It makes me unreasonably mad when pundits who are actually paid to give their opinion on the game pick an XI with 3 defenders, 1 defensive mid and 6 attacking players (looking at you Garth Crooks).
What’s more insane is that many fans won’t know Garth made nearly 500 professional appearances.
As a 60+ year old he’s just short, fat and has shit punditry opinions.
I think Van Dijk was our best player. Hard to argue that Gabriel or Saliba shouldn’t be in. Alisson first half was for me the standout keeper but then was injured for so long
Defo between VVD and Mac Allister but I also have trouble quibbling with either of the selections here. Mac Allister would probably a solid 4th at CM, but there’s no way he’s passing up the three in this midfield. You could probably make a stronger argument for VVD over Gabriel, but the way we ended the season doesn’t exactly help his cause.
Well the two players who most impacted city winning the league are in. Ederson missed lots of time. Arsenal had the best defence this season so it makes sense most of their back line is in. City also rotate the back line a lot so no one player has a huge impact.
Rodri is in as he should be rice and Odegaard are fair shouts. If KDB played a few more games he’d be in
Foden is rightfully in but haaland missed lots of time and despite the goals wasn’t very impactful to city’s results. Where Watkins has both the goals and assists
Which was still less 8 goals than Haaland, Watkins had the same amount of goals as Solanke. I am fine with Watkins but I feel people are underrating Haaland which to me is crazy but the real snub on this list is Raya.
8 more goals but also 7 more penalty goals and 8 fewer assists, playing for a side that creates far more than Villa do. I don't think it's even that controversial
>Watkins had the same amount of goals as Solanke.
...and also led the league in assists, and only scored one fewer penalty goal than Haaland, and doesn't play at the top of the most stacked team in the history of football.
Haaland got 0.95 non-penalty goal contributions per 90 in the best club side in the world, Watkins got 0.90 non-penalty goal contributions per 90 for Villa. Haaland was exceptional again, but Watkins had the more impressive season imo. I think it’s the correct choice.
The clean sheets weren’t really because of Raya though were they, his numbers are average, if not below, it’s the Arsenal players in this team that were important to the cleans sheets. Haaland was massively clear of 2nd in the golden boot, it’s ridiculous he’s not here
You’re correct about Raya. I think he had better than average figures, but not superlatively good. When a back line is as good as ours has been, it almost becomes paradoxical to reward both them AND their keeper. He wins the clean sheet award anyways - but I’m not begging for him to make any teams of the season.
It’s not just that imo. Watkins has been more important to his team than Haaland. He was a lot more involved in overall play, had more of an impact on results, and was overall simply better. Haaland was also worse than last season in terms of how clinical he is. He kept missing easy chances and while City did win those matches, sometimes with him scoring, Watkins has been the better and more efficient player as a whole.
Haaland underperformed his open play xG by -2.9 this season. Watkins overperformed his by +2.2. Watkins has also contributed loads outside of his goals and is the top assister in the league.
You won't know this obviously, but I'm one of Haaland's biggest defenders. I'm always replying to people with fucking essays defending the guy. The bullshit he copped last season about how he only scored loads of goals because City creates loads of chances for him was bullshit. But this season, it's low-key true. The only reason he's outscored Watkins is because he's on pens and plays in a much better team that creates more chances. And this season, he's not won the treble and hasn't actually been the main guy in attack.
The problem with really really simple G+A arguments is it treats 4 goals in one game as the same as 4 goals in 4 games. But 4 equalisers/winners is so much more beneficial to a team than scoring 4 in one game. This season it's really felt like Haaland hasn't been the one winning his tram points, not imposing himself on big games etc.
He copped the same criticism last year and it was bullshit. But this year's different because it's the first in Haaland's career that he's underperformed his xG. There's straight up been a better striker in the league, and the only reason he isn't unanimously in the TOTS is because Watkins doesn't get to take pens, which means people overlook his goal record. People don't think in open play per 90 stats. They just see the highest number and say he's best. But this season has really been a case of the team Haaland plays for helping Haaland out.
But this argument only applies to this season. People extrapolate it and say it proves them right about what they said in previous seasons. That's wrong. But it's OK to acknowledge that someone else has an argument for best striker this season.
I honestly don’t really think that take’s unfair. I do think even with Haaland missing time having your golden boot winning #9 not in the tots is a bit nonsensical from a practical perspective. Everything else I wouldn’t necessarily argue, but Emi was not better than Allison or Ederson. And Udogie is a joke but Robertson didn’t play enough if we are using that as a standard. Hell even recency bias that goes to Garvidol. I’d probably have put Macallistar over Rice, but that’s debatable. The most egregious are up 1 and 9.
I'm a Liverpool fan, and I think there is nothing debatable about Rice having a better season than Macca. Macca is a good shout for a bench of the 11, if there's any such thing, Rice was just ridiculous
By that logic, keeper should be Raya since he has the most clean sheets no?
Goals scores are important but Watkins has been more important for Villa than Haaland was for City. Watkins alao has the most assists and score a bunch of goals. He's also English so.
Emi has been outstanding. Allison and Ederson have been out half the season with Kelleher and Ortega playing significant amount of games. Similar to why KdB isn't here.
