EPL Team of The Year - Results

The Volt

Thanks to all who voted. Below is the team of the year. I'd like to open the floor to discussion and of course people may submit what they feel would be a better alternative to the team of the year 2009

GK - Shay Given
Given's move to Manchester City in January gave him a chance to play in a team looking to win trophies in the near future. Their form improved during the second half of the season. This season so far he has kept up his good form and ha contributed to City's current 5th place position in the league. His position in the team was somewhat disputed with many posters citing Irish bias as the main reason.

LB - Patrice Evra
United's French flyer. Ever pivotal to their assists tally and not half bad at defending either. The 28 year old won a close race against Ashey Cole for this position but the majority can back up their claims with his inclusion in the FIFA World XI of the year as well.

CB - Nemanja Vidic & Richard Dunne
Controversy wasn't far away from this result either but Richard Dunne's first half of this season was deemed enough by the majority to give him a spot on the team. He has been instrumental for Aston Villa so far this season and has been deadly attacking corners. Valued for his aggressive, no-nonsense style defending, he was crucial to United's retention of the Premier League last season.

RB - John O'Shea
In the past he has been called a Jack of all trades and a master of none but he seems to have finally cemented his place in SAF's thoughts. You'd be hard pushed to find a more solid full back and he just pipped Arsenal's Bacary Sagna to the RB spot. This season he was made captain for the first time and although he is injured at the moment he can look back on what was a very succesful year.

LM - Ryan Giggs
The evergreen Welshman is still going strong in the eyes of the electorate. He comfortably claimed a place on the team of the year for this position.He has stepped up to the plate since the departure of Ronaldo, scoring free kicks against Spurs and Portsmouth already this season.

CM - Cesc Fabregas & Michael Essien
Fabregas notched up the biggest majority that these polls had and stormed on to claim a place on the team. He is already up there with one of the best in the world and seems to get better and better. In 2009 his eye for goal developed and has hit 10 already this season. He is partnered by Chelsea's Michael Essien who won plaudits for his sheer energy and influence in the middle of the park.

RM - Cristiano Ronaldo
Despite his record breaking move to Real Madrid in the summer, Ronaldo makes the cut. His match winning abilities are clearly missed by his old side at the moment. In the second half of last season alone he pitched in with 11 goals. This result was another that was criticized given that he only played in the league for half a season.

CF - Didier Drogba & Wayne Rooney
Both have been outstanding for their respective clubs but were run close by Liverpool's Fernando Torres. Drogba hit 18 goals last year but also helped his team with 9 assists. Rooney's stats show him to be the player with the most goals for the calendar year, weighing in with 22 goals. As an Everton fan it pains me to say he is a world beater but at times he seems to be carrying United on his own. Drogba is also a nightmare for any defender to play against. Would these two together represent the ideal deadly pairing?

Thanks again to all who contributed and lets hope we see an even more competitive poll next year

ShoulderChip

yeah that team would probably give Chelsea a good game alright

Dave!

Hah, lots of United players, I gather that will be a point of much contention

Bandit12

Five United players and one ex United player. Okay so.

ShoulderChip

ah I for one have given up trying to reason with United fans, but if they think that John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs deserve their place then hats off to them

Kev_ps3

Cant argue with that team. Think all my picks won.

The Volt

My team would probably beat it

I'd be opting for a 4-1-2-2-1


***************Sorensen****************

Cole*****Shawcross******Vidic*********Paintsil

***************Essien******************
**********************************
******Lampard************Fabregas*******
**********************************

Pienaar********************************Arshavin
***************Drogba******************

Peyton Manning

Fair play to organising this Voltwad. You have been the architect of so many bloody arguments because of it :P

Seriously though, well done. Allowed for some good discussion (for the most part), and its always nice to see someone put together something like this. Kudos.

flahavaj

Well done and thanks to Voltwad for organising this.

A well-balanced team it has to be said and reflective of the high regard in which United and their players are held by the forum.

The Volt

Thanks to all for the thanks And Flahavaj I'm always happy to uncover a conspiracy theory

pickarooney

Dunne's inclusion is a joke and Ronaldo's an insult to those players still in the premiership after June.

