Saturday 20 April 2013

My Team of the Season

Well I know this is a little early, and we could still be in for some shocks, but the Premier League season is unfortunately coming to a close, with most having played 33/34 games. The PFA Player of the Season nominations were announced this week, and Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez, Michael Carrick, Gareth Bale, Juan Mata and Eden Hazard have been nominated for the prestigious award. I think these nominations are pretty fair. They have been the six best in the league this season, but have they been the most important six is another question. Sometimes I think players who have played well for their teams lower down the table should be nominated, such as Grant Holt, Rickie Lambert and Mohammed Diame.
Nevertheless, this is my team of the season.

Goalkeeper: Simon Mignolet
Sunderland's Belgian keeper has surprised a lot of people this season with his fantastic displays between the goal posts. The 25 year old has made 11 clean sheets this season, and with Sunderland not having the best defence in the league, that is impressive. Only Joe Hart and Petr Cech have made more clean sheets this season, respectively. I also find his 11 clean sheets very impressive seeing as no keeper has faced more shots than Mignolet this season, and with his Sunderland side winning only eight games so far this season, it would be hard to see them sitting mid-table without him.

Right Back: Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Zabaleta is the Premier League's best right back in my opinion, and has proved himself again this season being Manchester City's third most played player, beating competition from Maicon and Micah Richards (when both fit). The Argentine has been the stand out player in City's side this season. I just love the way this guy plays. He is solid at the back, which is surprisingly uncommon for a lot of full-back's nowadays, and where he may not be the fastest of full-backs, he makes up with it with his attacking intelligence and bullet of a shot. He has scored twice this season and assisted twice, as well as picking up an impressive 2292 minutes since August in the league alone.

Centre Back: Jan Vertonghen
Another Belgian in this team is Spurs centre back, Jan Vertonghen. Jan has had a fantastic debut season after signing from Ajax for a fee of £9million, which seems a bit of a bargain looking back on it. I had a look at Jan's defensive stats and they really are impressive. The Belgian has an 81.25% successful tackle rate, as well as winning 61% percent of aerial duels. Jan has also picked up 4 goals this season, which is a good number for a defender, who I think is the best in the league at the moment.

Centre Back: Ryan Shawcross
I believe Ryan is quite underrated as a defender, probably because he plays for Stoke, but people seem to have forgotten to talk about the Englishman since he signed his 5 year contract at Stoke a few months back. Shawcross has arguably managed to keep his team just outside the relegation places this season, with a total of 52 tackles made.

Left Back: Leighton Baines
I don't think anyone can argue that Leighton Baines has been the best left back in the league this season. Baines has been impressive both attacking and defensively. The Englishman has scored an impressive five goals this season and has made 5 assists for his Everton team-mates in their fight for a top four finish. Defensively, Leighton has also been impressive with 72 tackles made. Baines has been very creative this season too, with similar stats to those of the likes of Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla in terms of passing. Baines has made a total of 105 key passes, and thoroughly deserves his place in this side.

Right Midfield: Eden Hazard
Hazard has had a brilliant debut season in England, which has been shown as he has been nominated for a Player of the Season award. 8 goals and 9 assists for a player who has mainly played out wide in the league is impressive, making him provide the third most assists in the league this season. Hazard's playing style has really spiced up Chelsea's play, with his quick bursts of energy and electric pace that leaves defenders chasing him.

Centre Midfield: Juan Mata
Juan Mata is the second Chelsea player on this team of the season, and also the second Chelsea player to be nominated for the Player of the Season award. Mata has racked up 11 assists to his name, the highest in the league, and has completed 85.3% of his attempted passes to his team-mates. As well as his impressive passing stats, Mata has scored 10 goals in the league alone this season, making him Chelsea's top scorer with 18 in all competitions.

Centre Midfield: Micheal Carrick
Micheal Carrick was the shock name on the Player of the Season list to some, but to those who have watched the Englishman closely will be pleased that he has received some recognition. Carrick has arguably been the heart of this Manchester United team who have pretty much won the league now. With an 88.1% pass success rate and an average of 2.4 tackles won per game, Carrick has been an ideal centre midfielder for United this season. It is a shame that Carrick has been quite un-noticed, like pretty much every defensive midfielder in football, but I'm glad he has been nominated.

Left Midfield: Gareth Bale
Pretty obvious choice isn't it? Since the new year, the Welshman has been on fire, racking up interest from the world's best, such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Bale has scored 17 this season, and made 3 assists, making him the league's third top scorer. Bale is one of the main reason's why Spurs have been heavily competing for a top four finish, as without him they do not look half the team they have been. Bale makes an average of 2.4 key passes per game, and is in serious contention to winning the player of the season.

Striker: Luis Suarez
What a season this guy has had. It can be argued that he can do a lot better than Liverpool, as personally I think he is one of the best players in the world right now. 22 goals is a brilliant record in 32 games, as well as picking up 4 assists and 8 man of the match awards. Suarez just bullies defenders, and you never know what the Uruguayan will do next. There's not much else to say apart from this guy has just been scoring for fun this season.

Striker: Robin Van Persie
Okay, I know Van Persie has been off-form a bit recently, and went ten games without a goal, but the Dutchman has still scored 21 goals in 30 games for the red devils. Robin has the highest goal and assists combined record at 29, and his goals alone have earned Manchester United 23 points this season, proving he has been their most important player this season - and my choice for the player of the season award.

Other Notable Mentions:
Romelu Lukaku, Santi Cazorla, Micheal Dawson, Michu, Christian Benteke, Marouane Fellaini, Rafael.



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