Season's selections

Skysports.com pick top players and highlights from the campaign

By Chris Harvey   Last updated: 30th April 2008

The 2007-08 season is drawing to a close and the skysports.com team have been making their selections from another thrilling campaign.

Over the coming weeks, our journalists will be picking from a range of categories. We'll also be giving you the chance to comment on our choices as well as selecting your own team of the season.

Our readers' choices will be revealed as part of a special Sky Sports end-of-season review entitled Premier League - Team of the Season to be broadcast at 6pm on 14th May on Sky Sports 1.

Ahead of the PFA Player of the Year ceremony, the skysports.com series kicks off with Editor Chris Harvey's selections, together with a look at his pre-season predictions, some of which proved a trifle wide of the mark!

Team of the Season

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Kevin Keegan Newcastle v Middlesbrough 3rd Feb 2008

Keegan: His return to football brought romance back to the North-East

PRE-SEASON PREDICTIONS
Title winner: Man Utd
Relegated: Derby, Sunderland, Fulham
Best buy: Mark Viduka
Biggest flop: Michael Chopra Player of Year: Robin van Persie
Goalscorer: Didier Drogba
Dark Horse: Blackburn

Also see

Like most team selectors I've gone for a solid defence, a central midfield that can combine creativity with mobility, wide men who will excite and score goals plus two strikers who have been finding the net regularly all season.

David James has enjoyed a renaissance this season and has deservedly reclaimed the England No 1 jersey after some outstanding performances in the Pompey goal. He has been ably supported by Sylvain Distin, who slotted in alongside Sol Campbell perfectly from day one, plus Glen Johnson who has shown the form which persuaded Chelsea to shell out big bucks for his services.

Rio Ferdinand has looked every inch the world's most expensive defender throughout. England's failure to qualify for the finals of Euro 2008 could be put down in some quarters to his suspension from the key game with Croatia at Wembley.

Outside the top four, Everton's defence has been miserly and Joleon Lescott has been superb throughout, be it at left-back or in the centre. Not only that, he has contributed some vital goals for the Toffees.

My central midfielders, Cesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini, have been the driving force behind Arsenal's season. That the Gunners have run out of steam in recent weeks is more down to the lack of suitable replacements to give the pair a breather - something Arsene Wenger will be looking to address in the summer.

My player of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo (see below) has been nothing short of a phenomenon while Ashley Young has begun to pay back the £10million Martin O'Neill paid for him with some terrific performances at Villa. He will be looking to lay claim to an England starting place once the World Cup 2010 qualifiers get underway in the autumn.

My strikers have both had huge seasons for their clubs. Fernando Torres has claims to the best debut season by any Premier League newcomer while Emmanuel Adebayor has filled the gaping hole left by Thierry Henry's exit from Arsenal with aplomb.

Player - Cristiano Ronaldo

When a footballer more accustomed to playing in a wide role manages to notch in excess of 30 goals, it is hard not to accept he's had an exceptional season. Ronaldo's form has been nothing short of outstanding throughout a long, tough season and it is very hard to see past him for 2007-08's outstanding talent.

Manager - Phil Brown

It's easy to pick out the boss of the Premier League title winners but Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to bring silverware to Old Trafford. It's fair to say trophies in the cabinet at the KC Stadium are pretty thin on the ground compared to that of Manchester United but Brown has done an incredible job to take Hull City to the brink of the top flight for the first time in a long history of underachievement.

Rising star - Freddie Sears

West Ham have a decent pedigree of producing goalscorers from within their ranks and Sears looks set to follow in the footsteps of Jermain Defoe and Tony Cottee. Used sparingly so far, Sears signalled his arrival with a debut goal against Blackburn in March and has looked a threat whenever he has been introduced by Alan Curbishley. Will be looking for more regular opportunities next term.

Best buy - Fernando Torres

I must confess I was sceptical when Liverpool forked out more than £20 million for a striker with a less-than-impressive goal-scoring record but 'El Nino' has taken giant strides towards becoming a Kop legend.

