The phrase “there’s no loyalty in football”, so often wheeled out when depicting certain players as mercenaries, was shown in a different light at the start of this season when the Abu Dhabi Man City money men showed it’s a two-way thing in their callous treatment of Richard Dunne.
Fans Player of the Year for four seasons straight, Dunne had been at City for nine years and was just a year away from a testimonial, a fact that counted for nothing in the eyes of Sheikh Monsour & co. When the Eastlands top dogs started making eyes at £24m man Joleon Lescott, the Irishman was shipped him off to Aston Villa for just £6m, despite showing no sign of wanting to leave.
Installed at the heart of Martin O’Neill’s defence, Dunne clicked immediately, and has not missed a single minute of Premier League football as the club look to secure a place in that ever-elusive Top Four. His performances have been inspirational, and the defensive solidity and goalscoring threat he carries (three already in the league) looks like Villa finally have a replacement for Martin Laursen…
With Villa’s strength being in their pace up front and ability to counter attack, the defence are at time entrenched as they look to draw teams onto them before breaking, and the organisational skills the Irishman has brought to the back four have been vital to a series of performances that have seen Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool put to the sword already this season.
A refusal to celebrate scoring against City in October only further-increased Dunne’s integrity and whilst it’s unfounded to suggest so, perhaps a drive to prove his ex-employers wrong may well be fuelling the fire of his performances.
Richard Dunne is, unquestionably, my Defender of the Season so far. If he continues to play the way he has, surely a contender for signing of the season, too, and considering the silly-money flying about Eastlands way, what a sweet, sweet irony that would be.
Honourable mentions must also go to Roger Johnson and Thomas Vermaelen. Johnson, in his debut season at Birmingham (and top-level football), has been a rock at the heart of the Birmingham defence, his superb marshalling of the back four one of the reasons for the St Andrews success story to date. Such is the ease of step-up, the recent suggestions for an England call-up can be of no real surprise to observers.
Vermaelen, also in his debut Premiership season, looks like the perfect foil for William Gallas on the left-centre side of Arsenal’s back four, having impressed with a series of consistently authoritative and assured performances. The Gunners are currently top scorers in the Premiership, and Vermaelen’s four goals and an assist from centre half have played a valuable part in keeping Arsene Wenger’s boys hot on the heels of Chelsea and Man Utd in the race for the Premiership.