My Premiership Team of 2012/2013 season

It's better late than never. This is my take on the 2012-2013 premiership which Manchester United were worthy champions. It was a no contest after Christmas when Man City failed to put up a meaningful defence of their title.That sort of shifted everyone's attention towards the relegation battle and the frantic tussle for the remaining two Champions league spots.
At the end of it all,Chelsea and and Arsenal managed to get those spots but only just ,as Tottenham pushed them all the way.

THE TEAM OF THE SEASON

My team will be sporting a 4-1-2-3 formation

Asmir Begovic (Stoke City) -Stoke City's shot shooter was phenomenal this season and his efforts would definitely earn him a move to a top four side.

 

Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham)- Liverpool wanted him at the start of the season but Tottenham "stole" him under their noses. It didn't take long to show everyone why. Jan is a versatile player capable of playing as a centre- back and left-back.

Leighton Baines (Everton)- The powerful left-back has really been a revelation this season where he created 116 chances for his teammates which earned him a place in 2013's PFA Premier League Team of the Year .He also won Everton's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards .

 Pablo Zabaleta (Man City)- Ever surging right back.Pablo scored crucial goals especially against Manchester United. After a superb season, Zabaleta was voted 2012–13 Etihad Manchester City Player of the Year.

Jonny Evans (Man United)- John was a much improved defender this season. Stats show that Manchester United conceded less goals when Evens was on the pitch.

David Luiz (Chelsea) - The Brazilian has a superb reading of the game with a rate of 2.3 interceptions per match.Although his aerial dominance is quite weak at 55% he makes up for it with excellent 93% tackling rate.

Marouane Fellaini (Everton) - A top performer and well known for his Afro-hair style.He has been ranked as one of the top 60 footballers in the world by The Guardian (Wikipedia).

Juan Mata (Chelsea) - has enjoyed two excellent seasons in the premiership. His mercurial ball skills and vision helped Chelsea in the capturing the automatic Champions League spot. 

Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) - The most sought after talent in the world right. Rated along side the two greats:Ronaldo and Messi. Bale is a torment -in-chief of defenses and this season raked in 21 goals to take Tottenham to the brink of a Champions League finish.

Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - Is one of the deadliest footballers in the Premiership. A fact sometimes overlooked by those who rather focus on his sometimes flawed eccentrics. He seems to make headlines for the wrong reasons. His goals this season carried Liverpool to 7th seventh place .Way short of their Champion League target. Sadly, He will start next season on the stands after receiving a 10 match ban for a biting incident.

Robin Van Persie (Man. United)- One thing is clear. ManU might not have won this season's league title so convincingly without the goals of Van Persie. The man is simply a goal scoring machine. His move to Manchester albeit controversial, was inspired as he finally won a Premier crown after many years of disappointment with Arsenal. A bit reminiscent of Lebron taking his "talents" elsewhere.

                                                            Asmir Begovic

    Pablo Zabaleta             Jonny Evans                        Jan Vertonghen                    Leighton Baines

David Luiz  

Mata Marouane Fellaini

Suarez Van Persie Bale

Notably mentions:Coutinho,Michu,Beneke

A Special Moment in Time

Andy Murray's Wimbledon victory was historic,ending a 77 year wait for a British man to win what is arguably the most special Championship in world Tennis. My heart was in my mouth throughout the riveting match. It was certainly a joy to watch history being made.

The Championship point was so close yet so far. At some points in the game,it felt was never going to come sooner. Andy had already taken the previous two sets 6-4,7-5 against the reigning number one Djokovic. 

In the prelude to the championship point,Djokovic had recovered from 0-40 deficit to tie or deuce the game. That certainly sent shivers down the anxious fans watching near London's Tower Bridge and Dunblane. Echoes of Djokovic's spectacular victory over Federer when he came from two sets down was lurking at their minds. 

With the entire nation behind him, Andy Murray found the extra will to turnaround the second set and finally get the championship point. It was clearly well deserved after the heart break of losing in last year's final to eventual winner Roger Federer. After that tournament, first runners-up had prophetically claimed that he was getting closer to his rivals. And right he was, with the Olympic Gold and U.S Open championship to prove it.

