I got asked to do this by a few mates, and thought it might be fun for you guys on here to try to. SkySports asked all their pundits to come up with a "team of the season" of players from the Premier League. Much as it may pain you to write non-Arse players, it is a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 formation, with one player from each position - bear in mind across midfield you can put any player in any position (EG, you can pick someone from CM to put on LM or RM). Here's the list anyway: GOALKEEPERS David JAMES (Portsmouth) Ben FOSTER (Watford) Petr CECH (Chelsea) Brad FRIEDEL (Blackburn Rovers) Scott CARSON (Charlton Athletic) Jussi JAASKELAINEN (Bolton Wanderers) DEFENDERS RB Steven FINNAN (Liverpool) Emmanuel EBOUE (Arsenal) Pascal CHIMBONDA (Wigan Athletic) Gary NEVILLE (Manchester United) CB Nemanja VIDIC (Manchester United) Ricardo CARVALHO (Chelsea) Jamie CARRAGHER (Liverpool) John TERRY (Chelsea) Michael DAWSON (Tottenham Hotspur) Linvoy PRIMUS (Portsmouth) LB Joleon LESCOTT (Everton) Leighton BAINES (Wigan Athletic) Nicky SHOREY (Reading) Patrice EVRA (Manchester United) Gareth BARRY (Aston Villa) MIDFIELDERS RM Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) David BENTLEY (Blackburn Rovers) Stephen HUNT (Reading) CM Paul SCHOLES (Manchester United) Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Michael CARRICK (Manchester United) Michael ESSIEN (Chelsea) Steven GERRARD (Liverpool) LM Mikel ARTETA (Everton) Ryan GIGGS (Manchester United) Matthew TAYLOR (Portsmouth) FORWARDS Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Dimitar BERBATOV (Tottenham Hotspur) Carlos TEVEZ (West Ham United) Benni McCARTHY (Blackburn Rovers) Kevin DOYLE (Reading) Happy picking!
Oh, and just for the record, my team was: GK - David JAMES RB - Emmanuel EBOUE CB - Nemanja VIDIC CB - Ricardo CARVALHO LB - Leighton BAINES RM - Cristiano RONALDO CM - Paul SCHOLES CM - Michael ESSIEN LM - Matthew TAYLOR FW - Benni McCARTHY FW - Carlos TEVEZ
Okay...... GOALKEEPERS Brad FRIEDEL (Blackburn Rovers) DEFENDERS RB Steven FINNAN (Liverpool) CB Nemanja VIDIC (Manchester United) Ricardo CARVALHO (Chelsea) LB Leighton BAINES (Wigan Athletic) MIDFIELDERS RM Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) CM Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Michael ESSIEN (Chelsea) LM Mikel ARTETA (Everton) FORWARDS Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Dimitar BERBATOV (Tottenham Hotspur)
James Finnan Vidic Carragher Lescott Fake Ronaldo Essien Scholes Arteta Drogba McCarthy if I were running a 4-3-3 James Chimbonda Carragher Ferdinand Evra Essien Gerrard Cesc Fake Ronaldo Berbatov Tevez with Drogba just missing
GK - Petr CECH RB - Steve FINNAN CB - Nemanja VIDIC CB - Ricardo CARVALHO LB - Nicky SHOREY RM - Cristiano RONALDO CM - Francesc FABREGAS CM - Michael ESSIEN LM - Matthew TAYLOR FW - Dimitar BERBATOV FW - Didier DROGBA
I'm biased, but who's not? I put Kolo Toure in there. GOALKEEPERS Petr CECH (Chelsea) DEFENDERS RB Steven FINNAN (Liverpool) CB Kolo TOURE (Arsenal) John TERRY (Chelsea) LB Joleon LESCOTT (Everton) MIDFIELDERS RM Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) CM Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Steven GERRARD (Liverpool) LM Ryan GIGGS (Manchester United) FORWARDS Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Dimitar BERBATOV (Tottenham Hotspur)
I'm surprised to see Tevez's name turning up so much when teams of the season are discussed. I wasn't paying much attention, but did he do anything of note before the last two months?
