Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Tim Stillman 
Date:Tuesday April 29 2008
Time: 1:26PM
UK time is: 06:35:17
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My Team of the Year
The PFA have announced their team of the year, with four representatives from Arsenal taking their places. For once,the choices don't leave me spitting with rage, well not when you consider that it is now British law for Stevie Me to be recognised in all such awards upon penalty of death for those who refuse to bow to his genius. So for what it's worth,this is hwta my team of the year would be, with seven subs to supplement as will be the fashion of next season.
GOALKEEPER
David JAMES- Portsmouth
BACK FOUR
Bacary SAGNA- ARSENAL
Nemanja VIDIC- Manchester United
Ricardo CARVALHO- Chelsea
Gael CLICHY- ARSENAL
MIDFIELD
Cristiano RONALDO- Manchester United
Cesc FABREGAS- ARSEBAL
Javier MASCHERANO- Liverpool
Gareth BARRY- Aston Villa
FORWARDS
Emmanuel ADEBAYOR- ARSENAL
Fernando TORRES- Liverpool
SUBS
Jose Reina- Liverpool
Joleon Lescott- Everton
Richard Dunne- Manchester City
Mathieu Flamini- ARSENAL
Ashley Young- Aston Villa
Roque Santa Cruz- Blackburn Rovers
Benjani Mwaruwari- Portsmouth/ Manchester City
MANAGER- Harry Redknapp
What d'ya reckon?LD.
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Your Comments
mach over flaminho? mattuso? the flamster? did you see that goal he scored from 30 yards out? mach just argues with the ref and gets sent off....
bootoo
Masch also scored a screamer, and has been very impressive in an 'unsung' kinda way. I think he deserves the nod ahead of flam.
Ezekiel
this is sacrelage! wheres Gerrard?
gooner303
gooner303, the crown court have just contacted me. I stand trial in July.
Little Dutch
shame on you for your blasphemy - your going down... with the tottenham
gooner303
Hard to pick fault with that, though I would put Elano ahead of Barry, and perhaps add Evra ahead of Dunne. Also, Berbatov (ex-Spurs) ahead of Benjani on the bench.
Andy-bayor
No surprises there are four Arsenal players in there. Clichy over Lescott?? Fabregas over Gerrard??. David James, Bacary Sagna, Rio Ferdinand, Ricardo Carvalho, Joleon Lescott, David Bentley, Michael Essien, Steven Gerrard, Christiano Ronaldo, Emmanuel Adebayor, Fernando Torres. SUBS, Joe Hart, Gael Clichy, Sol Campbell, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Young, Roque Santa Cruz, Dimitar Berbatov.
OneAaronLennon
Clichy over Evra more like? id have to disagree! although Clichys a quality player and i still wish wed signed him instead of Assou- Ekotto LOL Evras the best LB in the world and has been this season. Rios been better than Carvalho too IMO but good shout over Mascherano hes a top player its weird how he didnt make the West Ham bench aint it? Gerrards a superb player but has blown hot and cold this season and has been crap for England again lol.
HuddersfieldYiddo
Good call LD, except like Andy-bayor, I'd put Berbatov ahead of Benjani on the bench as well. I understand people preferring Evra over Clichy (tho I think Clichy is an equally good choice) but I'll stick to Clichy only because Evra is a thug.
jaelle
OneAaronLennon - I'm not sure what you're getting at when you say "No surprises there are four Arsenal players in there". Let's look at the facts 1)This is and ARSENAL fan site 2) These are the self same players voted into the team of the year by their fellow professionals. I'm not sure what beef you can have with that.
Rocky7
The same professionals who voted Fabregas as the young player of the year over Torres. Hmmm. I don't have any 'beef', as you put it, with their being four Arsenal players in that team, as you say it's an Arsenal fan site so it will obviously be slightly biased. But I'm sure if I put a team on Vital Spurs including Woodgate, Hutton, Berbatov etc, someone will have something to say about it.
OneAaronLennon
Not to say anything against you, but I'd take the opinion of a professional footballer of another professional footballer over that of a self confessed Arsenal hater anyday of the week. And Also, anyone who puts a Spurs Defender in a team of the year must be taking some kind of narcotics.