Biggest flop - Florent Malouda

The French international arrived to a fanfare following his £13million move from Lyon but has failed to spark at Stamford Bridge. A knee injury hardly helped his cause but as the season has progressed he's become an increasingly peripheral figure in Chelsea's pursuit of a Premier League and Champions League double.

Best match - Milan 0 Arsenal 2

The Champions League trophy holders went into their last 16 tie with the Gunners unbeaten at the San Siro in European competition but that record ended following a scintillating performance from Arsene Wenger's men. They ran the legs off the ageing champions before Fabregas and Adebayor applied the coup de grace late on.

Personal highlight - King Kev's return

I have no allegiance to Newcastle but, as an old romantic, it was great to see Kevin Keegan return to his spiritual home under such dramatic circumstances. That he initially failed to spark the Toon Army into immediate success on the field was no surprise but there are signs that as his boundless enthusiasm rubs off on players and fans alike the good times are just around the corner at St James' Park.

Season lowpoint - 'Wally with the brolly'

I had a feeling England would not make it to the finals of Euro 2008 before their qualification campaign began but the way it ended against Croatia at Wembley beggared belief. The fact England boss Steve McClaren spent much of the match huddled under an umbrella pretty much summed up his tenure.

Best goal - Adebayor v Spurs

The Gunners striker had already scored once in the north London derby at White Hart Lane in September when, with Arsenal leading 2-1, he received the ball 20 yards out with his back to goal. He flicked the ball up and then on the half turn fired an unstoppable volley beyond Paul Robinson's despairing right hand.

Pre-season predictions

Title winner: Man Utd

Relegated: Derby, Sunderland, Fulham

Best buy: Mark Viduka

Biggest flop: Michael Chopra

Player of Year: Robin van Persie

Goalscorer: Didier Drogba

Dark Horse: Blackburn

Have your say on the selections using the form below.

Comments

Darren Horrigan (Liverpool fan) says...

team of the year: James/Reina, sagna/johnson, vidic/hyppia, jakielka/skrtel, lescott, ronaldo, gerrard, fabregas/masch, young, torres, adebayour. player of the season: ronaldo/torres. manager: avram grant. rising star: micah richards, signing of the season: torres. worst signing: bramble. best match: liverpool 4 arsenal 2. best goal: adebayour v tottenham/torres v chelsea

Posted 16:15 13th May 2008

Dean Rhodes (Leicester City fan) says...

And about this comment... Evan Lee (Arsenal fan) says... Gerrard has been really bad by his standards this year. Cant really argue with any of the selections except maybe Sagna over Johnson at RB. Sagna has been excellent. Gerrard has scored 21 goals...now if thats bad for his standards then doesn't that show what an incredible player he is...underated compared to Cesc Fabregas where apperantly the light shines out of his backside and he has scored about 10...HMMM lol

Posted 00:18 7th May 2008

Dean Rhodes (Leicester City fan) says...

I think the team of the season should be James, Sagna, Ferdinand, Vidic, Lescott, Ronaldo, Fabregas, Gerrard, J Cole, Torres, Adebayor. Best player: Ronaldo. Best manager: Redknapp Rising star: Ryan Babel. Best buy: Fernando Torres. Biggest Flop: Robert Earnshaw Best match: Liverpool Vs Arsenal Personal Highlight: Bieng a Liverpool and Leicester City fan not much :( Season lowpoint: Leicester getting relegated to league 1. Best Goal: Either Petrov Vs Derby or Gerrard Vs Newcastle...Crackers!

Posted 00:09 7th May 2008

Liam Gilliland (Aston Villa fan) says...

i agree with most of the team above, bar from distin and lescott. i believe that laursen has proved himself this season as one of the prems best at cb for his club after the start of his villa career with injuries, and instead of lescott i think clichy has been a brilliant player for arsenal. also i cant believe there is a team like this without a player like gerrard in midfield but instaed flamini yes he has been good but gerrard by far the better of the two. Adebayor... well i think he only performs well against the lower teams in the league like derby, when it comes to the big games i think he has been aswell as he can be. Santa Cruz has been the best buy this season and i believe he should be in this team instaed of Adebayor, Newcastle, there fans are brill when there winning, but when there losing there the worst. they had a bad start to the season and when 'king kev' took over they have only won afew, it about time newcastle realised there not as good enough yet to battle with the likes of the top 4 and i believe that villa, everton, and portsmouth are the teams people are going to watch out for to break into the top 4 in the next 2-3 seasons.