MrKingsley

Well done for organising the poll but i would disagree with quite a few of the picks.

Think it shows how level headed the voters are when the only 2 players in the team from outside United, Chelsea and Arsenal are Irish.;)

Kold

Well done United fans. Well scuppered. Give me Aaron Lennon any day over half a year from Ronaldo.

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

Jazzy

hang on, arshavin was in contention for left wing but giggs got it instead?






retarded

SlickRic

o'shea, dunne, a half-year ronaldo are bones of contention.

and maybe arshavin's omission in hindsight. i missed him in the options though and voted for Giggs.

but...

anelka, not only being omitted, but being annihilated in that poll, was the one that really made me an angry panda.

thank you voltwad. a very good effort, and it made for some decent discussion, along with some ridiculous arguments!

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

homer simpson

Is this a poll that was on a UTD forum john O'shea best centre back, uummmm ok, did they just vote for all the united players, and Giggs was prob laughing when he got BBC sports personality, but someone should show him this, he would be unable to play for month or sobecause he would still be laughing!

monkey9

A team of 2009 and no Torres??!!! :pac: :pac: :pac:

LAUGHABLE

Mr.Nice Guy

homer_simpson wrote: »

Is this a poll that was on a UTD forum john O'shea best centre back, uummmm ok, did they just vote for all the united players, and Giggs was prob laughing when he got BBC sports personality, but someone should show him this, he would be unable to play for month or sobecause he would still be laughing!

O'Shea wasn't voted in as a centre back but as a right-back.

Imagine selecting the guy who was a regular in his position for the Premier League champions as well as a member of a record-setting defence. It's an insult. And yeah Giggs would be laughing so hard at this poll what with the shocking year he's had.

I think the only truly dodgy inclusions are Dunne and Essien but each to their own.

flahavaj

This thread reminds me of the day after a General Election when the moaning about the new government starts again in earnest but no one will admit to voring for Fianna Fail.:pac:

The team reflects the board as a whole to be honest.

SlickRic

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I think the only truly dodgy inclusions are Dunne and Essien but each to their own.

if essien's a dodgy pick, then ronaldo is ridiculous.

because the only grounds where he is dodgy is if you think the fact he missed the first 10 weeks of the year mean he should be ommitted. in which case, ronaldo shouldn't be near the team.

you may have personally preferred someone else, but there's no way essien is a dodgy pick.

Mr.Nice Guy

SlickRic wrote: »

if essien's a dodgy pick, then ronaldo is ridiculous.

because the only grounds where he is dodgy is if you think the fact he missed the first 10 weeks of the year mean he should be ommitted. in which case, ronaldo shouldn't be near the team.

you may have personally preferred someone else, but there's no way essien is a dodgy pick.

I don't know how you reach that conclusion. Ronaldo was stellar when he played for United helping the team to the title, whereas Essien hardly featured and when he did play was unspectacular. I highlighted his stats in the relevant thread.

Essien in my view was a joke pick based on his overall reputation rather than his '09 contribution.

CHD

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I don't know how you reach that conclusion. Ronaldo was stellar when he played for United helping the team to the title, whereas Essien hardly featured and when he did play was unspectacular. I highlighted his stats in the relevant thread.

Essien in my view was a joke pick based on his overall reputation rather than his '09 contribution.

Take off the red tinted specs then give your view please.

jesus_thats_gre

monkey9 wrote: »

A team of 2009 and no Torres??!!! :pac: :pac: :pac:

LAUGHABLE

But Rooney scored more goals.....

SlickRic

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

whereas Essien hardly featured and when he did play was unspectacular. I highlighted his stats in the relevant thread.

Essien in my view was a joke pick based on his overall reputation rather than his '09 contribution.

essien came back and was great from the moment he returned in march. chelsea had a great run in as far as i remember too.

and he's been sensational this season.

essien is far from a joke pick.

i'm not arguing that ronaldo does not merit a place in the team. i'm arguing that essien has been great this year, and has played more of the calendar year than ronaldo, so shouldn't be eliminated from reckoning due to his 'lack of playing time'.

i'm assuming you think fletcher deserves it?

essien is twice the player he'll ever be, and just because he has played very well does not mean he was better than Essien as a player last year. Essien at even 75% trumps Fletcher every single time.

but this argument's been had, and we probably shouldn't go on. reply if you want, but i'll probably just leave it after that on my side!

