The Guardian's football writers pick their best goals, greatest games and biggest gripes from the season
Best player
Sol Campbell Robin van Persie. The Arsenal striker was excellent from the start to the end of the season.
Paul Doyle Yaya Touré. No player has driven so imperiously through Premier League midfields since Roy Keane. Crowns his dominance with happy knack for scoring crucial goals.
Dominic Fifield Vincent Kompany. Others at Manchester City have illuminated spells of the season but Kompany has been their pillar of consistency. When the time came to deliver, it was his thumped header which beat Manchester United and wrested back the lead.
Barry Glendenning Vincent Kompany, an excellent footballer and a model professional who seems like a remarkably humble, decent man. One of very few reasons that neutrals might warm to Manchester City.
Andy Hunter Vincent Kompany. A commanding influence on the destiny of the title and a disparate dressing room. Conducts himself with a touch of class, too.
Jamie Jackson Yaya Touré has powered Manchester City and continued to score vital goals, as the recent double at Newcastle United showed.
Stuart James Robin van Persie. Without the brilliant Dutchman Arsenal would not have been playing Champions League football next season.
Amy Lawrence Vincent Kompany. No team ever wins the league without an inspirational centre-half. A shout out also to the best non-player: Spurs fan Dr Andrew Deaner, who raced on to the pitch to help Fabrice Muamba, is my 2011-12 hero.
Kevin McCarra Yaya Touré. The versatility that lets the midfielder switch between defensive and attacking roles is remarkable.
Sachin Nakrani Robin van Persie. Without the Dutchman Arsenal would have ended up in mid-table. A pivotal, ruthless presence.
Barney Ronay Vincent Kompany. Brilliant athlete, great defensive intelligence, returned from injury without breaking stride to lead his team's league title endgame.
Daniel Taylor Robin van Persie. Unfortunately for Arsenal, I also think it will be his last season at the club.
Louise Taylor Fabricio Coloccini. A brilliant defender, elegant, classy footballer and fabulous captain. Without his vital interceptions and inspiring leadership Newcastle would not have finished fifth or evolved into much more of a passing team.
Richard Williams Ramires, a marvellous engine in a slender frame and the scorer of important goals. Every manager would want him now.
Paul Wilson Hatem Ben Arfa. There may be better goalscorers, defenders and tacklers and stoppers but Ben Arfa is one hell of a talented player.
Winner: Vincent Kompany
Best manager
SC Roberto Martínez. He never gave up on his philosophy and Wigan's last 10 games of the season were a testimony to him.
PD Brendan Rodgers, who successfully applied a bold plan with players that few others rated or even knew.
DF Alan Pardew. What he has achieved at Newcastle this year has been remarkable. United were supposed to endure second-season syndrome only to prove resurgent. Winning over the masses on Tyneside represents an achievement.
BG Brendan Rodgers, Swansea.
AH Roberto Martínez. Held his nerve when eight consecutive league defeats left Wigan rooted to the bottom to guide the club to several outstanding wins, and ultimately 15th place, with style and on a modest budget.
JJ Alan Pardew. With one game left Newcastle had a chance of Champions League qualification: says it all.
SJ Brendan Rodgers. It's not just that Swansea have finished 11th but the way they have played. A joy to watch.
AL Roberto Martínez. No need for a last-day miracle from a terrific, relentlessly positive team builder.
KM Brendan Rodgers. Took promoted Swansea to mid-table security and had wins over Arsenal and Manchester City.
SN Brendan Rodgers. Bravely stuck to his principles and was rewarded with Swansea's sparkling first campaign in the top flight.
BR Roberto Martínez. Depleted of his best players every summer but still keeps playing his way. Proves that bravery is not just about shouting a lot and occasionally wearing a conical head bandage.
DT Roberto Mancini, with honorary mentions for Paul Lambert, Brendan Rodgers and Alan Pardew.
LT Alan Pardew. Gave Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, success on a strictly controlled budget. Offered fans exhilarating, easy-on-the-eye football. Provided players with clear yet detailed tactical frameworks and top-quality coaching capable of radically improving previously unsung individuals. Meanwhile his attention to off-field detail created rare spirit and unity.
RW Alan Pardew, whose brilliant transfer dealing and organisational skill made fools of those of us who tipped Newcastle United for relegation.
PW 1 Brendan Rodgers 2 Alan Pardew 3 Paul Lambert 4 David Moyes 5 Money/usual suspects.
Winner: Brendan Rodgers
Best goal
SC Sergio Agüero v QPR. Nothing can top scoring the goal that seals the title for your side, and in such dramatic circumstances, too.