Posted 10:39 1st May 2008

Michael Jilali (Aston Villa fan) says...

Cant really disagree with the team but perhaps at CB and CM other players hav had better seasons Though both distan and flamini hav had great seasons i feel either vidic, martin laursen or Dunne hav had better seasons than Distan. In CM i feel england duo steven gerrard and gareth barry hav bth had better seasons than flamini. The only ova thing that angers me is the constant praise of Newcastle, yes they hav a good fan base and a big stadium, they hav not won anything close to calling a trophy domestically since the 1950s which is poor by eny clubs standards. whereas i feel the likes of tottenham, everton , aston villa all hav equally good fan bases , great stadiums with the tropheys in the cabinet aswel. When will pundits realise that newcastle are not the greatest club in the land and are smaller than the likes of villa, tottenham and everton who are all edging ever closer to breaching the top four positions unlike newcastle who frequently flirt with relegation and have established a greate relationship with the rest of the mid table teams.

Posted 17:30 30th April 2008

Paul Mclachlan (Portsmouth fan) says...

What a team I'm surprised not to see Gerrard or Lampard in the middle but the two Asrenal players there have been awesome this year. Ronaldo goes without saying, what a player. Nice to see some competition on the left in Ashley Young. Good strikers upfront but I think Adebayor just pips Berbatov on the goals hes scored this season. Wow three Pompey players in the team of the year never thought I'd see that. In defense of Johnson he has made a massive contribution to getting us to an FA cup final and our best ever premier league first. Watching him ever week on match of the day isn't the same as watching him play live ever week. If he continues to improve he could challenge for an England place. PUP

Posted 07:45 27th April 2008

Ben Green (Derby County fan) says...

I have to say that the team is pretty good - possibly think about Richard Dunne at centre-half over Distin because Dunne has been solid and under rated for City and has kept them in so many games. The other one is Flamini, although he has come on alot over the season, players like Essien, Gerrard, Cahill and even Jenas have perhaps been better, however, have not been as noticable because of a combination of reasons, for example - their teams have not been doing brilliantly, their teams have had other players which have made more of an impact (e.g. Torres) and in most cases, they were so good last season that they have not improved this season whereas Flamini was a fringe player last season and has improved so much over this season that he has been more noticable than others. Also, David Bentley has done very well and it is a vary tough decision between him and Young which could have gone either way really. I agree with player of the season, Ronaldo, no doubt. Phil Brown has been fantastic with Hull as has Harry Redknapp, Tony Pulis and Gary Johnson but Phil Brown probably deserves it. Freddie Sears looks good. I would have given Dave Nugent flop of the season as he has been pathetic. I agree with highlight and lowpoint of the season, best match - the Milan v Arsenal match was good, and Adebayor's goal was of the highest quality. In most cases I agree with all decisions.

Posted 22:10 26th April 2008

Pepe Le harven (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Newcastles Beye has been the best right back in the league, may have got noticed a bit more if Newcastle hadn't of been so poor mid season.

Posted 21:16 26th April 2008

Danyal Bajwa (Arsenal fan) says...

Good choices, goal of the season should have been Ronaldo's free kick against middlesbrough i believe. "Shame about Van Persie, had a bad season really" Van Persie was injured was sure to have a bad season, i belive that if he can stay fit he will be within the top 3 goal scorers, and be amongst the players with the most assists.

Posted 21:02 26th April 2008

Evan Lee (Arsenal fan) says...

Gerrard has been really bad by his standards this year. Cant really argue with any of the selections except maybe Sagna over Johnson at RB. Sagna has been excellent.

Posted 19:02 26th April 2008

Gary Hobbson (Newcastle United fan) says...

