One team. Eleven players. There have been so many stand out performers since August, but not everyone can make the cut. Who have we selected to fill the eleven starting berths in our 2011/2012 team of the year?
PLEASE NOTE: We wanted to select a team that differed from our rivals’ choices. We wanted to illustrate that there are attackers just as good as the likes of RvP, whom many feel should be in the side (we can see why, so don’t worry). At the end of the day, it is all down to personal choice. We want discussions to be unbiased; informative and supportive of respective choices. We justify our selections. We will thoughtfully respect your selections as long as ours are acknowledged for the right reasons. Also, please keep in mind that this is a personal opinion piece by Connor Woodford and does not necessarily reflect the thoughts of Soccer Reviews as a whole.
Manager: Antonio Conte
The mastermind of Juventus’ unbeaten league triumph. A season which saw them return to the top of Italian football. A truly remarkable achievement; especially when you learn that it was his debut season as a manager in the Serie A. Can he set the Champions League alight next season?
GK: Manuel Neuer
The German shot-stopper impressed greatly in his first season for Bayern Munich. Sure, they didn’t win anything, but he displayed the qualities you’d expect from a ‘keeper. Strong, agile, good ball control/distribution and a presence in the box. Also, there is something about him that seems to throw off many strikers when faced with only him and the goal.
RB: Micah Richards
We have absolutely no idea why this young man is not in England’s Euro 2012 squad. Richards is an absolute tank on the right flank, and is as dangerous going forward as he is defending. Simply put, I would hate to be on the receiving end of one of his tackles…
CB: Vincent Kompany
Without this man, City wouldn’t have won their first Premier League trophy in 44 years. There is not a single flaw to be seen in his defending game. You don’t see many players boss Wayne Rooney around like this man did.
CB: Mats Hummels
Without a doubt, Hummels is one of Europe’s finest defenders. He has it all. Because of his partnership with Subotic, Borussia Dortmund have flourished in the past two seasons. How much longer until he is prized away from the Westfalenstadion?
LB: Fábio Coentrão
Coentrão was one of Madrid’s most impressive players throughout last season. Despite his tendency to attack, the young Portugal left-back is more than capable when it comes to defending. He also has the pace and stamina to last a full game.
RW: Antonio Valencia
Manchester United’s powerhouse down the right! Despite not being able to use his left foot, Valencia is certainly more than capable with his right. His simplistic approach to the game proves that it is just as dangerous as the flair and trickery displayed by the likes of Nani. Valencia is a force to contend with when he gets off the mark, and his crosses cause more than a mess for countless defenders.
DM: Yaya Toure
Yaya Toure is one of the world’s most powerful and dangerous midfielders. The Manchester City man proved yet again that he is the man for the occasion, as he secured a vital win over Newcastle. His consistency is frightening, as is his defensive game. Let’s not forget the drive he possesses too, as when he gets going, there is no stopping the man.
AM: Mesut Özil
Ah, the German Zidane! Özil has impressed hugely since he moved to Madrid. He proved that his debut season was no fluke, as he racked up 24 assists last season. Arguably, Özil is one of the most influential midfielders in the world at this point in time. The future is bright for young Mesut.
LW: Cristiano Ronaldo
We couldn’t leave this man out. The former United hotshot racked up 60 goals as he fired Madrid to La Liga glory. Can he go one further next season, and pave the way for European glory?
ST: Robert Lewandowski
The Polish striker was sensational for Borussia Dortmund last season. The 23-year-old amassed 30 goals and propelled Dortmund to domestic glory in both the league and cup.
ST: Radamel Falcao
Falcao has been nothing short of explosive since joining Athletico Madrid in the summer of 2011. The former Porto man proved that he can vie with the hotshots in Europe, as he single-handedly won the Europa League with a sensational brace against Athletico Bilbao. I would hate to face Falcao as the Columbian is such a dangerous asset in any situation.
SUBSTITUTIONS:
GK: Joe Hart
City’s no.1 and rightly so. Solid and reliable. England’s best goalkeeper for generations.
DF: Johnny Evans
Prior to this season, Evans was regarded by many United “fans” as being unworthy to wear the shirt. How he proved them wrong… Evans had an outstanding season and ended up as one of United’s most valuable players and of course, the most vastly improved.
DF: Jordi Alba
Barcelona are believed to be courting this man’s services. A very technical savvy defender who is not afraid to join the attack. Stand out performer for Valencia last season. If Barcelona do snap him up, expect him to improve even more over the coming years.
MF: Andrea Pirlo
The Italian master. Watch and learn, kids! He won’t be around for much longer, but he seems to improve with each passing year – much like a fine wine. Juventus have him to thank (partly) for their league triumph. Basically, he is the Italian Paul Scholes.
