The PK is really the ultimate “mano-a-mano” moment in soccer. One player faces off against the goalkeeper. Everybody else has to be outside the box. It’s just two men, facing off for a goal (something that is a heck of a lot harder to score from the flow of play than it is from the PK mark).

If the man makes it, he’s a hero. If he misses it, he’s the goat (like poor Terry there @ the 2008 Champions League Final).

Unlike regular free kicks, a PK is subject to several arbitrary rules. The player taking the kick must be identified, so there can be no chicanery. The player must kick the ball forward (was it really necessary to put that in the rules?). I would give you another Pop Quiz question about PKs, but my queries are easier than scoring a PK in an MLS game.

So, instead I will again point out an interesting facet of PKs that could end up on your Final Exam (wink wink). What happens if as a player is approaching the ball to take a free kick his idiot teammate spits in an opponent’s face at midfield in retaliation for an opponent’s abusive language, and the first player then kicks the ball in the goal?

Well, it would depend on who saw what. If the teammate who retaliated was the only one the ref saw, the goal would be no good and the kick would be retaken. But, what if both players were written up? Well, the player would still have to retake the kick. Unlike the NFL, soccer has no “offsetting penalties”. Is this a good rule? Heck, I have no idea.

When it comes to PKs, I am not a big fan. They are necessary, sure, but they also make scoring a goal (an art form) into an easy task (like paint-by-numbers). When games are decided by PKs, it makes me want to throw-up. Which, if you think about it, is fitting, because the next rule of soccer we will be handling here at STO is none other than the throw-in. See you then.

With all the awards handed out to the appropriate winner, it is time now to reflect on the 2008/2009 season.  Congratulations to Manchester United for their third straight dominant Premier League title run.  Can the Red Devils make it four in a row?  It will get a lot tougher with significant losses this year, but we will have to wait and see next year if Sir Alex Ferguson can put it all together again. 

Also congratulations to FA Cup Champs Chelsea who also had a fine year battling in the Champions League as well.   And yet again an applause for Manchester United for winning the Carling Cup and having an outstanding run in the Champions League.

Next season the key English clubs will look to return the Champions League Cup back to the Premier League, but for now here is a list of the trophies and winners for the PLTO 2008/2009 English Premier League Awards: Closing Ceremony. 

2008/2009 PREMIER LEAGUE AWARDS LIST

Coach of the Year: Alex Ferguson of Manchester United                         

Best New Player & Club: Robinho of Manchester City & Stoke City

Dirtiest Player & Club:  Lee Cattermole of Wigan & Stoke City

Most Disappointing Player & Club: Santa Cruz of Blackburn  & Middlesbrough

Best Player 21 and Under: Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal

Best Team Player: Frank Lampard of Chelsea

Most Improved Player & Club: Nicolas Anelka of Chelsea & Fulham

Worst Club:West Brom & Middlesbrough

League’s Biggest Baby: Carlos Tevez of Manchester United

Best Defense: Chelsea

Best Offense: Liverpool

Most Valuable Player: Christiano Ronaldo of Manchester United

Best Club: Manchester United

First off,  I would like to apologize for this, but Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United is the PLTO’s selection for 2008/2009 Premier League Player of the Year. 

Ronaldo was unable to attend the PLTO ceremony to receive the award (although we did hear he was out celebrating the award with Paris Hilton), but the trophy will likely be the player’s final in the Premier League.  That is unless he gets bored again and forces a trade back to the Premier League, but even though the star player can sometimes be a distraction, he is still simply the best goal scorer in the game.

Ronaldo scored eighteen goals for the first place Red Devils this season.  It would be considered a disappointing result for the star due to his thirty-one goal effort the previous year.  But the result was still the second highest total in the league and was only one back from Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka.  Ronaldo also showed an ability to incorporate others, passing his way to eight total assists for the year.  But what makes Ronaldo the best player in the league is his high level of play in big matches. 

Although Man U lost the Champions League final to Barcelona, Ronaldo was a key component of the clubs run to make it to the match.  His best result of the year was in a semi-final away match against Arsenal.   Ronaldo scored two goals with one assist in the 3-1 victory.  Ronaldo also scored a critical goal in an early tie-breaker against Inter.  All together Ronaldo scored four Champions League goals.

Next season Ronaldo will look to win the MVP of La Liga.

Well I am sure it’s no surprise that Manchester United is the winner for this year’s most coveted PLTO Award, the Premier League’s Best Club.  Man U was once again  unstoppable this year, winning three more matches then any other squad (they finished the year with 28 wins).  The Red Devils cruised to their third straight league title earning 90 points this season and clinching first place with nearly a month remaining in the season.

