Premiership 2006/2007 Roundup

So it's finally over! After nine months of pure anticipation, excitement, grief and sorrow, not to mention the many sleepless nights we bid adieu to this season's English Premiership. Although there is still the FA Cup Final to play for next week, and Champions League Finals the following Wednesday, the season is effectively over for us soccer fan-atics... We can now go into our annual three-month hibernation awaiting the start of the new season in August. Sigh...

So this season we crown another champion in four years: Manchester United. Undoubtedly the most consistent and imaginative team this year, thanks to the prodigious Cristiano Ronaldo, they pipped defending champions Chelsea to the finishing line, with Liverpool (sob!) and Arsenal a distant third. At the bottom of the table, Watford, Charlton and (surprise surprise) Sheffield United were relegated, with West Ham performing the great escape. So here's the table summary:

Champions 2006/2007: Manchester United
Runners-up: Chelsea
Third place: Liverpool
Fourth place: Arsenal
UEFA Cup places: Tottenham, Everton, Bolton
Relegated: Sheffield United, Charlton, Watford
Promoted: Sunderland, Birmingham, ??

Here I celebrate what I believe are the finest and the worst of the lot in this season's Premiership. Well, my opinions may differ from football pundits all over the world, but everyone's entitled to their opinions right?

Team of the Season
Obviously Manchester United. Though I'm not a Red Devil fan, one must give credit to the way they have played all season - to eke out undeserving 1-0 wins, drawing matches when the chips are down, and winning with large margins where it suited their attacking flair. You can hardly find a match where they did not find the back of the net. It's an all-round team, strength being in midfield and attack - thanks to Carrick, Ronaldo and Rooney, though they probably need better strikers; their defence is still a suspect, but if they still manage to score more than they concede, they would still end up winning matches!

Best Team of the Season (outside the top four)
Would you believe it: Reading! Just in the Premiership for one season, and it's making waves with their exciting play. And coming from a team without the millions to spend unlike their counterparts. Fast attacking football and a solid midfield and defence; it's a shame that they just missed out on a UEFA Cup place. Let's hope they don't turn out to be a one season wonder like Wigan last season...

Flop Team of the Season
Ooh, this is a difficult one...but I choose Newcastle with Charlton coming in a close second. The Geordies, with a passionate fan base and skillful yet underperforming players - oh, what a sad combination. Poor Michael Owen...if you just had stayed at Anfield! And a mid-table finish is unjustified for a team of your stature...poor Roeder, you have to take the blame. Maybe big Sam is the man to relive the glory days of yore...if they choose him.

Player of the Season
Well there's no doubt about it: Ronaldo is definitely player of the season. Despite his reputation for simulation, he is definitely a skillful player with vast potential, and he would be well advised to stay in the Premiership rather than plying his trade in the continent, until he is the wiser. He probably won United the title this year single-handedly...

Goalkeeper of the Season
Robert Green. Mainly because of the performances he put in to help in West Ham's great escape. You can't forget the saves he made in the game against Arsenal. And there is still the England jersey up for grabs with Paul Robinson in poor form...

Defender of the Season
Jamie Carragher. Not because I'm a Liverpool fan. His performances speak for himself. Always decisive in his tackling and no-nonsense defending, he and his partner (mainly Daniel Agger this season) has made the Liverpool defence almost inpenetrable. And I still wonder how he is missed by the England coaches again and again. I rate him much better than Rio Ferdinand, and on par with John Terry...

Midfielder of the Season
Oh this is a difficult one. I guess there is no one outstanding midfielder out there, but I have to appalaud the performance of Cesc Fabregas; young as he is, he is a dominant playmaker, slick passer of the ball and gets into positions where he can and does score goals. And he can only get better. Eat your heart out Frank Lampard...

Striker of the Season
Without doubt top scorer of the season: Didier Drogba. He came into his own this season, despite Chelsea's failings as he tried vainly to defend their title. He is strong, fast and with his deadly feet, he can score from anywhere - his 32 goals this season attest to that. If only he has a reliable strike partner...

Flop player of the Season
It's a toss up: Andrei Shevchenko or Michael Ballack. I think I'll choose both. No matter what their reputations are, it proves that you can't buy instant success. But both of them are in their first season, and hopefully once Chelsea cleared up whatever problems they have in the background they would start to perform. But until then, the jury is still out...

Manager of the Season
Well it's easy to vote Sir Alex Ferguson but to me, it's West Ham's Alan Curbishley - mainly for instilling the belief of West Ham players and supporters, from a sure-to-be-relegated team in January when he took over, to a team which beat the champions to ensure survival in the Premiership. He may have inherited a team in turmoil, but things could only look up from here on.

My Premiership Team of the Season
GK: Robert Green
Defender: Jamie Carragher, John Terry, Gary Neville, Ashley Cole
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas, Paul Scholes, Mikel Arteta, Cristiano Ronaldo
Strikers: Didier Drogba, Dimitar Berbatov
Subs: David James, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Ricardo Carvalho, Carlos Tevez

So that's it for this season folks...till August, bye!