Premiership Team of the Season 2008-2009
This is my take on the 2008-2009 premiership which Manchester United were worthy champions. It was quite an exciting season which had Liverpool take up an early lead up till Christmas but Man United showed why the league is a marathon and not a sprint.
Also-rans such as Arsenal and Chelsea could have certainly done more to compete for the title considering all the talent at their disposal. In this season we saw a bigmoney-backed Man city with 35million pound man Robinho trying to see if they could use their new found position to claim the crown. Arsenal's young guns entertained as usual but sometimes were not up the physical demands of the premiership as well as choking in big games.
It was interesting to see Aston Villa battle them a good fight for the last champions league spot. In my own opinion, one of the reasons liverpool lost the title after going 11 points clear at the top of the table at one point was boiled down to some bad decision making by Benitez.. not just his rants and infatuition with Alex Ferguson but also his entire handling of Robbie Keene saga just smacks of poor man management. How could a manager buy a striker for 18 miilion pounds at the beginning of a season only to sell him at christmas after 6 months at the club when the main striker (Torres) is out injured! Liverpool could have easily won this year premiership if more creative player like Benayoun were playing regurlary.Just look at manu they have the most creative attack in Europe.
Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea)- Stated the Season very well; was always a threat while scolaris used him as a menacing wing-back in the typical brazilian style.His most impressive performance was how he kept messi quiet at the Nou camp ... very puzzling indeed.
Phil Jagielka(Everton)- The powerful centre has really been a revealation and very solid.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United) - If I had a vote for player for the season, it would be Vidic. He has been a colossal force at the heart of the man united defense and partly responsible for long string of clean sheets at the same time he is always a huge threat at setpieces which also makes him a formiable attcking force for a defender.
Wilson Palacios (Wigan Athletic & Tottenham Hotspur) - As a member of two teams this season,palaciois had helped Wigan and notably tottenham get to thier respective position in the league. He is a tough tacking, all action player.The strength of his performance this season could see him possibly get snapped by by one of the big four.
Stephen Ireland (Manchester City) - With the coming of big name players to the city squad one might not have expected Ireland to shine but he has been their most consistent performer. He has goals ,grit, and a real knack for being in the right place at the right time.Well done.
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) -Captain Marvel is definately a source of inspiration to his side unfortunately all his marrounding runs, shots ,goals and the fact that they beat all the "big four teams" in this season could not translate to any silverware.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) - Although the current World footballer of the year scored half as many goals as he did last season, his contribution to the Manunited successful campaign was immense.His dribbling runs,speed and cunning always posed a threat to opposition defenses.
Robinho (Manchester City) - Man City might have not been the first choice destination for mercurial Brazilian midfielder but he certianly did not allow it to dampen his spirits or affect his game. He came up with 14 goals and showed opposition teams why the citizens paid 35 million pounds for his services.Remeber his debut free kick goal against chelsea? boy, that was a beauty. I fondly remember Mancity fans singing "You have dickson while we've got Robinho" during games.
Anelka- A lot of eyebrows might be raised with his selection in my list but with 18 goals this season he definately deserves his place. The higly controvesial frenchman silenced a lot of his doubters and almost made amends for the champions league penalty miss with his steady performance this season.
Van der Sar Phil Jagielka Vidic Bosigwa Palacios Ireland Gerrard Ronaldo Robinho Anelka
Notably mentions:Torres, Darren Bent, wayne Ronney, Essien, lampard,Carrager,Sktel,Alonso.
NOW FOR THE TEAM OF THE SEASON
My team will be sporting a 3-1-3-2-1 formation
Formation: 3-1-2-3-1
Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United) - has to be the goalkeeper that had 12 consecutive clean sheets .Van der saar is further evidence that goalkeeper get better as they age. He had a truly wonderful season.
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