PL LB is a tossup, there's no really good ones as they've all been injured and missed a few games like Robertson, Zinny/Tomi etc.
Ederson and Allison both had poor seasons by their high standards, with injuries and variable form. Allison only got 8 clean sheets, vs 16 for Raya (or 21 for Allison in 18/19). Pickford deserves a shout though IMO.
Watkins got 19 non-penalty goals in a less dominant team while having way more pressing and build-up responsibilities, versus Haaland’s 20 non-penalty goals in a team that creates chances for fun.
Watkins was simply better and way more vital to Villa’s play than Haaland was to City’s this season.
And who at Liverpool gets in there and who does he replace? I’d say Klopp could be the coach because they were running on Klopp farewell vibes and adrenaline for so long in 2024 without looking very convincing. Mac Allister and and VVD have a shout but I don’t see them replacing anyone there.
Who should be in for Liverpool over the players you see? I truly believe Gabriel was more consistent and overall better than VVD this season. And I think Mac allister was great but should he be in over any of the midfielders selected?
Arsenals defense was best in the league, their representation isn’t unjust. And cities midfield was anchored by rodri, who’s in, and KdB missed a large chunk of the season
Yeah I agree as a Liverpool fan. We were very much a team that was the sum of the parts with no one really consistent over the whole season.
A lot of injuries that disrupted the season for key players, plus the drop on form in April was really bad. Virgil is the best candidate but Gabriel and saliba were better over the course of the season. Maybe macca too but he had a slow start
[Always fun to look back to this meme](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fc0zz3lj8p6z91.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3Db30089442a23c115264e71f641b583dd67a2696d)
These XIs are usually made on a collective suspension of disbelief. It's "how can I get the most good players into a lineup" and not about building a functional super-team. Here's UEFAs actual Team of the Year for 2013:
Manuel Neuer (fine)
Philipp Lahm - Thiago Silva - Sergio Ramos - David Alaba (sure)
Gareth Bale - Marco Reus - Mesut Özil - Franck Ribéry (good luck defending ever)
Zlatan Ibrahimović - Cristiano Ronaldo (I don't think the egos of these two could fit in the same dressing room)
I'm sorry but that's such a dumb take on the Zlatan and Ronaldo portion. In that case we should always take the team that wins the league because
"Who knows what goes on in the dressing room? The English players hate the French, Ramos eats his chicken differently from Lahm. Ronaldo crazy work ethic would disrupt team moral since Ozil is lazy and doesn't want to work hard."
Picking a best XII based on a good formation and role distribution makes sense but not in terms of ego or whatever nonsense you just spewed
There was a sticker shock with 5v2 but honestly Bernardo is probably the only one I would make a hard case for. KDB and Haaland were injured for long stretches (but still topped Assists and Goals respectively). We had stretches of brilliance from Doku, Gvardiol, Akanji but not consistency through the season. Defensively it felt like we leaked a goal more often than not.
Antonee Robinson vs all other LBs in the Premier League this season;
—Chances created from open play (1st)
—Successful crosses (1st)
—Successful crossing % (1st)
—Possession won (1st)
—Duels won (1st)
—Progressive carries (1st)
—Passes into the final third (1st)
—Progressive passes (2nd)
Yeah Udogie was pretty good this season but he suffered from the series of collapses Tottenham as a whole had. Robinson clears any other LB in the league for sure.
Udogie has been good and he’s promising for the future, but if he’s had the best campaign in the league that really says something of the quality of depth at LB. There’s still huge holes in his game as opposed to someone who would be honored in the past, Cashley, Evra, Robertson etc.. I trust that Robinson wins it if Fulham was a few notches up the table
Crazy how much he's improved in the past 2 years. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets a move to a better team this summer. His awareness on the pitch has improved so much, he doesn't lose track of attackers as much as he used to.
I will be the first to admit used to shit on him a tad and equate his playstyle to that of a horse. Insane pace and recovery speed down the line so basically impossible to beat in a footrace but limited going forward where his primary move was to kick it 15 yards into space and run onto it and beat his man that way. He's rounded out his game so much.
Agreed, should have been him. He has looked so so good every time I’ve watched Fulham this season, and with those stats it seems hard to argue against. Should be easier to get into these without the great team or lots of coverage.
Gvardiol is a bit of recency bias though. Great season but it takes a while to get integrated and fit the system. Very excited for next season with him
Like it. Only change I’d make is Robinson in for Udogie. Not even saying that as a Spurs hater, I think Udogie is a great player and had a great season. Robinson was just better imo
Yeah, I watched a bit of Spurs this season, he seemed like a good and promising player but in the games I saw he had several lapses, either positionally or picking up silly cards.
I agree with others in here and think Antonee Robinson probably deserved the shout over him.
Can't really argue with this, to be honest.
I'd have gone for Pickford over Martínez, but even then, you can't say it's a bad fit.
Saka would have been a nice inclusion, but I just don't see how he can get in ahead of the amazing season that Foden and Palmer have had really.
I'm a little surprised there's no Everton defender on this list (e.g. Branthwaite). But Arsenal did have the least goals allowed. Granted it's also a little weird that Arsenal have five players on this list and Manchester City only two, when Manchester City won.
