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The final curtain

May 23 - 29, 2007

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LAST Saturday’s FA Cup final at the new Wembley stadium was supposed to be a fitting finale to this season’s top flight domestic football.

However, it turned out to be a lethargic match played between two sides who were suffering from a long and very hard season.
They have shared all three English trophies and both made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League and it is this last factor that still leaves a slight feeling of emptiness at both clubs, but for differing reasons.
For Chelsea it is the trophy that both the owner and manager are desperate for, not to mention to shut up the distracters who complain about how much money they have spent, and for United it is all about their managers legacy. For Ferguson to retire having won the trophy only once would be a blot on his career and prevent him from ever being classed as one of the greats.
Both teams have dominated the season and their individual players have cleaned up all the plaudits as well as the awards. The two players who stand out this season have been Ronaldo and Drogba who have dragged both their sides to victories when things were tough.
Drogbas second season has been a revelation with 32 goals and to score the winner in the FA Cup Final was a suitable finish to what has been a fantastic season. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has shown a spirit and commitment that has added to his talent to ensure he has won around many of his critics.
The rest of the midfield of my fantasy side of the season would be made up from two old timers, one player who played most of it out of position and one from another club. The form and contributions of Scholes and Giggs have been central to United regaining the Premiership. Meanwhile, Essien has been phenomenal in defence when he has been asked to play there and if Chelsea insures there is cover for that area next season then the Ghanaian may be the player of the season and make the crucial difference to the London side winning back the Premiership and making that one further step in Europe.
The last place goes to Steve Gerrard who has proved himself time and time again as both an inspirational team player but also an individual who can make the one crucial difference in a tight European game.
Playing this five-man midfield means either one man up front or a back three must be adopted and in this case it is the defensive option that is preferred.
This is as much to do with the quality of full backs in the league as anything else. None of the full backs at either Chelsea or United have had a sensational season, which has been a disappointment especially for Ashley Cole, the expensive acquisition from Arsenal. Because of this, a back three of Terry, Vidic and Carrager could be more than enough to cope with most sides especially since Essien can drop back to right back where he has been outstanding when he has played there, should it be required.
In goal there is only one choice, Petr Cech of Chelsea, comfortably the best goalkeeper in the world who has had another fantastic season especially considering the horrific injury he suffered at Reading.
This leaves one place up front to play with Drogba. Usually it would be the automatic selection of Thierry Henry but he has had a poor season along with new signing Shevchenko and only Berbatov of Tottenham has caught the eye on a regular basis. The Spurs player though would be too similar to Drogba so the answer would be Rooney, who, while not having the greatest of years has shown on enough occasions what a fantastic player he can be.
Cech, Vidic, Terry, Carrager, Scholes, Ronaldo, Essien, Gerrard, Giggs, Rooney and Drogba.
The 20076/07 season will be remembered for these players as much as for the year United finally put up a challenge to a dominant Chelsea.
Next season could well be decided in the transfer market before any match is even played and this includes both clubs retaining players whose contacts are coming to an end.
This is more of a problem to the London club, not least because their manager’s future is still in doubt.
If this is resolved favourably and Mourinho stays then most of the top players will follow suit and with some astute acquisitions it is likely Chelsea will have a very good season.
It’s a big season next year for all four of the top English clubs with Wenger needing to win a trophy and Benitez having to make an impact in the league so it will be intriguing to see how it all plays out.
It is the same every year to be honest and that’s why it fascinates so many of us and the best part is we only have to wait 80 days before it starts all over again on August 11.