Friday, August 10, 2007

Premiership Superlatives-Predictions

The 2007-2008 Premiership season starts tomorrow, and I couldn't be more excited. It's been an exciting summer with Copa America, the Gold Cup, the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the 2007 UEFA U-21 Championship, and David Beckham's arrival in MLS. However all of that comes secondary to the Premier League for me, and I'll be up early to watch Sunderland and Tottenham kick off the season tomorrow.

I've already made my predictions as to where I think each team will fall in the table at the end of the season. Without the individual players though, there would be no team. These predictions are all about them, the players we all love to watch who compete for the teams we all love to root for. Not all of the categories are real and it's likely that not many of my picks will be correct, but really, did Manchester United deserve seven players in the Premiership XI last season? No. The players (and manager) who get awards often get them either out of reputation or because the team they're on. Here we go:


Most Outstanding Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Most VALUABLE Player (who means the most to their team): Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

Top Scorer: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Most Outstanding Goalie: David James (Portsmouth)

Manager of the Year: Harry Redknapp (Portsmouth)

Best Bargain Buy (incoming transfer worth $8 million US and lower): Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham)

Biggest Flop (incoming transfer worth $20 million US and higher): Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

Most Outstanding Newcomer (first season in the Premiership): Sulley Muntari (Portsmouth)

Top Young Player (21 years old and younger, two or fewer full Premiership seasons): Tied; Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Gareth Bale (Tottenham)

Most Missed Player (player who departed this summer): Thierry Henry

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like some of those pics. I think that you are a little optimistic about Freddy. His legs are gone. He was rubbish last season.