The 2010-11 club soccer season is over! Manchester United came away with the Premier League title but fell (well) short of winning the Champions League Final last Saturday. Either way, it was a very entertaining season with a lot of amazing plays by great players.
I set out to make an “All-Star” lineup to include the best players of the 2010-11 season in the English Premier League. It proved to be way more difficult than I thought. There were so many players with stellar seasons and it seems as though some players had great first halves then slowed down in the latter half and vice versa.
I tried to keep it fair without having any biases toward or against players that I personally dislike or love. Also, I tried to spread the love to as many different teams as possible. Some players, like Luka Modric, who was overshadowed by teammates, may have made it under other circumstances. Others, like Ryan Giggs, had good seasons, but were masked by great performances in other competitions like the Champions League. I didn’t include Jack Wilshere and Javier Hernandez; though they had excellent seasons, they fit into the “Newcomers of the Year” category and made it easier to include other players.
If you wanted to field this team, the formation would technically be a 3-4-2-1 but they would probably still lose to Barcelona. Please let me know your thoughts (@ankursbriefs)! Here we go:
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart, Manchester City; This was a three-way battle with Edwin Van Der Sar and Petr Cech. Why Joe Hart? He started every game for his team and had more Clean Sheets than any other goalie.
Center Back: Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United; Vidic was the best defender in the Premier League for most of the season and contributed on offense as well. Other contenders included Vincent Kompany and Brede Hangeland, but neither had the impact of the United captain.
Left Back: Leighton Baines, Everton; The Everton defense kept this team in the top half of the table (with some help by the great Tim Howard) as the Toffees didn’t score very many goals. Baines gets the nod over Ashley Cole and Patrice Evra because he also pitched in with 5 goals.
Right Back: Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea; Ivanovic is a defensive stalwart who can always be counted on to lay down the law on opposing wingers. He can also be credited with helping David Luiz step in and have an immediate impact on this club.
Midfielder: Rafael Van Der Vaart, Tottenham; He had some great moments, and never let his team give up, even when down a couple goals. Van Der Vaart provides hope for Hotspur fans the world over.
Clint Dempsey, Fulham; Dempsey finally played a complete season and instead of dancing around and losing the ball so much, used his skills to create opportunities for teammates and get a few goals of his own. Things are looking up for the American (we hope).
Charles N’Zogbia, Wigan; The sole reason that Wigan survived relegation. Plus, his versatility to create on offense and play good defense was impressive. Yaya Toure, Luka Modric, and Samir Nasri are others who had great seasons but narrowly missed out.
Charlie Adam, Blackpool; It was very unfortunate that his team didn’t survive relegation, though Charlie Adam did everything he could to save his club. What stood out is that he didn’t disappear against the tougher competition and he kept his team in the hunt to stay up until the last day of matches. Hopefully he will catch on with a Premier League team so his talents remain in the showcase.
Wings: Nani, Manchester United; When Cristiano Ronaldo left two seasons ago, his fellow Portuguese countryman was looked at as the next playmaker for United. He finally came through, creating first for Berbatov then Chicharito and Rooney later in the season.
Gareth Bale, Tottenham; I was tempted to leave him off, but this team felt weird without the Player of the Year. Bale has a bright future ahead of him and can be even better than he was this year. Peter Odemwingie, Dirk Kuyt, and Florent Malouda, among others, made this perhaps the most difficult position to pick.
Striker: Carlos Tevez, Manchester City; So many players could be in italics here, but Tevez takes it because he was the most consistent out of all the candidates. Didier Drogba was hampered by the Fernando Torres acquisition and Dimitar Berbatov scored in bunches early, then mysteriously disappeared when Javier Hernandez emerged. Chicharito may have been here, but failed to show much more than excellent finishing skills. Others considered but not included are Darren Bent, Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
Here are some made-up awards to recognize those who weren’t included above.
Newcomers of the Year: Jack Wilshere, Arsenal, Javier Hernandez, Manchester United, and David Luiz, Chelsea; Wilshere quickly planted himself in the midfield and helped Arsenal stay in the title-hunt all season; Chicharito showed he may be the most promising young goal-scorer in the world; Luiz proved that Brazilians can play soccer (duh!) by playing great defense and showing strong ball and goal-scoring skills.
The “Charlie Hustle” Award: Ji-Sung Park, Manchester United; Though he missed some time at the Asian Cup then had to work through a minor injury, Park never showed any signs of tiring. The South Korean runs harder than anyone else in the league, providing a spark of energy when his team needs it most.
The Easiest Sub Award: Rafael and Fabio da Silva, Manchester United; Identical twins, the two backs took turns being injured and showed that when one came out, the other could come in with no significant drop-off in level of play.
Worst Transfer Window Acquisition: Fernando Torres, Chelsea; Some critics thought that Torres would push Chelsea to the title, instead, the Spaniard went over 700 minutes in Blue before scoring a goal. In addition, he caused a rift in the team which led to less playing time for Drogba. In the end, manager Carlo Ancelotti got the undeserved axe, leaving Chelsea with an interesting offseason ahead.
Most Confusing Team: Wolverhampton; The Wolves boggled minds as they beat Liverpool, Manchester United (when they were undefeated), and Chelsea but barely survived relegation when Blackpool lost on the last day of matches.
Manager of the Year: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United; SAF was the easy choice. His team started the season with a 24-match loss-less streak and held off Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City to win the title. With three legendary players retiring (Van Der Sar, Gary Neville, and Paul Scholes) and a prolific scorer in Berbatov riding the bench of late, Sir Alex will have to show that he can keep this team’s mentality strong enough to defend the title next season.
Goal of the Year: Wayne Rooney, Manchester United; Off a deflected cross from Nani in a crucial game against rival Manchester City, Rooney adjusted and hit a beautiful bicycle kick into the top corner of the net to give United a 2-1 win. Even Sportscenter properly recognized it as a top play, especially since there was no outfielder to make a diving catch that February day.
Most Valuable People: People? The MVP award is usually earned when one has proven to have the most impact. The people with the most impact this season were the Premier League Officiating Crews. Rarely did a week go by without crucial missed calls or wrongly given penalties, and some of the top storylines of the year proved to be mishaps by referees. Hopefully, you read my view on officiating and next season we’ll see adjustments by the EPL to help officials make the right calls.
So there it is. While picking the starting XI, I realized how much talent is spread from the top to the bottom of the Premier League table. It was a lot of fun watching the games this year, and I am glad that the offseason isn’t too long. Not sure about all of you, but I can’t wait to see what happens this summer and how next season plays out. Stay posted, as we here at MyBriefs.com will have summer updates for you and previews to get you ready for the 2011-12 English Premier League!
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