Time has been called on another Premier League campaign and the moment has come to celebrate 2018/19’s finest individual performers.
Sport360’s writers were asked to choose their best XIs, in a 4-3-3 formation. The votes were then added together, with the players in each section with the biggest totals making it into the final selection.
Unsurprisingly, champions Manchester City and runners-up Liverpool provided nine of the 11 picks. But with two other footballers fitting in and some stellar names absent, there are still several shocks ahead.
GOALKEEPER
Alisson (Liverpool)
The Brazil No1 has exhibited how a – then – world-record fee can be made to look cheap.
Manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to send £65 million Roma’s way for Alisson last summer has been rewarded by a new club record of 21 clean sheets. This was enough to win the Golden Glove gong.
One misjudged Cruyff turn aside against Leicester, what an addition he’s been.
RIGHT-BACK
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
A new benchmark has been set in the Premier League by Liverpool’s remarkable 20-year-old right-back.
The deflected cross that fell into the path of Senegal forward Sadio Mane in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Wolves represented Alexander-Arnold’s 12th assist of 2018/19, breaking the record for the most registered by a defender in a single Premier League season.
In a testament to his character, five of them came in his final four top-flight run-outs of the campaign.
CENTRE-BACK
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
All the effort and expense to recruit the Netherlands colossus was worth it.
A full-season with the world-record, £75m recruit at the heart of the Reds rearguard saw them become the meanest defence, with only 22 goals conceded in 38 matches. This was 16 better than 2017/18, a campaign when Van Dijk, belatedly, came in from January.
The PFA Player of the Year recipient’s jockeying of France midfielder Moussa Sissoko in March’s essential 2-1 victory against Tottenham was a key moment.
CENTRE-BACK
Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City)
The best uncapped player on the planet?
France boss Didier Deschamps’ continued ignorance of Laporte is just as astonishing as the Agen-born defender’s abilities. The powerful 24-year-old is the physical manifestation of the modern elite centre-back, dominant in the air and adept on the ball.
A bullish ability to attack the ball was also on show in City’s vital final-day win at Brighton. His header from Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez’s corner completed an 11-minute turnaround from Glenn Murray’s opener, in an eventual 4-1 victory.
LEFT-BACK
Andy Robertson (Liverpool)
The Scotland skipper has driven himself, in typically unrelenting fashion, into a class of his own throughout 2018/19.
Forget Bayern Munich’s David Alaba or Barcelona’s Jordi Alba, Robertson can now legitimately lay claim to being the planet’s premier left-back. Not bad for a performer who was released by Celtic as a teenager and almost joined Burnley in July 2017 ahead of the Reds.
Among defenders, Robertson’s tally of 11 assists was beaten only by opposite number Alexander-Arnold.
MIDFIELD
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
It is fair to say Pep Guardiola’s judgement holds greater sway than anyone else in the division.
The percipient City manager described diminutive Portugal playmaker Silva as “the best” performer this term in the Premier League. When you have become the creative heartbeat of the most-devastating attack English football has ever seen, such a lofty commendation appears apt.
Silva weighed in with seven goals and seven assists, relishing the responsibility afforded by Belgium wizard Kevin De Bruyne’s continued problems with injury.
MIDFIELD
Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur)
If this was goodbye from Eriksen, what a way to go out.
The Denmark midfielder’s precise 75th-minute strike rescued a 2-2 draw against Everton, plus showcased the technical refinement that a glittering reputation has been founded upon. A personal tally of 12 assists and eight goals matched the 27-year-old’s exploits from 2017/18 (10 goals, 10 assists), plus was only three behind 2016/17’s leading mark (eight goals, 15 assists).
If suitors Real Madrid and Bayern Munich manage to take advantage of an expiring contract, the Premier League will lose a rarefied talent.
MIDFIELD
Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth)
There is little shock that Chelsea superstar Eden Hazard led the way for assists in 2018/19, but the name behind him is less familiar.
Scotland winger Fraser teed up 14 goals in 38 run-outs. Seemingly Madrid-bound Hazard only beat this figure by one, while joint-third best Eriksen and Alexander-Arnold came home with 12.
Central to Fraser’s success was his partnership with striker Callum Wilson. They made Premier League history in April 27’s 3-3 draw with Southampton, setting a fresh high for goal combinations between a duo with their 12th assist and goal of the season.
FORWARD
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
A coming of age for Sterling has elevated him into a special class of Premier League performer.
Sterling soared after a mixed World Cup 2018, coming up with 17 goals and 10 assists for Guardiola’s rampant side. This was only two less than 2017/18 in a show of consistency expected from an emergent global superstar.
His sublime performances on the pitch were celebrated with the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year gong. But his emergence as an eloquent spokesman against racism, after suffering vile abuse at Chelsea, made his campaign truly consequential.
FORWARD
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Few footballers can score 10 less goals than the previous campaign, but still keep out the prolific Sergio Aguero from this XI with few complaints.
Salah did not, quite, hit the unprecedented heights of his debut 2017/18. Yet, 22 goals were still enough for a share of the Golden Boot as Liverpool went so close to ending a 29-year wait for top-flight glory.
It is attestation to Salah’s exemplary character and enduring quality that he ended a six-match Premier League scoring drought from February 9-April 5 with an epic solo goal against Southampton, then a long-range drive of staggering quality against Chelsea.
FORWARD
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
A growing maturity and consistency defined Mane’s superb 2018/19.
The Senegal forward put up career-best figures of 22 goals in 36 run-outs, enough to join Liverpool team-mate Salah and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the top step of the scoring podium. He also opened the scoring on nine separate occasions for the Reds.
Manager Jurgen Klopp’s decision to utilise a solid midfield relied on triggering another – relatively – untapped source of strikes. Mane’s 12-goal improvement from 2017/18 was essential to the Reds’ sharp rise from fourth into a close second.