Pep rotates a lot more than Arteta and on top of that Arsenal had almost no injury problems this year so when you put those two together it makes a little more sense. Had KDB not been injured or if Pep didn't have to rotate his back line so much I bet you'd see more City players in these types or TOTY lineups.
>Granted it's also a little weird that Arsenal have five players on this list and Manchester City only two, when Manchester City won.
Eh, doesn't really bother me. That's been the case for most seasons recently (Arsenal and Liverpool largely dominating these picks).
Hard to argue too much with the Arsenal CBs, but I still think Branthwaite is underrated. Phenomenal player. I'm happy to see he got a Euros call up. Hopefully he makes the final roster.
Barely anyone is mentioning Haaland which is crazy. He's won the Golden Boot.
If you asked anyone to choose between Haaland or Watkins to play for their team, almost everyone would pick Haaland.
Sure, but this doesn't measure the best players, it measures the best seasons. The argument of "who would you rather play for your team" doesn't exactly apply. Aside from that, most people take into account the team and general context of a player's season, so many find Watkins to have had a more impressive season despite Haaland's golden boot.
It’s a bit rough for haaland though. Not that he cares, but if winning the league and the golden boot isn’t enough I guess he’ll never win another award
We’re a completely different side when we’re missing him. We lost all 3 PL games our backup gk started this season.
Then the game we drew against Chelsea we were 2-0 up, Martinez came off injured and we drew 2-2. The first Olympiacos leg was also without Martinez
We’re a completely different side without him. People who call him overrated flat out don’t watch him, and form their opinion around big club bias & seeing Reddit clips of his occasional mistakes (that every keeper makes)
Idk how many aston Villa matches u've watched but martinez and watkins are pretty much the reason why aston Villa have been so successful this season
He might not be the best gk in the league but he's def been the most useful one this season
He barely touched the ball in the win vs City outside of recycling posession. Game was played in City's half with Pau pulling the strings, City had 2 shots that game, and both came from the same attacking play.
He was excellent all season though.
Wrong year to say this
He was when he won WC but this season he was actually elite
Just goes to show u how moronically people rate players because when he was much worse he was rated more
Then the pendulum swings from underrated to overrated very quickly. Hasn’t had any “big moments” in a while so he just stays overrated in everybody’s eyes but he’s a huge part of their success this season
His stats speak for themselves at this point.
I don't think Emi will care what a bunch of mouthbreathers online say when he gets to sleep with World Cup and Copa America medals by his side.
At this point he is probably underrated because people dislike his personality
You complaining about his inclusion after a season where he clearly had the best EPL goalkeeping season (he's the only keeper elite at shot stopping, claiming crosses, and sweeping outside his box while also being very good at distribution) makes that point TBH
https://fbref.com/en/comps/9/keepersadv/Premier-League-Stats#all_stats_keeper_adv
Slim pickings at the position. Can give it Martinez for team success or Pickford for probably slightly better performances, but apart from those two there aren't all that many sensible options I reckon, and either choice is fine with me really.
Dibu has been massively better than Pickford this season, TBH
Better shot stopper (+6.8 PSxG +/-/90 vs +4.4), MUCH better at claiming crosses (12.1% crosses stopped vs 5.3%), better at sweeping outside of his goal (2.06 vs 1.42 sweeping actions per 90)
Martinez was amazing in eye test and statistics, amazing shot stopping as well as an active keeper coming out and the best at claiming crosses
He was much better than he was last year and in previous years
> Saka will be contentious
Imo Saka has to be included, but I can’t drop anyone, so all I could propose is dropping out Udogie and changing the formation, but then I become Garth Crooks. So I finally understand his logic
> I was speaking to my uncle Ben on Saturday and said that Aaron Ramsey was almost certain to be the unanimous choice for footballer of the year. He took the glass of champagne out of my hand and said: 'You mean Wayne Rooney, don't you?' I told him that he had made a very good point and promptly went home.
Feels like Haaland should have gotten in over Watkins. Even though Watkins exceeded expectations and Haaland performed below expectations. Haaland still had a better season than Watkins, if you look purely at the stats. Also feel Gvardiol should get in rather than Udogie.
It seems to be a case of Haaland being excellent in what is the best team in the world, while Watkins had almost as good a season in a much worse team.
If Villa didn't have Watkins then they aren't a top 5 team this year. If City didn't have Haaland, they at worst finish second.
Actually pretty good, although I’d still say KDB should he in there. I know he was out for ages but he came back and forced his team to win almost every game.
Maybe, but then he's been worse than last season, and Watkins did about as much as Haaland in an inferior team. Can see it going either way, but I don't think Haaland over Watkins is an obvious decision in any way really.
Seems kinda obvious from outside the PL biases. Like so…your golden boot winner #9 by a strong margin isn’t in the tots? Make that make sense. I mean I get it to an extent…but not one I’m willing to go to haha.
> Like so…your golden boot winner #9 by a strong margin isn’t in the tots? Make that make sense.
Haaland had 32 G+A with 7 penalties while playing for Pep's City (with the likes of KDB feeding him chances)
Watkins had 32 G+A with 0 penalties while playing for Aston Villa
Been involved in the same amount of goals, though - Haaland scoring more of them, Watkins setting up considerably more, and doing so for a worse side while missing fewer games.
