The Premier League 2008/09 Season - Best Of

[Baddar]

With the bookie and predictor out of the way and the season officially to a close, I thought I'd make this thread to get people's views on the best league in the world.

It saw Man Utd take their third consecutive Premier League crown and Newcastle relegated to the Championship.

But what moments would you consider the "Best Of" this season?

I'm looking for the very best;

-Goal

-Match

-Moment

-Comeback

-Player

-Manager

-Facepalm moment of the season

Here's mine;

Goal

There were plenty of great goals as usual, but my goal of the season would probably go to Kiko Macheda against Aston Villa, partly because of the sheer importance of it. And because remembering great strikes isn't my strength.

Match

The 4-4 at the Emirates was good, but I absolutely loved the 4-4 at Anfield, again involving Arsenal. Neither Liverpool nor Arsenal seemed like they could defend and it made for some brilliant stuff. Theo's lung-busting run and pass to Arshavin who neatly smashed it past Reina was a thing of beauty. I loved that goal.

Moment

Hard to look past Macheda against Villa really. I don't think I've cheered a goal so much since the Champions League win last year.

Comeback

Again, it involves United.

The comeback against Spurs was awesome. 2-0 down at Half Time, and while I had confidence of pulling it back to get at least a draw, scoring 5 in the space of what had to have been about 20 minutes was amazing to watch. Talking of Spurs, an honourable mention for their comeback against Arsenal too.

Player

Anelka. He's most definitely proved that he can still cut it at the top, and in a way I'm glad he got the Golden Boot on the last day, pipping Ronaldo, who still scored more goals than anyone else despite not having his best season.

Manager

I think I heard somewhere that Ferguson got the official award. Or was it Moyes? I'm not sure and can't be arsed checking up on it. Either way, I think Roy Hodgson should've got it. To take Fulham to Europe with the squad of players he has, on paper, is a great achievement. And he seems like a great guy.

Facepalm moment of the season

I'm sure there were many more, but Newcastle being relegated and generally being shit throughout the season gets my vote. And as honourable mentions go, Rafa's rant has to be up there. In fairness, had Liverpool won the league, it would've been categorised as genius. Everyone can laugh at it now that they didn't.

---

Hopefully, we can get quite a few people putting their "Best Of" views forward, if only to remind me of stuff that I've forgot. So, what's yours?

Edited May 31, 2009 by BaddarD2k9

[TheRossWalker]

My view is that this should be in Sports.

[METALMAN]

With the bookie and predictor out of the way and the season officially to a close, I thought I'd make this thread to get people's views on the best league in the world.

Sorry I would do but I'm afraid I didn't watch too much of the Bundesliga this year.

[Matt]

-Goal

Arshavin's 3rd against Liverpool, I think, the left footed one from miles away.

-Match

Manchester United 1 - Liverpool 4, nuff said.

-Moment

Newcastle being relegated/Messi's goal in the CL final if we're allowing that.

-Comeback

I would give it to scum vs. Tottenham, had it not been triggered by an awful decision. Therefore, Tottenham vs. Arsenal gets it.

-Player

Top 3: Gerrard/Torres/Hangeland in that order.

-Manager

Hodgson

-Facepalm moment of the season

I can't really think of anything specific from the Premiership but that "goal" in the Reading/Watford game.

Edited May 31, 2009 by --Matt--

[Adam]

I'll try not to break the rules like Matt did Gotta agree on the Man U-Spurs comeback, that was started by Webb being a muppet, so it doesn't deserve it. I'll also try not to be as biased as Baddar, but if Everton/Liverpool end up featuring heavily, well...

Goal-Glen Johnson

It has got to be Glen Johnson's strike against Hull(?). He's a right back for a start, but he chested it down then volleyed it with his left foot from about 30 yards. Sheer brilliance.

Match-Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool

Brilliant day, hilarious to see Man U take a beating on their own ground, by their closest rivals for the title.

Moment-Geovanni puts London to the sword

OK, so slight bending of the rules as I'm gonna pick a collection of moments from early on in the season, namely, Hull City's brilliant start which included wins away at Arsenal and Tottenham. It was fantastic to see a small club going to these grounds and picking up three points to put themselves in the top four. Shame it didn't last, but at least they stayed up in the end.

