League Focus: Premier League Team of the Season

 

We hope to have given all of you Premier League lovers enough time to get your breath back after yesterday's unbelievable events on a day that saw glory snatched from the grasp of United by noisy neighbours City before unveiling our Team of the Season as rated by, well, us.

In the race for the Champions League, Arsenal were just able to fend off Tottenham and reach the third automatic spot into European footballs premier club competition, with Spurs banking on Bayern next week to ensure their inclusion via the qualification stages.

Bolton joined already relegated Wolves and Blackburn after a draw at Stoke, with QPR's demise in the final stages at City counting for nothing and making The Etihad Stadium the happiest destination in the world at 5pm on Sunday.

The fact of the matter is City have one hell of a reason to be noisy right now, winning their first top division title in 44 years and knocking their fierce rivals off of their perch in the most dramatic of fashions in the process. With this in mind it is no surprise to see three of Mancini's men make the WhoScored Team of the Season, though United and Arsenal also have a trio of players apiece in our XI.

Our number one isn't one of those in the top 3 this season, beating the likes of Hart and De Gea to a position between the posts. Swansea summer signing Michel Vorm was an instant hit in the Premier League, and his consistent performances all season assure him of a place in our side.

League Focus: Premier League Team of the Season

 

Only Wayne Hennessey and John Ruddy have made more saves than the Dutchman's 136 this season, but with 14 clean sheets to his name - again the third most in the league - Vorm's save ratio is far superior. He has conceded just 49 goals all season; a figure equal to Arsenal's Wojciech Szczesny despite facing 52 more shots than the Pole. Add to this another third best figure of 58 for good high claims this season and it is obvious that Rodgers masterminded one of the deals of the season, having brought the 28-year-old for just £1.5m from Utrecht in August.

City's first representative in our team is right-back Pablo Zabaleta, whose form towards the end of the season was key to City's comeback and saw him just edge out the likes of Sagna and Walker in our ratings. Demoting a player whom many believe to be England's best in his position to the bench, the Argentine's superb battle and energy up and down the pitch has seen him complete the second most tackles per game of any defender in the league (3.3).

On the opposite flank it is United’s stand-in skipper Patrice Evra that lines up on the left having also impressed in both directions, pipping fellow countryman Clichy and Everton's Leighton Baines to a starting berth. The Frenchman ranked fourth in terms of tackles per game for defenders (2.8) as well fourth for key passes per game from the back, with 1.1 on average leading to a tally of 4 assists over the season.

League Focus: Premier League Team of the Season

 

Zabaleta is unsurprisingly joined by teammate Vincent Kompany in our backline, who was well worthy of lifting the trophy for City after a near faultless campaign. It is no coincidence that Kompany kept the joint most clean sheets of any central defender in the league (15) having led the way for City in terms of blocked shots (26) and effective clearances (191). The 26-year-old was also City's second top interceptor (73) and joint third for tackles (65).

Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny, who has made significant strides this season and emerged as a key player for the Gunners, partners Kompany here. The France international's 9 last man tackles is a European high, proving that he has saved his side's bacon on numerous occasions this season. He has also made the most tackles (85) and interceptions (81) of any out-and-out centre-back to establish himself as one of the league’s most improved players.

On the right side of our midfield, Antonio Valencia makes the grade having picked up 13 assists in the league this season - the joint second most. However, with all of the United winger's tally coming from open play, he leads the way when discounting David Silva's set piece duties. The fact that he has only started 22 league games due to injury makes this figure all the more exceptional, having also ranked in the top 10 for accurate crosses per game (1.7).

It is City's wing wizard David Silva that takes his place on the left in our XI and it isn't hard to see why. His 15 assists is a league high and he also leads the way when considering the amount of those that came from dead ball situations, with 5. His 104 key passes just edged out Juan Mata into second, with the Spaniard also ranking in the apt silver position when it came to accurate through balls (18) and passes in the opposition half (1693).

League Focus: Premier League Team of the Season


Our central midfield pairing is made up of a North London based duo whose creativity has gone somewhat unrewarded this season. Tottenham's Luka Modric made the second most key passes from open play with 65, but only picked up 4 assists, while Mikel Arteta laid on 60 chances in total and only managed 2. The Croat made the most accurate passes in the entire division (2215) as well as the most in the opposition half (1756).

Arteta ranked third for the latter statistic (1651), though his 76.9 passes per game during his time at Arsenal was a league high. With the Spaniard's accuracy at 90.8% and Modric's just behind at 87.4%, it is clear that this midfield partnership would dictate the play of any Premier League encounter.

Up front, our pairing is somewhat predictable, though the fact that Sergio Aguero just misses out is sure to spark some debate amongst certain blue areas of support, particularly due to his last gasp title decider on Sunday. It is, instead, the league's top two marksman who make our XI with Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney's goal tallies of 30 and 27 helping their sides' to 3rd and 2nd respectively.

League Focus: Premier League Team of the Season


It is of no surprise to see that Robin van Persie leads the league for shots (174) and shots on target (82), but the fact that he has registered the most headed attempts on target this season (14) may come as a shock. Such is his importance to almost every Arsenal attack, the Dutchman also ranks 1st in the entire division for big chances created, with 21.

In comparison, Rooney has done far more of his work outside of the box than the Arsenal forward and in turn has mustered the most shots on target from outside the box (26). He has also proven to be lethal in the box though, with a tally of 5 headed goals a standout statistic and evidence that he has worked on his all-round finishing in a season in which he has smashed his own personal goalscoring record in a league campaign.