One of the things I most enjoy about some American sports like Basketball or American Football, is that they do not shy away from picking the best players of the season into their All-Star teams.

So whether you are playing in the NBA All-Star Game, or heading to the Pro Bowl as a selection for the NFC or the AFC, it is nice that the sport honours those players that have been outstanding in their position over the course of the season.

In soccer, the Premier League and PFA do have their own team of the season awards, but these are only open to selected individuals within the main soccer organisations, professional players, managers and journalists to vote on.

Other organisations, such as Opta, the official statistics co-ordinator of the Premier League, also produce their own teams based on the data that they have collected.

Opta’s Premier League Stats Team of the Season 2022/23

  1. David Raya (Brentford)
  2. Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
  3. Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)
  4. Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
  5. Manuel Akanji (Manchester City)
  6. Rodri (Manchester City)
  7. Declan Rice (West Ham United)
  8. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
  9. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
  10. Harry Kane (Tottenham)
  11. Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

And while stats are a great starting point for a team of the season, they do not tell the whole story of the season and seeing as we have covered the EPL season in great detail over the last 10 months or so, we felt it was time BRC picked its team of the year.

So before we go on to name the players, let’s set our parameters.

Parameters for the BRC Premier League Team of the Season 2022/23

The following parameters are set for naming the team.

We will pick our First XI for the BRC Premier League Team of the Season based on a 4-3-3 formation and selecting a manager for that team.

Then will also pick a Second XI for the Team of the Season from players that just did not quite make it into the First XI (again this will be in a 4-3-3 formation and with a manager)

Finally, we will pick our best referee of the season to officiate this hypothetical game and we will also then go on to pick our choice of best TV commentator, presenter and pundits, with a top three for each of these

There are no limits on the number of players that can be selected from specific teams.

So with those parameters set, let’s get on picking our teams.

BRC Premier League Team Of The Year – First XI (4-3-3)

  • GK – Robert Sanchez (Brighton)
  • DR – Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United)
  • DL – Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal)
  • DC – Manuel Akanji (Manchester City)
  • DC – John Stones (Manchester City)
  • MC – Rodri (Manchester City)
  • MC – Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
  • MC – Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
  • AMR – Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
  • AML – Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
  • AC – Erling Haaland (Manchester City)

Some players literally walk into this team, including most of the Manchester City selections while Trippier, Saka and Odegaard also earned their spot. Other positions were much closer and could have perhaps gone either way.

  • Manager – Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)

There’s nobody close to challenging Guardiola for this honour. Not only is his team the best in the EPL for the fifth time in six years, they could go on to win the Treble, only the second time a manager would achieve that feat.

BRC Premier League Team Of The Year (Runners Up) – Second XI (4-3-3)

  • GK – David Raya (Brentford)
  • DR – Ben White (Arsenal)
  • DL – Dan Burn (Newcastle United)
  • DC – Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
  • DC – William Saliba (Arsenal)
  • MC – Casemiro (Manchester United)
  • MC – Carlos Mac Allister (Brighton)
  • MC – Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
  • AMR – Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal)
  • AML – Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
  • AC – Harry Kane (Tottenham)

A number of these players were very close to first team inclusion, Martinelli, Casemiro, Dan Burn and Jack Grealish especially but all 11 players are fully deserving of a spot in this game.

  • Manager – Mikel Arteta (Arsenal)

Arteta holds off a stiff challenge from Eddie Howe and Roberto De Zerbi to finish runner up to Pep, giving him the honour of managing our Second String XI in out EPL All=

BRC “Pierluigi Colina” Award for Referee of the Year 2022/23

  1. Michael Oliver
  2. Craig Pawson
  3. Anthony Taylor

There’s a reason the PGMOL tend to pick these three referees for the bigger games and I think all three have had good seasons. Taylor has been involved in a few controversies, but Pawson and Oliver have been generally very consistent and get a huge amount right, and very little wrong.

BRC “John Motson” Award for Commentator of the Year 2022/23

  1. Peter Drury
  2. Sam Matterface
  3. Jon Champion

Peter Drury’s fantastic and often poetic commentary has him in a category of his own when it comes to commentators. He clearly beats the impressive Sam Matterface and Jon Champion in this race with none of the more famous names coming anywhere near the top three.

BRC “Trevor Brooking” Award for Pundit of the Year 2022/23

  1. Ally McCoist
  2. Roy Keane
  3. Lee Dixon

It is not an easy task being a pundit, either in the commentary booth or in the studio, but I think Lee Dixon transitions between the two very well indeed with his wry and incisive observations and deadpan humour a real bonus.

Roy Keane’s intensity and mischievous nature, and willingness to say what other pundits won’t, no matter who it offends, makes him fantastic viewing as a studio pundit, but just pipping him is the energetic and hugely enjoyable Ally McCoist, who mixes a great sense of humour with plenty of great insights about the game and a great chemistry with his commentary partner.

BRC “Jimmy Hill” Award for Presenter of the Year 2022/23

  1. Jeff Stelling
  2. Gary Lineker
  3. Alex Scott

Both Alex Scott and Gary Lineker have come under scrutiny in the past 12 months or so and come through it exceptionally well. Both are excellent presenters but there’s only one choice at number one, Sky’s Jeff Stelling, who retired from his position as host of Soccer Saturday last weekend. He is the barometer by which all other football presenters will be measured from now on.

BRC Emerging Premier League Stars Of The 2022/23 Season

  1. Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United)
  2. Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
  3. Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest)
  4. Julio Enciso (Brighton)
  5. Moses Caicedo (Brighton)
  6. Stefan Bajcetic (Liverpool)
  7. Rico Lewis (Manchester City)
  8. Jacob Ramsey (Aston Villa)
  9. Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United)
  10. William Saliba (Arsenal)

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