For those of us who are consumed by football every year brings new thrills and disappointments, a million what ifs and if onlys and ultimately a feeling of elation, satisfaction or despair, depending on where our unfailing loyalties lie. We laugh and cry, argue and debate, get over-emotional and sometimes regret what we say but what the hell! We’re all in it for the emotional roller-coaster ride in the first place, aren’t we?
If you support Chelsea you’ll be full of what ifs but optimistic. Manchester United supporters will be ecstatic but anxious. Liverpool: forever hopeful but maybe more so than usual. Arsenal and Spurs: WTF! Stoke and Hull: what a ride! Leeds: ‘I swear I didn’t run over a black cat’. Newcastle: isn’t it called the black-country? Manchester City: harem scarem.
And abroad…..Barcelona: on the brink. Real Madrid: 2 in a row, now for Europe! Inter: the Jose factor. Juve: past glories beckon. Milan: rebuild, and fast! Roma:WTF! Lyon: tiresome without CL success. Bayern: back and biting! Celtic: home thoughts, never from abroad.
Most of us judge each year’s success on where the trophies end up and, by extension, the player awards tend to be dominated by those that play for the year’s ‘winners’. God (insert Allah, Buddha, Ganesh, or whatever your personal choice is, if any) forbid we would all ever come close to agreeing on what the team of the year is but, unfortunately, I have been given the hospital pass this year and now must expose myself to ridicule, deserved or otherwise.
In order to establish some sort of a framework rough guidelines for the exercise are appropriate. And here they are. The ‘rules’ are set by me so don’t bother disputing them!
- Players are judged on performance and contribution at both club and international level. 2008 having been a EUFA Championship and Olympic year, this obviously has some bearing (Spain+, England-).
- Players already established as outstanding may not be chosen on the basis of a relatively ordinary year or having missed long periods through injury.
- Players who win the big awards nationally and internationally are very likely to be in with a chance, unless I decide otherwise!
- Players with the best stats for their position should obviously be in the frame but there are clearly other factors.
- There can NEVER be a perfect list so all contributions are welcome and, indeed, this is the whole point of the article.
- Bias should be kept to a minimum when voicing your opinions…….sorry! I’m now facing into a strong wind and pissing hard!
So here goes. My team of 2008 is:
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Goalkeeper
Petr Cech (Chelsea): Excellent keeper but ultimately won nothing in 2008 and just fails to get across the line. (no pun intended)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus): Read Cech.
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid): La Liga and Euro 2008 winner. Three clean sheets in the knock-out stages of the Euros, including 2 decisive penalty saves against Italy in the QF.
Edwin Van Der Sar (Manchester United): PL and CL double and probably his last great season. Excellent!
Pepe Reina (Liverpool): Winner of the Golden Gloves Award but staying fit helps win the GGs and still 2nd choice to Casillas for Spain. But a quality keeper.
Winner: It has to be Iker Casillas this year. No dispute!
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Defenders
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United): PL and CL winner and probably at his peak in a team that had an excellent defensive record.
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United): PL and CL winner. Ruthlessly efficient.
Patrice Evra (Manchester United): Attacking excellence combined with quality defence and top honours.
John Terry (Chelsea): A hairs breath away from both PL and CL. Penalty miss deducts no points at all.
Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea): As for Terry. Unfortunately injury prone, but excellent.
Gael Clichy (Arsenal): Outstanding in 2007/8 season. The odd blip in 2008/9 so far.
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal): Brilliant young player in his position. His injury cost Arsenal dearly.
Jose Boswinga (Chelsea): Sought by many following his performances for Porto and Portugal and ended up at Chelsea. Great player, especially going forward. Lots more to come.
Daniel Alves (Barcelona): On all the lists last year. Can’t be ignored.
Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich): Solid and excellent going forward. Can play left or right. In the UEFA list of players of the tournament Euro 2008.
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid): Outstanding season with Real Madrid and seems to be most peoples favourite choice at RB. Noticeably absent from the Euro 2008 Team of the Tournament
Carles Puyol (Barcelona): Aging, but vital to Barca last season, Euro 2008 winner with Spain and on EUFA’s best player list.
