English Premier League Team of the Season

Just a few notes about the selections:
- The season starts in August. So consistency is key in these selections, not just performances in the last couple of months, but rather the whole season form. Also it's not about who is the better player, it's who had the better '09/10 season.
- I took all competitions into consideration, including cups and European competitions when applicable. i guess that makes it more "English Premier League Teams Team of the Season".

GK. Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur). They always say that good goalkeepers can save you 8-12 points a season. Gomes has certainly done it this year, and he finally looks like the keeper Spurs thought they were getting when they bought him from PSV.
RB. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea).  This currently seems to be the problematic position in world football. There are 2 world class right backs at the moment, and they're both brasilians, Maicon and Dani Alves. England has a decent RB as well in Glen Johnson, but he has been injured for long periods during the season. I had to settle for a converted CB in Ivanovic.
CB. Brede Hangeland (Fulham). 
CB. Thomas Varmaelen (Arsenal).
LB. Leighton Baines (Everton). He hasn't missed a beat this season, both defensively and providing good support and crosses going forward.
RM. James Milner (Aston Villa). He has played most of the season as a central midfielder, but this is his original position. He will certainly be in England's World Cup squad due to his work rate, consistency and ability to play in different positions.
DM. Scott Parker (West Ham). He plays with his heart every minute of every game. I've seen him do the same for Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham. He's been West Ham's best player by far this season, and key to their survival. A true captain.
CM. Frank Lampard (Chelsea). Again 25 goals this season from midfield.
LM: Florent Malouda (Chelsea).
FW: Bobby Zamora (Fulham). He has carried Fulham on his back to the semi final of the Europa League (terrific competition by the way), while injury plagued Andy Johnson, their big money signing, was expected to carry the load.
FW: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United). Undoubtedly player of the season in England.

Manager: Roy Hodgson (Fulham). When he took over at Fulham 2 years ago, it looked like they were doomed to relegation. He saved them with a miraculous late push, and got them to 7th place the next season with basically the same group of players. His only major signings are Damien Duff (came cheaply) and Andy Johnson, who has had an unlucky time with injuries. This year in the Europa League, they got to the final in 18 games knocking out Juventus, Shakhtar Donestsk (the holders), German champions Wolfsburg, and Hamburg who had the incentive of playing the final on their own ground. In the same time, they're middle of the table without even concentrating on the league. The most impressive thing for me, is that he hasn't splashed out the cash, like Portsmouth did to win the FA cup, and get into administration 2 years later.

Given
Hangeland                 Vermaelen  
Ivanovic                                                                      Baines

 Parker

Milner                                                                           Malouda

Lampard

Rooney                            Zamora

Bench: (i know the premier league bench has 7 players, but i am including 11)
- Shay Given (Manchester City). He has been consistent all season, being hailed as Man City's best signing along with Tevez. Actually he's the been the most consistent goalkeeper in the premier league in the last 10 years, along with Jussi Jaskelainen and Brad Friedel.Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur).
- Richard Dunne (Aston Villa).
- Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur).
- Alex Song (Arsenal).
- Matthew Taylor (Bolton Wanderers).
- Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal). I think he was terrific this season, but he got injured 2 times in very critical times for Arsenal. It could have been a very different season had he stayed fit, along with Robin Van Persie (and had Wenger decided to buy a couple of established players older than 15, including a striker)
- Craig Bellamy (Manchester City).
- Zoltan Gera (Fulham).
- Antonio Valencia (Manchester United).
- Carlos Tevez (Manchester City).
- Darren Bent (Sunderland).
- Didier Drogba (Chelsea).

- Special Mention: Owen Coyle (Manager of Burnley and Bolton). When he left Burnley to take over at Bolton in January, they were in 14th position while Bolton were 18th. Bolton are currently 14th and safe from relegation, while Burnley have been relegated this week, stuck in 19th position.

Scholes Makes a High Pitch Point

Paul Scholes has been in the core of Man Utd teams for 15 years. I now know for sure that i haven't heard him speak publicly even once. I already saw a show about Crisitano Ronaldo's life story, and heard him speak in 3 different languages, and man does he like his own voice!....and his own body....and his hair.

Back to Scholes, he made several interviews after scoring the game winner against Man City last weekend, and I was really surprised by how he sounded. Didn't expect such a stern voice from the quiet man.



Maybe he had to make a point after Gary Neville tarnished his reputation.

If you're a Man Utd fan, you'll enjoy this clip of the MUST members celebrating Scholesy's last minute winner against Manchester City.




He score goals galore, he scores goals. Paul Scholes, he scores goals.

Barca's 4-4-2: I like it!....and so should Ibra.

We've been seeing some things happen consistently over the last 5 years. For example, Liverpool inherently suck, and Mido's wages are shrinking every year. The Egyptian's salary hit rock bottom this year, earning him 1000£ per week. A lot of people came to me laughing about how small his salary is. I usually let them have their moment, and don't remind them it's still more than double what most of them earn. Liverpool's case on the other hand doesn't need much elaboration.

Barca as well have been doing something consistently during the last 5 years (apart from playing some of the best football on the planet), which is playing 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1).

NBA Playoffs 1st Round Preview

Here are my predictions after 1 game in each series.


Western Conference:

• LA Lakers - Oklahoma City: 4-2. I was actually hoping for Oklahoma to drop to the 8th seed and Denver to the 4th seed, to face the Lakers in the first 2 rounds. They are the 2 teams who gave them most trouble in the regular season. The lack of experience will hurt the Thunder.
• Dallas - San Antonio: 4-1. I like this team this year, with one my all time favourites Jason Kidd.
• Phoenix - Portland: 4-3. Having lost 3 starters throughout the year, it's a miracle Portland are even in this position, one game up in the playoffs. Game 1 was really good, and it had more of an 'international' style of basketball to it.
• Denver - Utah: 4-3. Utah are a man's team. Jerry Sloan has the longest tenure of any coach in professional American sports (25 years) for a reason. Unfortunately for them, Denver has more talent on their team and I expect them to go through.

Eastern Conference:

• Cleveland - Chicago: 4-0. I expect the Cavaliers to get to the NBA finals, losing only 3 to 5 games in the process. They'll win the 2nd round 4-1 and the Eastern finals 4-2.
• Orlando - Charlotte: 4-1. The Bobcats will win one in Charlotte for Michael Jordan!
• Atlanta - Milwaukee: 4-1. The loss of Bogut is too much for the Bucks.
• Boston - Miami: 4-3. The oldies should pull through.

As you can see, nothing much to say in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland and Orlando face up in the Division Finals, with the Cavaliers advancing to the NBA Finals in 6 games.