York Vision’s team of the year

On Sunday, the Premier League announced its PFA Team of the Year, which included some predictable faces but also some glaring omissions. Here, the York Vision football experts put their minds to the test and choose their top eleven players this season. Who do you think has made the best choices?

Oliver Todd:

Petr Cech; Matija Nastasić, Jan Vertonghen, Ashley Williams, Pablo Zabaleta; Gareth Bale, Michael Carrick, Michu, Juan Mata; Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez.

Bale, Suarez and Van Persie will most likely grace most teams. Ashley Williams has been superb for a Swansea side who picked up their first piece of silverware in their hundred year history, and partners Matija Nastastic, who has developed fantastically this season, in the centre of defence. The excellent Jan Vertonghen and Pablo Zabaleta, who both appeared in the PFA side, complete the back four. Petr Cech, along with Juan Mata bring a Chelsea contingent to the side. In a season of upheaval and inconsistency, these two have ensured Rafa Benitez’s tenure has not been a complete disaster. Finally, Michu and Michael Carrick represent players from completely differing circumstances. Carrick has finally recognised how good a player he is in midfield for champions Manchester United, whilst Michu was easily signing of the season following his £2million signing from Rayo Vallecano.

Michael Thurloway:

Simon Mignolet; Rafael, Jan Vertonghen, Jonny Evans, Leighton Baines; Michu, Yaya Toure, Santi Cazorla, Gareth Bale; Robin van Persie, Rickie Lambert.

Great player though he is, I have omitted Luis Suarez in favour of Lambert. Lambert is the ultimate team player, with most of Southampton’s forward play going through him and sneaks in ahead of Suarez, whose undoubted skill is soured by his on-field indiscretions. Van Persie is self-explanatory, as is Bale. Michu has dropped off in the second half of the season, but his first year in England remains an incredible one. Cazorla has also had a remarkable first year, without doubt Arsenal’s most creative player. Yaya’s buccaneering forward runs remain one of the greatest spectacles in the league. At the back, Vertonghen has proven to be worth every penny Spurs paid for him. Rafael and Evans have helped to mastermind Man United’s defensive turnaround, and both provide an attacking threat. Baines is the first man in ten years to realistically challenge Ashley Cole for England’s number one left back spot, and his free kicks are irresistible. Finally I go for Mignolet in goal, not because of any Sunderland bias. He has been outstanding all season, and is second-to-none in one-on-one situations. He’s also only 24, yet has established a place amongst the Premier League elite this season.

Oscar Pearson:

Ben Foster; Laurent Koscielny, Vincent Kompany, Jan Vertongen, Danny Rose; Phil Jones, Adam Lallana, Stephane Sessegnon, Juan Mata; Robin Van-Persie, Rickie Lambert

These players have excelled. Their teams may not have, but as individuals they have been stand-out performers and have played a very significant role on the pitch. Ben Foster has been an absolute rock in-between the sticks for West Brom, and these defenders have been solid throughout the campaign. But here, it’s all about the attacking threat: with Lallana, Sessegnon and Mata behind Van-Persie and Lambert – with a total of 67 Premier League goals between them – this side would outscore their opponents in every match. Mata has enjoyed a terrific season with more than 60 appearances for club and country – and without him Chelsea would almost certainly be struggling in their attempt to finish in the top four. And a strikeforce of Lambert, who has impressed despite playing in League One just two years ago, along side signing-of-the-season Van-Persie, would be truly unstoppable.

Patrick Greenfield:

Brad Guzan; Russell Martin, Jan Vertonghen, Branislav Ivanovic, Leighton Baines; Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla, Marouane Fellaini; Gareth Bale, Romelu Lukaku, Robin Van Persie. 

It is easy to forget the teams scrambling for survival at the bottom of the table when picking players for the team of the season. Nonetheless, a touch of class is often the difference between another season in the Premier League and a depressing year of lonely Tuesday nights in Doncaster, Bolton and Sheffield. Brad Guzan, Russell Martin and Romelu Lukaku are all players who have helped keep their respective teams’ heads above water this season. Guzan, a lively American shot-stopper, has been the only player preventing Lambert’s lacklustre teenagers from weekly humiliation. Russell Martin might be an odd choice for some but he has scored goals for the Canaries when it has mattered and deserves his place at right back. Lukaku has terrified defences this season and has scouts across the world interested in his signature. The rest are obvious choices. As a Tottenham fan, my love for Gareth Bale is often difficult to reconcile with his inevitable transfer to Madrid this summer but my God, what a player.

Jack Bradshaw:

Simon Mignolet; Matthew Lowton, James Collins, Matija Nastasic, Ben Davies; Shaun Maloney, Darren Fletcher, Moussa Dembele, Steven Pienaar; Romelu Lukaku, Christian Benteke.

This is the team of underrated stars in the Premier League. In goal, Simon Mignolet has been magnificent for Sunderland, and is undoubtedly one of the best keepers in the division. In defence, the young Lowton is steadily improving for Aston Villa, and scored an incredible goal in the vital match against Stoke. Out of nowhere, Nastasic has become a first team player for City, and will probably remain so for many year. Collins has been solid for West Ham in securing safety and Davies has been a fine deputy in Neil Taylor’s absence for Swansea. In midfield, Maloney has sparked Wigan’s traditional end-of-season surge, while Pienaar has had one of his best seasons yet, striking up a devastating partnership with Leighton Baines. When Tottenham don’t play Dembele, they only win 29% of their games and Darren Fletcher made a heroic comeback from illness this season. Up front, Benteke’s goals have arguably saved Villa from relegation and 19-year-old Lukaku is looking more and more like a future Drogba for his parent club, Chelsea.

Alex Finnis:

Petr Cech; Pablo Zabaleta, Matija Nastasic, Jan Vertonghen, Leighton Baines; Michael Carrick; Juan Mata, Michu, Gareth Bale; Christian Benteke, Robin van Persie.

Some of these decisions were quite easy – Zabaleta and Baines stand out clearly as this season’s outstanding full-backs, whilst Carrick has pulled the strings for Manchester United in midfield this season and along with Robin van Persie, has been one of the key elements in their storm to the Premier League title. Whilst Gareth Bale has at times single-handedly kept Spurs in the fight for the top four and is without doubt the league’s most exciting player, I believed van Persie to be more worth of the Player of the Year award simply because it is his goals that have been the difference for United this season – if you had to pick one player who has had the biggest impact on the outlook of the league table this season it would be him. I would partner him in attack with Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke – the young Belgian forward has now scored more goals for the club in a single Premier League season than any other player – and this in his first season here. I have left out Luis Suarez because you have to take into account the shadier side of his game – as great as he is, you don’t want someone in your team who you can bank on letting you down and picking up a hefty ban, and this isn’t something that can just be ignored. Behind the two strikers Juan Mata and Michu accompany Bale. Mata has had yet another outstanding season for Chelsea and his goal and assist statistics are exceptional, whilst Michu at £2m has proved an incredible signing for Laudrup’s Swansea and was unlucky to miss out on a PFA nomination. Vertonghen and Nastasic just edge out Ashley Williams and David Luiz at centre-back, whilst Petr Cech in goal was another fairly easy decision – he has been back to his very best these last couple of seasons.

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