PFA Team Of The Year: The Right Choice?

After the revelation of the PFA Player, Young Player and Team of the season yesterday I will take a look at each position and who I would have put there.

Goalkeeper

In goal, there is, for me, only one choice. The only goalkeeper this year to be nominated for PFA Player of the Year, David James has had another outstanding season. Were it not for him, Portsmouth would not be going to Wembley nor would they be in the hunt for a European spot next season. He has rightly regained the England no. 1 jersey at the age of 37 and looks to get his hands on his first piece of silverware since the 1995 League Cup success with Liverpool.

However, although for me David James was the rightful choice, Brad Friedel has a right to feel somewhat disappointed. The Blackburn keeper has been one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League for over five seasons now, and another high quality season this year has given him a place on the bench of my Team of the Season. Most days the American is hard to get passed, but now and again it seems nigh on impossible that you will score past him. An example of this is the phenomenal game he had against Manchester United recently, where he kept them at bay on many occasions, only to be beaten by Carlos Tevez's point blank header late on.

Just missing out on the goalkeeping front this year is Manchester City's Joe Hart. Although there have been better keepers this season, all things considered he has had a debut season to remember. He is still young, and if he carries on the way he is going, I have no doubt that he will become a future England no. 1.

Right Back

Right back was a tough one this year. The official team gave it to Bacary Sagna. Sorry, but no way has he been the best right back in England this year. When he hasn't been out injured he hasn't exactly blown me away with his play. But then again, it's tough to think of a right back that has. I've come up with four possibilities. The man I have gone for is Vedran Corluka. Although he hasn't been in great form as of late, he had a fantastic start to the season, and that was just enough for him to pip the others to the right back spot. The times he has been playing in right back this season he has shone, but when Sven puts him in centre back hes only about half as effective. He seemed to adapt to the English style of play very easily, and is a very important player for Man City.

The men Corluka beat were Glen Johnson, Alan Hutton and, putting my biased views aside, Phil Neville. Glen Johnson has had a good season. Not a great one, a good one. However, now and again he has games where he is just outstanding. He has shown small tasters of what he is capable of. On more than one occasion he has run past numerous opponents and into the box, either creating chances or scoring chances.

If Alan Hutton had joined Tottenham in the summer, and performed like he has done since his January transfer, he would be my starting right back. However, he hasn't been involved long enough this season to be in this side. And bearing in mind that the official votes were cast in January, I fully understand why he's not in contention for the official PFA Team of the Season.

Lastly, Phil Neville. For years when i think of best right back in the Premiership I automatically think of Phil's brother Gary Neville, Mr.Consistent for so many years now. However, Gary Neville has been injured for almost the entire season now, and it seems hes passed his 'Mr. Consistent' tag over to Phil. The Everton captain has performed consistently well all season, and his leadership qualities have been one of the main reasons that this overachieving Everton side have done so well this season. This warrants him a place on my bench, and he can consider himself very unlucky not to make the first eleven.

Centre Back

In the two centre back spots I have to agree with the official team. Although as a die hard Liverpool fan my heart screams out Jamie Carragher, the two United centre backs have been nothing short of awesome his season. Vidic has had another typically strong season, whereas Ferdinand has elevated himself in my opinion of him so much that i consider him as certainly one of the top 5 centre-backs in the world now. Of course, Carragher, Hyypia, Skrtel and Agger make up the rest of the top 5.

Carragher has to make do with a place on the bench this year, alongside fellow Englishman, Micah Richards. Were it not for an injury to Richards earlier on in the season, he could well have been in the first XI, and not on the bench. However, the injury has given his city rivals a chance to leapfrog him. Richards is showing a lot of potential, though, which leads me to believe that it won't be too long before we see him in this team.

Swallowing my Liverpool pride again, Joseph Yobo and Phil Jagielka almost made a place on the bench. Both, very much like their Everton skipper Phil Neville, have had a good, consistent season and were an integral part of Everton's failed bid to overturn Liverpool as the best team on Merseyside. Another contender is Sol Campbell. The veteran has seen his career get a new lease of life since joining Portsmouth and this season has probably been his finest in a Pompey shirt. In many respects he is very similar to David James and both have been hugely important to Portsmouth's season.

Left Back

In the left back slot there was only one choice for me and that is Patrice Evra. He has been outstanding for United this season and has really developed his game both attacking and defensively. Everyone looks at Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez but Evra, along with Ferdinand and Vidic in the middle have been just as important to United's title chasing season.

There was only one man even relatively close to challenging Evra for the left back position and, once again, he comes from Everton. Joleon Lescott had a great start to the season, and, as well as performing key defensive duties, has helped out in attack as well, with seven league goals to his name.