Rocky7
Im a realist, Lescott was the best left back in the prem league this season, clichy is a great left back but lescott has been outstanding this season and if it was upto me santa cruz would also be in the running and i spose , dont no why gerrard is in the team ... he hasnt had a great season theres alot of other centre mids that could of been there
Achilles
" as you put it, with their being four Arsenal players in that team, as you say it's an Arsenal fan site so it will obviously be slightly biased.". It was the official PFA team of the year as reported on Sky Sports, BBC and every other sports website. It was voted by all the players in the EPL. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7370319.stm This is the link. I dont think we can influence that.
paul_ownz
Lescott has had a great season but LD has put him in his correct place, on the bench. OAL you can put a team of the year team up on vital spuds, im sure we would all like to see it. cant think of 1 spud player who has impressed me this year apart from Gareth Bale until you lot burnt the poor kid out. You cant really argue with LD's team selections because in terms of quality Clichy, Evra, Fabregas, Gerrard etc are very close.....can you really say the same for Hutton, Jenas, Lennon and co? Dont say Barbietov bcos he has only played when he felt like it.
iceman10
I really dont believe this is a biased team at all, for if the gunners were not good i doubt the team would be the same. As has been said all of these players were voted in the team by their fellow footballers, so what the hell is the problem? Flamini could start so could evra but i see no comparison between Fab and Gerrard! Fab is a class above the rest in his position and i dont think anyone could argue with that. As far as naming a team full of spuds, that wouldnt be biased but rather imaginative as far as this season is concerned(Berbotov is a wonderful player). God Bless!!!
Paulsito
Don't get me wrong, I don't think that any Spurs player deserves to be anywhere near the PFA team of the year. I just think that LD's team selection is slightly biased. Lescott has easily been the best LB in the Prem this year, yet Clichy is placed above him. Between Gerrard and Fabregas it's tighter, but Gerrard gets it for me. And Bale was hardly burnt out by us, a stamp on the foot which broke his bone has prevented him from playing.
OneAaronLennon
Lescott, Evra and Clichy have all been excellent, but Clichy gets it because he has played more games than Evra and,whileLescott has been very good, I haven't seen him dominate big gameslike Clichy did at OT and in the San Siro. Gerrard has had another season of "shoot ortry hollywood passes every time I get the ball" and has to be one of the more wasteful players I've ever seen. For every goal and assist there are five 60 yard passes that surrendered possession and ten shots that fly over the barwith better placed teammates. He isa fraud, watch him have no effect tomorrownight as he usually does against quality opposition who don't give him thrity attempts to get it right.
Little Dutch
Its hard to see 4, 5 players from any 1 team being in this selection but again they were picked by their peers also. That is the greater honor not by being selected here, as they are the ones who PLAY against them. Maybe we can argue about what we think but cannot say that anyone of these players do not deserve to be named. i guess its like splitting hairs in some instances. Good & fair team here!
Paulsito
Lescott has scored a boat load of goals but imo Clichy has had more impact, and has been better defensively. Although I can see how you could argue a case for him.
Rocky7
4 arsescum players in a team that let a 9point lead slip and are now 4 points behind the top two. the author knows feck all and why doesnt that surprise me!!
springy
I think this list is pretty fair. For the sub keeper, it's Reina or Howard for me. For sub strikers, I think maybe Berbatov ahead of Benjani although I think Ben's good too. I also think Young by a small margin beats Bentley, who should be there if we have a bigger bench. Yes 'Arry is the manager of the year.
Lou the Gunneress
Well considering professionalfootballers voted the same four players in their team, I would say that's a good endorsement springy. That means there's a very good chance some Chelsea players voted for them too.
Little Dutch
Hehe I don't watch Barca regularly enough to know if it's just a one-off. Their whole team is inconsistent (except perhaps Messi, when fit). Now it's looking more like "2 of the best attacking teams in Europe". I can see Barca getting a goal. But ManU's defenders look more solid and composed under pressure.
Lou the Gunneress
I really like Xavi, Iniesta & Messi.
paul_ownz
Yep imagine had Cesc stayed there, the best he could be right now is their bench, not watching at home and feeling much more rightfully jealous. (Oh well.)
Lou the Gunneress
paul, yes abidal is Domenech's first choice left back. and many france supporters wish he wasn't. I do watch barca regularly -- abidal has quality but this season he's just been generally poor.
jaelle
And Domenech stuck with him versus England earlier right? I don't remember for sure. I think it was him (by default?!)
