Premiership Team of 2008  

Looking back on 2008, there have been some real stand-out performances by many players. But to get into a team of the year requires a consistant level of quality throughout the majority of the year, or failing that, truly brilliant play for a reasonable portion of it. Consistancy is generally the key. I also have a soft spot for players from clubs other than the "big four". With that in mind, here is my Premiership team of 2008:

Goalkeeper: Shay Given (Newcastle)
While the likes of Pepe Reina, Edwin Van der Sar and Petr Cech are probably obvious candidates for this role, the fact that Given plays behind an awful defence works strongly in his favour. His consistently outstanding performances are the only thing that keep Newcastle afloat sometimes, and he fully deserves this accolade in my opinion, although many would not consider him for the role.

Left Back: Joleon Lescott (Everton)
The premiership is not blessed with an abundance of talented left-backs. Titans of the calibur of Benoit Assou-Ecoutto, Danny Collins and Jonas Olsson hardly give the free-scoring Evertonian a run for his money. Lescott is well worth a run in the England team in my view, though this may be jeopardised by Wayne Bridge’s move to first-team football with Man City, after playing understudy to Ashley Cole for so long.

Center Back: Martin Laursen (Aston Villa)
A controversial choice probably, but Villa’s revival in 2008 has been based on a very solid defence. Laursen has been the rock of the whole team, and deserves enormous credit, especially after the departure of Olof Mellberg to Juventus in the summer.

Center Back: Nemanja Vidic (Man United)
A more regular choice, United’s Serbian colossus was overshadowed by Rio Ferdinand for the first part of the year, but this season has been a more consistant performer, and even started to score a few goals. Once he cuts the occasional catastrophic errors out of his game, Vidic could be one of the best in the world.

Right Back: Jose Bosingwa (Chelsea)
Bosingwa’s arrival at Chelsea in the summer was regarded in some minds (including mine, I will admit) as just another cash-splash by Abramovic in order to get some familiar faces for Big Phil Scolari. But his consistant performances and overall skills both defensive and attacking have been extremely impressive, and he fully deserves this spot as the only summer signing in the team, with few other contenders really pushing him.

Center Midfield: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
What can be said about Stevie G that hasn’t been said countless times before. The word “talismanic” is used far too often, but it’s certainly applicable to Liverpool’s captain. Countless excellent performances and vital goals make Gerrard stand above many brilliant candidates for this role, including Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Jimmy Bullard.

Center Midfield: Garath Barry (Aston Villa)
Barry has been another of Villa’s key players this year, and hanging on to him is vital for Martin O’Neill’s side, despite very heavy interest from Liverpool, where he would link up with England team-mate Gerrard in a scarily good partnership. Barry has cemented his place in England’s team this year, and though he has benefitted from injuries to Carrick, Hargreaves, Lampard and Gerrard, it will take a lot to displace him from Fabio Capello’s team sheet now.

Left Wing: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
One on the best revelations of the year. Many frowned when Ashley Young was poached from Watford in January 2007 for almost £10million, and for a while it seemed like they might be right, but teaming particularly with Gabriel Agbonlahor has given the Villa winger a new lease of life, and I only see 2009 being an even better year for the youthful maestro.

Right Wing: Christiano Ronaldo (Man United)
Let’s get things straight from the very beginning – I can’t stand Ronaldo. He’s arrogant, irritating and really far too good for anyone else to stomach. But you can’t deny the facts – he recently won the prestigious Ballon D’Or, and looks very likely to win Fifa’s player of the year also. 40 goals in a season for United is seriously impressive, and though he could certainly do with an attitude readjustment, no one would manage a decent argument to chose any other player here.

Striker: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Again no arguments here, I suspect. Torres would pretty much walk into any team in the world, his pace, finishing, instinct and skill are second to none on his day. Injury has crippled his season so far, but once those problems are behind him, he will be back to his deadly best, and should be the little bit extra needed for Liverpool if they are to secure their first league title in almost 20 years.

Striker: Dimitar Berbatov (Spurs/Man United)
Since moving to United, Berbatov has had a tough time settling in, and, if rumours are to be believed, was almost single-handedly responsible for Spurs’ slide into collective apathy in August, but the first half of his year was explosive enough to persuade United to pay a whopping £30million for him. Along with his former strike partner Robbie Keane, he has failed to impress so far at such a big club, but it won’t be long, I suspect, before he regains his confidence, and confidence is absolutely key to his game.


Bench: Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Man United), John Terry (Chelsea), Mikel Arteta (Everton), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Nicholas Anelka (Chelsea)
Any of these players could well have made the first team, but there are only 11 spaces, and that inevitably means excellent players have to give way to other, even better ones.

Manager: Phil Brown (Hull)
It’s been a great year for some managers, and an awful one for others. Sir Alex lead his team to Champion’s League victory, Fabio Capello has turned England from a laughable excuse for a team into a... slightly less laughable excuse for a team, but Hull’s Phil Brown has shone above the rest. 1st of January 2008 saw Hull in mid-table in the Championship, but a superb year has seen them complete a meteoric rise to 8th in the Premiership, and for quite a while they were in 3rd!