MF: David Silva
One of Europe’s most frightening players who possesses skill in abundance. Silva is constantly considered to be City’s best player, and rightly so.
AT: Zlatan Ibrahimović
Love him or hate him, Zlatan was the man who kept Milan in the title race until the last few games. 35 goals was his tally for last season… rather impressive indeed.
AT: Lionel Messi
73 goals in a single season is nothing short of astounding. Messi is a player who constantly impresses and dazzles. Many of you will undoubtedly question why we have him on the bench, but we feel that Ronaldo had a more impressive season, as he inspired Madrid to La Liga glory and on the whole, Real Madrid enjoyed a more successive season than their fierce rivals.
Due to its subjective nature, our team of the season will court disagreement and agreement. We want to hear your views and reasoning behind whom you would select, and whom you wouldn’t. Remember: it is purely down to preference, but we like to remain unbiased. Let’s try to remain civilised when it comes to battle of the players!
About Connor Woodford
Fabio Coentrao is really good, but I think Marcelo should be in the starting line up rather than coentrao cause Marcelo has the qualities to become one more attacker but also he possesses the qualities for a great defender.
Messi is on the bench. Is there any hope for you guys?
We stated our reasons why, and they are justified.
It doesn’t have to be that only one of the two (Messi and Ronaldo) are on the first team, Messi is a Right winger or a center forward, Ronaldo is just a winger or outside mid. You can have them both on the first team and I find that Messi is by far better than several other players on the first team. Why does everything have turn into a one on one sausage fest between Messi and Ronaldo.
I would have replaced Falcao with Messi honestly.
Falcao has an unmatched eye for goal, the guy is a true number nine.
I guess I was just going with the ole “play the best player in the world three years running” strategy. Oh so foolish, I know. I hate to be one of those guys who picks apart these lists, but I mean seriously, Messi is on the bench. Again, I know you had reasons, but reasons be damned, it’s Messi man! Seems like a simple case of not seeing the forest because of all the trees.
wow. messi and zlatan as a subs. evens is a sub too. im a united fan and i would put Koscielny in there over evens. and valencia starting over messi, seriously. i hate barca but messi is one of the best. valencia played in 38 games and only scored 6 goals this season. messi scored more goals than the number of games valencia played in. plus not sure about silva, he didnt show up in the city games when yaya wasnt playing
I selected Evans over Koscielny because of the amount of crap he has endured since he came through the youth ranks. It’s not always about stats… Modric only scored 5 and had 6 assists last season – doesn’t mean he had a poor season. Don’t always rely on stats! Not saying that they don’t serve a purpose though.
Van Persie?!
I don’t know how VP didn’t get in…what else would he have to do?
Set us aside from our rivals. There were attackers who did JUST AS WELL as RvP. Not saying that I didn’t think he had a great season, because he did. But he did fade away towards the end. That’s normal though.
You guys can’t be serious ! Messi is just a sub for CR??? This is a joke !!! Coentrao and Valencia in the team of the year??? There is no hope for you guys.
The defenders and goalkeeper I have no comments on but I would play 4-1-2-2-1. Schweinsteiger as dm, Fabregas and Özil as cm, C. Ronaldo and Ribbery as wingers and Zlatan as striker. Schweinsteiger because he is a German hardworking machine and he is secure with the ball. Fabregas and Özil because they have the best feel of the game since Zidane (best player of all time). Ronaldo and Ribbery because they have great speed. Zlatan because he score goals, he work as target-player and he work as play-maker.
I must disagree strongly with most of this team. The Manchester United defense is one of the main reasons they lost the title= no Johnny Evans. Messi CRUSHED records that have stood for years but Ronaldo starts? Now, that one can be whittled down to opinion, but I still disagree with it.
Valencia= he had a poor season
Hummels= without Badstuber, he is mediocre. He was part of the defense that let Switzerland score 5 goals…
Coentrao= really? He wasn’t even the typical first choice at Madrid…
I’m washing my hands of this…we need that part that movies show before commentary saying that the views expressed do not express the views of the entire company.
Wasn’t Evans’ fault… he had a great season in terms of development. Opinion indeed re. Messi. Valencia did not have a poor season, not sure what makes you thhink that. It was a toss up between Coentrao and Marcelo.
No bias? This guy is obviously incredibly biased. He probably wrote this when he thought Lewandowski was going to United. The fact that he benched Messi and started Ronaldo further shows his bias. The Johnny Evans addition is ridiculous.