Right Midfield

For right midfield there is only one realistic choice. I'm not even going to go into detail of challengers because, to be honest, he hasn't had any this season. Dirk Kuyt has had a phenomenal season after being moved to his new position. What? Cristiano who? Oh fine then. Ronaldo this season has been nothing short of spectacular. There have been other good right midfielders this season, and in another season they may have even got in the team, I'm thinking David Bentley, Elano and Aaron Lennon, but Ronaldo has blown all others in this position away. The PFA Player of the Year has scored 28 league goals and 38 in all competitions. A fantastic record for anyone. However, when people say he's scored 38 goals and hes a winger - no he's not. Ronaldo does not stay out on the wing, he has an almost completely free role under Sir Alex and he would have the same role in my side.

Central Midfield

Originally I had Cesc Fabregas and Steven Gerrard as my central midfielders in this side. However, after thinking about it i have changed one. No prizes for guessing which one. Although Fabregas has had another good season, towards the business end of the season, when Arsenal's form started stuttering, so did his. It was this, plus the fact that I wanted a defending midfielder, so Gerrard can enjoy the freedom he has at Liverpool, that I went for Javier Mascherano. In my view, Mascherano is the best defensive midfielder in the world. I've tried thinking of a better one but i just can't. He is dogged and never gives a ball up. He will chase all day and very rarely strays up-field. This gives Gerrard the chance to go and play the type of football we know he can play - creating and scoring goals.

There have been a lot of good central midfielders this season, with Micheal Essien getting a place alongside Fabregas on the bench. Unlucky not to be included are Aston Villa's talismanic captain Gareth Barry and Everton's creative force Mikel Arteta. I even considered Jimmy Bullard as, although he has been out for the majority of the season, his contribution since returning has been invaluable in Fulham's bid to stay in the Premier League. You may argue Frank Lampard, but I think he's incredibly overrated.

Left Midfield

Left Midfield was another tough spot this year, with only two genuine possibilities coming to mind. Ashely Young was the official pick and I can see why. He has been good all season but in the last few weeks he has stepped up to the next level, impressing on many occasions, some of which in front of England boss Fabio Capello. However, despite this late surge of good form, it can only get him a place on the bench.

My left midfield spot goes to Martin Petrov. The Bulgarian midfielder has been perhaps the main reason behind Man City's much improved season. Himself and Elano are contenders for signing of the season and he is incredibly important to Man City if they are to push for Europe next year due to his creative play and goalscoring abilities.

Centre Forward

No surprises on who my first pick is - 'El Nino' Fernando Torres. Not just because I'm a Liverpool fan but because he is the best striker in the Premiership and, in my opinion, should have won the PFA Player of the Year. Not many manage to reach 30 goals in their debut season at a club, yet alone their debut season in the Premier League. He's got more goals in his debut season than Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo did in theirs, which makes the future look even brighter for the Spanish star. There were many strikers who competed for Torres' place up front including Emmanuel Adebayor, who I didn't include due to his lack of form since he lost those trademark dreadlocks, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Nicolas Anelka, who probably would've been included had he stayed at Bolton, Wayne Rooney and Robbie Keane.

The second centre forward position was harder to decide on. The candidates were John Carew, who has been vital for Aston Villa this season, Yakubu, Everton's main striker this season and another player who has been hugely important for them, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov. In the end, however i chose a man who is arguably signing of the season - Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz. 21 goals in 41 appearances is not bad at all for your debut season in the Premier League. Torres can beat that tally though. But what Torres can't beat is the value for money of Santa Cruz. He only cost Blackburn £3.5 million, whereas Torres cost near £25 million.

One man who I didn't even consider for this team was Chelsea's Didier Drogba. This is not because I'm a Liverpool fan, it's because he is one of the most despicable players I have ever seen on a football pitch. For a man that big to go down that often - it just doesn't happen. If you watch the recent incident where he accidentally hit Vidic in the face with his knee in slow motion you can actually see him fling his arms and head back and start to go down, until he realised what actually happened. This shows that his first response to contact is to go down. I heard that Rafa Benitez has compiled a DVD of Drogba's tumbles to show to his players before the Champions League semi-final on Wednesday. Well, I think he's going to need more than one DVD, and I also think he should publish it - Drogba might win an Oscar for some of that acting!

My Team of the Year:

1. David James (Portsmouth)
   
2. Vedran Corluka (Man City)
3. Patrice Evra (Man Utd)
4. Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd)
5. Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
6. Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
7. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
8. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
9. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
10. Roque Santa-Cruz (Blackburn)
11. Martin Petrov (Man City)