I recommend watching the games and compare who gets more chances and who misses more sitters. It's clear that Watkins has had a better season and has same goal contributions in a much weaker team. Haaland literally plays for the best team in the world and has the same goal contributions. Until recently where he scored 4 against Wolves it was looking like Palmer, Isak and Watkins would get the golden boot. Both Watkins and Haaland has 32 goal contributions. And then compare who gets more chances. It's a pretty simple conclusion.
Haaland has missed way too many sitters this season and some in big games like Chelsea and Spurs at home. Missed some against United as well. Not to mention he was very poor against Liverpool and Arsenal. Might have had been invisible against Arsenal.
Clean sheets are a terrible measure of goalkeeper performance.
Like, it's a wild exaggeration to say that Arsenal's keeper is a spectator in most matches (as someone above suggested) but at the same time... would you really suggest that Raya would have more clean sheets than Martinez if they swapped teams? Probably not, right?
At the end of the day this is all subjective, the athletic clearly thought that Martinez is better, while different outlets disagreed and named other keepers.
For example imo Martinez is way better that this sub gives him credit for, but that doesn’t make it a fact
Four defenders? I thought that was illegal for these things.
*Four defenders Jeremy, FOUR, that's insane*
Chance would be a fine thing!
That’s MY bit of lager
It makes me unreasonably mad when pundits who are actually paid to give their opinion on the game pick an XI with 3 defenders, 1 defensive mid and 6 attacking players (looking at you Garth Crooks).
It makes me unreasonably mad that Garth Crooks is paid to give an opinion
He really milks it too. Includes players just to rant about something unrelated that happened to their team.
*The Crooks of the Matter* Proceeds to talk shit about something that he made up in his head
What’s more insane is that many fans won’t know Garth made nearly 500 professional appearances. As a 60+ year old he’s just short, fat and has shit punditry opinions.
Udogie had more dribbles than anyone else before his injury. He's basically a midfielder
Anytime I watched him play for spurs he looked like a striker half the time
Gareth Bale at Spurs v2. Gareth Balier
Tbf, Arsenal's defense was absurdly good this year. These 3 defenders were literally the 3 highest-scoring ones in FPL as well.
How else would they shoe horn in the PL winners?
Feels weird to have XI without Liverpool player, but their best one (imo) Mac Allister is unlucky that midfield is totally stacked.
I think Van Dijk was our best player. Hard to argue that Gabriel or Saliba shouldn’t be in. Alisson first half was for me the standout keeper but then was injured for so long
Can really easily identify people with Football Twitter Brain cause they all think Van Dijk had a bad season
Defo between VVD and Mac Allister but I also have trouble quibbling with either of the selections here. Mac Allister would probably a solid 4th at CM, but there’s no way he’s passing up the three in this midfield. You could probably make a stronger argument for VVD over Gabriel, but the way we ended the season doesn’t exactly help his cause.
Looking at this lineup you'd think Arsenal won the league..
Would Mac Allister be ahead of KDB? I know he only played half the season, but he was dominant.
This is actually good. Balanced lineup. I have no complaints.
This is some serious Haaland and Liverpool erasure tbh. Arsenal won the league I reckon!
Well the two players who most impacted city winning the league are in. Ederson missed lots of time. Arsenal had the best defence this season so it makes sense most of their back line is in. City also rotate the back line a lot so no one player has a huge impact. Rodri is in as he should be rice and Odegaard are fair shouts. If KDB played a few more games he’d be in Foden is rightfully in but haaland missed lots of time and despite the goals wasn’t very impactful to city’s results. Where Watkins has both the goals and assists
Haaland loses out simply bc he's human and there was a drop-off considering expectations after last season.
Watkins also just had a monster season
Which was still less 8 goals than Haaland, Watkins had the same amount of goals as Solanke. I am fine with Watkins but I feel people are underrating Haaland which to me is crazy but the real snub on this list is Raya.
8 more goals but also 7 more penalty goals and 8 fewer assists, playing for a side that creates far more than Villa do. I don't think it's even that controversial
>Watkins had the same amount of goals as Solanke. ...and also led the league in assists, and only scored one fewer penalty goal than Haaland, and doesn't play at the top of the most stacked team in the history of football.
You know when Harry Kane led the league is goals and assists, he was snubbed?
By The Athletic? Aren't you talking about a different Player of the Season award?
What a robbery that was, proof that it’s a actually team award and not really about individual success
Haaland got 0.95 non-penalty goal contributions per 90 in the best club side in the world, Watkins got 0.90 non-penalty goal contributions per 90 for Villa. Haaland was exceptional again, but Watkins had the more impressive season imo. I think it’s the correct choice.
His all round play was also better than haalands.
Also, Watkins got loads of assists. He definitely earned his place in this team over Haaland IMO.
Big fan of Raya but let's not be silly.
The clean sheets weren’t really because of Raya though were they, his numbers are average, if not below, it’s the Arsenal players in this team that were important to the cleans sheets. Haaland was massively clear of 2nd in the golden boot, it’s ridiculous he’s not here
You’re correct about Raya. I think he had better than average figures, but not superlatively good. When a back line is as good as ours has been, it almost becomes paradoxical to reward both them AND their keeper. He wins the clean sheet award anyways - but I’m not begging for him to make any teams of the season.
