English Premier League: Team of the Year 2011

Who have been the best players in the English Premier League during 2011?

We all know there have been a number of outstanding individual displays over the past year ranging from Wayne Rooney's wonderful performance against Manchester City last February to Yakubu's four goal haul for Blackburn against Swansea in December to any number of performances by Newcastle's goalkeeper extraordinaire Tim Krul, who has been outstanding since the beginning of the current season.

However, when all is said and done the cream always rises to the top although picking a Premiership XI is no easy task. There are numerous factors to consider when putting together any list, particularly one as divisive a best team of the year, so in gathering together my XI I have considered consistency, general all around play, whether the player has improved over the last 12 months significantly and last but not least their skill level.

So without further adieu, the EPL 2011 Team of the Year...

Tottenham Transfers: 5 Last Minute Harry Redknapp Targets

He may not like being called a "wheeler dealer" but no transfer window can go by without Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp pulling a deal out of nowhere.

The window still has another eight hours to go and Spurs have already pulled off some of the best deals of the window as Emmanuel Adebayor, Brad Friedel, Scott Parker and Souleymane Coulibaly have all joined the club for less that £10 million, albeit with Adebayor only joining on loan from Manchester City.

Heavy defeats against Manchester United and Manchester City in their opening two games of the season guarantees that the White Hart Lane fax machine will be working right up until 23:00 GMT.

Here we look at some of the transfer targets Harry Redknapp is more than interested in...

Hold The Back Page PODCAST: Robbie Keane / Andre Villa Boas / Ashley Young / Luka Modric / Cesc Fabregas / England U21's

Willie Gannon’s two part feature on Robbie Keane attracted a lot of attention on BackPage Football during the week and the lads chat about the pros and cons of Ireland’s record goalscorer. Keane has always divided opinions, and those of the podcast are no different!

In the second segment of this week’s show, there’s chat over Ashley Young’s move to Manchester United from Aston Villa, the appointment of Andre Villa Boas at Chelsea, and the latest from the ongoing Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona saga.

To round off this week there’s a look at the England under 21s and their dismal European Championship campaign and how it reflects the bigger picture of the nation’s international set up.

Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.

First Arsenal, and Now Chelsea, Super Spurs Go Marching on Towards Fourth in EPL

While volcanic ash from Iceland reduced flights all across Europe, high-flying Tottenham Hotspur picked up their second significant win in a week by easily beating current Premier League leaders Chelsea 2-1 at White Hart Lane.

With Manchester United having beaten Manchester City 1-0 in the lunchtime kickoff, Spurs duly returned the favour and beat the Red Devils' title rivals as they moved back into fourth, two points ahead of City.

Tottenham Hotspur's Luka Modric To Replace Paul Scholes at Manchester United?

Luka Modric has a growing set of admirers, his performances for Tottenham Hotspur since signing from Dynamo Zagreb for £16.5 million, have set him apart at White Hart Lane as perhaps their only potential world class player. And just as Harry Redknapp has the team humming, it seems that the little maestro from Zaton could be a transfer target for Manchester United.