American International And Bolton’s Stuart Holden Named Premier League’s Best Player By Guardian Readers

Bolton’s Owen Coyle must be on Cloud 9 at the moment. He’s got his side, who finished 14th last term, playing some pretty good football, sitting in seventh spot, and chasing a Europa League birth for next year. Partly to credit for Bolton’s success so far this season has been American International Stuart Holden who was picked up from MLS side Houston Dynamo in January.

Another point to ponder when visualizing Bolton’s climb up the table has been their work rate and ability to “get at” opponents without the ball in their possession. Holden has been tireless so far this year in midfield, embodies what makes Bolton effective and has recently loaded the always welcome goal-scoring bullet into his footballing gun.

If you don’t believe me, you can always ask the ever-educated, always opinionated yet sometimes jaded Guardian readers. The readers of the Guardian’s Sport Blog can award player ratings after each match has concluded over the course of the season, and award to Holden they have. Holden’s average mark so for this campaign has been 7.4, and is good enough for top spot in the poll.

The high praise for Holden also comes with the keeping of good company. Joining the American in ranking high in midfield include a trio of posh London midfielders the likes of Tottenham’s Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart and Arsenal’s Samir Nasri, all three ranking at 7.0.

While Holden looks to remain grounded and build upon the fine performances of the last few months, his message back to Guardian readers on his personal twitter account sums up rather well the kind of player and person Holden seems to be.