Mr.Nice Guy

CHD wrote: »

Take off the red tinted specs then give your view please.

I made my argument in the relevant thread which had nothing to do with red tinted specs.

I went for an Arsenal and Liverpool central midfield as I recall, so are these the red tinted specs to which you refer? :rolleyes:

SlickRic wrote:

essien came back and was great from the moment he returned in march. chelsea had a great run in as far as i remember too.

and he's been sensational this season.

essien is far from a joke pick.

i'm not arguing that ronaldo does not merit a place in the team. i'm arguing that essien has been great this year, and has played more of the calendar year than ronaldo, so shouldn't be eliminated from reckoning due to his 'lack of playing time'.

i'm assuming you think fletcher deserves it?

essien is twice the player he'll ever be, and just because he has played very well does not mean he was better than Essien as a player last year. Essien at 75% trumps Fletcher every single time.

but this argument's been had, and we probably shouldn't go on. reply if you want, but i'll probably just leave it after that on my side!

We all know Essien is a better player than Fletcher but I think others, such as Fletcher, did make more of a substantial contribution than Essien. (I voted Fabregas and Gerrard I believe)

I am not just ridiculing Essien on his lack of games but on the lack of - as I see it - a significant enough contribution to warrant it. Ronaldo yes played half a season but was so outstanding during this period that I think he trumps the overall efforts of others like for example Milner who played all year.

Here are Essien's stats from 2008/09 in the Premiership:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/gamelog?id=9799&season=2008&cc=5739

He hardly features and I don't regard his efforts in the first half of 09/10 as being sensational by any means. Fabregas I would say has been sensational in the first half of 09/10. Gerrard I would say was sensational for the first half of 2009. I don't think Essien has gotten anywhere near these players in terms of performance and the fact he missed so much makes him an undeserving pick, in my opinion.

CHD

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I made my argument in the relevant thread which had nothing to do with red tinted specs.

I went for an Arsenal and Liverpool central midfield as I recall, so are these the red tinted specs to which you refer? :rolleyes:



We all know Essien is a better player than Fletcher but I think others, such as Fletcher, did make more of a substantial contribution than Essien. (I voted Fabregas and Gerrard I believe)

I am not just ridiculing Essien on his lack of games but on the lack of - as I see it - a significant enough contribution to warrant it. Ronaldo yes played half a season but was so outstanding during this period that I think he trumps the overall efforts of others like for example Milner who played all year.

Here are Essien's stats from 2008/09 in the Premiership:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/gamelog?id=9799&season=2008&cc=5739

He hardly features and I don't regard his efforts in the first half of 09/10 as being sensational by any means. Fabregas I would say has been sensational in the first half of 09/10. Gerrard I would say was sensational for the first half of 2009. I don't think Essien has gotten anywhere near these players in terms of performance and the fact he missed so much makes him an undeserving pick, in my opinion.

Arsenal Liverpool Man U = Red. Those specs.

You think Evra is much better than Cole becuase Cole conceded a penalty.

You think Essien is over rated.

You fail.

everdead.ie

ShoulderChip wrote: »

ah I for one have given up trying to reason with United fans, but if they think that John O'Shea and Ryan Giggs deserve their place then hats off to them

A lot of people say we over estimate Dunne because he is Irish but i Honestly think we underestimate John O'Shea because he's Irish if he was born in Brazil or more fashionable France or spain I think he would be much more highely rated.

I watched him perform amazingly for Ireland throughout our qualifying campaign and he was superb with an absolutely stand out performance against the Italiens in Dublin. He was picking out diagonal passes and dropping them on a penny for Keane.

I saw him far less for United last year but when i did see him he was often a stand out performer and there where games the ferdinand and vidic where good but he was top class.

Anyway ........ My opinion

EDIT I'm a spurs fan not United

flahavaj

CHD wrote: »

Arsenal Liverpool Man U = Red. Those specs.