Winners: Boswinga, Ferdinand, Puyol, Evra
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Midfielders
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool): Despite no honours you can’t leave him out. Still the driving force at Anfield.
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool): Established himself as one of the best DMs in the business and won Olympic Gold with Argentina.
Michael Essien (Chelsea): Outstanding in Chelsea’s close call. Unfortunately injured for most of the current season.
Michael Ballack (Chelsea): Read Essien. Possibly Chelsea’s most influential player in the run in last season and in the UEFA squad of the tournament at Euro 2008.
Frank Lampard (Chelsea): Defines Chelsea. Reliable, consistent and a midfield goal machine. Weathered personal tragedy to drive his team so close last season. Has also held it together while so many have been injured this season.
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal): Keeps getting better and the jewel in the crown amongst Arsenal’s wealth of young talent. Outstanding!
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United): PL and CL winner and just about every player award available. 42 goals, what more can you say?
Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan): Quality player but out of the winners circle for club and country this year.
Rafael Van Der Vaart (Real Madrid): A surprise when he went to Hamburg but talent can’t hide and there is much more to come at Real. Exciting wide player with some spectacular goals.
Ricardo Quaresma (Inter Milan): Constantly the subject of transfer speculation before finally leaving Porto for Inter. Has excelled in a free roaming role.
Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich): Best left winger around at present and has started the season brilliantly with Bayern. German Player of the Year award. Much coveted.
Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid): Can be beauty and the beast in the same game. Influential, quality and a real force at Euro 2008.
Marcos Senna (Villarreal): Brazilian/Spanish talent who has been excellent for club and country this year.
Xavier Hernández Creus (Xavi) (Barcelona): Outstanding defensive midfielder who was in the EUFA team of the tournament for Euro 2008.
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona): Versatile attacking midfielder. Another of the Spanish class of 2008 included in the UEFA squad of the tournament.
Winners: Ronaldo, Sneijder, Lampard, Ribery
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Forwards
Fernando Torres (Liverpool): Prodigious talent with 32 goals last season. Injury prone in the current campaign but sure to impress. Winner Euro 2008 and in EUFA best team of the tournament.
Karim Benzema (Olympique Lyonnais): Too good to last much longer at Lyon. French Player of the Year. Could be one of the greats.
David Villa (Valentia): Refuses to leave Valentia for now but 80 goals in 143 appearances says it all. Another in the UEFA list of Euro 2008’s best and the tournaments top scorer.
Francesco Totti (Roma): Dogged by injury but his absence as much as his presence for Roma says everything about how influential he is. Great talent!
Didier Drogba (Chelsea): Good first half to the year but has blotted his copybook of late and has been too injury prone to be a genuine contender.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan): Somewhat enigmatic striker with 44 goals in 85 games for Inter. Intuitive and spectacular on his day.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona): Led Argentina to Olympic glory. Potential to be one of the ‘greats’ of the game. Stands out by a mile even at a club like Barcelona.
Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (Kaka) (AC Milan): Quieter year than in 2007 but remains a great talent, the envy of many.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid): Excellent goal scoring record for Real and a decent contribution at Euro 2008. Still a force.
Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich): Prominent star in the rising Bayern team and key striker for Germany. 44 goals in 87 appearances for his country.
Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St. Petersburg): Talk of the town at Euro 2008 and a key figure in Zenit’s UEFA Cup win this year. Coveted by many but yet to move. Has he been a flash in the pan?
Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid): New talent who has impregnated Maradona’s daughter (that’s not why he’s on the list but at least it shows he knows how to find the target!) Olympic winner and a growing influence at Atletico Madrid.
Winners: Messi, Torres
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So there it is! Undoubtedly the best 11 players from 2008! It’s a very fine line that separates many of the choices. While the exercise is aimed at selecting the best individual players this year it is also interesting to reflect on how they would combine as a team.
So we have two of the best attacking full-backs around, both of whom can also defend well. Two centre backs with bundles of experience and contrasting but complimentary styles. A top keeper. Two outstanding wingers who can both take on players at pace, come inside and score goals. Two central midfielders with a good balance between grit and finesse. Both can score goals and defend well.
