English Premiership stars have made a clean sweep in the Most Negative European Players of 2010 awards .
The honour, selected by sports journalists in the European Union, is judged on the basis of the number of square or back passes completed per game.
Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick pipped his neighbour, Gareth Barry of Manchester City, to the top prize.
Third place went to Nigel Reo-Coker of Aston Villa.
English FA chairman David Bernstein was delighted with the news - "Anyone who thinks that the English game is stagnating should be ashamed of themselves. The fact that 3 English players won the top 3 places for a prestigious award like this speaks volumes about the state of English football.
Anyone can hit Hollywood passes through a crowded defence a la Fabregas or Nasri. Consistently finding a man with a square or back pass is a different and much harder proposition.
These guys should be proud of themselves".