I have been a long-time reader of soccerreviews, but this article has me questioning why I even come here. This piece is a joke. If he didn’t seem ridiculous, I would hope that the author would post an apology.
(leaving out Van Persie??? Are you dense???)
Eesh, you guys are giving us some harsh criticism over the past couple of days!
May I add Connor, I’m thrilled you’ve included Ronaldo. While Messi has been absolutely sublime this season, I personally believe Ronaldo has topped him. Look at what he’s achieved this year, La Liga title, semi finals of Champions League, quarter finals of Euros. Yes, Messi has scored an unbelievable amount of goals, but Ronaldo has inspired his teams to success this year. Ronaldo is nigh on the complete player, and while Messi is superb (arguably the world’s best) at certain things.. Ronaldo is just more of a ‘complete package’.
I largely agree with the defence, except the fullback areas. Richards has been superb this year, no doubt, and it’s a travesty why he isn’t in the England squad! But, Phillip Lahm is just a better player. He’s had a better season. City won the Premier League, yes, but Lahm got to the Champions League final, and is the captain of a fantastic Germany team.
Coentrao is a very good player, but Ashley Cole has been better and is a better player. Simple as that I’m afraid.
I personally would have placed either Di Maria or Mata in instead of Valencia. Di Maria is hugely underrated and Mata has been SUPERB this year. The rest of the midfield is fine.
But please, why no RVP. Where do we start? Van Persie has scored goals, goals and goals in the world’s best league. Lewandowski has had a good season.. But RVP topped him. Sorry.
THANK YOU for your calm and well-rounded input, Jon. I appreciate it. It’s great to see a fellow writer also highlight the reasons why Ronaldo was selected ahead of Messi. I actually forgot about Lahm… oh dear. I thought the choice was a bit harder than it should have been. I will alter that later! Di Maria I rate highly, BUT he was injured for a lot of the campaign, and he acts up too much. Very good player though. It was between Mata and Valencia for me. Just felt that Valencia was a bit more impressive. I still rate Mata as being one of the best wingers in the world regardless. RvP just fell off the pace towards the end of the season, and I wanted to select players who have been just as good. This has only been RvP’s first outstanding season… and he’s 28. All down to Wenger’s decision to field up front. Lewandowski did score three against Bayern in the German cup final… he can cope under pressure. It was his age that swayed his selection for me. It is however down to personal choice, and I like how you respected my choices and offered valid reasoning behind whom you would select. Thanks!
i still dont see how u can select ronoldo over messi. they play different positions. messi is a rw and ronaldo a lw.
Interesting selection, i agree with ronaldo over messi because in la liga who ever doesnt win the league seems to get the golden boot, Lahm was a shoe in for left back and Leighton Baines should hve been sub, Schweinsteiger should have been in the team seeing he is in my eyes the best central midfoelder in the world atm, another player who should have had a look in, Jordan Rhodes at huddersfield had an outstanding season. Although RVP faded he did single handledly (at times) carry a very poor arsenal team, although this might be jis first full season in a while hef played pretty well in other seasons even though he was.hampered by injury. Clint Dempsey and Aguero should also get a look in
Can people please understand the reasoning behind our selections before slating them? We’re open to civilised discussions! We respect you, and we would like to see some respect in return.
I agree with most of the team cept Contrao. Marcelo had a MUCH better season overall.
I think Lewandowski is a little ovverrated. Yes, he had a great Season but was it really good enough to be named as Striker of the year? I don’t think so. Mario Gomez or Klaas-Jan Huntelaar have scored more goals in the Bundesliga and thus probably did at least as much as Lewandowski did for Dortmund, the only problem being that Bayern Munich and Schalke did not win the league.
Of course it is very difficult (if not even impossible) to compare strikers, especially when they are playing in different leagues throughout Europe. But choosing Lewandowski over other successful strikers like van Persie, Gomez or Ibrahimovic sounds a bit like “well those who played for a team who won a title are automatically better than others because they get bonus points for the trophy”
Same goes for Mats Hummels. Compared to Badstuber, Hummels really sucked on international club level and badstuber was one of the most stable defendenders in the Bundesliga. So here agiain, i would rather choose badstuber.
But of course this is just my personal opinion, I always find it very interesting to hear different opinions about the team of the year so thank you very much for your opinion too.
u guys r getting worked up 4 nothing its their opinions if u dont like their team make ur own websites nd build ur own football teams
Have a few qualms with this line-up, but the most jarring would be at left-back. Henri Bedimo from French champs Montpellier was dominant. To me he deserved at the very least a spot on the bench, since there aren’t many LB in Europe, let alone ELITE LBs.