And finally, the mouth watering prospect of Lionel Messi feeding Torres down the channels and inside the defenders where Torres excels at ‘coming off the shoulder’. Or how about the two double teaming in the box as Ribery or Ronaldo wreak havoc out wide and provide the ammunition? Enough to give any defence nightmares!
Yes, all in all I believe the selected 11 would make an outstanding side.
So I’m now off to a dark corner to continue the argument with myself (surely Rooney was worth a mention? No he wasn’t…Yes he was! etc.) and await the inevitable Rio v Terry and Gerrard v Lampard fiasco.
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The 2008 Soccerlens All-Star XI
GK: Iker Casillas
RB: Jose Bosingwa
CB: Rio Ferdinand
CB: Carlos Puyol
LB: Patrice Evra
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo
CM: Wesley Sneijder
CM: Frank Lampard
LM: Frank Ribery
ST: Lionel Messi
ST: Fernando Torres
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Do you disagree with this list? What are you picks for the Best XI of 2008?
GK – Iker Casillas
RWB – Boswinga
RCB – John Terry
LCB – Rio Ferdinand
LWB – Bacary Sagna
RW – Cristiano Ronaldo
RCM – Frank Lampard
LCM – Cesc Fabregas
LW – Lionel Messi
RS – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
LS – Robinho
Can 75% of this forum please watch one Inter game.. Ibra is unbelievable. There is simply no flaw whatsoever in his game. If he were playing in the EPL right now half of yall would be ****** *** **** (edited by moderator).
David, your suggestion that people don’t watch Inter is unfounded. With most people going with 2 forwards, Messi and Torres are the most popular selections: both on the shortlist of 5 for Fifa world player of the year. (in fact finishing 2nd and 3rd behind Ronaldo)
It was tough competition up front.
Hey guyz i believe fabregas is the best mid n the most creative of all the others n i dont know why he didnt make it the allstarxi
I can confirm that you never watch Inter because you put a player, Quaresma, on your list as one of the top midfielders in the world.. the guy can’t even consistently keep a starting spot in Murinho’s starting eleven, even with his Portuguese bias.
To add to that, Maicon wasn’t even mentioned in your list of top backs.. a guy who is Dunga’s top choice RB over Dani Alves, who is mentioned. And your choice of Bosingwa makes no sense considering there’s probably a 0% chance you had even heard of him before Scolari brought him to England.. so youre essentially basing that choice off of what?.. four months of league play.
Then you go on to mention Rafa van Der vaart, who also doesn’t even start for Real Madrid.. all he did was came in, had a hat trick which everyone heard about, and since then has been coming on as a sub.
And the funniest of all, Xavi, a defensive midfielder.. what are you going to tell me now? that you watch La Liga. Well if you did, you would most likely know that Toure Yaya started just about every game for Barca, last year as well as this year, at defensive midfield. And if you maybe didn’t have time to catch Barca matches throughout the past year, hopefully you watched Euro. If you watched Euro, you must’ve seen Spain play. Who started at defensive midfield for Spain in every match?.. Oh, that’s right. It was Marcos Senna. That means once again, Xavi couldn’t have been playing defensively. Sounds like an attacking midfielder, doesn’t he?
BD, just watch something other than the Premiership this year.. It might open your eyes up and teach you something about football. And, if not, hopefully next time you will at least do some research on the topic you’re writing about, before posting it. It’ll make your writing sound much more valid, and hopefully less bias.
@55:Interesting! You’re first reaction was just to complain that Ibhra was not chosen. I point out that popular opinion goes for Messi and Torres in a very competitive section and you go off at the deep end!
Firstly, I clearly state in the article that it is a representative list, everyone will have different views and inputs.
I also point out that it’s for all of 2008.
Quaersma signed for Inter on Sept 1st and may not have become a regular but was excellent for Porto earlier in the year and was he not deemed good enough for Inter to go after in the first place?
I acknowledged the Maicon and Xavi oversights further-up, more than once.
VD Vaart has made 20 appearances for Real (in one guise or another) and scored 4 goals but his Hamburg and Netherlands appearances are an equally big factor.
As for: “And your choice of Bosingwa makes no sense considering there’s probably a 0% chance you had even heard of him before Scolari brought him to England.. so youre essentially basing that choice off of what?.. four months of league play.”
