Reporter James Dall reveals his choices as the skysports.com team pick their highlights from 07-08.
Skysports.com pick top players and highlights from the campaign
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 days, our journalists will be picking from a range of categories. We are also giving you the chance to comment on our choices as well as selecting your own Premier League XI.
To choose your own Team of the Season, click
here
Your 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.
The skysports.com series continues with the selections of reporter
James Dall.
Team of the Season
In goal, I have plumped for David James following his impeccable consistency this campaign. He more than deserved to reclaim the England No.1 jersey and thoroughly merits his nomination for the PFA Player of Year.
Bacary Sagna - a classic unheard-of purchase by Monsieur Wenger - has been a pillar of consistency, while 22-year-old Gael Clichy has ensured Ashley Cole's tenure at Arsenal is all-but forgotten.
Rio Ferdinand, meanwhile, has been an absolute rock in the heart of Manchester United's defence, while Everton's Joleon Lescott adds quality, composure and a goal-threat from set-pieces.
In midfield, Cristiano Ronaldo's involvement goes without saying after a quite breathtaking 2007/08. Cesc Fabregas has continued to boss midfields with remarkable assurance, while adding goals to his game. Steven Gerrard provides a driving force that can win matches, while Ashley Young has really impressed me with his ability to beat players and then deliver the killer ball - usually via a whipped cross.
Fernando Torres has been a revelation on Merseyside, and his unwavering composure in front of goal astounds me. He can only go from strength-to-strength. Emmanuel Adebayor has done well to shrug off his doubters, leading The Gunners' attack this term with power and pace.
Player - Cristiano Ronaldo
Sir Alex Ferguson spent around £12.2million on the Portuguese star in 2003, and in today's market that can be considered pretty shrewd business. This campaign he has been unstoppable, with almost every laudation already used by the press when describing his heroics. Therefore, I shall keep this brief. He has, easily, been the season's best player.
Manager - Harry Redknapp
Redknapp has enjoyed a cracking season in charge of the Fratton Park club, leading them to their first FA Cup final since 1939. Pompey have also demonstrated excellent consistency in the league and are well placed to claim a top-seven finish. It has been a marvellous transformation by Redknapp, who took over in 2005 when Premier League relegation was staring them in the face.
Rising star - Michael Johnson
The gutsy midfielder started the season with a bang, drawing the headlines after some top-notch performances and grabbing key goals. However, the 20-year-old endured injury agony during the mid-stage of the campaign, severely disrupting his playing time. But Johnson is fit once more, and I strongly tip him to shine next term, with the Eastlands club set to fend off reported interest from Liverpool this summer.
Best buy - Roque Santa Cruz
After much deliberation, I have opted to choose Santa Cruz as my 'best buy'. He pipped a favourite of mine - Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones - due to an excellent piece of business by Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes, who landed the Paraguay international for a bargain fee of £3.8million from Bayern Munich. Terrific stuff from the Welshman, who has seen Santa Cruz hit the 20-goal mark in his debut season. A feat that is certainly not to be sniffed at.
Biggest flop - Younes Kaboul
Once again, there were plenty of names floating around my head, but then suddenly Kaboul sprang to mind. He cost Spurs a whopping (in the region of) £8million from Auxerre. Outrageous money really. The Frenchman has looked anything-but assured, and must step up his game if he is to avoid Juande Ramos' expected summer cull.
Best match - Liverpool 4 Arsenal 2
As much as it pains me to admit it - as a Gunner - this UEFA Champions League encounter stood out as an enthralling high-point of the season. The fixture had so much drama and was a brilliant advert for the sheer, heart-pounding beauty of football. Arsenal began the game at a frightening pace before breaking the deadlock through Abou Diaby. The encounter then swung in Liverpool's favour following goals from Sami Hyypia and Fernando Torres. However, with six minute remaining Theo Walcott embarked on a scintillating run to assist Adebayor. The Gunners were heading for the last four only for The Reds to be awarded a controversial penalty, which Gerrard coolly dispatched, before Ryan Babel sealed the success - awesome stuff.
Personal highlight - The season in its entirety
As mentioned above, I am a Gunner. Therefore, it would be mighty easy for me to single out that memorable night in Milan when Arsenal put in one hell of a display. But I am to buck the trend, with my personal highlight being the season as a whole. This campaign has been my first season working as a journalist for
skysports.com. My debut term has been jam-packed with incident, stunning goals and games, and battles at both the peaks and troughs of the leagues and cups - I could not really ask for more. So I doth my cap to the 2007/08 campaign - a season that has gripped me throughout.
Season low point - 39th fixture
England's dire campaign deserves a mention, but, if I am honest, I believe the Euro 2008 qualifying exit was a blessing in disguise - a wake up call of the dire straits that the English game finds itself in. Anyway, my low point centralises around the Premier League's proposal for an 'international round' of fixtures. The idea needs thoroughly thinking through as there is a real danger genuine football fans will be the ones to suffer in the race to commercialise the game at every opportunity. Rant over.
Best goal - Peter Whittingham v Middlesbrough
Cardiff City's Whittingham hit an absolute pearler against Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. The former Aston Villa man demonstrated glorious, cheeky feet when he teased the Boro defence, manipulating the ball with sheer quality. Whittingham's footwork created an opening as his opposition looked on in bewilderment, before he unleashed a wicked curler into the top corner.
To comment on James' choices, use the form below.
