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

Feilhaber Secures Work Permit

Brazilian-born American international midfielder Benny Feilhaber has been granted a work permit by Britain's Home Office, clearing the way for him to complete his move to Premiership new boys Derby County from Hamburg SV, a Bundesliga club. A player must take part in 75% of his country's international games in the last two seasons to get a work permit and Feilhaber doesn't meet that requirement, which is why he had earlier been turned down.

Feilhaber was also eligible to represent Austria on the international level and turned down approaches from their coach, Andreas Herzog, to play for them.

After his second season playing for UCLA, Feilhaber was selected to play for the US U-20 team in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, hosted by the Netherlands. An impressive performance there led to a move to German club Hamburg SV that same year but he has appeared in only 9 league games for their senior team since he signed.

Feilhaber is doing what Eddie Johnson should've done: take advantage of interest from a Premiership club. Johnson's development as a player has been stunted by continuing to play in MLS. Yes, he's one of the league's top strikers and won't have any problem continuing to be one if he stays in MLS, but it won't make him any better of a player and it hurts his chances to play for the US National Team. Feilhaber turned in a breakout performace at the Gold Cup and turned some heads across the world. Moving to Derby County is just a stepping stone for him; nearly everyone is an agreement that Derby will be relegated from the Premiership after this season, but a good year (and he'll get more than his share of playing time) could result in moving to a bigger club, one that is a Premiership mainstay. He joins another talented young player, Giles Barnes, in the Rams' midfield, and fellow Americans Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride (captain), Clint Dempsey (who all play for Fulham), Tim Howard (Everton), Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Marcus Hahnemann, Bobby Convey (both at Reading), Johann Smith (Bolton), Jonathan Spector (West Ham), and Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa) in the Premier League.