Also, Messi might not have win THE titles that “matter”, but he didn’t score 73 goals playing in the Scottish League, so he’s gotta be a lock in the best XI. A few spots are open to debate. Not his.
73 goals in a single season, and you put him in the bench??????? What has falcao achieved, just the Europa league. Messi has broken the goal scoring record for barca, scored the most goals in a season, won the world club championship, won the cops del rey, won the spainsh super cup, won the european super cup, won a world player of the year award. If that’s a bad season then I am shocked.
Completely city-biased, they had so much luck this year it’s unfair. If Vidic hadn’t got injured, united hadn’t lost to Wigan or drawn to Everton, or Barton didn’t get sent off then it was uniteds title. And I’m a Newcastle fan
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts..
lewandowski and falcoa over messi and RVp?????
I agree with many of your choices, it seems to be a really great starting 11, but with a few problems. Lewandowski,was a surprise,i was excited to see van persie in the starting team or at least the bench, due to his great season, but i didnt watch many of Lewandowski so i can’t really comment. To all the people saying messi is so much better and scored so many goals etc, you all have to remember that even though ee is a great player and scored a hatrick recently with argentina, is not a big presence (in my a opinion)on the field, as ronaldo is.For the keepers i think joe hart deserved to be the number one but neuer is also a great keeper and is still a good choice. Coentrão was a big mistake though, i dont think he had such a great season, that makes hime the best right back, Lahm would have been a far better choice.
Mata was also the wrong choice for me, yes he had a good season but not a great one. David silva should of been swapped in for him.
Evans was a horrile choice and i was discusted to see hime there, Vidic would have been a better choice even with his injury and no game time, to be honest. I think pepe had a better season this year and deserved a spot on the bench.
Pirlo was a great choice for the bench, the classiest player thats playing the game at the moment.Ibrahimovic was also a good choice for the bench but i would still put play him over lewandowski.
Not the best starting 11, but its interesting to see your points about Messi and that your not just jumping on the Bandwagon and throwing in the players ou see on the news and actually writing about the players you think deserve the spots.
Swear down drewplay whatever he’s called knows nothing about football lol Evans was class this year as pointed out by many many many professional football pundits
I actually thought when I read the title noone is wide eyed enough to put valencia in their XI, shot myself in the foot their tbh nice to see he gets credit by others for the awesome season he’s had, probably the best winger in the prem this year?
The only things I disagree with would be the manager after all the scandals going on in Italy, shove in di Matteo and that’s a mighty fine team youve picked their Connor, pat on the back
this is probably the worst article i’ve seen written on this site. I respect the fact that you’re not hopping on the bandwagon and picking the stereotypical players, but this is just downright shocking. You also said this was RVP’s first amazing season, yet you included Evans for this and left out RVP for that reason..and like everyone else said, excluding messi is the biggest joke of all time. Some of these selections were brilliant, but some were so horrendous I can’t even begin to describe it.
First of all you constantly use the same reasons for leaving a player out of the starting 11 as you use to justify why other players are chosen?? RVP are out because of it being his first really good season, but Lewandowski, Evans, Richards are ind because why??
I don’t really understand youre reasons for leaving out Messi? why can’t both Messi and Ronaldo be in the starting line-up? i would like to hear the reasons for that choice?
I could understand if you choose a team completely without the obvious players, such as Messi, RVP, Ronaldo and so on, but that dosn’t seem to be the case? so i would like to ask again what you’re thoughts were about this team? other than pissing of people by not choosing RVP and putting Messi on the bench for the likes of Antonio Valencia and Lewandowski??
i could clearly se the “fun” in choosing a completely alternative squad, with players that don’t get the credit that they deserve, but this post is just kind of a joke, due to some of the players left out.
And may i add, it seems to be a little Man Utd. biased, even though you claim not to be?
Best decision in the lineup: Messi on the bench. I like the outside of the box selections for a few of the positions as well. Good stuff
I honestly i dont think you watch enough futbol this line-up is a joke. Messi should be in the starting 11 regardless of you trying to be cool and rebellious and benching him. I mean its a fantasy team but come on my dude have common sense.
Drew I don’t mean to pinpoint you out personally dude, but if you watch united as much as I do (avid utd fan) you’d see how good Evans has been this year. And no Evans didn’t let 4 past against everton , the keeper and the rest of the united team did, being a team game and all and not just Evans on his own. And to Quote ferguson on Johnny Evans near the end of the season ‘arguably one of the best defenders in the country’. You can’t think your more ‘in the know’ about football than possibly the greatest managers of all time can you? :L
How is Coentrão on this team….he was barely a starter as Marcelo was the main left back…that is a joke!