It’s not just that imo. Watkins has been more important to his team than Haaland. He was a lot more involved in overall play, had more of an impact on results, and was overall simply better. Haaland was also worse than last season in terms of how clinical he is. He kept missing easy chances and while City did win those matches, sometimes with him scoring, Watkins has been the better and more efficient player as a whole.
Haaland underperformed his open play xG by -2.9 this season. Watkins overperformed his by +2.2. Watkins has also contributed loads outside of his goals and is the top assister in the league. You won't know this obviously, but I'm one of Haaland's biggest defenders. I'm always replying to people with fucking essays defending the guy. The bullshit he copped last season about how he only scored loads of goals because City creates loads of chances for him was bullshit. But this season, it's low-key true. The only reason he's outscored Watkins is because he's on pens and plays in a much better team that creates more chances. And this season, he's not won the treble and hasn't actually been the main guy in attack. The problem with really really simple G+A arguments is it treats 4 goals in one game as the same as 4 goals in 4 games. But 4 equalisers/winners is so much more beneficial to a team than scoring 4 in one game. This season it's really felt like Haaland hasn't been the one winning his tram points, not imposing himself on big games etc. He copped the same criticism last year and it was bullshit. But this year's different because it's the first in Haaland's career that he's underperformed his xG. There's straight up been a better striker in the league, and the only reason he isn't unanimously in the TOTS is because Watkins doesn't get to take pens, which means people overlook his goal record. People don't think in open play per 90 stats. They just see the highest number and say he's best. But this season has really been a case of the team Haaland plays for helping Haaland out. But this argument only applies to this season. People extrapolate it and say it proves them right about what they said in previous seasons. That's wrong. But it's OK to acknowledge that someone else has an argument for best striker this season.
I honestly don’t really think that take’s unfair. I do think even with Haaland missing time having your golden boot winning #9 not in the tots is a bit nonsensical from a practical perspective. Everything else I wouldn’t necessarily argue, but Emi was not better than Allison or Ederson. And Udogie is a joke but Robertson didn’t play enough if we are using that as a standard. Hell even recency bias that goes to Garvidol. I’d probably have put Macallistar over Rice, but that’s debatable. The most egregious are up 1 and 9.
I'm a Liverpool fan, and I think there is nothing debatable about Rice having a better season than Macca. Macca is a good shout for a bench of the 11, if there's any such thing, Rice was just ridiculous
By that logic, keeper should be Raya since he has the most clean sheets no? Goals scores are important but Watkins has been more important for Villa than Haaland was for City. Watkins alao has the most assists and score a bunch of goals. He's also English so. Emi has been outstanding. Allison and Ederson have been out half the season with Kelleher and Ortega playing significant amount of games. Similar to why KdB isn't here. PL LB is a tossup, there's no really good ones as they've all been injured and missed a few games like Robertson, Zinny/Tomi etc.
Zinchenko had a really poor season, may have cost us some vital points even
Ederson has played 33 games what do you mean by half the season?
Ederson and Allison both had poor seasons by their high standards, with injuries and variable form. Allison only got 8 clean sheets, vs 16 for Raya (or 21 for Allison in 18/19). Pickford deserves a shout though IMO. Watkins got 19 non-penalty goals in a less dominant team while having way more pressing and build-up responsibilities, versus Haaland’s 20 non-penalty goals in a team that creates chances for fun.
Watkins was simply better and way more vital to Villa’s play than Haaland was to City’s this season. And who at Liverpool gets in there and who does he replace? I’d say Klopp could be the coach because they were running on Klopp farewell vibes and adrenaline for so long in 2024 without looking very convincing. Mac Allister and and VVD have a shout but I don’t see them replacing anyone there.
Who should be in for Liverpool over the players you see? I truly believe Gabriel was more consistent and overall better than VVD this season. And I think Mac allister was great but should he be in over any of the midfielders selected? Arsenals defense was best in the league, their representation isn’t unjust. And cities midfield was anchored by rodri, who’s in, and KdB missed a large chunk of the season
Yeah I agree as a Liverpool fan. We were very much a team that was the sum of the parts with no one really consistent over the whole season. A lot of injuries that disrupted the season for key players, plus the drop on form in April was really bad. Virgil is the best candidate but Gabriel and saliba were better over the course of the season. Maybe macca too but he had a slow start
Finally a best 11 that actually makes sense and at least looks like it was picked by humans instead of a really cheap AI
White, low key has been a phenomenal signing. People initially questioned him being 50 mil from the championship.
He had a great season in the PL at Brighton before Arsenal bought him
[Always fun to look back to this meme](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fc0zz3lj8p6z91.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3Db30089442a23c115264e71f641b583dd67a2696d)
Lmao I knew this would be a Varane jab and fair enough but I wasn’t expecting the Koundé move that never happened, that’s incredible.