Man U pulled off the rare double this season, winning both the League Cup and the Premier League title.  They won the League Cup in a scoreless draw that ended in a 4-1 shootout against defending champs, Tottenham Hotspur.  Unfortunately, the club was unable to pull off the triple with a Champions League Cup (they lost to Barca 2-0), but the Red Devils still had the strongest showing of any Premier League club in the tournament.

Manchester United was the best Premier League squad during the 2008/2009 season for a lot of reasons.  They were tied for fewest goals allowed for the season with Chelsea.  Both clubs only allowed 24 goals for the entire year.  Man U also had the second ranked offense this season with 68 goals.  The Red Devils were unstoppable in home matches.  The club won 16 at Old Trafford which was three more wins then any other team could muster at home this year.  Their 43 home goals was the most of any team this year and the club was not too shabby on the road either.  They won twelve matches away and only lost three.

Man U is the Best PLTO Club this year, but the squad will need unexpected players to step up next season in order to achieve the very difficult fourth straight Premier League title.

Kevin Davies of the Bolton Wanderers is the PLTO 2009 Premier League Best Player 32 & Over.  Like a fine wine, Davies has improved with age and is coming off of his best season, scoring double digits goals for the first time in his career and becoming a staple for Bolton Wanderer fans on the offensive side of the pitch.

The 2008/2009 season would be one that Kevin Davies will surely never forget.  The key player for the Bolton Wanderers would not only have his best career line with 12 goals and 4 assists, but he was also named club Captain midway through the year with the transfer of Kevin Nolan to Newcastle.  In Davies first game as captain he would score two goals in a thrilling 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

It would also be a year of milestones for the seasoned vet.  Davies scored his fiftieth career goal for the Bolton Wanderers this season and it would be his tenth goal of the season.  Davies was alo named MVP of Bolton which was the second straight season the player was named with the respectable honor.   He also received the award following the 2004 season.   So all together Davies has been awarded the honor 3 out of the 7 years he has been with the club (Davies signed with Bolton in 2003).

At thirty-three next season, Davies will look to prove the critics wrong again and continue to improve despite the obvious natural aging process.  His 12 goals this season is 3 more than the player has ever scored in a year, so next season Davies will look to do it again and finish the year with 15 goals.

Liverpool Football Club possessed the most offensive firepower over the course of the season and deserve the award for Premier League’s Best Offensive Club.  The Reds scored a league high seventy-seven goals in Premier League play and the second place squads (Man U, Arsenal, & Chelsea) would be far behind them in total goals with only sixty-eight on the year.

English midfielder Steven Garrard led the squad this year in both goals and assists reminding Liverpool fans everywhere that he is among the league’s best.  The Englishmen ended the year with sixteen goals and nine assists.  Garrard was aided by star forwards Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt who scored a combined twenty-six goals on the year.  Torres would put up the second most on the team with fourteen, while Kuyt showed potential scoring the other twelve and dishing for eight assists.  These three men would form a solid triangle offense for the team, while midfielders Xabi Alonso and Yossi Benayoun occasionally chipped in to help the club out.   

Liverpool was arguably the most impressive team offensively at season’s end.  After a slow start this year the club went on a scoring rampage that lasted the final three months of the season.  In their final eleven matches Liverpool was victorious in ten of them and tied the other one.  The club can especially thank their offense for the unbelievable result.  The Reds scored thirty-four goals during the unbeaten streak meaning that the club was averaging more then three goals per game. 

To put it simply, the Reds were the best club offensively at season’s end.

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Chelsea Football Club has earned the right to be considered the league’s best defense.  This season the Blues shared a joint-lead with Manchester United for the fewest goals allowed.  Both clubs finished the year only allowing twenty-four league goals over the span of the thirty-eight game schedule.  The Blues also allowed fewer goals at home then any other club this year with twelve.  Chelsea also had three different full months of football in which they didn’t give up more then a single goal and even their worst months of the year the Blues only conceded four league goals.

Chelsea does have one significant defensive advantage over the rest of their competition.  They have arguably the best keeper in the world standing between the posts,  Petr Cech.  The helmet-clad goalie, who plays for the Czech Republic squad,  is considered the Blue wall that remains the last line of Chelsea’s defense.  Cech’s play in the net this year would not disappoint and the club would not give up a single goal in twenty-seven different matches.  The Blues achieved shutouts against not only some of the best Premier League clubs (Everton, Man City), but some of the best clubs all throughout Europe (Barca, AS Roma, Juventus).      

