PFA Premier League Team of the Year

Along with their announcement of their Player of the Year (Cristiano Ronaldo) and Young Player of the Year (Cesc Fàbregas), the PFA announced their Premier League Team of the Year yesterday. For once, I have no real issue with any of the selections made; I think the players did a good job with this and full credit to them for it. To be honest, my Premiership XI looks exactly the same with one exception: Liverpool's Jamie Carragher ahead of Rio Ferdinand at center back.

GK: David James (Portsmouth)
RB: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal)
LB: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal)
CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)
CB: Nemanja Vidić (Manchester United)
RMF: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
LMF: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)
CMF: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
CMF: Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal)
ST: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal)
ST: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

A couple quick observations:

• I would've liked to have seen a true defensive midfielder on this team rather than two attacking central midfielders in Gerrard and Fabregas. You can't deny that either of those two guys have had great seasons, but it would've been nice to see either Javier Mascherano or Mathieu Flamini in there. The role they play is one that isn't sexy; it doesn't get a lot of recognition from the casual fan, but it is critical to winning.

• It's interesting that Chelsea, who is tied on points with Manchester United on top of the table, didn't get one representative in this team, and even Arsenal got one more player (four) than United (three).

• As you all can probably guess, I'm ecstatic to see Ashley Young here. He has had an absolutely fantastic season for Aston Villa and has surely played his way into the England starting lineup for years to come.