TEAM OF THE SEASON - ROBIN VAN PERSIE

It was almost like the old days, put Ronaldo in as captain at the beginning of the season and then just leave it like that for the rest of the year.  Well not quite, but it was pretty close.  Undoubtedly, unquestionably,  the player of the season with 30 goals and 13 assists he was the main example this year of an "undroppable".  By that I mean a player you had in your team irrespective of the difficulty of upcoming fixtures, he was indeed fixture proof.  He was a little slow to warm up only scoring once with no assists in his first 4 games.  Then he put the after burners on and the rest is history.  He then provided a goal or assist in 23 of the remaining 34 games never going more than 2 consecutive games without one or the other. So not quite Ronaldo returns but will we ever see that again?  What was crucial for me though is that his base stats never dropped off.  Even if not scoring his shooting stats including the on target % were always strong as were his key pass stats so you were always comforted that returns were around the corner.  Crucially this season he played 38 games.  In his 8 seasons in the premier league the most games he has completed before this were 28 and his average in the 7 seasons prior to this were 22 games.  If this season was remarkable for his goals and assists it was also remarkable for the fact that he played a full season.  It is also worth noting that in his last 3 seasons, on an average basis, he has produced a goal or assist in every game.  


Heres his stats:


Points:  269 (need I say highest in the game)
Games:  38
Points per game:  7.1
Goals:  30
Goal every game ratio: 1.3
Assists: 13
Bonus points: 45
Bonus points as a % of total points:  17%
Price range: Start £12.0m.  Lowest:  £11.9m round 7.  Highest £13.6m round 34.  Finish £13.2


Everything up there is nothing short of mind blowing. 


 The prospects for next year are interesting though and not certain.   Obviously any player of the season is going to be a Man City prospect for next year although maybe the Samir Nasri experience (money apart) will dampen players enthusiasm for a move.  There's also the question of his price, who knows what it could be next year, although to me he could never be too expensive.  you also need to factor in his past injury record, not having a full rest after the Euros and the potential fatigue of carrying Arsenal single handedly to third last year may all take its toll.  In my mid its no coincidence his best year has been after a proper summer break. 


Having said all that if he stays at Arsenal it will be a brave man who leaves him out. 

TEAM OF THE SEASON- GYLFI SIGURDSSON

Gylfi Sigurdsson, with Cisse of Newcastle and Jelavic of Everton was one of three players to make a big impact from the January transfer window.

The Icelandic international had a phenomenal goal scoring record with Reading with 18 goals from 42 games in the 2008-2010 seasons and a very respectable record with Hoffenhiem of 9 goals in 36 games.  He arrived at Reading at a relative bargain price of £5.0m and immediately made an impact with goals and assists.  He also consistently produced shooting and key pass stats, home and away.

Heres his stats:

Points: 102
Games:  18
Points per game: 5.7
Goals: 7
Goal every 2.6 games
Assists: 5
Bonus points as a % of total points: 11%
Price range:  £5.0m start.  Highest £5.7m round 37.  Finish £5.6m
% owned 6.6%

The prospects for next year very much depend on where he ends up. That’s even before you take in to account a price hike. A move to Liverpool would raise questions over his starting place and his role compared to Steven Gerrard.  I imagine a lot is going to happen before the start of the season when a decision over whether he is in my starting line up.  On the positive side though very few people consistently produced returns and base shooting and key pass starts like Sigurdsson and this shouldn’t be forgotten

TEAM OF THE SEASON - ANTONIO VALENCIA

Antonio Valencia is not really my type of player.  If you’re lucky he has 1 shot per game and he is subject to the extremely frustrating rotation that comes with picking anyone from Sir Alexs team.  Its the worst possible rotation as it seems that he is a group of players that when rotated seem to be subject to that 88 minute time wasting substitution that leaves you with 1 point and your head in your hands.  However, Valencia has transcended these issues due to his amazing form and due to the key part he plays in Man U’s playing style. Injuries to Nani and Young also gave more certainty and a clear run of games this year.