 And of course Petr Cech couldn’t be the best without a great defense surrounding him.  And the Blues have surrounded their star with many recognizable names including: John Terry, Ashley Cole, Alex, and Jose Bosingwa.  Most of these defenders were very durable and were able to start in thirty-plus matches.  Cech only missed two matches all year as well.  At the end of the year the Chelsea defense would be a critical part of the club’s success especially down the stretch of their cherished FA Cup title.

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Nicklas Bendtner is the proud 2008/2009 award winner for the Premier League’s Best Player 21 & Under.  The 21 year old giant from Denmark had a career best year for Arsenal this season which the young forward will look to improve on next year with the club.

Bendtner scored 9 goals this season which was a good enough mark to barely make the final list of top twenty five goal-scorers for the entire league.  Bendtner was able to significantly improve on his 5 goal total from 07/08, but the key difference was this year Bendtner started 17 league matches, where as last year the young forward only started 7 matches. 

Bendtner’s best asset this season was his ability to step up in big matches.  In  the three FA Cup matches Bendtner played in, he scored 2 goals and dished for 1 assist.  In the UEFA Champions League, the young player scored 1 goal in 4 matches.  And in the Carling Cup, Bendtner scored 2 goals with 1 assist in 2 matches.   Bendtner may be inexperienced, but his play in big matches shows strong development as a player.

Although Bendtner had a great year it wasn’t his best in English football so far.  Two years ago the young man was a transfer player for Birmingham.  He started all 38 games and finished the year with 11 goals.  However, he played in the second-tier English League Championship rather then the elite Premier League.  After the season Bendtner was transferred back to Arsenal where he saw limited action the next season, but still played a important role for the squad.

Bendtner looks to improve on his numbers for Arsenal next season, plus he also hopes to help out Denmark in the World Cup.

It would be a close race this season in order to win the lowest award in the PLTO ceremony, so I decided to give two different clubs a joint-possession of the title this season.  Congrats to West Brom and Middlesbrough.   You two clubs are considered the worst of 2008/2009.

Middlesbrough was the worst club offensively this season.  They were the ony squad that was unable to reach the summit of thirty league goals.  The club only scored twenty-eight (which was the worst by six) over the course of the year.  That means they did not score in a minimum of ten matches.  Middlesbrough also was in the joint-lead for worst club in the wins column.  Middlesbrough and Newcastle only won seven matches a piece.  The Boro was seriously hurt by their lack of offensive production.

The story seems a litle bit different for West Brom, but with a similar result.   The club was not exactly stunning on offense either only scoring thirty-six goals, but the sixty-seven the club gave on defense was not only the league worst by three goals, it would be forty three more goals then the league best defenses (Chelsea, Man U).  It certainly didn’t help that the club only won a single away match all year.  On the road, West Brom was outscored 34-10, but the club was able to play solid at home finishing the year with seven wins and three ties.

Unfortunately, earning the PLTO award for Worst Club means you win the grand prize.  It comes with a free trip out of the Premier League and to a little place called… Relegation Island.

Sorry West Brom and Middlesbrough.   Hopefully you can make it back soon, but for now you are labeled Worst of 08/09.

Founded in 1863, Stoke City is considered one of the oldest English Premier League clubs.  Previous to this season, the Potters had not played in the top flight of English football since the 1984/1985 season.  That season the Potters were one of the worst clubs in league history only earning 17 points for the entire season.  Now 24 years removed removed from that humiliating experience, the Potters will look to become a Premier League staple.

Stoke City was by far and away the best new squad this year in Premier League football.  The club finished off the year in 12th place and survived relegation by a comfortable 11 point margin.  The 45 points the Potters earned this year is nearly three times greater then their last dismal performance on the top tier in 1985.  The Potters were also one of the strongest home clubs this year ranking in 7th on the home pitch and winning an impressive ten home matches.

Stoke City’s offense was lead by Jamaican forward Ricardo Fuller.  Fuller scored 11 of the club’s 38 goals this season.  The offense was the weak link of the club and was among the lowest in the league in total goals.  The club did show serious interest in former England international squad starter Michael Owen, but the vet chose Man U over considerably more playing time at Stoke City.  Stoke City will look to find a forward to aid Fuller next season. 

It will be interesting to find out if Stoke City has the proper longevity to survive another season of the Premier League, but they will be joined again next year by another club going into their second year, Hull City.