You think Evra is much better than Cole becuase Cole conceded a penalty.

You think Essien is over rated.

You fail.

Sure all you're doing is sticking up for Chelsea players. Blue tinted specs something, something.:pac:

As I said earlier, the team reflects the posting habits of the forum in general, no surprise there. The big surprise is that people who should know better are actually shocked by this.

efb

O Shea no, Rooney- just don't like the guy! Ronaldo- why not. Arshavin- terribly inconsistant. Cole <shudders>

Pepe LeFrits

Jazzy wrote: »

hang on, arshavin was in contention for left wing but giggs got it instead?






retarded

Arshavin wasn't an option in any of the polls.

Arsenal had the best attack in the league in 2009... suppose Fabregas will have to suffice!

CHD

flahavaj wrote: »

Sure all you're doing is sticking up for Chelsea players. Blue tinted specs something, something.:pac:

As I said earlier, the team reflects the posting habits of the forum in general, no surprise there. The big surprise is that people who should know better are actually shocked by this.

Read what I said in threads compared to him. He is laughable.

flahavaj

CHD wrote: »

Read what I said in threads compared to him. He is laughable.

Hes not really hes a pretty sensible poster who backs up his points with good arguments. I don't always agree with him, in fact I've had some pretty epic rows with him but calling him laughable is kinda bad form IMO.

CHD

flahavaj wrote: »

Hes not really hes a pretty sensible poster who backs up his points with good arguments. I don't always agree with him, in fact I've had some pretty epic rows with him but calling him laughable is kinda bad form IMO.

Evra is better because Cole gave away a penalty -v- West Ham.

Essien is over rated but world class.

He said things like that which is laughable. Yes he can make good points on things but never when anything Man U is involved.

flahavaj

CHD wrote: »

Evra is better because Cole gave away a penalty -v- West Ham.

Essien is over rated but world class.

He said things like that which is laughable. Yes he can make good points on things but never when anything Man U is involved.

But the Essien thing had nothing to do with Man Utd, he was putting Gerrard forward, their hated enemies.

And in fairness theres little between Evra and Cole.

Your problem here has as much to do with your own (understandable) bias toward Chelsea players as MNG's towards United's.

As I've said before its entirely predictable that would happen in a poll like this, I'm just shocked people thought it would be any other way.

Mr.Nice Guy

CHD wrote: »

Arsenal Liverpool Man U = Red. Those specs.

You think Evra is much better than Cole becuase Cole conceded a penalty.

You think Essien is over rated.

You fail.

CHD wrote:

Read what I said in threads compared to him. He is laughable.

How did you find about my famous Arsenal/Liverpool/Man U specs? My secret's out.

I don't really care if you think I fail or am laughable. I backed up my opinions and I stand by them. Maybe you could try it some time instead of going for your one-line, 'please validate me and hit me with thanks' sound bites? I look forward to the day, mate. I also didn't say Evra was better than Cole purely because Cole gave away a penalty but sure you know that as we went over that already.

I can't be bothered getting into a slanging match with you though so happy new year and good luck to you.

m@cc@

John O'Shea?! The only reason I can see that Fergie sticks with him is that he must have some kind of dirt on Darren Ferguson. I cannot for the life of me understand how he has come to be a PL footballer.

GLaDOS

m@cc@ wrote: »

I cannot for the life of me understand how he has come to be a PL footballer.

I suspect you'll be on your own there

jesus_thats_gre

m@cc@ wrote: »

John O'Shea?! The only reason I can see that Fergie sticks with him is that he must have some kind of dirt on Darren Ferguson. I cannot for the life of me understand how he has come to be a PL footballer.

These extreme opinions really **** me off. He isn't a bad footballer. He has proven time and time again that he is capable of playing at the level he plays at. 20 league starts (10 sub appearances) last season and 10 league starts (18 sub appearances) the season before and 16 league starts (16 sub appearances) the season before that, all in in championship winning seasons, represents something.