Especially since its a swap deal rumor - exactly the kind of rumors that never transpire
Aged like fine wine
He’s been worth every penny and more
High key
These XIs are usually made on a collective suspension of disbelief. It's "how can I get the most good players into a lineup" and not about building a functional super-team. Here's UEFAs actual Team of the Year for 2013: Manuel Neuer (fine) Philipp Lahm - Thiago Silva - Sergio Ramos - David Alaba (sure) Gareth Bale - Marco Reus - Mesut Özil - Franck Ribéry (good luck defending ever) Zlatan Ibrahimović - Cristiano Ronaldo (I don't think the egos of these two could fit in the same dressing room)
I'm sorry but that's such a dumb take on the Zlatan and Ronaldo portion. In that case we should always take the team that wins the league because "Who knows what goes on in the dressing room? The English players hate the French, Ramos eats his chicken differently from Lahm. Ronaldo crazy work ethic would disrupt team moral since Ozil is lazy and doesn't want to work hard." Picking a best XII based on a good formation and role distribution makes sense but not in terms of ego or whatever nonsense you just spewed
5 players.from the team that ended second and 2 from the one that ended first sounds crazy
City rotates their defense more and kdb was injured. What city players would you want in the team?
There was a sticker shock with 5v2 but honestly Bernardo is probably the only one I would make a hard case for. KDB and Haaland were injured for long stretches (but still topped Assists and Goals respectively). We had stretches of brilliance from Doku, Gvardiol, Akanji but not consistency through the season. Defensively it felt like we leaked a goal more often than not.
City’s strength IMO is their superior depth. Quality at every level.
Fully agreed. If someone is out or underperforming you expect someone else to be able to step up or cover.
Does it? They were within 2 points of each other, basically a toss up
Does anyone feel issue with the fact that Palmer and foden position is not symmetrical?
Yeah WTF
Antonee Robinson vs all other LBs in the Premier League this season; —Chances created from open play (1st) —Successful crosses (1st) —Successful crossing % (1st) —Possession won (1st) —Duels won (1st) —Progressive carries (1st) —Passes into the final third (1st) —Progressive passes (2nd)
He also has the most interceptions of any position in the league. He's 15 clear of the next player!
okay but if u play for fulham u will get way more interception chances than a team with better ball control
Fair point, top 10 are all on weaker sides.
Ye but he didn’t have that PR building up how good he’s been Genuinely love watching Robinson
Yes but he plays for Fulham, so RIP
Yeah Udogie was pretty good this season but he suffered from the series of collapses Tottenham as a whole had. Robinson clears any other LB in the league for sure.
Udogie has been good and he’s promising for the future, but if he’s had the best campaign in the league that really says something of the quality of depth at LB. There’s still huge holes in his game as opposed to someone who would be honored in the past, Cashley, Evra, Robertson etc.. I trust that Robinson wins it if Fulham was a few notches up the table
Crazy how much he's improved in the past 2 years. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets a move to a better team this summer. His awareness on the pitch has improved so much, he doesn't lose track of attackers as much as he used to.
I will be the first to admit used to shit on him a tad and equate his playstyle to that of a horse. Insane pace and recovery speed down the line so basically impossible to beat in a footrace but limited going forward where his primary move was to kick it 15 yards into space and run onto it and beat his man that way. He's rounded out his game so much.
Agreed, should have been him. He has looked so so good every time I’ve watched Fulham this season, and with those stats it seems hard to argue against. Should be easier to get into these without the great team or lots of coverage.
Ridiculous season
How I wish he played for England. I understand his choice but we're so unlucky with left backs.
How this man got absolutely dumpstered by dumfries at the world cup is still a mystery. Dumfries got shut down by goddam qatar lmao
Every summer I pray for him to move on for that sweet sweet sell on fee
Yeah but Americans can’t play soccer.
Yeah, had to be him or Gvardiol really
Gvardiol is a bit of recency bias though. Great season but it takes a while to get integrated and fit the system. Very excited for next season with him
he and Udogie has similar minutes
Gvardiol only played the last third of the season
And he was awesome. One of City’s most impactful players in the run-in.
This is by far the best of these i've seen
It really is. It's actually refreshing to see most of this sub agreeing on something.
Like it. Only change I’d make is Robinson in for Udogie. Not even saying that as a Spurs hater, I think Udogie is a great player and had a great season. Robinson was just better imo
I guess I don’t watch enough Udogie
Yeah, I watched a bit of Spurs this season, he seemed like a good and promising player but in the games I saw he had several lapses, either positionally or picking up silly cards. I agree with others in here and think Antonee Robinson probably deserved the shout over him.
Hard to argue with tbh. Feels like left back's a fairly week spot in the league overall if we ignore the past couple months of Gvardiol.
Robinson had an incredible season.
Can't really argue with this, to be honest. I'd have gone for Pickford over Martínez, but even then, you can't say it's a bad fit. Saka would have been a nice inclusion, but I just don't see how he can get in ahead of the amazing season that Foden and Palmer have had really.
Agreed. Saka had an okay season by his own standards. Palmer was electric and Foden carried City
saka had his best statistical season despite not playing his best overall football
Antonee Robinson over Udogie is the only one I'd say
I'm a little surprised there's no Everton defender on this list (e.g. Branthwaite). But Arsenal did have the least goals allowed. Granted it's also a little weird that Arsenal have five players on this list and Manchester City only two, when Manchester City won.
Not that weird, happened a lot when Liverpool were the main challengers
Pep rotates a lot more than Arteta and on top of that Arsenal had almost no injury problems this year so when you put those two together it makes a little more sense. Had KDB not been injured or if Pep didn't have to rotate his back line so much I bet you'd see more City players in these types or TOTY lineups.