I think the team of the season should be James, Beye, Ferdinand, Vidic, Lescott, Bentley, Fabregas, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Torres, Berbatov. Best player Ronaldo. Best manager, Ramos. Rising star, Micah Richards. Best buy, Fernando Torres. Biggest Flop, Shevchenko. Best match, Portsmouth v Reading. Persional Highlight, King Kev's Return. Season lowpoint, England knocked out of Euro 2008. Best Goal, Ronaldo v Portsmouth.

Posted 18:18 26th April 2008

Ryan Keeley (Aston Villa fan) says...

Where is Martin Laursen!!? Hes been an absolute rock for villa all season and scored 6 goals and Distin goes ahead of him! What a joke!

Posted 13:31 26th April 2008

Seth Ryden (Blackburn Rovers fan) says...

I know that im going to be biased here, but surely Brad Friedel must get a bigger shout as keeper of the season!!! The guy has been consistent in all his seasons at Ewood, plus he is not prone to making schoolboy errors like James. I can only imagine the points he saved for Blackburn single handed, take Man U for example....without him they would have smashed us 5-1 !!!! Give the smaller clubs the respect they deserve!!!

Posted 12:34 26th April 2008

Christian Caddick (Stoke City fan) says...

Think Barry from Villa personally instead of Flamini.. And also Richards from Man City has had a great season at centre half... Part from that top team... but Phil Brown Manager of Season... What about big Tony Pulis.??? ;)

Posted 12:20 26th April 2008

Tony Dean (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Why does everybody, and by that i mean pundits, always overlook Robbie Keane, he has had another great season, he's gettin better and better and last year no-body scored more goals than him! He is both a midfielder and a striker, and by that i don't mean he can play in both positions, i mean he does both jobs in every game!! He defends, creates and scores frequently. He deserves a lot more credit. I agree that Adebayor is a great striker but lets not get carried away with the boy, he doesn't give anything else to the Arsenal team, hence why they play with one up front because they need an extra midfielder to make up for what Adebayor lacks in defending and creating!

Posted 11:01 26th April 2008

Cal Stewart (Liverpool fan) says...

Are the people saying Anderson should be in the team actually serious? He looks a good player who adds a bit of flair but minus maybe one or two games he's had no real impact. Can see how Flamini gets the nod, he works hard and he has stepped up to the challenge that faced him in displacing Gilberto..Still think Stevie G & Essien would make a more impressive side if included. Think Distin is a bit dodgy too, much as it pains me to say it; I think Vidic deserves the spot, he compliments Rio and United's defence looks a lot less solid when he's absent. Keep er lit!

Posted 10:46 26th April 2008

Rocky Zhang (Arsenal fan) says...

Even though a gunners fan I am, I think Berbatov should replace Adebayor at forward position. So yes I agree with Elios. Lescott is excellent this season, but he is no better than Evra or Clichy. It is also surprising that there is no Chelsea player in the entire selection. Essin should at least get a mention.

Posted 08:27 26th April 2008

Kolawole Fasogbon (Arsenal fan) says...

I am of the opinion that the team is well chosen and on merit but what do you think of sagna, clichy, evra as full backs ahead of the chosen one. Why do Man U fans keep grumbling about the inclusion of Flamini when they know quite well he has done really well this season ahead of more established players like scholes, essien and even mascherano. the only player that could compete with him is Gareth Barry.No wonder one of them referred to Essien as the captain of chelsea as they know nothing about football;no wonder you want him out of premiership cos you cant handle him, K C your arguement is neither costructive nor educative.

Posted 00:28 26th April 2008

Matt Akerman (Blackburn Rovers fan) says...

Friedel is worth a shout in the nets; never seems to get the plaudits of others. Other than that, I largely agree.

Posted 22:49 25th April 2008

David White (Newcastle United fan) says...

I agree with the team in the most part. How did Bentley not get in the team? He has been much more consistent than Young, even O'Neil claimed he'd struggled since Feb with no goals. Sanat Cruz has also consitently scored and has half the service of Torres or Adebyor. I would put Elano or Petrov or Gerrard instead of Flamini.

Posted 22:01 25th April 2008

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