Steven Gerrard scooped his second gong in as many weeks with the Liverpool skipper taking our player of the season award.
HOW IT WORKS
We tot up the marks out of 10 awarded in five national newspapers - The Sun, The Mirror, The Mail, The Times and The Guardian - to create a total out of 50. The top player in each position will be rewarded with a spot in the Team of the Week, while the worst scorers will be named and shamed in our Flops XI.
TEAM OF THE SEASON (minimum 19 starts)
Having won Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year two weeks ago, Gerrard made it an awards double by holding off competition on the final day of the season to clinch the crown every top flight footballer really wants.
The Reds skipper scored 36 points for his performance against Tottenham and, while that total was not high enough to see him make it into the team of the week (see below), it was enough to secure him the prestigious title of player of the season.
His nearest rival over the course of the season proved to be his team-mate Fernando Torres, the Spaniard having deservedly won his place in our elite XI after a fantastic campaign in a Liverpool shirt.
Meanwhile, Frank Lampard squeezed his way into the TOTS right at the death - without even playing. The Chelsea midfielder, rested by Guus Hiddink, was handed his place on a plate after a third Liverpool player, Xabi Alonso, saw his average drop after a below-par performance - at least by his high standards - on Sunday.
There was no place for last year's player of the season Cristiano Ronaldo, but his Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney - like Gerrard, Torres and Lampard - retained his place for a second year running.
Completing the midfield quartet are Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young, both wide men having enjoyed tremendous individual seasons for Manchester City and Aston Villa respectively.
Villa stopper Martin Laursen, who managed to make the required 19 appearances before his season - and ultimately his career - was ended by injury, takes up his rightful position in our defence, alongside the towering Brede Hangeland of Fulham.
Glen Johnson of Portsmouth and Everton's Leighton Baines fill the full-back slots while Shay Given, having jumped the Newcastle ship at just the right time, impressed on a regular basis for Manchester City and gets the nod in between the sticks.
GK: Shay Given (Manchester City) - 33.68 average
RB: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth) - 32.52
CB: Brede Hangeland (Fulham) - 33.56
CB: Martin Laursen (Aston Villa) - 33.84
LB: Leighton Baines (Everton) - 31.77
RM: Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City) - 33.52
CM: Frank Lampard (Chelsea) - 34.84
CM: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) - 35.77
LM: Ashley Young (Aston Villa) - 32.90
FW: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) - 34.76
FW: Fernando Torres (Liverpool) - 34.95
Click on the links below the photo for team-by-team breakdowns!
FLOPS OF THE SEASON (minimum 19 starts)
With no changes to our team of losers since last week, the unfortunate 'winner' of the flop of the season title goes to Newcastle full-back Jose Enrique.
Put simply, the Spaniard has been awful this season and there is no doubting some of his performances on the pitch have contributed to Magpies' ultimate downfall.
But he was not alone - quite how team-mate Fabricio Coloccini managed to score a higher average remains a mystery to many. Nevertheless, the Argentine was still bad enough to fill a centre-half slot, alongside Carlos Cuellar of Aston Villa, who has largely struggled to adjust to life south of the border since his switch from Rangers.
Kevin Nolan completes the shamed Magpies triumvirate, the midfielder lining up alongside League One player Keith Andrews, Stoke's Amdy Faye and yet another man with Toon connections, Charles N'Zogbia.
And to think that triumvirate very nearly became a quartet with Michael Owen teetering on the brink of the flops XI. The Newcastle striker ended the season a mere 0.09 points ahead of Afonso Alves - had he started on the final day of the season, there would have been a strong likelihood of him being included in this section.
Alves leads the line with Roman Pavlyuchenko, one man who can rival the Middlesbrough striker for the title of 'worst buy of the season', while Scott Carson is handed a large pair of comedy goalkeeping gloves and defender Andre Ooijer completes the line-up.
GK: Scott Carson (West Brom) average 29.91
RB: Andre Ooijer (Blackburn) - 28.70
CB: Carlos Cuellar (Aston Villa) - 28.74
CB: Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle) - 27.74
LB: Jose Enrique (Newcastle) - 26.67
RM: Keith Andrews (Blackburn) - 28.26
CM: Kevin Nolan (Newcastle United) - 28.63
CM: Amdy Faye (Stoke City) - 27.47
LM: Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan) - 29.04
FW: Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham) - 27.29
FW: Afonso Alves (Middlesbrough) - 27.96
TEAM OF THE WEEK (4-4-2)
Back to this week, and Arsenal's 4-1 win over Stoke sees three Gunners included, with Robin van Persie's impressive all-round performance winning him the player of the week title.
Blackburn's goalless draw with West Brom provides four players - three from Rovers' ranks - while Nicolas Anelka's fantastic strike to claim the Golden Boot sees the Chelsea man pair up with van Persie.
GK: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton) - 34
RB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) - 36
CB: Kolo Toure (Arsenal) - 37
CB: Gael Givet (Blackburn) - 35
LB: Stephen Warnock (Blackburn) - 35
RM: Leon Osman (Everton) - 39
CM: Tugay (Blackburn) - 39
CM: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) - 39
LM: Chris Brunt (West Brom) - 38
FW: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) - 39
FW: Robin van Persie (Arsenal) - 42
FLOPS OF THE WEEK (4-4-2)
No surprises to see the flops XI entirely filled by players from teams in the bottom half of the table this week - relegated Boro provide three players while fellow Championship side Newcastle offer one - the hapless Coloccini.
One of those Boro players claims the final flop of the week title for this season - Julio Arca was so bad at Upton Park, he was replaced at half-time.
GK: Brad Jones (Middlesbrough) - 20
RB: Sam Ricketts (Hull City) - 23
CB: Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United) - 23
CB: Ryan Shawcross (Stoke City) - 22
LB: Justin Hoyte (Middlesbrough) - 21
RM: Jermaine Pennant (Portsmouth) - 20
CM: Hayden Mullins (Portsmouth) - 22
CM: Julio Arca (Middlesbrough) - 17
LM: Rory Delap (Stoke City) - 22
FW: Geovanni (Hull City) - 21
FW: Johan Elmander (Bolton) - 20
GK: Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton) - 34
ReplyDeleteRB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) - 36
CB: Kolo Toure (Arsenal) - 37
CB: Gael Givet (Blackburn) - 35
LB: Stephen Warnock (Blackburn) - 35
RM: Leon Osman (Everton) - 39
CM: Tugay (Blackburn) - 39
CM: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa) - 39
LM: Chris Brunt (West Brom) - 38
FW: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea) - 39