English Premier League 2011 Awards: Best Player, Coach, Team and More

The past year of action in the English Premier League has been a thrilling one.

From the glory of Manchester United's title to the tight-knit relegation race involving five teams fighting for their spot in the Premier League on the last day of the season, the race in the standings alone has been thrilling.

But, there have many more moments that have left fans in shock and in awe throughout the calendar year.

Here are the recipients of the prestigious and not-so-prestigious awards for the 2011 calendar year in the Premier League.

Best Derby: North London Derby

Tottenham and Arsenal have given fans of the North London derby plenty to talk about after the two games between the clubs in 2011.

After beating Arsenal in the fall matchup, Spurs were looking for a season sweep but early on it did not look well, as Arsenal went up 3-1 before Tom Huddlestone and Rafael van der Vaart scored to level the score at three apiece and that is how the game ended.

Another thriller was presented to fans at White Hart Lane in early October when an unexpected Spurs defender won the game for Tottenham.

Kyle Walker's 73rd-minute goal gave Spurs the win and helped give fans the two most entertaining derby matches of the year.

Best Goal: Wayne Rooney's Bicycle Kick vs. Manchester City

Wayne Rooney produced a spectacular goal at home against Manchester City in February, giving the Red Devils a 2-1 win over their rivals.

Out of nowhere the Englishman delivered a magical bicycle kick off of a cross into the box from Nani that beat City keeper Joe Hart.

Best Manager Doing His Best To Lose His Job: Owen Coyle

This award could have gone to about three or four different managers but Coyle is the man who is the winner.

Coyle's Bolton team showed promised last season but after losing some key players in the summer and not being able to sign the same quality of players in return has caused the club to rot in the bottom three all season.

Coyle's name has surprisingly been mostly out of the headlines with Blackburn's Steve Kean getting all the press for this award, but Coyle is the true winner because he has barely been able to do anything this season.

Best January Transfer: Luis Suarez, Liverpool

Suarez was a part of a huge swap of forwards in January with Liverpool picking up the Uruguay international from Ajax and Andy Carroll from Newcastle, with Fernando Torres leaving the club for Chelsea.

After all the madness finished in January, Suarez proved to be the best out of those three and the rest of the January moves as he has netted nine goals in his time at Anfield so far.

Yes, we all know about the negative actions of Suarez as well, but on the pitch as a player he has been the most valuable to his club since joining in January.

Best Summer Transfer: Demba Ba, Newcastle

Not many clubs can say they picked up their top scorer as a free agent, but Newcastle can.

After West Ham were relegated, Ba was let out of his contract and opted to sign with Newcastle and has scored 11 goals in his first 15 games with the club.

The Senegal international is already close to breaking his season record for goals, which came in the 2008-09 season with Hoffenheim in Germany, and the season has not even reached its halfway mark.

Best Loan Move: Daniel Sturridge, Chelsea to Bolton

If you do not know why Daniel Sturridge is beginning to be recognized as a top young English player right now, then you need to look at his spell at Bolton from January to May.

Sturridge helped Bolton survive relegation as he scored eight goals in 12 games and he became only the sixth player in Premier League history to score in his first four games with a club.

Chelsea are reaping the benefits of that loan move this season as the 22-year-old has scored eight goals in 12 games under Andre Villas-Boas this season so far.

Biggest Transfer Flop: Andy Carroll, Liverpool

Yes, you can make the argument for Fernando Torres to win this award, but Carroll deserves it more.

Liverpool overpaid for the English forward after his impressive start to the Premier League season at Newcastle with 11 goals for the club before leaving for Anfield.

Since the move to Liverpool, Carroll has scored a total of four goals in his time with the club and has failed to solidify a spot on the England roster ahead of Euro 2012, when at this time last year he was in serious consideration for the national team.

Best Englishman: Scott Parker

Scott Parker has been the epitome of a great midfielder throughout his career and he has started to get a ton of recognition for his play.

Parker was clearly the glue that held whatever team West Ham threw out on the pitch together and is why he was such a coveted signing by Tottenham in August.

Parker has been a part of the England squad all year and has racked up numerous awards including the FWA Footballer of the Year and two Player of the Month awards in the Premier League.

Game of the Year: Arsenal 4, Newcastle 4

The game on February 5th at St. James' Park, now the Sports Direct Arena, looked like it was all Arsenal until a miraculous second-half comeback from Newcastle.

After Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and Robin van Persie twice scored for the Gunners it seemed all but over.

Down 4-0 with 22 minutes to go, the task seemed impossible for the Magpies but they proved everyone wrong.

Joey Barton started the comeback with a 68th-minute penalty, he was followed seven minutes later by a Leon Best goal.

After Barton converted his second penalty of the game in the 83rd minute, the impossible seemed like it would happen and it did after Cheik Tiote scored in the 87th minute to complete the comeback and draw 4-4 with the visiting Gunners.  

Manager of the Year: Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alex and Manchester United lifted their 12th Premier League title and 19th English title trophy after the end of the 2010-11 season.

Ferguson has had to replace a veteran lineup with younger players and carry his team through the start of the 2011-12 season with a ton of injuries to his players.

Somehow, United are still in second place in the Premier League and although they have been kicked out of the Champions League, they still have a chance to win a treble if they can get their squad fit.

Team of the Year: Manchester City

Manchester City has proven that a team full of big-name expensive signings can play together and be the front-runner for the league title.

The team has been able to get over some controversy as well, with the Carlos Tevez incident in September taking one of their best forwards out of the lineup.

No need to worry about Tevez when Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko can fill that hole and it seems like whenever a big name is not performing, another big name steps in and plays well for City.

The only real downfall in the team's year was their failure to advance in the Champions League this season.

Other than that, a FA Cup title, a 14-game unbeaten run to start the 2011-12 season, a thumping of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford and the lead in the Premier League table so far this season have left City fans with not much to complain about.

Player of the Year: David Silva

This is by far the toughest award to give out with a list of candidates that is at least 10 players long.

David Silva has been a midfield maestro for Manchester City ever since his move to Manchester City from Valencia in the summer of 2010 and has been the best player on an all-star squad that has been assembled at the Etihad Stadium.

The Spaniard grew out of the shadow of David Villa at Valencia and has become a superstar himself at City. He has been the provider of goals to the top scorers in the world at the club and country levels.

No one comes close to the number of assists Silva has tallied for City, 26, in less than two full seasons and he is the man that keeps the well-oiled Manchester City machine going.

Honorable Mention: Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Rafael van der Vaart (Tottenham), Sergio Aguero (Man City), Wayne Rooney (Man United), Gareth Bale (Tottenham)