Comeback-Manchester City 2-3 Liverpool

Liverpool had a habit of scoring late winners earlier on in the season, and this game epitomised it. City went 2-0 up after about 40 minutes, but Liverpool came back in the second half, first scoring through Torres, then Pablo Zabaleta was sent off and Torres equalised. Kuyt sealed the win in injury time to cap a great comeback and I believe at the time it kept Liverpool top of the Premier League.

Player-Steven Gerrard

Gerrard once again was the driving force of Liverpool's title push, and they missed him when he was absent through injury. Man Utd have a fantastic team, but this season it did feel more like a team effort for them taking the title, not individual brilliance, for example with Ronaldo last season.

Manager-David Moyes

I'm going to agree with the LMA and give it to Moyes, he deserves it. He didn't have a big budget to splash the cash, was afforded only one big money signing (originally meant to be Moutinho but ended up being Fellaini) and was without several key squad members for large parts of the season. Yakubu, Saha, Anichebe, Arteta, Jagielka, Hibbert, Jacobsen and Vaughan have all missed out for key periods with big injuries, and it's meant Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini have had to become makeshift strikers. Despite this, they finished 5th in the league again, despite being a dozen points behind the top 5 in January, and reached the FA Cup Final, knocking out Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester United along the way. Moyes has done a tremendous job and he deserves it, he's achieved more with less than Sir Alex Ferguson, Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson this season.

Facepalm moment of the season-Newcastle United

The whole club has been a joke this season. From Dennis Wise (why!?) buying Xisco, to Keegan walking out, to the 'COCKNEY MAFIA OUT' protests, through to Joe "f'n" Kinnear, Colin Calderwood, to 'THE MESSIAH' Alan Shearer, with home beatings against Liverpool, Shay Given leaving and Owen always being injured interspersed as well. Right through to the final day, where they limped out of the Premier League with a tame 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa. What a joke.

So, there ya go. My favourite everything from the Premier League season in 2008/09.

[AJ]

I haven't read any other replies as I'm trying to do this without any influence. I'll probably be reminded by a ton of stuff I'd forgotten afterward reading through.

-Goal

David Bentley vs Arsenal in October 2008. The 40 yard volley. Can't find a video of it. Which is a shame because it's the only thing worth remembering about David Bentley this season.

-Match

Perhaps not the best match from a neutral point of view but personally I thought Utd beating Villa 3-2 was amazing! If they had lost that game the title would've been right in the balance and I really think it could've gone either way. It was just a classic Utd comeback in front of the home fans and one I'll never forget. Not to mention the emergence of Macheda. By the way, I don't think he's some megastar after a couple of goals like the media would have you believe, but he could still prove to be a great player yet.

-Moment

Macheda goal. 3-2. Amazing.

-Comeback

-Player

Steven Gerrard. He has less goals and (I think) less assists than Ronaldo but he played a few less games and there's no doubt in my mind that Liverpool are weaker without Gerrard than Utd are without Ronaldo. Not saying Liverpool are a one-man team by any stretch but without such an influential captain who can change games like he can they wouldn't have had such a good title push this season.

-Manager

Roy Hodgson. Done so much with so little.

-Facepalm moment of the season

Take your pick of any of Gomes' gaffs earlier in the season. But credit to him he's been better this year.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Goal Bentley's against Arsenal. I got up at 4am to watch that match and was lying, semi-comatose in front of the TV when the ball was flicked over to him, he chested it and volleyed from 40 yards and suddenly I was wide awake and screaming out (and probably woke my wife whoops)

Match Villa vs Newcastle. Not a great match but I spent most of the game expecting Newcastle to score and stay up and I was more nervous for this game than any other game not involving England or Tottenham. I celebrated when Villa won and was actually invested in the whole match.

Moment Tottenham's first goal against Burnley in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi. Not the league but it was wonderful cos I was so utterly down and depressed and in disbelief and then it went in and the whole BBC sports forum erupted in a violent hatred towards Spurs for actually DARING to want to make a cup final. Hilarious times as a Spurs fan.