You mean in the same way you’re basing your opinions on Quaersma and VDV on 4 months????
And yes, I had heard of him and had seen him play with Porto and Portugal. He was also in the Euro 2008 squad of the tournament in case you missed it!
Your entitled to you opinion but need to calm down a little.
wat the fuck is lampard doing here he was nothing this year compared to fabregas or senna hes highly over rated fabregas should have been in there
Well jad, Fabregas made the UEFA team of the year and Lampard didn’t so that should please you. Everyone has different takes on it. Personally, I gave a lot of kudos to Lampard for his performances in the closing stages of the season while dealing with the personal tradegy of his mother’s death.
But to say ‘he was nothing this year compared to Fabregas and Senna’ is a bit over the top in my view.
AND I also know where you can get a PC that has capitals, full-stops and commas! Get back to me if you want the details!
well BD fuckin Condell, you can fuckin shut the hell up fuck you asshole!!!!!!!
Bloody hell jad…that was quick! You got yourself a machine with capitals and punctuation!
2nd hand from Gordon Ramsey by any chance!!??
this is my good formation:4-4-2
gk:petr cech
rb:daniel alves
cb:puyol
cb:terry
lb:lahm
rw:walcott
rcm:lampard
lcm:gerrard
lw:ashley young
st:messi
st:torres
substition:
buffon
bosingwa
vidic
carvalho
evra
kaka
cesc fabregas
hagreaves
henry
villa
eto’o
if you use this formation…
i comform your squad wiil succes…
ryt comeon ruud van nistelrooy is up there with the best but in no ones team my god the guy can score goals for fun, he can do it in the big games and his record at madrid is already incredible. He is alot better than torres may not have the pace of his but the way he thinks the way he gets into the positions and the way he can finish absolutley anything ranks him to me as one of the best 5 strikers in the world.
I am astonished at some of the suggestions by other people, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young? Come off it, they are both far off some of the wingers in option. I’m an Arsenal fan but there is no way Theo Walcott could get in any best XI team. Not yet anyway.
Good list BD, although mine would be different.
In a 4-1-2-3 Position.
GK – Iker Casillas (There is a reason so many people have picked him, he is the best, simple as that)
LB – Patrice Evra (Quality, consistent and can attack & defend)
CB – Nemanja Vidic (Amazing for Man Utd)
CB – Rio Ferdinand (See above, these two make some partnership)
RB – Sergio Ramos (Could of been afew who got this position but Ramos for me is the best at the moment)
CDM – Javier Mascherano (Tough choice for this spot, but this man is a wall)
CM – Xavi Hernandez (There is a reason so many people in Spain regard this guy as the best player in the world, he is awesome)
CM – Andres Iniesta (Amazing player, passing, touch, vision, absolutely outstanding and outclasses both Messi and Ronaldo in the CL final)
RWF – Lionel Messi (Best player on the planet? I think so, runs past players like they are trees in a park)
LWF – Cristiano Ronaldo (Voted best player of this year, he is outstanding, pace, skill, finish e.t.c. and who wouldn’t want him taking freekicks for your team)
CF – Fernando Torres (Tough choice, but he showed in his first season for Liverpool exactly the kind of player he is)
So I have….
……………Casillas……………
….Ramos – Vidic – Ferdinand – Evra….
…………..Mascherano…………..
………Xavi…………Iniesta………
Messi……………………….Ronaldo
…………….Torres…………….
VERY honorable mentions…
GK – Buffon, Cech.
Defenders -Lahm, Cole, Maicon, Dani Alves, Bosingwa, Terry, Chielini, Puyol, Pepe.
Midfielders – Gerrard, Lampard, Fabregas, Senna, Ribery, Kaka, Ballack, Essien, Pirlo, Arshavin.
Strikers – Drogba, Anelka, Rooney, Benzema, Ibrahimovic, Eto’o, Villa, Aguero.
@Paul 89: Can’t disagree with any of your choices! Remember though that I did the list last December reflecting on the 2008 calandar year.
Right now I would have Iniesta in for sure but a lot of that is based on 2009. Xavi definitely! Probably should have had him in my list anyway.
Thanks for the input!