Despite my prejudices I cant ignore the numbers.  You’ll see from my upcoming strategy piece later that Valencia is the only player that I rate whose basis of points relies on assists.  Without going in to it now I’m firmly in the Dempsey and VDV camp of midfielders who shoot regularly.  Valencia is the exception.  He has strong base key passes and assist numbers and an unnaturally high conversion rate.  That’s due to the fact that he provides a large amount of key passes when he’s got in behind the defence rather than the key passes of say, Taarabt, ( I like him as a player, really, just not as a fantasy manager)  which seems to involve a square pass to Buzasky to blaze over the bar from 35 yards.

Heres the stats:

Points: 140

Games played: 24

Points per game:  5.8 (2^nd only to Pienaar for regular starters)

Goals:  4

Goals every 6 games ( A ratio that would normally see me ignoring this player)

Assists:  14 (3^rd equal with Bale behind Silva and Mata but with far less games)

Bonus points:  17

Bonus points as a % of total points:  12%

% owned:  12.2%

Price range: Start: £8.0m.  Lowest £7.8m round 17.  Highest £8.6m round 35.  Finished £8.3m round 38.

As far as next year is concerned I’m a little wary due to rotation so it will take some observation of Sir Alex’s team selection before I could consider him

TEAM OF THE SEASON - GARETH BALE

"He plays on the left, he plays on the left....." chanted the spurs fans in response to Harry Rednapp tinkering with Gareth Bales position.  I'm not sure most fantasy managers would agree as the 2nd top point scoring midfielder behind Clint Dempsey seemed more productive in the few games he played behind the striker.  this is a player who thrilled viewers with his pace and power in seasons gone and after a rather slowish start exploded in to action.  To me he was one of the view "undroppables", a player who was totally fixture proof.  Even when he wasn't scoring points his base shooting and key pass stats never flinched and he was always just a bit of luck away from returning points.  The charge against Harry's lack of rotation worked for fantasy managers as you could always be relied on Bale turning up even for those juicy home games to Wolves and Blackburn.  These are games that if you owned say Valencia, Young or Nani,  Sir Alex would have you in sweats and a panic as the team sheet came up on your mobile while getting the beers in.

Here's his stats:

Points:  195 (2nd behind Dempsey)
Games:  36
Points per game:  5.4
Goals:  10 (3rd behind Dempsey and VDV)
Goal every 3.6 games
Assists:  14 (4th equal behind Silva, Mata and Valencia)
Bonus: 21
Bonus % of total points: 11%
%owned: Top midfielder
Price range:  Start £8.0m.  Lowest £7.9m round 11.  Highest £9.7m round 27.  Finish £9.5m round 38.

In base shooting stats Bale was never far behind Dempsey although he probably shot outside the box more than the Fulham fan and didn't really get the rewards he deserved.

For me he is still a strong prospect for next year due to his consistency and his ability to provide key passes and shots game after game.  The position he will play in as crucial and Harrys view that he will end up a full back does worry me but he is a strong contender for my initial line up this year.
      

TEAM OF THE SEASON - CLINT DEMPSEY

The top point scoring midfielder in the Barclays format with an incredible 17 goals and 7 assists, the mid fielders performances way exceeded any expectations before the season started.   He was always a consistent performer but this year was something special.  There was, interestingly,  also a big bias towards points in home games. This mirrored  Fulhams form which saw the team score 36  goals at  home compared to 12 away.  This lead to the rather bizarre need to bench an approx £9.0m player for away games as there never seemed a realistic prospect of attacking returns.  The home bias did have the advantage of making him a realistic captain option for home games though often with some fantastic hauls.

Here's his stats:

Points:  209 (highest scoring midfielder)

Games:37

Points per game: 5.6

Goals:  17

Goal scored every 2.1 games

Assists:  7

Bonus points:22

Bonus points as a % of total: 10%

Price range:  Start £8.5m.  Lowest £8.3m round 17.  Highest £9.8m round 37.  Finished £9.6m.