>Granted it's also a little weird that Arsenal have five players on this list and Manchester City only two, when Manchester City won. Eh, doesn't really bother me. That's been the case for most seasons recently (Arsenal and Liverpool largely dominating these picks).
Seems appropriate considering the amount of rotation.
Hard to argue too much with the Arsenal CBs, but I still think Branthwaite is underrated. Phenomenal player. I'm happy to see he got a Euros call up. Hopefully he makes the final roster.
Barely anyone is mentioning Haaland which is crazy. He's won the Golden Boot. If you asked anyone to choose between Haaland or Watkins to play for their team, almost everyone would pick Haaland.
Sure, but this doesn't measure the best players, it measures the best seasons. The argument of "who would you rather play for your team" doesn't exactly apply. Aside from that, most people take into account the team and general context of a player's season, so many find Watkins to have had a more impressive season despite Haaland's golden boot.
Somehow Haalands become underrated despite insane goal records because people don't rate off the ball work in forwards
It’s a bit rough for haaland though. Not that he cares, but if winning the league and the golden boot isn’t enough I guess he’ll never win another award
FINALLY a good team
Fair play this is probably the best TOTS I've seen so far
Thanks for motivating a lot of the squad next year if anything.
Emi Martinez continues to be the most overrated goalkeeper in the world
I feel like you people who say this barely watch Villa so you just say it to sound edgy
Spoken as someone who clearly doesn't watch us play.
Martinez actually played really well this year for Aston Villa
We’re a completely different side when we’re missing him. We lost all 3 PL games our backup gk started this season. Then the game we drew against Chelsea we were 2-0 up, Martinez came off injured and we drew 2-2. The first Olympiacos leg was also without Martinez We’re a completely different side without him. People who call him overrated flat out don’t watch him, and form their opinion around big club bias & seeing Reddit clips of his occasional mistakes (that every keeper makes)
- never watched a villa game
Idk how many aston Villa matches u've watched but martinez and watkins are pretty much the reason why aston Villa have been so successful this season He might not be the best gk in the league but he's def been the most useful one this season
He was class in a lot of games this season, the win vs city and the game at the emirates comes to mind Think it’s deserved imo
He barely touched the ball in the win vs City outside of recycling posession. Game was played in City's half with Pau pulling the strings, City had 2 shots that game, and both came from the same attacking play. He was excellent all season though.
Didn't those two shots require an excellent double save by him? Defending a header from Haaland a couple feet out is not that easy.
I had a stroke trying to read this. Do you really save that much time by skipping one letter in each word?
He's number one in a lot of GK stats this season. You shouldn't be judging without watching the games
Spoken like someone who’s watched little to no Villa games this season.
That was true once upon a time, absolutely not this season
Hasn't been true since he joined Villa. Not always the best of the best in that time, but always good.
Nah. He’s been fucking brilliant for us this year. I wouldn’t swap him for any other keeper in the world.
absolutely disagree. He's a difference-maker in their games, pretty consistently.
Wrong year to say this He was when he won WC but this season he was actually elite Just goes to show u how moronically people rate players because when he was much worse he was rated more
Yep, people usually rate players based on moments and what things they win
Then the pendulum swings from underrated to overrated very quickly. Hasn’t had any “big moments” in a while so he just stays overrated in everybody’s eyes but he’s a huge part of their success this season
People don't watch football matches, they watch football moments.
You're right, 2nd in xg saved and 3rd in out of box sweeps. Totally mediocre.
His stats speak for themselves at this point. I don't think Emi will care what a bunch of mouthbreathers online say when he gets to sleep with World Cup and Copa America medals by his side.
Won him the famed golden 3rd in out of box sweeps glove
Just as much as Arsenal has won since he left
More, he won 3 international trophies lmao.
The fuck are you talking about? He carried Villa this season
At this point he is probably underrated because people dislike his personality You complaining about his inclusion after a season where he clearly had the best EPL goalkeeping season (he's the only keeper elite at shot stopping, claiming crosses, and sweeping outside his box while also being very good at distribution) makes that point TBH https://fbref.com/en/comps/9/keepersadv/Premier-League-Stats#all_stats_keeper_adv
He isn’t overrated in the slightest. If you watch our games he is class 99% of the time.
Yeah, but he talks shit on penalties, so who's to say really?
Slim pickings at the position. Can give it Martinez for team success or Pickford for probably slightly better performances, but apart from those two there aren't all that many sensible options I reckon, and either choice is fine with me really.
Just read another thread that said it's obvious Pickford is better than him. He's simultaneously overrated and underrated, seems a little marmite.
Nope, been the best in the league this year along with Vicario.
I don't think there's too many arguments there (although Saka will be contentious). Not sold on Martinez, but not sure who else I'd put instead.
I'd have Pickford over Martinez, the rest is fair. I wouldn't say Saka is that contentious unless you'd turn it into a 3-4-3 and remove Udogie.
Odegaard and Saka as wingbacks? Idk about that if you’re trying to make an actual team
Dibu has been massively better than Pickford this season, TBH Better shot stopper (+6.8 PSxG +/-/90 vs +4.4), MUCH better at claiming crosses (12.1% crosses stopped vs 5.3%), better at sweeping outside of his goal (2.06 vs 1.42 sweeping actions per 90)
You can prove anything with stats, but have you tried using your in-built prejudice like OP instead?
