric’s benevolence. Everton desperately needed this 1-0 victory and more besides if they are to stay in the division. It was also Calvert-Lewin who rescued a point away at Newcastle in midweek, showing nerves of steel to convert a late penalty.

Burnley, meanwhile, are almost certainly down and while it might appear honourable for a manager to hold on to his football beliefs it can also prove costly. Vincent Kompany and his team have certainly paid the price.

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa): Aston Villa took a battering at Manchester City in midweek but survived sufficiently to face Brentford a few days later and earn a draw. Either side could have won this game as both teams went toe-to-toe, both desperate for the win at Villa Park.

This has not been a great week for Villa but not a bad week for Watkins whose two goals in a 3-3 encounter against the Bees keep his team in touch with the top four. Brentford, on the other hand, are for the first time in this division finding it very tough to pick up points. Nevertheless they have enough quality to survive in the Premier League.

Honourable mentions

Referee Andy Madley deserves great credit for his handling of the Brentford v Brighton fixture where Lewis Dunk wasn’t penalised in a shirt-pulling encounter with Bees forward Yoane Wissa.

It’s not often referees get a round of applause for a decision but both sets of fans appreciated the understanding. Here was a referee that adjudicated from instinct and not the rule book. Meanwhile, Brighton striker Danny Welbeck is playing out of his skin.

Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest). The turn to get away from Joao Palhinha and the final pass for Callum Hudson-Odoi to score against Fulham in midweek was superb. Gibbs-White was producing touches of magic all over the park against Fulham, who were well and truly beaten on the night. Gibbs-White also deserved his goal to crown a superb performance.

Cole Palmer (Chelsea): Six goals in four league games says all you need to know about a player’s form.

The Crooks of the Matter

It was difficult to ignore the argument surrounding Erling Haaland last week about the contribution he makes to the team outside the box. The suggestion was that if he’s not scoring goals then his hold-up play and general contribution to the team are just not good enough.

I was always taken by Gerd Muller, Bayern Munich’s record goalscorer and a World Cup winner with West Germany, and a lack of work-rate. It was clear his manager’s instructions were to concentrate on what he was good at. The same was true of Brazil’s Romario, who was practically a passenger on all things outside the box.

The great Italian striker Paolo Rossi was virtually anonymous until you set him free on a through-ball. All those soccer greats had one thing in common – they were the best at what they did and all won World Cups.

English football has always demanded work-rate as an essential part of its make-up and if you are a striker and not scoring goals most weeks then work must be the default position.

It was Sir Alf Ramsey who said he “distrusted a genius who didn’t possess a sweat on his brow”. He was referring to Tottenham’s Jimmy Greaves, who he left out of England’s 1966 World Cup final triumph in favour of West Ham’s Geoff Hurst. He was proved right of course with Hurst’s match-winning hat-trick.

However, scoring goals has always been the most difficult job to achieve on a football pitch. It’s only those who can’t do it who tend to resent those who can, especially when they are having a bad time in front of goal.

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