Lou the Gunneress
yes, Lou, you got it right.
jaelle
BTW, Lou, I finally managed to get access to the Arsenal tv channel online so I watched the reserves game against villa. Good to see Gibbs back and scoring.
jaelle
Saying that Zambrotta was quality for Juve & Italy but has looked poor for Barcelona. Maybe now Henry has come on he can make something happen. Do you think we have enough money to buy Messi? He is superb.
paul_ownz
Messi's dribbling is nearly as good as Hleb's.
Little Dutch
Hey Jaelle good for you! It's very good value for money. I even enjoy watching Arsene's interviews and press conferences - good source of information as well as inspiration really. Will catch the kids game later. Yeah I also wondered about Zambrotta cos he didn't want to go to Barca in the first place cos he never wanted to leave Italy. I can see some truth in the "Ronaldinho + Zambrotta package" that Barca are reportedly negotiating with Milan right now.
Lou the Gunneress
I've been able to access the general online stuff for over a year now, so I've been watching Arsene's interviews and press conferences, and the players' interviews stuff. It's the recent addition of the new Arsenal TV channel that I couldn't access until now. Barca this season have been toothless in front of goal, I don't expect them to score.
jaelle
And Paul, no, for Barca Messi's not for sale. You know when they struggled without him, I was surprised to see the small-club mentality they showed by trying to hang in there while they waited for Messi to come back from injury. That lack of confidence when they're without him is very telling, especially when they got all these other stars. A bit strange.
Lou the Gunneress
Ah I see, but isn't it slow (streaming live) outside of the UK? It was for me when I was in Hong Kong.
Lou the Gunneress
If only Hleb could score
paul_ownz
He is not for sale Lou but he has a 150 Million Euro get out clause. If we all chip in then.....
paul_ownz
Surprisingly, Lou, it's not slow. I was having buffering problems for awhile but now it's ok. Hope it stays that way. At least it compensates for the fact that we in the US are not allowed to have the Arsenal TV channel on cable or satellite providers due to an incredibly STUPID Premier League rule.
jaelle
That's great! I also enjoy watching the kids there. And but Paul he's also injured quite a bit too, shame. I remember seeing an explanation that they fed him with all kinds of stuff to build him up physically cos he's such a small boy but with such great talent. That went a bit too far when he's still growing up or sth like that, and now all the medication and stuff is taking its toll on Messi's body. Not sure if that's true or not.
Lou the Gunneress
They (some Spanish press) said that's why Messi's a bit weak physically and injury-prone.
Lou the Gunneress
yes Lou that is true--but until this season, he's usually been fit. Last season he played nearly every game.
jaelle
I don't know what to hope anymore... A ManU double, or a Chelsea parade of their CL cup around London...? Annoying.
Lou the Gunneress
I'd pick Eboue! Sorry...........just trying to be a bit controversial 8-)
flv
This is the worst CL tournament I've ever seen. I'm sorry, I can't get excited by any of the teams left. Man United aren't even playing decent football anymore. I'm sticking to the far more exciting UEFA cup. Every year now that's the tournament that doesn't disappoint. For me, the CL this year is over.
jaelle
What a gutless side Barca have become, I wish that was the side we played in 06. Five mins to go, 1-0 down in teh Semi Final and I don't recall seeing any Barca players challenging for headers when they had to go for the long ball. We'd have held out against that team two years ago. Messi was the only one who looked worth his salt.
Little Dutch
Tell you what I'd like to get is a Man U fans perspective. Would they rather play Chelsea who in my opinion would be just a shade of a tougher oppostion, or Liverpool and risk the collapse of their entire world should they lose? Whatever happens, with all emotions running high, lets just hope the fans behave themselves out in Moscow.
flv
Jaelle, did we score a late equalizer then??? I was busting for a number two in the last ten minutes, saw the Villa goal before charging up the stairs. Programme had finished by the time I came down, so I swithched over to watch the CL game. Just my f-in luck if we'd scored late. The lads played really well in the second half too, espescially being down to ten men.
flv
flv, YES WE DID!! It came from Gibbs with 20 SECONDS left to spare! It was a great move, he muscled past a villa player like a wildman and slotted in the ball with clinical aplomb! :-) So Arsenal finished 4th in the reserves' season.
jaelle
Agreed, jaelle, the CL doesn't seem all that interesting anymore. There's nothing entertaining about the final 3 teams. What is quite funny though, is UEFA fixed the draws and still didn't manage to get a non-all-English Final. Heh.
Cheese.
