Premier League Top 5 Everything

In order to fit the three best attacking players (Rooney, Aguero, and Van Persie) on my first team, this year I am going with an attacking 4-1-2-1-2 formation. While I first set up to just do a top 3 teams like they do in the NBA, I realized that there were too many good players this year to not just do a top 5. Cheers to the best year in Premier League History.

GK (2nd team, 3rd team, 4th team, 5th team)- Hart (Krul, Vorm, Szczesny, Howard) This was a three horse race all the way through the season with the English #1 barely edging out the two Dutch backups because he was consistently the best goalie from start to finish.

RB- Walker (Sagna, Man City's RBs (Zabaleta/Richards), GJohnson, Ivanovic) In easily the weakest position in the Premier League this year, Walker wins in a landslide because Sagna broke his leg twice and Richards got hurt just as Zabaleta got back into form and took his starting spot for the champions.

CB- Kompany (Skrtel, Kaboul, Distin, Lescott) For towering center backs, these 5 were all dominant and had fantastic seasons throughout the campaign. While Lescott was overshadowed by his superstar defensive partner, Skrtel had arguably the most under appreciated season of any one player in the league, and Kaboul made everyone forget the brilliance of Dawson last year. Distin's year will be remembered for his horrific backpass which led to their FA semifinal exit to their Merseyside neighbors, but there is a reason why Cahill said he's been Everton's player of the season. Kompany deserves special mention because he was the most valuable player on the best team and established himself as the best defender in the world.

CB- Coloccini (Koscielny, Ferdinand, Evans, Vermaleen) These skilled defensemen are the few players in the league who combine intelligent defending with fantastic skill on the ball. Ferdinand's rolling back the years combined w Evans' drastic improvement from last season's mistakes kept Man U in the title race til the last day of the season (which few, including me, thought possible after Vidic's early season torn ACL). Koscielny won my award for most improved player of the season (with Evans coming in 2nd) and Coloccini has quietly become one of the most complete center backs in the world. Most non- Newcastle supporters don’t quite realize how good Coloccini is, but for those who watch him week in and week out, we know how skilled and valuable he is to the team.

LB- Baines (Assou-Ekoto, ACole, Evra, Enrique) Enrique was the best left back in the 1st half of the season, Evra was the best LB in the world as of last year, and Cashley was the best LB in the Champions League, but this was a two horse race by season's end. Baines edges out BAE for the first team spot because as good as the left sided combination of him and Bale were in the 1st half of the season, the combination play of Baines and Pienaar (who is such an inferior player to Bale that Spurs loaned him out to his former club in the middle of a Champions League race) was that much better.

RCM- Valencia (Ramires, Cabaye, Arteta, Larsson) In the hardest decision of the entire squad, Valencia starts over Ramires because, while both are under appreciated superstars who can do it all, Valencia's crossing is so superior to Ramires (and every other winger in the PL) that his injury midseason couldn't knock him off the top spot. Cabaye is a younger, harder tackling version of Arteta and Larsson kept the Sunderland ship from sinking when O-Neill took over midseason. 

CDM- Toure (Parker, Fallani, Song, Tiote) And this is why the team of the season's should be done after the season is over (what a crazy idea I know). While Parker missed the end through injury, Toure carried his squad to the title. Toure, even with his lackadaisical, no show matches throughout the campaign, is such a beast among men that when he's on, he's purely unstoppable to play against. Fallani deserves credit for much more than his hair and Song's greatly improved passing range made him much more than your typical "Makelele" type player.

LCM- Silva (Bale, Modric, Britton, Carrick) Silva's first half domination of the league was so utterly brilliant that he could of sat out the entire last couple months of the season and still would of beat out the 2 Spur superstars. Britton had a "xavi" like passing rate for Swansea's extremely successful first season up and Carrick's wide range of skills seem to always go unnoticed. 

CAM- Rooney (Mata, Sessegnon, Dembele, Ben Arfa) Rooney's ability to do everything on the pitch extremely well was the main reason a "weak" Man U team ended the season on 89 points. Let me repeat that. 89 points!The same number of points that would have won the title almost every other year, but yet, people still seem to love bashing on the best English player since.....hmmm Sir Bobby Charlton? For some reason, Sessegnon and Dembele seem to get overshadowed by their scoring teammates Larsson and Dempsey respectively, but a child could watch a Sunderland v Fulham game and tell you who the two best players are....and they're not white.

