No Qualms About The PFA Awards...

But The Team of the Year Looks Dodgy

Seriously, is there an uglier photo of Ronaldo than this?

Nevermind, that's beside the point. The Professional Footballer's Association has announced their winner for this season's Player of the Year and also Young Player of the Year.

Surprise, surprise! It's Ronaldo who earned the accolades and got the distinctive 'double' and the only player to do it since Andy 'What a hit, son!' Gray back in 1977.

What happened to Andy Gray after winning the double isn't a cause for concern here but I must admit that the Portugese winger deserves the awards and the it's a recognition for the player whom was made a devil by majority of the English fans, who still make him the scapegoat of their own problems and their inevitable exit from the World Cup last summer.

Despite all the pressure and speculations, Ronaldo rose above all expectation and turned into a wonderful player this season. He has certainly matured in terms of his overall techniques and was a much better team player than he was last season.

So often last season that he was called a player with all tricks and flicks but no finish product. He silenced all critics with a wonderful haul of 21 goals so far this season and still have time to add to the tally.

Whether he'll continue to shine in the Premiership next season is still a doubt but this season, he deserves it.

But when it comes to the team of the year, I have my doubts on whether the players actually watch some football or just pick the players from the team at the top of the table. Let's see:

PFA Team of the Year:

• PFA Premier League Team of the Year 2007 - Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra (all Man Utd); Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo (all Man Utd) & Steven Gerrard (Liverpool); Didier Drogba (Chelsea) & Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)

8 out of 11 players are from ManYoo and boy, why not just the team PFA Manchester United Team of the Year instead? I'm not bitter and think that none of them should be in the team because I personally loathe them but some of the names inside aren't the best in terms of performance.

Patrice Evra?! Are you having a laugh? A few decent performance and Evra is suddenly the best left back in the league? Gary Neville? Van der Sar? Rio Ferdinand? Seriously? And Steven Gerrard?

Why not let me do the honour in naming MY best eleven players of the league this season.

Goalkeeper: David James (Portsmouth)
Despite being an England reject, James has certainly lived up to his expectation and broke a new league record with the number of clean sheets during his career. Despite a couple of comical cockups, his performance has been consistent and is it any wonder why Portsmouth have the second best defensive record outside the top 4?

Left-back: Joleon Lescott (Everton)
A steal for only 2.5million GBP, he excelled despite being played out of position at the left back slot. He fitted into the Everton team so wonderfully and had a great partnership with Joseph Yobo before being shifted to the left to cover the spot left empty by Alex Pistone and Nuno Valente.

Centre Back: Nemanja Vidic (ManYoo)
Deserves his spot in the team and formed a formidable partnership with Rio Ferdinand in the heart of the defence. Tough tackling and rugged, he has adapted to the pace of the English game well.

Centre Back: Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea)
Often away from the limelight perhaps due to his partner being a media darling in England, he has been the pillar of Chelsea's defence and when John Terry was absent through injury, he made a step forward and even had a couple of important goals in his belt.

Right-back: Steve Finnan (Liverpool)
Despite that slump in his form earlier this season, he has picked up brilliantly and is back to claim his title of 'Mr. Consistency'. With the arrival of Alvaro Arbeloa, he had to be at his best and is currently Liverpool's best player in terms of statistics from Opta and the best defender in the league.

Left Wing: Ryan Giggs (ManYoo)
Okay, he plays in central midfield as well but the Welsh winger has been reborn after being doubted as too old and no longer have the speed to terrorise down the left flank. He has turned into an intelligent playmaker with an eye for the killer ball and a scorer of some great free kicks.

Central Midfield: Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Played all around the pitch except up front, he has became the utility man of Chelsea this season and has excelled everywhere he played. Energetic and tenacious, the Ghanaian midfielder has become such an asset for Chelsea and his performance merits a place within the team of the year.

Central Midfield: Paul Scholes (ManYoo)
Another reason why ManYoo has been so good this season. Their players who looked past it and lost their 'legs' suddenly found their hunger and their experience being vital for United's title charge. Still score some crucial goals and didn't lose that playmaking skills over the years. But he still needs to watch his discipline and learn how to tackle.

Right Midfield: Ronaldo (ManYoo)
See above.

Striker: Dimitar Berbatov (Spurs)
A newcomer and performed exceptionally well. His built suits the hustle and bustle of the Premiership and already found his scoring touch in his first season in the league. Consistent performer and if he could improve on his 'away form', he'll be hard to hang on for Spurs.

Striker: Benni McCarthy (Blackburn)
The man who scores so many goals yet nobody knows him. One of the most underrated players in the league despite performing exceptionally well. Just like Berbatov, it's his first season in the Premiership and he was initially bought in to replace the outgoing Craig Bellamy. But they didn't expect him to come this good....pleasant surprise for Mark Hughes, most definitely!

