Okay so it’s the end of the Premiership season and everyone is coming out and naming their team of the year but it’s always the same faces that get the plaudits (except Rooney). It’s Man United this, Chelsea that, Ronaldo here, Drogba there.
But have a look at the less fashionable clubs and there’s a queue of players who should have been staking their claim but missed out because either the club was a tiddler (Reading), the side underperformed (Arsenal) or just not glamorous enough (Everton, Rovers, West Ham). Or no-one could see past Gerrard at Liverpool or Berbatov at Spurs.
So here’s my Premiership Second XI. In some cases it’s possibly better than the First XI selections, in others it’s just giving credit to players who missed out on deserved glory.
Marcus Hahnemann
Reading
More saves than anyone except Friedel who let in more goals and had fewer clean sheets, and more clean sheets than anyone except Reina who had a fraction of the saves to make thanks to Liverpool’s strength in defence. Reading would have been relegated without him instead of chasing a place in Europe.
Jamie Carragher
Liverpool
Didn't concede a league goal in 21 matches while he was on the field - considerably better than even Carvalho’s record this season. He orchestrated an awesome defensive record that barely gave Reina any work to do.
Nicky Shorey
Reading
Carvalho got all the headlines this year for Chelsea with Terry sidelined for long periods but Shorey was quietly keeping Reading in the running, not just in defence but in attack as well. His record of 1 goal and six assists for just 2 yellows compares well to Carvallho’s 3 goals, 1 assist and 6 yellows.
Matthew Taylor
Portsmouth
Not only did Taylor and Pompey rarely give a goal away easily for much of the season, Taylor ensured they were getting goals at the other end as well. His record of eight goals and five assists was better than many strikers and most midfielders.
Lucas Neill
West Ham
Proved he made the right decision with his move to West Ham and helped save the club from relegation. It all looked bleak until the team finally started to fire in the season’s run-out. Instead of being a bit part player at Liverpool, Neill will be a key part of the Hammers’ Premiership onslaught next year and he’s a rock in defence – and can lay off the ball for the strikers too, notching up five assists.
Aaron Lennon
Tottenham
Not his best season as he missed 12 games completely through injury and started many more off the bench, but he still managed to get three goals and create eight more. He is the most talented player of his age in the UK – and the one player who turns out for England and plays with genuine passion.
Steve Sidwell
Reading
The carrot-topped midfielder’s record of four goals and six assists is not so great but he wasn't really surrounded by excellence at Reading. But he was always at the thick of things and created the opportunities for others to develop into goals. Chelsea obviously think so, and look to be picking him up for free over the break. This could be Chelsea’s best buy ever. Or it could be another Scott Parker...
Mikel Arteta
Everton
With Cahill out injured, it was down to Arteta to fill the gap and he did so admirably. Nine goals and ten assists is a better league record than his Merseyside peer, Stevie Gerrard. The club owe their Europe place down to Arteta more than anyone.
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal
Overshadowed completely in the media by Ronaldo this season, combined with a relatively-speaking shocking season for Arsenal, but Fabregas is just as hot as his Portuguese midfield rival. 14 assists and two goals for a mediocre squad showed he was the backbone of Arsenal’s attack this season.
Benni McCarthy
Blackburn Rovers
Barely made it onto the media radar but he had an absolutely superb season on the quiet for Rovers. Only just behind Drogba in goal terms, and well ahead of just about everyone else with 18 strikes to his credit. He’s a good old fashioned greedy goalscorer too – he only helped create one other goal the whole season.
Mark Viduka
Middlesbrough
More league goals than almost any other striker in the premiership except McCarthy and Drogba and just as many as Wayne Rooney. Suprisingly though Viduka had few assists for a striker who used to be more of a target man than a finisher, creating just five goals for his teammates. But who cares when he is in this kind of scoring form?
BENCH
Gabriel Agbonlahar
Aston Villa
Took a while to find his confidence with O’Neill in Villa’s first team, but Gabby soon showed his skill upfront with nine goals and six assists. Next season could be the making of him.
Nicolas Anelka
Bolton
Bolton are always unfashionable and Fat Sam’s long ball football wasn’t exactly the beautiful game – but it suited Anelka. Eleven goals and eight assists was a good return for a simple punt up into the box. Would have to fight for his place on the bench with Reading’s Kevin Doyle though.