LD, gutless yes, definitely. I know gooners don't care for barca but I do like to watch them because there are a lot of players on the team who I admire. But this season it's been a joke. I can remember a handful of good performances from them. Yes, there've been injuries but that doesn't explain it. You have a world class player like Eto'o playing like he just doesn't give a damn week in and week out. I was slightly more hopeful after last week's performance because it was the first time in I don't know how long that Barca actually looked like they cared. But then I saw them play against Deportive on Saturday and thought "no way, they're not going to fight and they're not going to score at OT."
jaelle
That's great considering we got one of the youngest reserves squads around. Will catch the game later.
Lou the Gunneress
well, cheese, the whole thing's been fixed by Abramovich anyway. He booked dozens of hotel rooms in Moscow over a year ago. :-)
jaelle
oh, and btw, our reserve squad were down to 10 men against the league leaders since the first half and still managed a 1-all draw.
jaelle
I can see some heads rolling at Nou Camp.. Riijkaard the biggest one. Ron and Zambrotta to be shipped to Italy. And yes I've been quite disappointed with Eto'o too (you try and type that lol). One good performance from him was at the Mestalla when he just came back from injury, but then Valencia were cr@p. Otherwise he's been looking like he did at OT tonight. I also wondered a bit why they didn't start Thierry. If Riijkaard was bold enough, he would have played him up front instead of Eto'o but that's never happened as far as I can remember this year.
Lou the Gunneress
Gutted, but chuffed at the same time Jaelle. Ah well, at least now the pattern is set for next season. Everytime we go 1-0 down I'll make it my job to go and do a number two, and this way we'll never lose. I'd better start getting prepared now. Prune curry anyone? 8-)
flv
Just out of interest, how did Yaya perform tonight? From the snippets I've seen from him this season in La Liga, he's done a pretty good job for Barca. Just mentally trying to line up some replacements should the Flamster go that's all.
flv
yaya has been one of barca's better players this season. I didn't watch the whole game tonight so I can't speak with any authority on how he did at OT. Lou, Frank started Henry in some games, esp. games he thought less important--like last Saturday v. Deportivo. I honestly think Henry has enuf in him to have done better for barca this season but he's been hampered by injury and Frank's poor usage of him. Henry has had occasional flashes of his old brilliance, it hasn't been all bad. Frank could've made better use of him.
jaelle
I thought Yaya looked very average tonight. His passing really let him down. Although apparantly he is playing through 2 injuries, so credit to him. Off to play GTAIV for the first time.
paul_ownz
Barca played like we used to a couple of years ago..pretty but never gonna score. I thought Messi was outstanding seen as he was about 70% fit, where was Ronaldo though, maybe the track wasnt flat enough for him tonight? Bet when he scores a couple against West Ham on saturday he will be the hailed the best in the world again even though a 70% fit Messi outplayed him over 2 games. Dont get me wrong Ronaldo has been great but he aint better than little Lionel.
iceman10
Zambrotta was quality tonight. Didn't you see his assist to Scholes? ;)
gunnerkid107
I saw Xavi's assist to Scholes. Must have missed Zambrotta's though ;-)
OneAaronLennon
It was Zambrotta not Xavi.
paul_ownz
so gerrard does not make it to the team of the year because he knocked you out of the CL - typical gooner
spursinbarca
I think Gerrard himself said that was the worst game he had ever played in his liverpool career Spudinyabasement.
iceman10
Yet Torres did spudinbatter. Iceman's point about barca is exactly what I was saying to a mate of mine last night. They looked exactly like us post Vieira pre Adebayor. Very little variation in attack and whereas we used to give TH the ball and try and let him do everything, so do barca now for Messi. The likes of Deco, Iniesta and Eto'o were invisible in the second half. I've now got no choice but to become a plastic scouser for the CL. I will admit right now that if Chelsea become European Champions before we do I am going to kill myself. On the upside, if the Mancs and the Chavs DO end up playing one another in the final, they'll inevitably take their eye of their league games, lose them both and we'll steal in for the title.
Little Dutch
If West Ham beat them then maybe. Ive kept really quiet, but ill tell you something. We're still fighting for this title. They will have to go to Wigan and get something. And i'll tell you, honestly. I will love it if we beat them, love it
paul_ownz
Hleb should be in there, every1 else pretty much deserves to be in there..
luckys_10
i'm not a Gerrard fan myself, but i dun understand why Arsene rates him so highly. i'm sure if Arsene had the chance, he would surely get him..
luckys_10
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