CF- Van Persie (Adebayor, Holt, Dempsey, Yakubu) Yakubu carried what looked like an MLS team for the first half of the season, while Holt and Dempsey couldn't stop scoring on some very average Premier League teams. Adebayor missed his usual number easy scoring chances and sitters, but his work-rate improved and his spectacular hold up play was vital to Tottenham's success. For RVP check the MVP.

CF- Aguero (Ba, Suarez, Welbeck, Cisse/Jelavic) Cisse and Jelavic were arguably the two most successful winter signings in PL history so, even though they didn't play the first half of the season, they deserved a shared spot here. Welbeck was able to wrestle away the starting spot from last year's player of the season, Chicharito, and Suarez's racist ways overshadowed how incredibly hard he is to defend. Ba carried Newcastle's attack for the first half of the season, while Aguero carried Man City's attack throughout the season even with Dkeko's lack of a touch, Balotelli's burning of houses, and Tevez's unwillingness to listen to anyone but his agent.

Honorable Mention- Foster, Terry, Scholes, Dyer, Moses  

Manager- Pardew (Rogers, Lambert, Moyes, O-Neill) To start the season on an eleven game unbeaten streak and end it in a Europa League spot is more than even the most optimistic Newcastle supporter (me!) could have dreamed of and Pardew deserves great credit for achieving this with so many squad changes over the last year. Rogers and Lambert, with drastically different coaching styles, were able to take two squads that looked destined for a relegation scrapfight, safely into midtable for basically the whole season.

MVP- Van Persie (Kompany, Rooney, Aguero, Coloccini) Even with his end of season slide, RVP was the only player to carry his Champions League team throughout the season as he stayed off the treatment table and dominated the league this year. He had one of the few years that all strikers dream of where he was able to combine brilliant all-around play and easily lead the league in scoring. If it wasn’t for RVP’s brilliance, Arsenal would have been lucky to have finished in the top 8 this year.

LVP- Downing (Carroll, Torres, Adams, Nani) Oo how all that money John Henry has wasted on those overpriced Liverpool signings in the past couple years I could have bought an entire team. This was a two horse race between the two worst Liverpool flops, Downing and Carroll, but Downing got the edge in least valuable player of the year because to end the season with 0 goals and 0 assists as an attacking midfielder is an absolute travesty.

Best Summer Signings- Vorm (Ba, Cabaye, Larsson, Aguero) Ba had this spot all but wrapped up by midseason but then left for the African Cup of Nations and never was the same. He went from potentially being one of the best signings of all time (a top four EPL forward who was bought for FREE) to not even one of the top two attacking players on his own team. I still don’t know how Cabaye, a France International who was the lynchpin in Lille’s championship winning team last year and only cost a cool 4.5 million, was not sought out by more teams over the summer. But Vorm was my summer signing of the year because a 1.5 million dollar goalie, who has around ten more solid years left in him and is already one of the top goalies in the PL, just does not come around every so often.

Best Winter Signings- Cisse (Jelavic, Scholes, Pienaar, Sigurdsson) Hands down the best winter signing season in PL history. While last year’s top two winter signings cost a combined 85 million, these 5 cost a combined less than 15 mill and each played a million times better than any winter signing of last year. I can go on and on about how big the free loans/signings of the three key midfielders, Sigurdsson, Pienaar, and Scholes, were, but this all came down to the goal scoring prowess of Jelavic and Cisse. Jelavic was able to bag 11 goals in only a couple months for Everton and Cisse scored 13 goals in his first 12 games for Newcastle.

Biggest Injuries- Lucas (Wilshire, Holden, Vidic, Sagna) Sagna’s broken legs caused Arsenal all sorts of defensive problems, but Wilshire’s injury was a bigger blow because with Fabregas’s departure his creativity in the middle was Arsenal’s only chance for a title run. Due to Evan’s huge improvement this year, Vidic’s torn ACL didn’t hurt Man U as much as first thought, but Holden’s ACL injury was felt far more as Bolton got relegated without his intelligent, middle of the park play. Lucas’s torn ACL in the beginning of the season was the biggest injury of the bunch, because he was on the tear of his life and was quickly forming into the best CDM in the world.

Best Goal- Cisse (Crouch, Ben Arfa, Suarez, Aguero) Aguero’s quality of goal was average but it was the most important goal in PL history so it had to be here. Suarez’s half-line chip shot gave him one of the best hat tricks I have ever seen. Ben Arfa’s full field turn, run,and toe poke wasn’t even his best goal of the season (his best was this in the Cup), but it was unbelievable in its own right. Crouch’s “never touched the ground” wonder volley was out of this world for such a lanky character. And Cisse’s final goal of his magical season just makes u feel well… just… speechless.