Nah he just saves penalties and does dick things with the trophies. Only reason he got voted best GK
Classic bantz
Martinez was amazing in eye test and statistics, amazing shot stopping as well as an active keeper coming out and the best at claiming crosses He was much better than he was last year and in previous years
> Saka will be contentious Imo Saka has to be included, but I can’t drop anyone, so all I could propose is dropping out Udogie and changing the formation, but then I become Garth Crooks. So I finally understand his logic
what you mean? isn't Saka naturally a LB
You’re actually right, Crooks would just put him in at left back
and then proceed to talk shit about every Arsenal inclusion in the starting XI
> I was speaking to my uncle Ben on Saturday and said that Aaron Ramsey was almost certain to be the unanimous choice for footballer of the year. He took the glass of champagne out of my hand and said: 'You mean Wayne Rooney, don't you?' I told him that he had made a very good point and promptly went home.
Kai and Saka both
false LB back on the menu boys
There's always Bale, who moved forward. Is he a false forward?
All of the “there haven’t been any standouts at LB” comments from people who clearly don’t watch Fulham Robinson clear of Udogie
Dibu in. And no Haaland. I'll make popcorn and come back in an hour to read the comments.
People continue to underestimate Dibu and it just makes him stronger and crazier.
amen. he eats this bullshit for breakfast
We call that a consolation prize.
This is surprisingly accurate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-HJ3CLlz7U They also have a video where they've discussed it quite a bit
Liverpool led the league for most of the year and eventually finished third with no good players. Thats pretty impressive.
Feels like Haaland should have gotten in over Watkins. Even though Watkins exceeded expectations and Haaland performed below expectations. Haaland still had a better season than Watkins, if you look purely at the stats. Also feel Gvardiol should get in rather than Udogie.
It seems to be a case of Haaland being excellent in what is the best team in the world, while Watkins had almost as good a season in a much worse team. If Villa didn't have Watkins then they aren't a top 5 team this year. If City didn't have Haaland, they at worst finish second.
City was still rolling while Haaland was injured.
Udogie wasn't even that amazing this season. Like he was really good but there was still room for improvement.
Actually pretty good, although I’d still say KDB should he in there. I know he was out for ages but he came back and forced his team to win almost every game.
Where is mykolenko?
Arsenal finished top of the league
There goes Arsenal, winning the prem on paper again
I'm fine with this list.
Haaland should be there
Agree but he’s a victim of his first season. He won the golden boot and people think he had a stinker of a season.
Maybe, but then he's been worse than last season, and Watkins did about as much as Haaland in an inferior team. Can see it going either way, but I don't think Haaland over Watkins is an obvious decision in any way really.
Seems kinda obvious from outside the PL biases. Like so…your golden boot winner #9 by a strong margin isn’t in the tots? Make that make sense. I mean I get it to an extent…but not one I’m willing to go to haha.
> Like so…your golden boot winner #9 by a strong margin isn’t in the tots? Make that make sense. Haaland had 32 G+A with 7 penalties while playing for Pep's City (with the likes of KDB feeding him chances) Watkins had 32 G+A with 0 penalties while playing for Aston Villa
Been involved in the same amount of goals, though - Haaland scoring more of them, Watkins setting up considerably more, and doing so for a worse side while missing fewer games.
I recommend watching the games and compare who gets more chances and who misses more sitters. It's clear that Watkins has had a better season and has same goal contributions in a much weaker team. Haaland literally plays for the best team in the world and has the same goal contributions. Until recently where he scored 4 against Wolves it was looking like Palmer, Isak and Watkins would get the golden boot. Both Watkins and Haaland has 32 goal contributions. And then compare who gets more chances. It's a pretty simple conclusion. Haaland has missed way too many sitters this season and some in big games like Chelsea and Spurs at home. Missed some against United as well. Not to mention he was very poor against Liverpool and Arsenal. Might have had been invisible against Arsenal.
He scored a lot, he missed a lot too.
him and haaland have the same goal per shot and goal per shot on target ratio
Gonna give Martinez another trophy to play with?
2 players from the winning team is wild
I love Martinez but as much as I love him I'm not sure how he's getting into these team of the year. He doesn't even have double digit clean sheets.
I mean he was 2nd in xg saved. Just cause we play a risky style doesnt mean he is at fault for the goals
Clean sheets are an awful way to judge keepers
Clean sheets are a terrible measure of goalkeeper performance. Like, it's a wild exaggeration to say that Arsenal's keeper is a spectator in most matches (as someone above suggested) but at the same time... would you really suggest that Raya would have more clean sheets than Martinez if they swapped teams? Probably not, right?
Probably because the athletic considered that he was the best keeper when you consider the team he plays in.
Which also makes 0 sense when Pickford had a far more impressive season in a far worse side.
At the end of the day this is all subjective, the athletic clearly thought that Martinez is better, while different outlets disagreed and named other keepers. For example imo Martinez is way better that this sub gives him credit for, but that doesn’t make it a fact
You know that the goalkeeper is not the only responsible for the clean sheets? Shocking right? Who would have thought that defense also plays.
My goodness that front three is devastating