Neville tops crossing charts.

Everton skipper suprisingly tops survey to find Premier League's most accurate crosser.
By Daniel Gregory 24/03/08

If you were asked who you thought was the best crosser of the ball in the Premier Legaue, who would you say? Cristiano Ronaldo? Joe Cole? David Bentley perhaps?

You would all be wrong. Even if you were asked who could whip the best ball into the box at Everton you wouldn't guess this one. But Blues boss David Moyes was spot on when he guessed correctly that his skipper Phil Neville had won the top spot in a national survey to find the best crosser in the Premier League.

Yes, that's right, Phil Neville! The man even Everton fans love to hate. So under-rated it's untrue, but still, the best crosser in the league? Surely not.

Everton skipper Phil Neville stands joint-top of the Premier League’s crossing table, level with Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry, who both registered a crossing accuracy of 33.3 per cent. I for one am amazed.

World class telent such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Ryan Giggs, Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips, the list goes on, and at the top of the tree stands the un-fashionable figure of Phil Neville.

These stats can't be taken too seriously in my view, Neville isn't the best crosser of a ball in the Premier League, no-where near it, and anyone who suggests he is needs admitting to a psychiatric unit for assessment. But it does go to show that the former Manchester United man is under rated by many, and perhaps is worthy of his spot in the side.

I would say that right back and centre midfield are the weakest areas of our side, and need addressing if we are to challenge the top four consistently, and Neville would be one of the first to face the chop if push came to shove, but he is a worthy squad player, and has often been a good Everton captain since taking the armband.

Perhaps we should pay more attention to Neville when he bombs down the right wing from now on, I wouldn't get my hopes up though.