The Weekend Round-up

Yes, I know. It's already Tuesday and only now, I've the time to look back at the weekend and post my thoughts. Maybe there are things that have already slipped my mind but I'll just do my best.


The Difference Between Right & Wrong Mentalities

Football is such a complicated matter that there are many circumstances and situations that you just can't use your normal human logic to explain.

Take it as just unpredictability. Many a times, that's what make us love football.

West Ham's defeat last weekend to fellow struggler, Sheffield United, came not as a total surprise. But logical mind thinks 'how can a team that have beaten Arsenal away managed to lose to Sheffield United?'

Honestly, that's what football's all about. But only on the surface. Luck and many other factors that are underrated by the press contributes to results and forms. Looking at ManYoo's performance this season, only a word could use to describe their push for the treble. 'Steamrolling'.

That's beside the point. The thing I'm about to point out is the mentality of the players. Just like how Alan Pardew took a parting shot at his former players at West Ham, what he said is true to a certain extent, that players care more about their Bentleys and money than putting up good performance in their club colours.

The ultimate downfall for West Ham this season will have to be the mentality and attitude of the players. Is it really all down to the players or maybe Curbishley does have to take up some blame?

For me, Alan Curbishley never seemed to be like someone who inspires confidence and drive. He seemed laid back and when bad goes to worst, he'll just admit to defeat and wave the white flag. Maybe I might be wrong but listening to his post match interviews, he sounded like a defeated man.

When the Hammers sacked Pardew, there wasn't a lot of choices and Curbishley seemed to have the pedigree to save West Ham from the inevitable but sadly, he doesn't seemed to have it in him. Let's not even talk about the millions squandered during the winter transfer window.

Might be down to his lack of motivational skills, his players looked disinterested and uninspired against the Blades. Going down 3-0 against a team not so far above them is not a good sign for their bid for survival.

Just how could you explain their 3 wins against Arsenal home and away, adding to the fact that they even defeated ManYoo at Upton Park while losing to 4 of the 6 from the Premiership basement level?

I just don't think the players have the right attitude and will to fight unlike Charlton and to an extent, Watford. If those two teams were to be condemned, they know at least they tried. West Ham are going to go down and Curbs will probably say 'we deserved it'.


Players Are Thick, Still...

The PFA Player of the Year award nominees are out and just as predictable as the announcement of the 23 names on the England squad list, it's full of 'surprises'. The only one difference is the names are picked by football players themselves and who can blame them?

PFA Player of the Year:
Paul Scholes (ManYoo)
Cristiano Ronaldo (ManYoo)
Ryan Giggs (ManYoo)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

PFA Young Player of the Year:
Cristiano Ronaldo (ManYoo)
Wayne Rooney (ManYoo)
Kevin Doyle (Reading)
Micah Richards (ManC)
Aaron Lennon (Spurs)


A pretty acceptable list of names but of or two does raise some eyebrows. As a Liverpool fan, the inclusion of Steven Gerrard does makes me scratch my head as he's not even the best performing player at Liverpool, bar the league itself. Players like Jamie Carragher, Steve Finnan or even more audaciously, Daniel Agger, could've made their name on the list instead of the captain.

But being defenders, there is a stigma attached and that is you'll never really get recognised unless you have a brilliant World Cup. Goalkeepers are victims as well because they never get the mention.

Over the season, players like Kolo Toure, Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Petr Cech performed exceedingly well and consistent but they'll always be behind the pack probably due to their lack of superstar likeness or reputation.

Dimitar Berbatov does deserve a mention on there but could very well go down the list of 'one season wonder' if not careful so as far as I'm concerned, he should not be on the list, YET.

Even Everton haters like me have to take our hats off for players like Mikel Arteta and Joleon Lescott. They've performed wonderfully and does deserve some credit.

But other than that, the list is pretty clear cut and I don't think you'll need a second look to tell who's going to win them, eh?


Just A Mention....

If only all the matches are as exciting as Spurs vs Wigan on Sunday. It's by far one of the best I've ever witnessed and perhaps, it's just Tottenham that entertains. Because previously, their 5-4 game against West Ham was a favourite.

It was end to end stuff and the game started off with Spurs conceding an early goal (surprised?). Then the flood gates opened with wonderful goals going by each end with the Leighton Baines one, perhaps one of the nominees for the goal of the season.

At least Spurs showed the desire to go forward and if they manage to plug in the gaping hole in defence, they'll probably do a lot better than they are now. Their 3 strikers combine a total of 53 goals and you've got to wonder how on earth are they still languishing in mid table with a negative 1 goal difference.