Team of the Season

Keeper - Michelle Vorm - You could make any good number of cases here for Friedel, Krul, Hart, but I'll go with the Dutchman for not only his acrobatics, but outstanding statistical record before Swansea tailed off after March.  

Right Back - Kyle Walker - Probably the easiest inclusion in this XI. Which is to say I don't really see any other candidates. Zabaleta and Simpson also had solid seasons, but Walker was superb at both ends of the pitch. 


Left Back - Benoit Assou-Ekoto - I'd probably rather have either Jose Enrique or Leighton Baines in my XI, but BAE turned a huge corner in 11/12 along with the rest of the Spurs defense. He's already talking up himself for a big money move to a bigger club. But considering City bought Clichy for a kings ransom, (I mean 7 million pounds my god) just last summer, he probably isn't going to do any better than spurs for the moment. (such is the life of a left back).  

Center Back - Vincent Kompany & Fabricio Coloccini - Martin Skrtel, Laurent Koscielny, Younes Kaboul all made personal improvements. But these two were the most integral to their teams' success. And Kompany seems one of a few halfway decent guys on what will only become a more odious Man City side in the coming years.  

Left Mid - David Silva - Pity to see him sputter out of gas like that at the end of the season, and it nearly cost his team the title. But he was in a class by himself in the whole league for the first few months, and will hopefully feature in the Spanish XI in Ukraine. Same holds true for Juan Mata, who adapted to life in the Prem ludicrously fast, but never quite reached the heights of his compatriot  

Center Defensive Mid - Scotty Parker - New club. New lease on life. Maybe I'm being naive, but I can never remember Scott Parker playing the cliche role of "works his socks off" with such eagerness and tenacity at any of his previous clubs. Played his way right into the England midfield and would be my vote for captain. Honorable mention goes to the ever tireless Alex Song, who got Arsenal out of jail on countless occasions this year with his tackling and inspired lofted through balls to Van Persie.

Center Mid - Yaya Toure Ramires- Oh, you mean, you didn't happen to catch more than the last two games of the year. Then you're probably a bit confused as to why I'm not throwing heaps of praise like the rest of the football and punditry when it comes to the most overrated Toure brother since Kolo. I just don't get it. Yes, he pops up and scores goals, but he is a defensive liability, and one of the reasons they crashed out of Europe. Ramires on the other hand is basically the reason that Chelsea are still in Europe and the antithesis of Yaya Toure. And he's done it all while wearing braces!

Right Wing - No One - If you put a gun to my head, I'd probably say Victor Moses, but that's pretty soft. Nathan Dyer, Valencia, Seb Larsonn? Were clutching at straws here.

Strikers - Sergio Aguero & Robin Van Persie - People forget that this was RVP's first full season healthy. It's never been a question of ability with Robin, just fitness (and a bit of temprement). You might argue for Grant Holt, Cisse, Suarez, Rooney, or Adebayor even, but Aguero was another to make the impressive transition to the premier league withough missing a beat.

Manager - B.Rodgers 
Goal - Ben Arfa
Clown - Joey Barton/Ballotelli
Stunt - Rando handcuffing himself to the post.

Marseille v Inter Player Ratings Numbers

Marseille 1 vs Inter 0

Champions League Round of 16

Ayew is able to score a last gasp winner to put Marseille in the drivers seat of this not so thrilling, evenly matched tie where not one player played exceptionally and chances came few and far between.

First is my rating, then the rating from espnstar, then from goal, and then the fan rating from the guardian.

Marseille

Steve Mandanda- 7.5 - 7.5 - 6.5 - 7.8

Souleymane Diawara- 7 - 7 - 5.5 - 7

Jérémy Morel- 5.5 - 6.5 - 5 - 5

Nicolas N'Koulou- 7 - 6.5 - 6 - 7

César Azpilicueta (Rod Fanni, 80)- 7 - 7.5 - 6 - 7

Morgan Amalfitano- 6.5 - 6 - 6 - 6.8

Mathieu Valbuena- 7 - 7.5 - 7 - 5.7

Alou Diarra- 6 - 7 - 5.5 - 6

Benoit Cheyrou (Charles Kaboré, 84)- 7 - 7- 6 - 5.8

Brandão (Jordan Ayew, 73)- 4.5 - 7 - 4.5 - 3.4

André Ayew- 7 - 8 - 7.5 - 5.8

Inter

• Julio César- 6 - 6.5 - 6 - 5.3

• Maicon (Yuto Nagatomo, 45)- 5 (6) - 6 (7) - 5 (6) - 4 (6.5)