Comeback Tottenham's whole season. If we'd have scored points at the same rate over the first nine games as we did over the rest of the season we'd have finished borderline 4th/5th. Harry was our saviour....And of course it started with those last three minutes against Arsenal

Player Frank Lampard. Really low visibility season for him but every time I saw him he was solid, the backbone of Chelsea and popped up for the FA Cup winner. Fair play to him. From a Spurs bias Aaron Lennon cos he made every left back in the league look stupid, especially Patrice Evra which was just glorious.

Manager Roy Hodgson. Seriously how did Fulham finish seventh?! I'm still amazed with how well they did, especially at home.

Facepalm moment of the season

[Matt]

Facepalm moment of the season

Jade?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

-Goal

Probably got to be Macheda's against Villa, mainly because it was arguably our most important goal of the season. I never expected it and I don't think a goal gave me more joy all season than that one.

-Match

United/Tottenham a few months back. 0-2 down at half time yet it finished 5-2 in the end, crazy game and I loved it.

-Moment

Macheda against Villa, enough said.

-Comeback

Cant really say anything outside of United/Tottenham, although Liverpool/Arsenal is a close second (not really a major comeback, but both teams scoring nonstop one after the other).

-Player

Fernando Torres. I was tempted to say Rooney, because I feel like he's somehow stepped his game up even more, but really I cant say anyone but Torres. For me, along with Gerrard, he's the real main reason why Liverpool were so damn close to winning the Premiership. I feel like he's the player they've wanted for so long and it's hard to argue there's a better striker in the world at this moment in time. Plus, he did score some unbelievable goals and despite being injured for parts of the season, he had a huge impact.

-Manager

I'd like to say SAF, but I'll go with someone different. Has to be Roy Hodgson, because I don't feel anyone has actually done a better job than he has. What he's done with Fulham is nothing short of remarkable, just fantastic and miles beyond my expectations, fantastic guy and fantastic manager.

-Facepalm moment of the season

Ricardo Fuller fighting his own team mate. What a complete and utter nob. That was just a disgrace really. Close second would be Phil Brown deciding to have a half time team talk on the fucking pitch, yeah.

[Sam_Van_619]

-Goal

Bentley vs. Arsenal...it could be argued that he only scored it because Almunia was off his line but nonetheless, he didn't have much time to control it and even to consider having a go from that far out deserves credit. Just a real 'holy shit' type of goal.

-Match

Same match, Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham...shortly after Redknapp arrived and Tottenham had been playing really shit, good comeback and kind of funny to see the looks on the Arsenal fans faces after Lennon scored that late, late goal.

-Moment

Last day of the season, when the final whistle blew at Villa Park. Not just because it was a fucking diabolical game, but because Newcastle were relegated! Far be it from me to take pleasure out of other peoples misery but...ah fuck it I loved it!

-Comeback

Tottenham's season, yeah...2 points after 10 games to 2 points off at Europe at the end is a very good turnaround, entirely down to the managerial change. Third award I've given to Spurs, I'm not a closet Spurs fan, I swear.

-Player

Hard to single out one single player so I'm going with the whole of Man Utd's defence for that 14 game run without conceding, particular Vidic and van der Sar who (I think) were the only ones to play all the games.

-Manager

Quite a few to choose from for this one...but the main two I'd pick out are Hodgson from Fulham and Pulis from Stoke. Hodgson took a team who were fourth worst in the league last season, brought in a load of players who probably weren't the best quality, but he got the best out of them and managed to get them into Europe. Pulis brought up a team everyone expected him to take straight back down and, although they didnt play the best football, he found a winning formula and 45 points in the end was very respectable. Hodgson wins, by a whisker.

-Facepalm moment of the season

Howard Webb for that penalty decision, Spurs v. Man U. Cunt.

[Ben E.]

Fucking awful season for me as a Newcastle fan. Still though, I'll play along.

-Goal

Maybe it's just because it's fresh in my memory, but Gibson's goal against Hull was quality.