Morten Gamst Pedersen
Blackburn Rovers
The Swede is a vital part of Rovers who is always reliable yet rarely gets the plaudits he deserves. Twelve assists and six goals is better – much, much better – than Paul Scholes’ league record at United this season.
Richard Dunne
Manchester City
City might have had a season to forget but Dunne was the shining star of the side. Yes, they leaked goals. Yes, they didn't score many (and neither did Dunne, netting just once with no assists). But things could have been way worse for them if Dunne hadn’t been marshalling the defence and playing into attack.
Tim Howard
Everton
Tourettes' Tim had more clean sheets than record-breaking David James this season and let in only four more than Van Der Sar...but played in four more games than him. The Toffees must be delighted United gave up on him.
++++
You probably saw our story on how, according to the Sweeney Sports Report, football is now bigger than rugby league and union and only just behind afl. Have a look here to catch up on it.
Yet despite that, how much more skewed coverage do those sports get in the Australian media? The NRL pretty much exists to serve as something for FoxSports to broadcast. Hardly anyone bothers going to the matches, yet it’s all over the back pages of our newspapers every day of the season.
Australia’s TV and newspapers are feeding off each other in the great pretence that NRL is somehow important, even although fewer and fewer people give a damn. I’m sure it has nothing to do with News Ltd having invested heavily in both the NRL, FoxSports and, of course, its newspapers.
And when the A-League season is underway, does footy get the same coverage? Hopefully a few sports editors read the Sweeney Report and start making some changes to their sense of news priorities. Or maybe we need News Limited to invest a few more quid in the A-League than simple TV rights? Then again, maybe not - you dance with the devil...
++++
Last week’s Littbarski story about his wayward daughter sparked a bit of interest. Obviously you all just wanted the chance to have a laugh at Litti’s expense, but just in case you were expecting a weekly dose of footy totty, have a look here if you want to see Pommy pin-up girl Keeley Hazell almost wearing some EPL strips. Don’t say I’m not good to you... And don’t click if you are very easily offended or your boss only expects to see an Excel spreadsheet on your screen.
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Oh, and Gavin won the training top for his Zidane/Materazzi-style quip exchange. Anton and The Chov were close second but libel laws prevent us from rewarding such scurrilous comments. An email will be on its way to Gav shortly. We might have another caption comp next week once I’ve finished reading the prize. Erm...
But have a look at the less fashionable clubs and there’s a queue of players who should have been staking their claim but missed out because either the club was a tiddler (Reading), the side underperformed (Arsenal) or just not glamorous enough (Everton, Rovers, West Ham). Or no-one could see past Gerrard at Liverpool or Berbatov at Spurs.
So here’s my Premiership Second XI. In some cases it’s possibly better than the First XI selections, in others it’s just giving credit to players who missed out on deserved glory.
Marcus Hahnemann
Reading
More saves than anyone except Friedel who let in more goals and had fewer clean sheets, and more clean sheets than anyone except Reina who had a fraction of the saves to make thanks to Liverpool’s strength in defence. Reading would have been relegated without him instead of chasing a place in Europe.
Jamie Carragher
Liverpool
Didn't concede a league goal in 21 matches while he was on the field - considerably better than even Carvalho’s record this season. He orchestrated an awesome defensive record that barely gave Reina any work to do.
Nicky Shorey
Reading
Carvalho got all the headlines this year for Chelsea with Terry sidelined for long periods but Shorey was quietly keeping Reading in the running, not just in defence but in attack as well. His record of 1 goal and six assists for just 2 yellows compares well to Carvallho’s 3 goals, 1 assist and 6 yellows.
Matthew Taylor
Portsmouth
Not only did Taylor and Pompey rarely give a goal away easily for much of the season, Taylor ensured they were getting goals at the other end as well. His record of eight goals and five assists was better than many strikers and most midfielders.
Lucas Neill
West Ham
Proved he made the right decision with his move to West Ham and helped save the club from relegation. It all looked bleak until the team finally started to fire in the season’s run-out. Instead of being a bit part player at Liverpool, Neill will be a key part of the Hammers’ Premiership onslaught next year and he’s a rock in defence – and can lay off the ball for the strikers too, notching up five assists.
Aaron Lennon
Tottenham
Not his best season as he missed 12 games completely through injury and started many more off the bench, but he still managed to get three goals and create eight more. He is the most talented player of his age in the UK – and the one player who turns out for England and plays with genuine passion.
