Hello and welcome to the final Team of the Weekend this season. The typically bonkers last day of the season saw goals aplenty and a lot for us to get stuck into. Many of my rules were upheld which made team selection automatic in places but who else made the cut? Let’s find out…
Goalkeeper
Alisson – The man with the golden gloves. It seems only fair to give Alisson our final number 1 jersey of the season after yet another shutout. Their forwards shared the golden boot and their goalkeeper gets the most clean sheets. It’s hard to put your finger on how Liverpool can improve really.
Defenders
Fabian Schär – One of the bargains of the season at £3.5m (ish). Newcastle had a great day in the London sunshine and Schär’s header capped off a fine display. He may well have trebled his value though which will be music to Mike Ashley’s ears.
Aymeric Laporte – What a season this man has had. He’s chipped in with some vital goals recently and his header here ultimately gave Man City the victory that secured the title. With doubts over the future of Kompany and Otamendi, it seems likely the defence will be built around Laporte for years to come.
José Holebas – Holebas is a walking card. Yellows are one thing though, but getting sent off the week before the cup final is very silly indeed. He’ll now miss the FA Cup final next weekend which will make Watford’s sizeable task even harder.
Midfielders
İlkay Gündoğan – I’m sticking to the rules right to the bitter end.Gündoğan hasn’t been Man City’s flashiest performer this season but he did score a direct freekick here and that’s enough to earn him his place in the team. Whether he is the natural successor to Fernandinho remains to be seen.
Christian Eriksen – Another one. Eriksen’s direct free kick earned Spurs the point that guaranteed they will be playing Champions League football next season. Had he not scored we’d have had an entertaining 20 minutes wondering if Arsenal could score 6 more. There seems to be a school of thought that Eriksen will move on this summer and if he does he’ll take some replacing.
Nathaniel Mendez-Laing – Ole Gunnar Solskjær isn’t having the best time of things and there’ll be many eyes on Old Trafford this summer. His latest humiliating defeat came at the hands of Nathaniel Mandez-Laing, who scored twice – one more than Alexis Sánchez has managed this season.
Michail Antonio – A hat-trick of assists! Antonio has finished the season strongly and was a constant menace to the Watford backline. Finding his best position seems to be the biggest challenge ahead for the man with all the celebrations.
Jefferson Lerma – I normally just chastise Lerma for getting booked every week, but Sunday was different. Crystal Palace were running away with things but just before half time, Lerma took aim and found the stanchion. I particularly enjoyed the stunned noise the crowd made upon realising it had gone in. Maybe he should shoot more and foul less.
Forwards
Wilfried Zaha – Another hat-trick of assists! If ever a match summed up Wilfried Zaha, it was this. Slaloming runs, defenders trying to take him out at any cost, general petulance. If this was his last act in a Palace shirt then so be it, but I have a feeling he’ll stick around.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – At the double! Aubameyang went all out to try and win the golden boot but will have to settle for a share of the spoils. It wasn’t for lack of trying though, he had enough chances to win two golden boots. Arsenal now head to the Europa League final in a few weeks to make a decent season a great one.
Manager
Pep Guardiola – What else can you say? 98 points this season, 198 over two seasons. A title retained. His sides play great football and surely next season they will go all out for the Champions League. For now though the domestic treble beckons. What a season, what a team, what a manager.
That’s it for Team of the Weekend. I’m stepping down from this post next season so thanks for your company over the years, it’s been a blast. Goodbye for now.