% owned:  18%

One strange point was the lack of bonus points for the amount of goals which bucked the trend of bonus points which pretty much followed the goal scorer. I remember a number of times looking at the lack of points in astonishment after a typical goal haul which was often coupled with respectable key pass stats.  I can only think that the high shooting rate produced off target attempts which counted against him.  However, who can tell,  in the bizarre world of bonus point allocation in the Barclays format.  

In addition, Dempseys base shooting stats were easily the highest in the Premier League for midfielders with him consistently taking a shot around every 30 minutes.  This stat  was only even closed to being matched by Bale VDV and Sigurdsson.  Always getting forward and in to shooting positions, there was a high percentage of shots in the box and his on target ratio was good.  This is no Adel Taarabt shooting from anywhere outside the box and taking 66 shots to score.   Dempsey's  stats for this year though were complicated by an ever constant changing of positions by Martin Jol which saw him used as a striker, left sided midfielder and an attacking midfielder playing just off the striker.  Its no secret which gave the highest returns and his positioning next year will be crucial to his success.

Next year will undoubtedly see a price hike to at least £10.0m and there are reports that he wants to leave Fulham.  These factors plus a question mark over his position if he were to stay at Fulham will give managers some reticence over putting him in their initial line up.  However he will have a full summers rest as he wont be involved in the Euros which will give him a freshness advantage of many other midfielders.  Its hard to imagine he could replicate this incredible season but on the other hand,  imagine what he could do given a consistent central attacking role and if Fulham suddenly find a way of scoring away from home.... 

  

TEAM OF THE SEASON - THOMAS VERMAELEN

Thomas Vermaelen is unquestionably the defender with the greatest goal threat in the premier league. in my mind he deserves to be in the team of the season despite  not being one of the highest point scorers in the Barclays premier league format, despite being in a team that conceded more goals than 7 other teams and was 6th in the clean sheet rankings and also started out at  £7.0m as an elite defender.    He was also a questionable figure in many eyes, often being caught out position wise and roaming forward at the wrong moment.  However real football criticisms matter not in fantasy football and the 6 goals was by far the highest goal scoring feat for any defender and the bonus points inevitably followed these goals (as they tend to do in the Barclays format) making him the highest points per game scorer equal with Vincent Kompany for regular starters.  


Heres the stats:


Points:  132
Games: 29
Points per game: 4.6 (highest with Vincent Kompany for regular starters)


Clean sheets:  10
Goals: 6 (highest defender)
Bonus points: 14 (highest defender)
Price range:  Start £7.0m.  Lowest £6.7m Highest £7.3m


% owned 8.7%


However, despite all my eulogising I'm not really thinking of owning him next season.  £7.0m for a defender in a team with a questionable ability to keep clean sheets on the basis of anticipated attacking returns is just not really attractive to me.  Attacking returns are more unreliable than you think (look at Robert Huth and Leighton Baines this year) and if I was to part with this amount for a defender then it would be on anticipated clean sheets not goals.   I just cant see this with Arsenal unless Mertesacker can stabilise the defence significantly next season.

TEAM OF THE SEASON - JONNY EVANS

      Jonny Evans, if there is any logic, should have been one of the highest %owned players in the Barclays premier league game.  I mean a defender who started out at £4.5m and got a regular starting place in the team with the greatest number of clean sheets and 2nd in goals conceded only to Man City, then its really a no brainer. However, although injury  towards the end dictated significant sell offs, he ended up with a relatively miserly  8.6% ownership.

Heres the basic stats:

Points scored:  123

Games played:  29

Points per game: 4.2 (4th behind Kompany, Vermaelen, Evra counting only those who started a significant majority of games)

Clean sheets :15

Goals: 1

Assists:  3

Bonus points: 11

Price range: Lowest £4.5m  Highest: £5.7m

Ownership: 8.6%

The prospects for next year aren't so rosy.  A large price hike, coupled with significant rotation with Vidic returning to the team, will mean limited game time.  Cant see him being in many starting line ups come the start of the season.