"Best Of" List--2007

Before I get to the superlatives, I want to take care of a few little housekeeping notes.

First off, I hope everyone had a happy holiday and you were able to spend it with those that you care about. Whether you believe in Christmas or not, the holiday season is supposed to bring people closer together and have them share in this special time of year. I had family over for the past few days and it was a joy to spend time with them. I don't get to see them that often during the year so as I said, it was great to spend Christmas with some of my relatives.

I'd also like to thank all of you guys out there for checking out this blog and leaving comments and sharing your thoughts. I started English Soccer Talk right after the Champions League final in May as a way to try and express some of my thoughts about what I consider to be the most exciting league in the world, the Premiership. I've written 182 posts since then even with taking basically a month and a half off from posting after I started my freshman year of college this fall, and I'm looking forward to next year and sharing some of my ideas with everyone out there.

The podcast that I've hinted about twice over the past few weeks has kept getting pushed back but it looks like we'll start for sure in early January. Again, when I get confirmation about this and about the format of the show and where/when you can tune in, I'll let you all know with a post here. This podcast is the brainchild of one of my colleagues in the blog world, Johnathan Starling (BCJohn) and we (my brother, me, John, and Tyler Duffy) are all excited to get rolling.

Phew, alright. Here's my "Best Of" list for the year 2007 in the Premiership.

Best Game: Tottenham-4, West Ham-3 (03/04/07)
Most Improved Team: Portsmouth
Best Uniform: Manchester United-Away (Black)
Best Manager: Arsene Wenger
Most Passionate Fans: Liverpool
Best Stadium: Fratton Park and Craven Cottage (tie)
Most Outstanding Striker: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Most Outstanding Midfielder: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Most Outstanding Center Back: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) and Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) (tie)
Most Outstanding Full Back: Nicky Shorey (Reading)
Most Outstanding Goalkeeper: Tim Howard (Everton)
Best Goal: Sebastian Larsson (Birmingham vs. Tottenham-12/02/07)
Most Exciting to Watch: Cristiano Ronaldo
Most Valuable to his Team: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Best Summer Signing: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Worst Summer Signing: Florent Malouda (Chelsea)
Best Commentary Team: Alan Parry and Robbie Earle