Premier League - Team of the Week: Cana the manEurosport - Mon, 19 Oct 12:21:00 2009
Sunderland midfielder Lorik Cana is the first name on the team sheet this week after a sterling showing in the win over Liverpool.
HOW IT WORKSWe take marks out of 10 awarded to Premier League players from a selection of six national newspapers - The Sun, Daily Star, Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, The Times and the Guardian - then create an average and round to the nearest half. The top player in each position will be rewarded with a spot in the team of the week, while the worst scorers will be named and shamed in our Flops XI.
TEAM OF THE WEEKWe've seen some true stand-out performances lighting up the TOTW in the last few weeks - Robbie Keane and Cesc Fabregas springing to mind - and there was another one to savour this weekend.
It came from Sunderland midfield man mountain Lorik Cana, who was adjudged by Fleet Street's finest to be the rock - no, the boulder - on which Sunderland's victory over Liverpool was built.
Also credited with inspiring his team to victory over a big-four team was Aston Villa's Stiliyan Petrov, who helped Martin O'Neill's side pick up the scalp of Chelsea at Villa Park on Saturday.
Also drawing lavish praise was Stoke City centre-back Ryan Shawcross, whose mixture of physical presence and goal-saving tackles made him an automatic choice, as was Wolves veteran Jody Craddock.
Elsewhere, Ryan Giggs demonstrated the kind of form that earned him a place on the Ballon d'Or shortlist in Manchester United's win over Bolton, while Spurs fans will be delighted to see Heurelho Gomes not only back in the side but turning out a performance good enough to put him between the TOTW sticks.
Most bizarre selection of the week is the appearance of Sunderland's Darren Bent up front. But since his fifth-minute strike against Liverpool would have been comfortably saved by Pepe Reina without the interference of the now-infamous beach ball, we thought it only right to add a 12th 'man' to the team for one week only...
Team of the week (4-3-3-1):
GK: Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham) - 8
LB: Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa) - 7.5
CB: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) - 8.5
CB: Jody Craddock (Wolverhampton) - 8.5
RB: Phil Bardsley (Sunderland) - 7
LCM: Stiliyan Petrov (Aston Villa) - 8.5
CM: David Dunn (Blackburn Rovers) - 8
RCM: Lorik Cana (Sunderland) - 9
RW: Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan Athletic) - 7.5
LW: Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) - 8
FW: Darren Bent (Sunderland) - 7.5
FW: Beach Ball (Sunderland) - 10[表情] [表情] [表情] [表情]
FLOPS OF THE WEEKFollowing their loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light it's no surprise to see a trio of Liverpool players lining up for the flops this week, with Ryan Babel, Martin Skrtel and Lucas Leiva all being judged harshly by Fleet Street.
It's a blow for Leiva, whose often-solid performances this season had started to make people believe that perhaps he wasn't that bad after all. Still, one bad game is no disaster and he's still well clear of the Flops of the Season.
Burnley's legendary goalkeeper Brian 'The Beast' Jensen got a general panning for shipping three goals in the first half against Blackburn in the big derby game of the weekend, with Clarets centre-back Steven Caldwell also making the team for aiding and abetting.
Bolton's Chinese midfielder Lee Chong Yong had a good first start for his side before the international break, but was adjuged well out of his depth against Manchester United - fairly harsh, considering that he was playing on the same flank as Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra.
Also worth a special mention is Portsmouth's Aruna Dindane, who enjoyed a trio of close-range chances as Portsmouth struggled to get back into the game against Tottenham at Fratton Park - but blew all three.
Flops of the week (4-3-3):
GK: Brian Jensen (Burnley) - 4.5
LB: Tal Ben Haim (Portsmouth) - 5
CB: Martin Skrtel (Liverpool) - 4.5
CB: Steven Caldwell (Burnley) - 5
RB: Stephen Carr (Birmingham) - 5
LCM: Tamir Cohen (Bolton) - 5.5
CM: Lucas Leiva (Liverpool) - 5
RCM: Lee Chong Yong (Bolton) - 4.5
LW: James McFadden (Birmingham) - 5
RW: Ryan Babel (Liverpool) - 4.5
FW: Aruna Dindane (Portsmouth) -4.5 