-Match

Newcastle 3-1 Middlesbrough. Ah, the battle of which team was less shite. Not that I thought we were going to stay up, but the atmosphere in St. James' was really good and I enjoyed being in the crowd for it. Always feels good to win when you're a Newcastle fan.

-Moment

Liverpool beating Man Utd 4-1 at Old Trafford.

-Comeback

Harry Redknapp's turnaround with Spurs. Yes he's had the money, but so did Ramos and he couldn't even understand how to balance a team. My favourite manager without a doubt.

-Player

Stephen Ireland for me. Every time I've seen him play he's been brilliant. Like him as a player too, so maybe I'm a bit biased.

-Manager

Tony Pulis for me. I was certain that they'd go straight back down, but Pulis has managed to not only keep them up, but take them to 12th in the league. Honourable mention to both Roy Hodgson and David Moyes though.

-Facepalm moment of the season

Kevin Keegan leaving Newcastle, and the stupid protests that followed as the most embarrasing. Maybe most dissapointing would be when Shay Given left for Man City.

[The Future]

-Goal

Glen Johnson against Hull, what a strike! one of the best I have ever seen

-Match

United 3-Villa 2, Everything seemed to be going against us...the team who had been thrashed 5-0 the previous week were defending well, their striker on a goal drought ended up getting a goal and Ashley Young was ripping Gary Neville a new one. When Macheda was being sent on I actually thought to myself "Oh god how desperate can we get?" and next thing I know I am bouncing all over the place!

-Moment

1-0 win over West Ham. Loads of criticism handed out to Scholes and Giggs for being over the hill and Scholes hits a wonderful pass out to Giggs who owns the West Ham defense and gets the winner.

-Comeback

Spurs against Arsenal...great stuff I marked the fuck out when the Spurs fan jumped in and all the players piled on top of him!

-Player

Darren Fletcher!, A weird choice but I think he's been immense this season and everytime he's not playing we seem to be lacking energy and bite in the midfield. I also think it's awesome that he's broken into the first team despite all the shit he took from fans(There's about 20 odd Facebook groups titled "Sell Fletcher and O'Shea"..ridiculous.

-Manager

David Moyes

-Facepalm moment of the season

Wes Brown own goal at Anfield...lord knows what happened there.

[Matt]

Shit yeah, replace my facepalm with Brown's bollocking, it'd have been awesome had it paid off, but it didn't, so let's all laugh.

[Jam]

Goal

Tie for me between Bentley Vs Arsenal or Koncheskey Vs West Ham, Nasri's first against Man U gets a mention

Match

I have to say Spurs Vs Arsenal

Moment

Newcastle getting relegating was a great moment

Comeback

I'll go with Arsenal Vs Hull. I know Hull only came from one goal down but at the time at the Emirates you would of been expecting Arsenal to get 4 or 5

Player

Up until the Liverpool game I'd of said Vidic, but instead I'll go with one of the most under rated of the season, Michael Carrick

Manager

Tony Pulis of Stoke. Bookies paid out on them to get relegated after one game, so to stay up and in mid table is a great achievement

Facepalm moment of the season

It's not Prem, but the goal in the Watford/Reading game was awful

I'll throw in team of the season for me:

GK - Van Der Saar

RB - Johnson

LB - Cole

CB - Vidic

CB - Hangeland

RM - Milner

LM - Ashley Young

CM - Gerrard

CM - Carrick

ST - Rooney

ST - Torres

[crazybrain]

-Goal - David Bently's 40 yard cracker against Arsenal at the Emirates. About the only thing he did all season though.

-Match - Arsenal 4, Liverpool 4 - Great match and great display by Arseshavin.

-Moment - Kiko Macheda's debut goal againt Villa. Great way to announce himself on the British scene

-Comeback - Utd's comeback against Tottenham, even if it required a little help from the referee.

-Player - Nemanja Vidic, despite the two games against Liverpool and Barcelona was brilliant all season.

-Manager - Torn here between Roy Hodgson and Sir Alex. I'll go with Fergie because winning the league 3 times in a row is a heck of an achievement.