He can now claim to having won the championship that has eluded even some of the greatest players including his coach Ivan Lendl. 

I guess congratulations are in order.

Top Ten Rivalries in Sports.

1

Larry Bird Vs. Magic Johnson
Two of the greatest talents ever to play the game of Basketball dueled in the 80s. Their highly publicized rivalries brought glamor back to the NBA . Some go as far as saying that they saved the NBA from bankruptcy.

2

Kasparov vs Karpov
This is probably the greatest rivalry in Sport. It was a bitter rivalry that spanned 25 years.The interesting the thing was the clash of styles. Karpov was positional and intuitive while Kasparov was played very attacking and calculative chess. They provided great entertainment for fans through the years especially in the late 80s when it all started. Karpov fought Kasparov in three more world championship matches in 1986 (held in London and Leningrad), 1987 (held in Seville), and 1990 (held in New York City and Lyon). All three matches were extremely close: the scores were 11½ to 12½ (+4 −5 =15), 12 to 12 (+4 −4 =16), and 11½ to 12½ (+3 −4 =17) (Wikipedia) One particular tournament ,Linares 1994,Kasparov had said several days before the tournament that the winner could rightly be called the world champion of tournaments. Perhaps spurred on by this comment, Karpov played the best tournament of his life. He was undefeated and earned 11 points out of 13 possible (Wikipedia)

3

Barcelona vs Real Madrid.
They call it EL-Classico. This very celebrated match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is a money spinning encounter. It began with the battle over the transfer of Di Stefeno with Real Madrid dominating in the 50s and 60s. Johan Cruyff's Total football yield success with the 1992 Champions League victory. Certainly, this fixture has influenced policies of both clubs in trying to outdo each other. From the Galacticos era to the hiring of the Special One, Mourinho. It also showcases some of the best talents in world football like Messi, Ronaldo etc.

4

Steffi Graff vs. Monica Seles.
A Rivalry so fierce that one almost paid the ultimate price. Monica Seles was stabbed by a deranged Steffi Graf fan in order her the advantage.She would later recover and make a come back but would never reach the form that made her a threat to Graff's total domination of the female tennis.

5

Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson.
Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis rivalry provided high drama during the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

6

Chris Evert Vs. Martin Navratilova
Notable tennis rivalries were Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Boris Becker and John McEnroe. Nadal and Federer provided the latest splats.

7

Arnold Schwarzenegger Vs. Sergio Oliva.
Oliva then went on to win the Mr. Olympia title three years in a row, at 5 feet 10inches and at a contest weight that went from 235lbs up to his most massive at 255lbs. Oliva's 1968 Mr Olympia win was uncontested. A Guinness World Record that stands to this day. In 1969 he won his 3rd consecutive Mr Olympia by beating a Mr Europe, Mr International and Four time Mr Universe winner Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold tells of their first encounter in his 1977 autobiography 'Arnold the Education of a Bodybuilder'. "Then for the first time, I saw Sergio Oliva in person. It was as jarring, as if I'd walked into a wall. He was so huge, he was so fantastic, there was no way I could even think of beating him. I admitted my defeat and felt some of my pump go away. I tried. But I'd been so taken back by my first sight of Sergio Oliva that I think I settled for 2nd place before we walked out on the stage... I never like to admit defeat, but I thought Sergio was better. There were no two ways about it."However, Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Olympia title by edging the Myth the following year with a score of 4-3 when Joe Weider switched judges at the very last minute. (Wikipedia)

8

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier.
The Fight of the Century and The Thrilla in Manila catch phrases that announces their fights. Both pugilists demonstrated a certain amount animosity against each other. The media naturally feed into the hype to create possibly the greatest rivalry in professional boxing.

9

India vs. Pakistan
Definitely no love lost here. India and Pakistan have fought three major wars, making for heated exchanges when they've faced off in the field of sports — most notably the eight times they've competed against each other in the Cricket World Cup. The Indians hold a 8-0 record against their arch-rivals in those contests, with an estimated 1 billion people tuning in to watch some matches.(Fox Sports)

10

Yankees vs. Red Sox