Steve Sidwell
Reading
The carrot-topped midfielder’s record of four goals and six assists is not so great but he wasn't really surrounded by excellence at Reading. But he was always at the thick of things and created the opportunities for others to develop into goals. Chelsea obviously think so, and look to be picking him up for free over the break. This could be Chelsea’s best buy ever. Or it could be another Scott Parker...
Mikel Arteta
Everton
With Cahill out injured, it was down to Arteta to fill the gap and he did so admirably. Nine goals and ten assists is a better league record than his Merseyside peer, Stevie Gerrard. The club owe their Europe place down to Arteta more than anyone.
Cesc Fabregas
Arsenal
Overshadowed completely in the media by Ronaldo this season, combined with a relatively-speaking shocking season for Arsenal, but Fabregas is just as hot as his Portuguese midfield rival. 14 assists and two goals for a mediocre squad showed he was the backbone of Arsenal’s attack this season.
Benni McCarthy
Blackburn Rovers
Barely made it onto the media radar but he had an absolutely superb season on the quiet for Rovers. Only just behind Drogba in goal terms, and well ahead of just about everyone else with 18 strikes to his credit. He’s a good old fashioned greedy goalscorer too – he only helped create one other goal the whole season.
Mark Viduka
Middlesbrough
More league goals than almost any other striker in the premiership except McCarthy and Drogba and just as many as Wayne Rooney. Suprisingly though Viduka had few assists for a striker who used to be more of a target man than a finisher, creating just five goals for his teammates. But who cares when he is in this kind of scoring form?
BENCH
Gabriel Agbonlahar
Aston Villa
Took a while to find his confidence with O’Neill in Villa’s first team, but Gabby soon showed his skill upfront with nine goals and six assists. Next season could be the making of him.
Nicolas Anelka
Bolton
Bolton are always unfashionable and Fat Sam’s long ball football wasn’t exactly the beautiful game – but it suited Anelka. Eleven goals and eight assists was a good return for a simple punt up into the box. Would have to fight for his place on the bench with Reading’s Kevin Doyle though.
Morten Gamst Pedersen
Blackburn Rovers
The Swede is a vital part of Rovers who is always reliable yet rarely gets the plaudits he deserves. Twelve assists and six goals is better – much, much better – than Paul Scholes’ league record at United this season.
Richard Dunne
Manchester City
City might have had a season to forget but Dunne was the shining star of the side. Yes, they leaked goals. Yes, they didn't score many (and neither did Dunne, netting just once with no assists). But things could have been way worse for them if Dunne hadn’t been marshalling the defence and playing into attack.
Tim Howard
Everton
Tourettes' Tim had more clean sheets than record-breaking David James this season and let in only four more than Van Der Sar...but played in four more games than him. The Toffees must be delighted United gave up on him.
++++
You probably saw our story on how, according to the Sweeney Sports Report, football is now bigger than rugby league and union and only just behind afl. Have a look here to catch up on it.
Yet despite that, how much more skewed coverage do those sports get in the Australian media? The NRL pretty much exists to serve as something for FoxSports to broadcast. Hardly anyone bothers going to the matches, yet it’s all over the back pages of our newspapers every day of the season.
Australia’s TV and newspapers are feeding off each other in the great pretence that NRL is somehow important, even although fewer and fewer people give a damn. I’m sure it has nothing to do with News Ltd having invested heavily in both the NRL, FoxSports and, of course, its newspapers.
And when the A-League season is underway, does footy get the same coverage? Hopefully a few sports editors read the Sweeney Report and start making some changes to their sense of news priorities. Or maybe we need News Limited to invest a few more quid in the A-League than simple TV rights? Then again, maybe not - you dance with the devil...
++++
Last week’s Littbarski story about his wayward daughter sparked a bit of interest. Obviously you all just wanted the chance to have a laugh at Litti’s expense, but just in case you were expecting a weekly dose of footy totty, have a look here if you want to see Pommy pin-up girl Keeley Hazell almost wearing some EPL strips. Don’t say I’m not good to you... And don’t click if you are very easily offended or your boss only expects to see an Excel spreadsheet on your screen.
++++
Oh, and Gavin won the training top for his Zidane/Materazzi-style quip exchange. Anton and The Chov were close second but libel laws prevent us from rewarding such scurrilous comments. An email will be on its way to Gav shortly. We might have another caption comp next week once I’ve finished reading the prize. Erm...
