The best games, the best goals, the best XI and more... 2011-12 season review

Player of the season – Robin van Persie

No matter how many goals you score or how excellent your performances, the best player in any given season should be able to translate all that into a tangible effect on the table. There is no denying, however, that Van Persie has done exactly that. Indeed, without his goals, it’s highly likely that the epoch-ending, imploding season that many Arsenal fans feared might well have taken place. They certainly wouldn’t have finished third. Van Persie’s goals have directly provided 27 points in the guise of equalisers and match winners. That’s a remarkable 40% of the club’s total. And it’s not just how prolific he’s been, it’s how he’s progressed as a player overall. The Dutchman might well be the third best in the world at the moment. Honourable mentions: Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany

Goal of the season – Papiss Cisse v Chelsea

You can pretty much sum up Cisse’s remarkable injury-time strike at Stamford Bridge with a question: have you ever seen anything like it before? There were simply so many dimensions to it: the importance, the distance, the ambition, the technique and – above all – the aesthetics. Cisse caught a skipping ball superbly to somehow bend it around Petr Cech on the half-volley with an exquisite, emphatic strike. Honourable mentions: Luis Suarez v Norwich City, Hatem Ben Arfa v Bolton Wanderers

Irish player of the season – James McClean

The former Derry winger’s season may have only started at the half-way point as he finally got his first appearances for Sunderland around Christmas. But he hasn’t exactly done things by half since. In fact, no Irish player has so consistently competed at such a level. As it stands, McClean has provided either a goal or assist every three games – that’s an equal return to the likes of Gareth Bale and superior to David Silva, Nani and Juan Mata. Honourable mentions: Anthony Pilkington, Wes Hoolahan

Game of the season – Manchester United 4-4 Everton

It wasn’t just the amount of goals. It wasn’t just the amount of times that it swung. It was the amount that was at stake. Much of City’s title win came down to this helter-skelter, unprecedented type of game at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney dragged United from behind to force them into a commanding lead, only for Everton to do to Alex Ferguson’s team what they have done to so many others. Honourable mentions: Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal; Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur

Manager of the season – Alan Pardew

Ultimately, successful football management comes down to maximising your resources. And has any manager done that as impressively as Pardew? It wasn’t just that his club effectively bought a brilliant new team for less than the price they sold Andy Carroll (eight of their most regular starters cost £34.5m). It was how quickly and spectacularly he got them to integrate. Not only that, as soon as we got into the second half of the season and it looked like other sides might start figuring Newcastle out, he signed Cisse, shifted Demba Ba and completely changed the focus of the attack. It says a lot that it will be a disappointment if they don’t reach the Champions League having initially been tipped by many to go down. Honourable mentions: Roberto Martinez, Paul Lambert, Brendan Rodgers

Most meaningful goalscorer

It’s not just about how many you score but when you score – key equaliser, late winners. Goals from the following players directly contributed to the most points

Player Apps Key goals Points won Points won per game

Papiss Cisse 14 11 13 0.93

Pavel Pogrebnyak 12 5 9 0.75

Robin van Persie 38 16 27 0.71

Mario Balotelli 22 6 12 0.55

Sergio Aguero 34 10 18 0.53

Wayne Rooney 34 8 16 0.47

Javier Hernandez 28 7 11 0.39

Clint Dempsey 38 9 14 0.37

Grant Holt 35 9 12 0.34

Team of the season

1. Michel Vorm (Swansea City)

2. Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City)

3. Leighton Baines (Everton)

4. Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

5. Fabio Coloccini (Newcastle United)

6. Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

7. Antonio Valencia (Manchester United)

8. Luka Modric (Tottenham Hotspur)

9. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

10. Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

11. Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

Next best XI

1. Joe Hart (Manchester City)

2. Angel Rangel (Swansea City)

3. Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur)

4. Gareth McAuley (West Brom)

5. Williams (Swansea City)

6. Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City)

7. Anthony Pilkington (Norwich City)

8. Yoann Cabaye (Newcastle United)

9. Grant Holt (Norwich City)

10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

11. Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United)

Team of the season… if the season ended at Christmas

1. Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)

2. Phil Jones (Manchester United)

3. Jose Enrique (Liverpool)

4. Joleon Lescott (Manchester City)

5. Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur)

6. Lucas Leiva (Liverpool)

7. Chris Brunt (West Brom)

8. Juan Mata (Chelsea)

9. Demba Ba (Newcastle United)

10. David Silva (Manchster City)

11. Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur)

Team of the season… if the season started at Christmas

1. David De Gea (Manchester United)

2. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea)

3. Gael Clichy (Manchester City)

4. Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)

5. Gary Caldwell (Wigan Athletic)

6. Paul Scholes (Manchester United)

7. Victor Moses (Wigan Athletic)

8. Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle United)

9. Papiss Cisse (Newcastle United)

10. Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal)

11. James McClean (Sunderland)

XI whose performances deserved better

1. Shay Given (Aston Villa)

2. Ryan Shotton (Stoke City)

3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea)

4. Gael Givet (Blackburn Rovers)

5. Younes Kaboul (Tottenham Hotspur)

6. Ramires (Chelsea)

7. Stephane Sessegnon (Sunderland)

8. Matt Jarvis (Wolves)

9. Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Blackburn Rovers)

10. Steven Fletcher (Wolves)

11. Junior Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers)

Most disappointing XI

1. Pepe Reina (Liverpool)

2. Johan Djourou (Arsenal)

3. Wayne Bridge (Sunderland)

4. Roger Johnson (Wolves)

5. Scott Dann (Blackburn Rovers)

6. Charlie Adam (Liverpool)

7. Gervinho (Arsenal)

8. Joey Barton (QPR)

9. Federico Macheda (QPR/Manchester United)

10. Kevin Doyle (Wolves)

11. Stewart Downing (Liverpool)

How did their season rank? (based on pre-season targets and whether they were met)

Arsenal B+

Aston Villa D-

Blackburn Rovers F

Bolton Wanderers F

Chelsea B

Everton B-

Fulham B-

Liverpool C-

Manchester City A

Manchester United B-

Newcastle United A-

Norwich City B+

QPR C

Stoke City C

Sunderland C

Swansea City A-

Tottenham Hotspur B-

West Brom B-

Wigan B-

Wolves F