Pies' Premiership Team of the Season
Unlike most people, we actually wait until the end of the season to do our 'team of the season'. Makes sense, don't you think? Anyhoo, here's our selection for the best XI in 2006/07 (fitting neatly into a time-honoured 4-4-2 formation):
Pepe still flaps at the odd cross like a giant baby bird, but we'll forgive him the odd discretion (all keepers make mistakes, simple as that). Reina is still young for a keeper (just 24, although he looks more like 34) and improving all the time. He's had a great season, behind a constantly changing back four, and the fact fans now take it for granted that Liverpool concede hardly any goals is a testimony to his effectiveness as a shot-stopper.
Honourable mention: David James (Portsmouth). A renaissance season for Jamo. Nothing calamitous about his form these days.
Finnan gets the Denis Irwin award for invisible brilliance and robotic reliability. Stevie F (does he even have a nickname or his own chant?) never finds himself in the spotlight because of dalliances with WAGs or merky japes with Rio and I imagine that's just how he likes it. No, Finnan is far too busy tackling wingers, defending corners, making overlapping runs and putting in crosses.
Honourable mention: Michael Essien (Chelsea) Just because you can't give Essien enough honourable mentions - he looks class wherever he plays.
It's a shame that Reading couldn't quite get into Europe, but they've had a cracking season nonetheless. No one epitomises the club's success better than Shorey, a superior journeyman who has played in all four divisions. His form this season has been a revelation. Steve McLaren won't give Shorey a chance because he plays for an unfashionable club, but Steve Coppell knows better.
Honourable mention: Patrice Evra (Man Utd) Does make mistakes, but has the pace to recover. And boy is he fun to watch going forward.
Carvalho has been Chelsea's best defender by a mile this season, and he also found the time to waltz out of defence and score goals/play defence-splitting passes. If he was English we'd rave about him and compare him endlessly to Bobby Moore - but he's Portuguese and has bad hair and his head's a bit too small for his body, so obviously that doesn't happen.
Honourable mention: Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd) For all his extra-curricular merking activity, Rio has been terrific this season.
'The biggest compliment you can pay him is that he has never looked out of place once, and having to play at left-back for so long has just underlined that.' So says David Moyes, Lescott's gaffer, and who are we to argue? Lescott was recently called up to the England 'B' squad but he has the talent to go all the way to the full senior squad. He was also voted Player's Player of the Year by his team-mates. And he looks like a Bond villain. What's not to like?
Honourable mention: Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd) Has added some much-needed granite to Man U's defence.
A rock wherever he plays, Essien is the embodiment of the perfect modern midfielder - in the eyes of managers, if not fans. I'm pretty sure all Premiership bosses would choose to poach Essien above any other player in Chelsea's rich squad, even Drogba - Essien is strong, can run and tackle all day, knows when to play it simple, is good going forward and chips in with crucial goals. And he's improved his discipline no end - just five yellow cards in the Premiership this season.
Honourable mention: Gilberto Silva (Arsenal) Not many bright spots for Arsenal this season, but Gilberto has had a good campaign and deserves a mention. He doesn't rant and rave but he's a quietly effective leader. He also scored 11 goals in all competitions, way more than he's managed in England until now.
Everton's player of the season gets much less of the spotlight than compatriots Cesc Fabregas and Xabi Alonso, but he had a better season than either and was the key to Everton securing a Uefa Cup place. Bigger clubs than Everton will be looking very closely at the little Spaniard this summer, although it seems likely that he will commit to Goodison soon.
Honourable mention: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) Started the season brilliantly but looked tired in 2007. Still young though - his potential is scary.
My favourite player to watch in the whole Premiership shows no sign of losing his magic touch. This season the ginger ninja had his best campaign in years. And at 32 he still has a couple more years left in him. Still a shit tackler though.
Honourable mention: Frank Lampard (Chelsea) Yes I know we're all supposed to hate him and point and snigger and shout 'Oi, Fat Frank!' but come on, he scored 11 goals and had 11 assists at the heart of a team that was, until quite recently, in the running for four trophies. Still a mystery to me why everyone hates him so much.
PFA Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year, PFA Fans' Player of the Year, Barclays Player of the Season, Football Writers' Player of the Year, Man Utd's Players' Player of the Year… you get the picture.
Honourable mention: Gary Speed (Bolton) The evergreen Speed keeps on going - he truly is the Premiership's original Duracell bunny. He'll be 38 this September and probably has one more season in him, although don't be surprised if he's still playing in the top flight at 40.
The best centre forward in the Premiership tormented central defenders all season, although he should cut out the theatrics if he wants to be loved by fans. Without Drogba's goals, Chelsea would have struggled to finish above Arsenal and Liverpool in the league.
Honourable mention: Benni McCarthy (Blackburn) Adjusted to the Prem in no time at all. Could he be playing alongside Drogba at the Bridge next season?
Spurs were a hell of a lot of fun to watch this season and that's mostly down to this man, who seemed to get stronger and stronger as the season wore on. Can Spurs hang on to him though? I'm sure Man Utd fans would love to see him in a red shirt next season.
Honourable mention: Carlos Tevez (West Ham) Fair play to Tevez for almost single-handedly dragging West Ham out of the relegation mire.
No comments:
Post a Comment