It’s been another fantastic year of English football and after the Christmas festivities we decided to give out a few gifts (of sorts) of our own in the form of the Fortitude Football Awards.
Player Of The Year:
Robin Van Persie
This was a bit of a no-brainer for me to be honest. I know there’ll be some groans from some circles about this but let’s define what it takes to be the player of the year? The player of the year is someone who consistently performs to an exceptionally high level and Robin Van Persie fits that bill to the letter. I can’t think of another player in the league right now with the ability to single-handedly carry a team from the bottom half of the table into the top four aside from RVP. And as if that wasn’t enough he then goes after to Manchester United and make Wayne Rooney, no less, look like an average finisher in comparison.
Young Player Of The Year:
Gareth Bale
I’m not Bale’s biggest fan, despite the fact that I’m Welsh and I should love my national team’s best player, but the potential this man has is phenomenal. The pace, power and shooting abilities he has are things you can’t teach and it’ll be interesting to see how he develops in the coming years. While I don’t agree with the comparisons to Messi and Ronaldo, I do believe this guy can be one of the top few players in the world in a few years’ time.
Goal Of The Year:
Peter Crouch vs. Manchester City
This was the most difficult award for me to choose and I’m still not 100% sure that this is the right choice. It was either this stunner or Papiss Cisse’s screamer against Chelsea but I chose this one because I’ve never seen anything like it before. I can’t put into words how good this goal was; just watch it bellow and see what I mean!
Manager Of The Year:
Roberto Di Matteo
I just want to point out now that I did not make this choice out of sympathy. How many managers have we seen try and fail to win the Champions League with Chelsea? Admittedly the tactics he employed to do it weren’t mind blowing and yes he was taking over from a man his players seemed to hate, thus making them more enthusiastic but come on! Despite a bit of a dry run towards the end of his stint in charge at Stamford Bridge he was taking Chelsea in completely the right direction, rebuilding the team and getting them playing some very nice football. The only thing he didn’t do was get the best out of Fernando Torres but only one man in the Premier League has ever been able to do that so I think we can let him off with that one. Di Matteo has a very bright future ahead of him and one day Abramovich might regret being so trigger happy in this case.
Team Of The Year:
GK: Joe Hart
A key figure in City’s first Premier League title thanks to some stunning saves and maintaining absolute control of his area
RB: Kyle Walker
Really come of age this year and has a very promising future in the game if he continues at this rate.
CB: Vincent Kompany
By far the best defender in the league this season. An absolute rock at the heart of the City defence.
CB: Fabricio Coloccini
Played a key role in Newcastle’s qualification for Europe and ran Kompany close to be the best defender in the league.
LB: Leighton Baines
The perfect representation of the modern day fullback; deadly in attack and a ruthless defender.
RM: Antonio Valencia
Developed a key role in the Manchester United team and is really at the peak of his powers right now.
CM: Yaya Toure
A crucial cog in the spine of the Manchester City machine. Barcelona must be gutted to have let this man go and now be stuck with Alex Song.
CM: Marouane Fellaini
Defensive-come-attacking midfielder has turned in some phenomenal displays this year, attracting some real interest from the league’s top teams.
LM: Gareth Bale
Pace, power and a brutal work-rate; what more could you want from a winger?
ST: Robin Van Persie
Scored crucial goals for both of his sides this year; the perfect crunch time striker
ST: Sergio Aguero
Has there ever been such a natural finisher in the Premier League? More than lived up to the hype from his Atletico days.
All in all its been a great year for football, looking forward to see what talent seeps through in 2013!