Sadly there’s no room for player of the year Ryan Giggs here…

It’s another end of season list, but with a twist. To stop a roundup of the 08/09 Premier League team of the season descending into a top 4 love-in, we’ve tried to limit ourselves to only one player from each club. Sticklers for punishment that we are, we’re also rigidly sticking to a classic 4-4-2. It all ended up being a lot harder than we gave it credit for:

GK - Manuel Almunia (Arsenal)
Pulled off some super saves, stopped an inordinate amount of penalties, and has been good enough to have this ridiculous nonsense about him playing for England rise to the surface again. The Spanish keeper has come a long way from Jens Lehmann’s assessment he was to rubbish to play for Arsenal.

DR - Rory Delap (Stoke)
Rory Delap made a healthy contribution to securing Stoke’s top flight status, earning priceless league (and mental) victories against the big boys at a time when Stoke were looking the unfashionable new kids while Hull cakewalked it. He spent most of the season in midfield but his position is almost irrelevent for what he brings to the team.

DL - Luke Young (Aston Villa)
Playing completely out of position, covering for a crocked Wilfred Bouma and an absolutely dreadful Nicky Shorey, isn’t an ideal way to start your first season a new club, but Young has done the job manfully, without complaint and more often than not, impressively.

DC - Phil Jagielka (Everton)
One of the most reliable performers of the season until that heartbreaking injury, Jags has had a superb campaign, reaping benefits in the form of England

Leah Fortune launches one in with style and aplomb

Remember this guy’s attempt at an acrobatic throw-in? Brazilian female football star Leah Fortune shows us how it without breaking anyone’s nose.

Imagine how far Rory Delap would launch the ball if he took a few lessons from Miss Fortune…

Young man suffers at the hand of an acrobat

Premier League stars looking for a way to defend Rory Delap’s penetrating throw-ins should probably avoid seeking advice from this chap.

[SI Hot Clicks via WithLeather]

Stoke man could use freakish arm strength at the next Games

Having seen that he can throw a football further than most people walk in a lifetime, Ireland’s Athletics head honchos believe Rory Delap’s skills could be transferred to the art of javelin:

Mary Coghlan, head of Athletics Ireland, said: “We don’t have any javelin throwers competing at the World Championships next year so of course we would welcome him.

“To reach the acquired standard would be extremely difficult but nothing is impossible.

“Certainly, if he wanted to try and throw the javelin for Ireland we would be more than delighted to have him.”

The world’s best javelin throwers can launch their spear around 65-75m. When you consider the fact that Delap threw a much-less-aerodynamic-than-a-javelin football 45m in the recent Arsenal victory, crossing over to the Olympic event doesn’t sound like such a crazy idea.

[Daily Star]

Stoke boss quotes Abraham Lincoln in website riposte

“Most Managers up and down the country are very protective of their Football Clubs and that protection is usually at its height in “after game interviews”, where we defend our team’s performances and our players’ mistakes in every way possible - from blaming referees not seeing players’ indiscretions and so on. We have every angle covered.

In Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday evening Mr Wenger talked openly about Arsenal’s encounter with Stoke, as being a “typical English encounter”. He commended my team’s organisation, my team’s commitment and confessed that on the day Stoke City thoroughly deserved to win the game. Very open and very honest.

Over the weekend Arsenal have been criticised by the media over their commitment to not only our game, but also previous games they have been involved in.

In London 48 hours later and 150 miles away from Stoke-on-Trent, Mr Wenger changed tact and has tried to rewrite history.

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