-Facepalm moment of the season - Newcastle in general. bye bye toon

[The Future]

I'll follow Jam in making a team of the season.

GK-Jaskelainen

RB-Glen Johnson

LB-Ashley Cole

CB-Vidic

CB-Jagielka

RM-Ronaldo

LM-Ashley Young

CM-Gerrard

CM-Fletcher

ST-Rooney

ST-Ricardo Fuller

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

I feel psychically ill that anyone would include that cunt Ricardo Fuller in their team of the year. He's a complete nob and there's about twenty players who should be on any list ahead of him up front, not to mention he's shit. Him fighting his own team mate was a disgrace as well. I don't ever wish injury on any player other than him.

Seriously though, I struggle to take any list seriously if it hasn't got Torres on there. I may hate Liverpool, but he's possibly the best striker in the world now, so I don't see how you couldn't include him on a team of the season list.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Scum Fan 4 Life

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Goal: David Bentley, Arsenal vs. Tottenham.

It was a fantastic strike, I agree with the argument for Macheda's goal against Villa as well for the importance but for pure amazement that Bentley's shot found its way into the goal from 40 yards I gotta go for that.

Match: Liverpool 4 vs. Arsenal 4.

Fantastic game, neither side seemed willing or able to defend and both teams showed their striking prowese to full force. Arshavin was an absolute revelation.

Moment: Arshavin vs. Liverpool.

Arsenal due to injuries or whatever didn't have a great season, and this one man proved how such a talented player he is against Liverpool. For a midweek game it seemed the Premier League world stood still. If he manages to stay fit next season and Arsenal bring in a reliable centre-half then I think they will have to be taken very seriously.

Comeback: Hull against Arsenal.

This one has to get it for the rarity of such an event to happen against one of the "big four" away. You may get this happen once a season if you are lucky. However a close second and rather controversially has to be for me Bolton's brave attempt at a fightback away at Chelsea. Megson is a defensive minded manager, always has been - but that was just something else, and something I have not seen from Bolton in many, many years.

Player: Steven Gerrard - Liverpool.

Fantastic season for Gerrard, without him and the equally impressive Fernando Torres you have to wonder if the Pool would have even been near the title race. He deserves a massive pat on the back.

Manager: Roy Hodgson - Fulham.

Fantastic season from the veteren manager. Hodgsons story this season sums up what football is about, individually not many of the players in the side I would argue are world class, however the teamwork and determination shown is why they got to where they are. I was rolling my eyes when he signed players like Dickson Etuhu in the summer - but I was proven wrong, completly wrong.

Facepalm moment of the season: Bad Season for the North East.

I'm going to combine this one slighty with the relegation of both Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Both sides had managed to establish themselves as Premier League sides and had lengthy spells in the top flight, not many people looked beyond West Brom, Stoke and Hull for heading straight back to the Championship - but these sides both let themselves down drastically. Ironically enough both sides went down for completly opposite reasons, Newcastle didn't have any stability at board level and were trying to play football surrounded by chaos - while with all due respect Middlesbrough had too much stability and stuck behind Gareth Southgate too much - and its not often I say a manager should have been sacked but the warning signs were there from the year before. I hope Gareth proves me wrong and brings the Boro straight back up at the first attempt and re-establishes them as a Premier League side, but im not confident.

Second has to go to the Robbie Keane saga, August to Liverpool from Spurs and then moving back come January, lunacy.

Team of the Season:

GK: Edwin VAN DER SAR - Manchester United

DR: Glen JOHNSON - Portsmouth

DL: Patrice EVRA - Manchester United

DC: Brede HANGELAND - Fulham

DC: Nemanja VIDIC - Manchester United

MR: Cristiano RONALDO - Manchester United

ML: Ashley YOUNG - Aston Villa

MC: Steven GERRARD - Liverpool

MC: Steven IRELAND - Manchester City

ST: Fernando TORRES - Liverpool

ST: Nicolas ANELKA - Chelsea

[TAFKA Castroneves]

EDIT - Double Post, sorry

Edited June 3, 2009 by TAFKA Castroneves