Premier League Season Highlights

Game of the season:

This season has seen many excellent games: Manchester United destroying Arsenal; City turning over United; Arsenal’s come back against Chelsea; Everton’s draw at Old Trafford; City’s last game against QPR to seal the title.

All of the above deserve honourable mentions but for me it has to be Tottenham came to Arsenal. The battle between the two North London clubs always excites fans and neutrals alike, once again this fixture did not disappoint. It was not as good for the neutral nor the Spurs fans as it was last season but for me, it was fantastic. Tottenham took the lead early on and quickly doubled it thanks to terrible defending by Arsenal but like the season went on Tottenham lost steam as Arsenal gained. They overhauled what would have been a catastrophic loss and turned it into a memorable victory. It had all of the intensity, the goals and superb performances that great games have. There was never a dull moment in the match.

Goal of the season:

A goal that stands above the rest. That Cissé goal against Chelsea. A goal that genuinely takes your breathe away when you see it. It will live long in the memories of the Premier League.

Signing of the season:

I said Friedel would probably be the signing of the season last summer. The fact that Spurs signed him for free and he is one of the best goalkeepers in the league made him a candidate before anything had gone underway. The stability he has provided for Tottenham at the back was fundamental to how excellent they were for most of the season. Sadly, there are other players who also need to be considered. Cabaye, Ba, Vorm – all players who have been outstanding for their respective clubs but the signing of the season, for me, is Sergio Aguero. The Argentine was City’s best, most prolific and consistent striker. He did not join for a small fee but his arrival is not coincidental to the fact that City won the league. An absolute fantastic signing, goals and assists along with a great work ethic make him the best signing of the season.

We went and presented Aguero with the award

Worst signing of the season:

Stewart Downing, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Park Chu-Young are all major contenders for this unwanted award. SWP was one of QPR’s bigger name signings in the summer but his performances this season were terrible. Park Chu-Young was signed on deadline day by Arsenal who desperately needed another striker as they did not want to be reliant upon a certain Dutchman. They had signed an international striker, a man who has captained his country – Wenger spoke highly of him and many expected this to be a shrewd piece of business by the Frenchman. Upon arrival Arsène Wenger said: “We are delighted to have signed Ju. He will add true quality to our attacking forces and will be a valuable addition to the squad.” Since joining he has played six entire minutes of Premier League football. Stewart Downing, a £20m footballer who was purchased to score and set up goals for his club. Granted, he has hit the woodwork a few times but the stats that will stick out are his goals scored and goals assisted, both are: zero. A flop in anyone’s eyes.

hands up if you’re shit

Player of the season:

Robin van Persie is my player of the season. A man who stepped up, took the captain’s armband in a time of crisis and led by example. His goals alone speak volumes to how key he has been to Arsenal. He simply has played out of his skin all season long and impressed everyone. Arsenal owe their spot in the Champions League to him, without their captain who knows where they would have been.

Player of the season

Hot tips for gameweek 16

We’re nearly halfway through the season and things are taking shape in fantasy leagues all over the country, leaders are being established and certain packs of managers are moving away from the rest. Sadly, most of said managers will have similar looking teams by now but that is only obvious. I try to have a few unlikely candidates in my XI and hopefully their extra points will push me closer to rivals. Everyone above me last week had Michel Vorm and he racked up serious points, I opted for a much more foolish choice in the figure of Joe Hart. I had him in since week 1 and stuck with him but City’s defensive record is nothing on what is was last season. It is no secret that they are not the team that they were last year, they are more attacking and as a result, more defensively vulnerable – often shipping goals and keeping few clean sheets to my dismay. Now I’ve got that unnecessary rant out of my system, my hot tip to look out for is Landon Donovan who has confirmed he will be returning to Everton again on a short-term loan. An excellent footballer who knows this team, the league and the Everton players very well – he will provide an injection of much needed life into the current Everton squad. He is not available to be purchased yet but I can’t see him costing more than 7-8m, if he is anything less he may be considered an absolute steal! The loan is very short-term but nonetheless could have a very positive effect on your points tally.

Another potential points man in the coming weeks could be Sebastian Larsson, not an unlikely choice but with O’Neill now taking charge of Sunderland they could see themselves put together better performances and results. Larsson is one of their most important players in terms of creating and scoring goals. If Sunderland start to turn things around and really improve Larsson will be helping, that’s for sure.

My final tip for the week comes in the form of Didier Drogba. Chelsea, of late, have strung a few fine results their way and he is starting to look dangerous, we all know what he can do when on form – he is by no means “over the hill” but just pushed aside when Torres came in and clearly done nothing. An expensive acquisition, especially considering to free up space in your squad you’d probably have to drop a “big name” but the Drog could bring you much needed points against other managers in your league who probably don’t have the cajones to take the risk. This is a game of calculated risk and as the old saying goes, “he who dares, wins.” So, the daring are soon to need to spice things up if they wish to catch up or extend their lead away from the rest. Best of luck, gents.

All aboard the Shanghai Express

Nicolas Anelka has agreed and signed a pre-contract agreement to join Shanghai Shenhua in January on a two year deal. The French forward has fallen out of favour at Chelsea and of late has been training separately from the squad, today he finally got his wish – to move away from West London. No doubt this is a big money move but I thought others might have tried to go in for him…

Close the door behind you, cheers

Once the hottest property in football, Anelka moved from Arsenal to Real Madrid in 1999 for a staggering £22m and looked to have the world at his feet. He had a torrid time there, only making 19 appearances and scoring 2 goals… A poor investment but they still managed to sell him for £20m back to his first club – Paris Saint German. From then on he played for many clubs and found his way back to a real top club when he joined Chelsea. I’m not if anyone is to “blame” for Anelka’s desire to leave but I do think there is something in the fact that he has never stayed at a club for more than 3 years. Either he is eager to see the world and different parts of countries or he falls out of favour and instantly decides to move instead of proving his worth.

I make THIS much money now

I would have liked to see Anelka stay in the Premier League as something to offer someone and Arsenal could even have done with taking their cash-cow back, he brings top level experience, goals and a cool head to a team – something that his former employers could do with, especially if something is to happen to their star striker Robin Van Persie. I do fear that Anelka is a man who wishes to play second-fiddle to nobody so that might not have worked… Either way, overseas clubs are ever-expanding and Anelka is another player who is going to cash in abroad.

He may be far superior than anybody that I know of in the Chinese Super League but many players forget that such moves also mean drastic lifestyle changes. Let’s see how Nic does out there.

Will Chelsea have faith in their current attacking force or dip their toes into the transfer market pool this January… I’d stick if I was in their shoes, they have two of the best strikers in the world (when on form), one of England’s brightest attacking prospects and another potential world beater in the form of Lukaku.