• Lucio- 7.5 - 7.5 - 6.5 - 6

• Walter Samuel- 6.5 - 6.5 - 6 - 5.3

• Cristian Chivu- 5 - 5 - 5.5 - 5

• Dejan Stankovic- 5 - 7 - 5 - 5.7

• Wesley Sneijder- 6 - 6 - 5.5 - 5.4

• Javier Zanetti- 7 - 7 - 6 - 6

• Esteban Cambiasso - 7.5 - 7.5 - 7 - 7

• Diego Forlán- 6 - 7 - 5.5 - 5.6

• Mauro Zárate (Joel Chukwuma Obi, 64)- 4.5 (4.5) - 6.5 (6.5) - 4.5 (5.5) - 4 (4)

Ref- 7

N-H-P

No. Hay. Palabras.

Cristiano Ronaldooo

Disjointed thoughts from the weekend

February - black history month, bad haircut month


1) Bravo Zambia. I'm not going to act like I knew about the tragedy of 1993 before this tournament, nor would I have if I didn't actively seek out information because not a single minute of this tournament graced the American airwaves, or even made an appearance on ESPN's bottom line, but I digress. It's a wonderful story, but it doesn't quite take the awful taste out of my mouth from what happened in Egypt last week.

2) Real Madrid just don't lose in La Liga. This game had all the makings of trap-game. Levante hadn't won in 2012, Barca had already lost so it was practically a freebie. But you just had that feeling that Levante could knick it, especially when they took an early lead. Real just keep trucking along though, this time behind a Ronaldo hat trick with a whopper of a dipping 30 yard shot that you have to see.

3) Leo Messi might be human. I haven't watched as much Messi as some, but I've seen my fill, and every time you watch the little genius you think, "jesus, he's the best I've ever seen." I can honestly say, this was the first game I've watched where Messi didn't leave me shaking my head wondering how he does it. He must have been ill or something...

4) You can take the Mancini out of Italy.... Why oh why does Mancini continue to insist upon playing with Garreth Barry alongside of Nigel De Jong or Yaya Toure? He finally gave Adam Johnson a game though, so I can't have everything.

5) Suarez is a knobhead.

Guest Poster Liverpool v Spurs Player Ratings

Below is Liverpool supporter and friend of the blog @bhprout and his take on the match yesterday. It's always insightful to see other's opinions

Liverpool


Pepe Reina (6.5) – Very little action for the Spain no. 2, but popped up with a good safe after Gareth Bale raced in, clear on goal. Bale should have done better, but Pepe made himself big and denied what would have been a snatch and grab winner.



Martin Kelly (6.5) – the Academy product handled himself rather well, coming in to displace Glen Johnson to LB as Jose Enrique missed out due to injury. Snuffed out several dangerous situations down Spurs’ left flank and got forward on occasion. Provided a great cross that eluded Downing before Carroll blasted over and even tested Brad Freidel with a shot from distance. Solid showing.



Martin Skrtel (8) – The Slovak was excellent on this night, sheparding the admittedly-poor Adebayor out of harm’s way on more than one occasion. He was strong in the air and composed at the back. In truth, didn’t have a whole lot to do but excelled in everything that required of him. Was unlucky to see yellow after cleaning winning the ball off Bale.



Daniel Agger (7) – Again, not much was asked of the Dane in his back-line partnership with Skrtel, but he handled everything throw his way. Solid in the air and confident on the ball – bonus points for the hand-bags with that man Bale following a blatant simulation.



Glen Johnson (7) – The England RB found himself on the left and was likely thankful that Aaron Lennon missed out. Johnson defended well and got forward quite a bit, although the end-product was severely lacking; his inability to put in a good cross with his left boot was obvious far too often.



Jay Spearing (4) – A horror-show for the little man. Full credit for his terrier-like approach to the game, and he is always one that working just about the hardest, but this was not the night for the local lad. Gave away possession too many times to count, often in an egregious fashion. If nothing else, it shows how vital and irreplaceable Lucas has become for this squad in that holding MF role.



Charlie Adam (6.5) – Decent showing from the Scot. He seems to have made a concerted effort to keep things simple in the middle of the park, and it shows with recent performances. Would like to see him get more involved in corners (which have been horrid) and some spot kicks as well.



