Fcbnews 2008 Awards

Forgive me for the lack of posts this week, I'm still on holiday but I've found a gap in my busy schedule to bring you this year's end of the year awards. You may not agree with my choices so please send your comments and tell everyone what you would have decided, or maybe you have some new categories you would like to see introduced.

Best Player of 2008: Leo Messi - Shouldn't be too much discussion on this one, it's true that players such as Xavi, Toure, Iniesta, Eto'o and Puyol deserve credit for their performances over the past 12 months but Messi is really in a class of his own. His goalscoring and assists totals have been increasing and no matter how well the team are playing generally we still notice the difference when Messi is not in the starting line up. Cristiano Ronaldo may have carried off the Ballon d'Or trophy for 2008, but regular viewers of Messi this year know full well who is the best in the world at the moment.

Best Goal of 2008: Thierry Henry vs Atletico Madrid - We have scored so many goals in recent weeks it is difficult to remember them all and there is not really any one that sticks out as a clear winner in this category. However, I am going with Thierry Henry's blistering first time effort in the 6-1 win over Atletico Madrid in October, Henry started the move and when the ball came back to him he met it perfectly in his stride to fire home. I have a feeling I may have overlooked a goal somewhere in the year here but right now I cannot think of a better goal than Henry's.

Best Team Performance of 2008: The 4-0 win over Valencia - Again, in recent weeks we have seen many excellent performances from the team with the 6-0 thrashing of Valladolid, the 5-0 victory over Almeria and the 6-1 win against Atletico all providing moments of scintillating attacking football. We also saw great away wins at Malaga, Sevilla and Villarreal which all showed we have a grittier side to our game as well. However, I've gone for the Valencia game because it had the great attacking football and it was against one of the best teams in the league, it was a game that we dominated from start to finish and Victor Valdes hardly had a save to make in the entire game.

Worst Team Performance of 2008: The 2-0 defeat at Deportivo - We had some pretty diabolical games at the tail end of last season including the lacklustre performances at Real Madrid, the home defeat to Mallorca in May and the Copa del Rey exit at Valencia. I've chosen the game at Deportivo, however, as it was quite simply a pathetic showing.

Best Individual Perfornce: Samuel Eto'o vs Valladolid - We have seen some excellent individual performances recently, especially from Messi, but this category has to go to Eto'o for the four first half goals against Valladolid. It seemed that every time the ball went to Eto'o it ended up in the back of the net. Sensational.

Best Signing of 2008: Dani Alves - If you had asked me at the end of October I might have gone for Gerard Pique who has certainly proved to be excellent value for money, but Alves pips it for his continual improvement over recent weeks, he is destined to be a favourite at Camp Nou for some time to come.

Best Moment of 2008: Leo Messi's last minute penalty winner at Espanyol - As we haven't actually won anything yet, it was difficult to chose a particular moment here. Obviously both goals in the win over Real Madrid were joyous moments but I always expected we were going to win that match. I pick the last minute winner at Espanyol because it came a bit out of the blue when I had given up on the three points, and of course it is always nice to get one over on the local rivals.

Worst Moment of 2008: The final whistle at Old Trafford - There were some pretty bad moments in March, April and May including the Leo Messi injury against Celtic and the defeat at Real Madrid. However, last season could have been saved in the Champions League and until the end against Manchester United in the Champions League semi final there was always a glimmer of hope that we might grab the goal that would take us through to the final. It wasn't to be.

Most Exciting Game of 2008: The 1-2 win at Villarreal - Still fresh in the mind this one. There were exciting finishes in the 3-2 win over Betis and the win at Espanyol, but the game at Villarreal had the added bonus of holding on with ten men, and this was after we had come back from a goal behind against one of the best teams in the league. Gripping stuff.

Most Boring Game of 2008: The 1-0 win over Benidorm - It's the two leg system in the Copa del Rey again. Having won the first leg in Benidorm we had to play another 90 minutes against them at Camp Nou. One big yawn for everybody.

Ok, send your comments and let us all know what you think. And happy 2009 everyone!