The beauty of playing in the English Premier League is that no matter what club you ply your trade for; you have a chance to impact the final table. Players can go from pub trivia fodder to national team player (John Ruddy anyone?) and from solid contributor to top defender (Vincent Kompany) in just 38 games thanks to the highly competitive nature and the ever-increasing global exposure of England’s top league.
You can find part one of this series of articles here. It focuses on the likes of James McClean and Hatem Ben Arfa.
Every season there are a couple players who seemingly come out of nowhere to play a key role in the Premier League drama and a couple solid contributors who make the step up to EPL star. Who will breakout in 2012/13? Let’s have a look at 4 more players who are early contenders.
Karim El Ahmadi – Aston Villa
Aston Villa were not as terrible of a team as they looked most of last season, somehow getting dragged into the relegation dogfight thanks to the defensive tactics of Alex McCleish and injuries to key strikers Darren Bent and Gabby Agbonlahor. The good thing about all Villa’s injuries last season is that some of their youngsters gained valuable experience and the team should see the fruits of that labor in a new system under new manager Paul Lambert.
However, one position has been a problem for Villa for longer than one season. The Villans have been desparately searching for someone to fill the Gareth Barry holding midfield role for years now and in El Ahmadi they may finally have found the solution. The Moroccan international looked tidy in his Villa debut against Burton Albion and with fellow new boy Ron Vlaar behind him should shore up the center of the park at Villa Park. Unlike some of the other players listed in this column, you won’t find El Ahmadi up amongst the goals too often, but if used properly (Dutch blogger Mo Moallim says he is best used playing alongside a more creative midfielder Mirror) he should be hugely influential on a Villa side that looks set to return to the top half of the table.
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