Steven Gerrard (6.5) – The skipper is trying to find both fitness and form at the same time, which is positive news for his boyhood club. Captain Fantastic wasn’t quite on this occasion, and found it tough-going attempting to break down the solid Spurs back line. Was hugely influential for periods, then seemed to get lost.



Craig Bellamy (6) – Not the best performance from the man who has been the club’s top signing (cough, on a free…). On this day, he ran into a RB, in Kyle Walker, whose own pace nullified the Welsman’s greatest asset. He worked hard and made positive runs all night, but the end product wasn’t there. Too many hopeful crosses that didn’t beat the first defender.



Dirk Kuyt (5) – Poor on the night. Seemed a bit tentative on the ball and was unable to fashion any chances for himself or teammates. Expected much more from the man who scored in two games running.



Andy Carroll (6) – Mixed bag from the big man. He cut an isolated figure at times and did well in his hold-up play; often his flick-on’s went unused as Liverpool had no support players. In a microcosm of his time at Anfield, all that positive play was forgotten as he blasted over from his best chance of the night.



Subs:



Luis Suarez (7) – The little Uruguayan magician is attracted to controversy like a moth to a flame. Was very lively in his 30 minute cameo, for both the right and wrong reasons; kicked out at Scotty Parker and should have scored the winner with a header directed right at Friedel.



Stewart Downing (5) – Continues to disappoint in a red shirt.



Tottenham



Brad Freidel (7) – The American was certainly less busy than he would have expected, but did well when his number was called. Parried away and number of opportunities and was strong on set pieces. A great signing for Spurs, he is.



Kyle Walker (8) – A terrific effort by the likely England RB of the future. The boy is lightning quick and put the right foot in on nearly every challenge down his right side. Very impressive performance, although I would have liked to see him get forward a bit more, it seemed like they were content to sit back and soak up the pressure.



Ledley King / Michael Dawson (9) – As much as I hate to lump the two, it seems fitting. Both were immense on the night, doing any and everything required to repel and sub-par Liverpool attacking effort. Dawson overcame the Carroll height advantage superbly and King didn’t put in a wrong foot all night. Rock-solid defending.



Benoit Assou-Ekotto (6) – Decent enough from the Cameroonian LB, who always seems to be the calmest guy on the pitch – perhaps because he fully embraces that he plays football for a quite large sum of money and sees the lighter side. Didn’t offer as much going forward as he usually does, but handled Kuyt and Kelly well.



Scott Parker (8) – The boy will be sore in the morning. Acted as the terrier in defense to aplomb. Some early fouls soured what could have been a Man of the Match performance. Blocked more shots than most Stanley Cup games. Outstanding composure – England captain? (Be serious, it’s Gerrard or no one).



Jake Livermore (6) – Acquitted himself well in the middle of the park for Spurs. Nothing flashy, like his midfield partner Parker, but solid on the ball and kept possession well.



Niko Kranjcar (6.5) – I’ve always been a fan of the Croat and think a move away from White Hart Lane where he could get regular football would do him a world of good. Has a magical right foot and did well on the night, playing in Bale for the chance of the game. Defended well, to boot.



Luka Modric (6) – Thankfully, for Liverpool, the little man was well off his best. The tactics didn’t necessarily allow for him to be as influential as he usually is.



Gareth Bale (5) – Disappointing from the rising star. Chance of the match fell to his feet late on as he sprung clean through on goal but his finish was poor and easily saved. Booked for diving in the second half and struggled to find a role in the game as he was given license to roam.



Emmanuel Adebayor (4) – Very poor from the Togo striker. Was alone up top and struggled to receive service and then do anything with it.


Subs:


Louis Saha (5) – Touched the ball maybe once. Non-factor.

Danny Rose (n/a) – Didn’t get a touch!



Verdict: Yet another Anfield draw for the men in red will do nothing for their top-4 ambitions. You could hardly make the case they deserved the 3 points despite dominating possession and the few clear-cut chances. They will feel it’s a match they should have won, especially given Spurs reluctance to get forward and attack. You almost sensed it was destiny for Suarez and pop up for the winner in this first game back, but a poorly placed header made it not so. Kenny Daglish will no doubt look back on this campaign and clutch his chest in pain when he sees the sides that have left Anfield with a point.



From Spurs perspective, job done. It was clearly, with Ade up top alone, that they were intent on soaking up the Liverpool pressure and countering when appropriate. They might have done so when Bale had the biggest chance of the night, only to see it go by the wayside. Genuine title contenders? I’m not sure, but on this evidence they are the odds-on favorites to keep that stranglehold on 3rd place and return to the Champions League next year.