Alternative EPL team of the season

Naming top performers in a competition like the English Premiership comes with its hazards. This was best exemplified by Jose Mourinho clinching the Barclays Manager of the Year gong without winning a single monthly award. The great Portuguese gaffer is ignored in monthly gongs because his peers set incredibly high standards for him. Those who name monthly winners usually base the award on ability to succeed against all odds. It is similar thinking that informs my selections in the alternative line up of the season. Who succeeded most against the greatest odds? If my editor had asked me to name a team of the season, it would be dominated by Chelsea’s title-winning stars. Yet, there are players, who surprised us by their durability while punching above their weight.

Lucas Fabianski:
Signed by Swansea after being released by Arsenal, the Polish international only lost out on the Golden Glove on the final day. His haul of 13 clean sheets was only bettered by Manchester City’s Joe Hart. Unsurprisingly, Fabianski’s best display was in the 1-0 victory over Arsenal. Only Sunderland’s giant shot stopper Costel Pantilimon was competition in this category.

Nathaniel Clyne:
A tireless buccaneering fullback with boundless energy and an eye of spectacular goals, Clyne begun the season as a promising starlet and ended it as an established England international. Clyne did not set a foot wrong as he helped Southampton set the second best defensive record and challenge for European football.

Aaron Cresswell:
Signed from Ipswich Town, this stylist did not find any problem with the step up from Championship football to the big time. Well schooled in the art of defending, Cresswell was West Ham United’s best player this season in the topflight and was already the team’s acclaimed dead ball expert by the season’s end.
Tobias Alderweireld:
Though he is already a Belgian international, his defensive prowess wasn’t well known until he joined Southampton from Atletico Madrid. Strong as an ox, powerful in the air and comfortable at both right back and central defense, Alderweireld was made to play Champions League football for an English team.

John O’Shea:
Do I hear oohs and aahs? Yes, I just named the veteran Irishman in my side. The Black Cats captain was the leader of men and rock of stability as Sunderland escaped relegation. You do not register nine goalless draws and over a dozen clean sheets unless your defense is excellently marshaled.

Francis Coquelin:
His stats from December onwards were startling for a player who was only recalled from Charlton Athletic following injuries to Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini. The young Frenchman was mercurial as his tackling and ball interceptions enabled the Gunners to banish their reputation as a fair-weather side.

Santi Cazorla:
Who knew this Spanish maestro could play as a holding midfielder? Arsenal’s second half surge was built on his partnership with Coquelin, with the Frenchman providing the brawn and Cazorla the brains as the Gunners won one game after another. The pint-sized genius is the EPL’s answer to Andrea Pirlo.

Sadio Mane:
To provide the link up between midfield and attack is sensational Senegalese star Mane. Despite missing a large chunk of the season, Mane still ended up with ten goals in thirty matches. Even better things portend for the tricky speedster who scored the fastest hat-trick in EPL history.

Charlie Austin:
His recent England call up came as a scant shock to Austin’s admirers. He was by far Queen’s Park Rangers’ outstanding player, scoring 44 per cent of all their goals in an ultimately disastrous campaign. There will be no shortage of takers for him and goal scoring midfield dynamo Leroy Fer.

Jamie Vardy:
From non league football to England international in five years, Vardy’s story is confirmation that you can live your dream if you try hard enough. The Leicester City front man is the division’s first non-stop, all action, always on the front-foot striker since Carlos Tevez. In local speak, he is a good Kipaku.

Yannick Bolassie:
For sheer entertainment value, raw power and enthusiasm, no player matches the Congolese flying winger. If you are looking for fancy flicks, spectacular overheads and spellbinding goals, look no further than Bolassie. His hat-trick against Sunderland proved he is a complete player who deserves a Champions League chasing team.

WANTED STAR MAN
QPR head coach Chris Ramsey accepts Charlie Austin will want to stay in the Barclays Premier League, even though he says the relegated Londoners will make ‘every effort’ to keep him. Austin scored his 18th Premier League goal of the season as the curtain came down on Rangers’ miserable top-flight stay with a 5-1 thrashing at Leicester last Sunday. It came days after Austin was called into the England squad for the friendly away to the Republic of Ireland and the Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia in June.