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Decipher Soccer Awards 2009 : The Teams of the Year 2009

Published by Ian John on December 31, 2009

From last January until now, we have witnessed some of the best team performance for many a year, both domestically and on the international stage. We have been honoured to witness some of the best teams in world football face off against each other and produce many moments of quality and brilliance that other teams will be hard pushed to match in 2010. The teams of the year awards will be awarded to the Best EPL team of 2009, the most improved EPL team of 2009, The best International Club side of 2009 and the best international team of 2009.

Teams of the Year 2009 : The Most Improved EPL team of 2009 : Tottenham Hotspurs
Harry Redknapp’s side just see off the likes of Birmingham City, Fulham and Sunderland to take this award as most improved Premier League team of 2009. Spurs looked in serious trouble when Redknapp took over at the club, bottom of the table and seemingly heading out of the Premiership. The transformation since then into a genuine, top six contender with aspirations for the top four, has been remarkable and testament to the managerial skills of Redknapp and the improvement shown by his players.

Teams of the Year 2009 : The Best EPL team of 2009 : Manchester United
A tough choice this as Chelsea can lay claim to having a very similar record over the year, however the fact that Manchester United won the Carling Cup, their record equalling 18th league title in the summer and reached the Champions League final, just edges out Chelsea who only have the FA Cup to show for their efforts in the same period. Another outstanding year for the Red Devils and their manager Sir Alex Ferguson, though the signs are towards the end of the season that defensive problems in the form of injuries and a lack of firepower due to the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo may make defending their crown, especially with a resurgent Chelsea heading the pack, a tough task in 2010. One thing however is for certain, United will never shy away from the task.

Teams of the Year 2009 : The best International Club side of 2009 : Barcelona
Probably the easiest award of the year to decide upon. How can you not give this award to Barcelona? They have won every single competition they have entered into during the calendar year. Not only that, they have done it playing a brand of exciting, open, flowing attacking football that has the football purists purring with delight. They have the best player in the world playing for them, the heart of the best midfield in the world sitting at the heart of their team and they have just become Intercontinental Champions. The only shock in this category would be if I lost my marbles and awarded it to any other team than the Catalan giants.

Teams of the Year 2009 : The best International Team of 2009 : Spain
This wasn’t as easy to decide upon as it looks. Brazil have had a wonderful year and England are vastly improved under Fabio Cappello. The Dutch too had a fantastic 2009 and although Spain had a fantastic unbeaten run, it was ended in rather comprehensive fashion by the United States in South Africa in the summer. However given their qualification performances and how they actually play the game, Spain just edge out Brazil for the honour for 2009. However there will be no underestimating the size of the task that awaits them in South Africa 2010. If the United States can find a way to beat them, you can bet that other teams will be trying to follow that example.

Image Courtesy of ***Frederic Jon *** at Flickr.com

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