Not really. He assisted a fair amount of West Sham's goals, but he's pretty much kept them up over the last 1/4 of the season.
He's been playing out of his mind for the last two months. So he has that going for him. Journos and fans definitely have an eye for the recent and for big games and the like. You only started hearing chatter about how great Nemanja Vidic was after his dominant performance against Arsenal. Likewise Kaka was getting attention in Italy, but Kaka as European Footballer of the Year only started when Milan beat Bayern.
GOALKEEPERS Petr CECH (Chelsea) DEFENDERS RB Steven FINNAN (Liverpool) CB Nemanja VIDIC (Manchester United) Ricardo CARVALHO (Chelsea) LB Leighton BAINES (Wigan Athletic) MIDFIELDERS RM Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) CM Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Michael ESSIEN (Chelsea) LM Mikel ARTETA (Everton) FORWARDS Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Dimitar BERBATOV (Tottenham Hotspur)
My 4-3-3: GK: David James RB: Eboue CB: Vidic CB: Terry (no Toure ) LB: Baines RAM: Ronaldo CAM: Cesc LAM: Essien SS: Tevez SS: Berbatov FW: Drogba
I don't understand why people vote for Cech...yes he got smashed in the head, but David James played better than he did this year! It is a travesty that he isn't England's starting keeper - we all know he's number 1 at the moment.
James started to fade in the second half of the season, although he was by far #1 up until december. Cech was out for a while, but when he returned he was single handedly keeping chelsea in the title hunt, thats why I picked him.
Bear in mind that Chelsea's defence keeps out most of the chances. Portsmouth have battled this year and it was no surprise that their fans voted him player of the year.
keeper- cech rb-finnan cd-vidic, terry lb-evra rw- ronaldo cm- fabregas, gerrard lw- arteta st- mcarthy, tevez
David JAMES (Portsmouth) Steven FINNAN (Liverpool) Ricardo CARVALHO (Chelsea) Jamie CARRAGHER (Liverpool) Joleon LESCOTT (Everton) Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) Paul SCHOLES (Manchester United) Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Ryan GIGGS (Manchester United) Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Carlos TEVEZ (West Ham United) And even though Berbatov has been better than Tevez, I just couldn't bring myself to put him in!!
------------James------------ Finnan-Carragher-Vidic-Lescott Ronaldo-Scholes-Essien-Giggs --------Drogba-McCarthy-----
GK - David James RB - Michael Essien (I know he's mainly a DM but he plays so much better at right back) CB - Nemanja Vidic CB - Kolo Toure LB - Patrice Evra RM - Cristiano Ronaldo CM - Paul Scholes CM - Gilberto Silva LM - Matthew Taylor FW - Benni McCarthy FW - Didier Drogba
Petr CECH (Chelsea) Pascal CHIMBONDA (Tottenham Hotspur) Gareth BARRY (Aston Villa) Ricardo CARVALHO (Chelsea) John TERRY (Chelsea) Michael ESSIEN (Chelsea) David BENTLEY (Blackburn Rovers) Paul SCHOLES (Manchester United) Didier DROGBA (Chelsea) Carlos TEVEZ (West Ham United) Cristiano RONALDO (Manchester United) Substitutes... Emmanuel EBOUE (Arsenal) Nemanja VIDIC (Manchester United) Michael DAWSON (Tottenham Hotspur) Francesc FABREGAS (Arsenal) Dimitar BERBATOV (Tottenham Hotspur) Couldn't put any Arsenal players in the starting line-up because they under-achieved. To get in my team they will have to do better. Hopefully that will motivate them.
Makes me laugh that you have more players from the team that finished second than the Champions. And David Bentley? Pfft.