I don't for a second believe that he is the best in his position in the league but the fact that he has played at that level for quite sometime is conclusive proof that he is a decent player.

m@cc@

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

These extreme opinions really **** me off. He isn't a bad footballer. He has proven time and time again that he is capable of playing at the level he plays at. 20 league starts (10 sub appearances) last season and 10 league starts (18 sub appearances) the season before and 16 league starts (16 sub appearances) the season before that, all in in championship winning seasons, represents something.

I don't for a second believe that he is the best in his position in the league but the fact that he has played at that level for quite sometime is conclusive proof that he is a decent player.

He just doesn't fill me with confidence when he plays. Whenever he starts, I always wish there was someone else in his position. I would rather we had held onto Phil Neville than have him playing.

anplaya

jesus_thats_gre wrote: »

These extreme opinions really **** me off. He isn't a bad footballer. He has proven time and time again that he is capable of playing at the level he plays at. 20 league starts (10 sub appearances) last season and 10 league starts (18 sub appearances) the season before and 16 league starts (16 sub appearances) the season before that, all in in championship winning seasons, represents something.

I don't for a second believe that he is the best in his position in the league but the fact that he has played at that level for quite sometime is conclusive proof that he is a decent player.

plus he nut megged Figo a few years ago:D

Peyton Manning

CHD wrote: »

Evra is better because Cole gave away a penalty -v- West Ham.

Essien is over rated but world class.

He said things like that which is laughable. Yes he can make good points on things but never when anything Man U is involved.

That your problem though. Youre too quick to point out where others are wrong instead of offering any opinion of your own, and that's what gets on people's tits around here. Even if someones opinion is blatantly false, Id give them much more credit for providing reasons for why they believe that opinion rather than reading you post some more "No. lol @ u. You're wrong. Fail." shite again. Seriously, consider this constructive criticism or whatever, but your posts are a lot more sensible when you're not trying your bloody hardest to be a royal pain in the f*cking arse.

SlickRic

if people have a problem with O'Shea as RB, the best way to argue it is not to call him a bad player.

your argument is null and void, because stating that is plain nonsense.

jesus_thats_gre

m@cc@ wrote: »

He just doesn't fill me with confidence when he plays. Whenever he starts, I always wish there was someone else in his position. I would rather we had held onto Phil Neville than have him playing.

That's a fair opinion.

LuckyLloyd

m@cc@ wrote: »

John O'Shea?! The only reason I can see that Fergie sticks with him is that he must have some kind of dirt on Darren Ferguson. I cannot for the life of me understand how he has come to be a PL footballer.

That team (and this forum) sucks. This post sucks. In contrast, John O' Shea does not suck. Ye Gods!

noodler

Been O'Shea's biggest critic over the years but over the last 18 monthes he has really stepped up for club and country.

I probably would have gone for Sagna overall but O'Shea would be my second given there is hardly a wealth of talent in the given position.

Dunne was outstanding this season but not last.

Torres.

jesus_thats_gre

noodler wrote: »

I probably would have gone for Sagna overall but O'Shea would be my second given there is hardly a wealth of talent in the given position..

I always thought that Sagna was really strong offensively and that he was good defensively. In 78 games in the past 18 months he has scored zero goals and two assists. Arsenal's defensive record isn't exactly stellar either.

I am starting to think that he is living off the reputation that he made for himself in his first season.

Bounty Hunter

1 bone of contention for me: There is a distinct lack of James Milner in this side.

RandolphEsq

flahavaj wrote: »

Hes not really hes a pretty sensible poster who backs up his points with good arguments. I don't always agree with him, in fact I've had some pretty epic rows with him but calling him laughable is kinda bad form IMO.

I support United and I don't understand it.
Can't pass.
Can't shoot.
Can't dribble.
Can't control the ball.
Slow.
Awkward.

I am fairly confident that he only stays on the team because Ferguson enjoys the feel of O'Shea's mouth around his . . . that or he puts off the opposition by coming on to them

kryogen

m@cc@ wrote: »

John O'Shea?! The only reason I can see that Fergie sticks with him is that he must have some kind of dirt on Darren Ferguson. I cannot for the life of me understand how he has come to be a PL footballer.

this is a display of very limited football knowledge

WP sir