PD Fraizer Campbell v Norwich. Man shreds knee ligaments and misses seven months. Man comes back. Man suffers recurrence of same injury and misses eight months. Man recovers and, in his first Premier League match back, tees himself up for a delicious volley that he tonks into the top corner from 22 yards.
DF The best I witnessed first-hand was Papiss Cissé's second for Newcastle at Stamford Bridge earlier this month. His first had been spectacular enough but the half-volley from just outside the corner of the penalty area, the ball swerving over and beyond Petr Cech, was stunning.
BG Peter Crouch's windmill-falling-down-some-stairs volley for Stoke v Manchester City.
AH Papiss Cissé's second v Chelsea. An astonishing feat to beat a goalkeeper of Petr Cech's quality from that angle, that distance and with a half-volley with the outside of the right foot.
JJ Vincent Kompany's header for Manchester City that beat Manchester United 1-0 in the derby is best watched in slow-motion to appreciate this muscular force of nature.
SJ Papiss Cissé v Chelsea. Absolutely outrageous even to attempt to shoot from that position, never mind score on the half-volley with the outside of his boot.
AL Papiss Cissé versus Chelsea. Just made you feel glad to be alive.
KM Papiss Cissé's second for Newcastle at Chelsea, which he smacked from the left into the far top corner. Anyone else would have tried an inswinging curler.
SN Sergio Agüero v QPR. Not the prettiest strike but undeniably the most decisive and dramatic. Will never be forgotten.
BR Peter Crouch v Man City. The greatest route one goal ever scored: four touches and a moment of swivelling beanpole technical genius.
DT Papiss Cissé (Newcastle v Chelsea). Summed up by the television pictures of Alan Pardew just mouthing "unbelievable".
LT Hatem Ben Arfa for Newcastle in a 2-0 win v Bolton in April. A 70-yard dribble involving Ben Arfa taking Bolton's defence out in the most thrilling fashion. Along the way he variously switched feet, accelerated rapidly, checked, sold dummies and, finally, finished with audacious aplomb.
RW Hatem Ben Arfa's dash through the heart of the Bolton Wanderers defence.
PW Papiss Cissé v Chelsea, although the more you see it the more you wonder what Petr Cech was doing.
Winner: Papiss Cissé for Newcastle against Chelsea
Best match
SC Manchester City 3-2 QPR. The home team score twice in stoppage time to seal the title. It is the stuff of dreams.
PD Manchester United 4-4 Everton. The stakes were sky high and so was the quality of the drama and goals.
DF Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal. This was a game to sum up André Villas-Boas' tenure at Chelsea, his team mustering fluid attacking football at times only to be undermined by a lack of conviction and organisation at the back. Arsenal were supposed to be vulnerable but ended up running riot with Robin van Persie exploiting the flurry of defensive errors served up by the hosts.
BG In terms of sheer white-knuckle excitement: Manchester City 3-2 QPR had pretty much everything.
AH Manchester City 3-2 QPR. City's 3-2 home win over Spurs contained quality and drama but had nothing on the torturous and triumphant finale at the Etihad Stadium.
JJ Manchester United 4-4 Everton. On a chaotic afternoon at Old Trafford the Reds twice lost a two-goal lead on the day the title race swung back in City's favour.
SJ Manchester City 3-2 QPR. Hard to look beyond this game, which had everything: five goals, a ridiculous sending-off and extraordinary drama at the end.
AL Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City. In this season of shuddering drama and crazy scorelines, nothing beats City's 6-1 win at Old Trafford.
KM Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City. City's 6-1 win at Old Trafford changed all the assumptions. City were ruthless against 10-man United.
SN Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City. An extraordinary result that went on to define an extraordinary season.
BR Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham. Characteristically rollicking Premier League fun: some lovely moments of skill, plenty of inexplicable defensive disappearances and lots of shouting, groaning, cheering.
DT Manchester City 3-2 QPR. Or, at least, the last five minutes, when the place went berzerk. Takes its place alongside Anfield 1989 and Camp Nou 1999 for sheer drama.
LT Newcastle 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur. Shola Ameobi's splendid, late, left-footed equaliser earned Newcastle a point against a then title challenging Spurs. Exciting, engrossing and filled with high-calibre passing and movement.
RW Manchester City 3-2 QPR. It can only be 13 May 2012: 95 minutes encompassing every emotion known to a football fan.
PW Manchester United 4-4 Everton. Reckless, raucous and, for United, ruinous. Totally typical of the Premier League and a good advertisement to send out, unlike Everton's display in the FA Cup semi the previous week.
Winner: Manchester City 3-2 QPR
Best signing
SC Papiss Cissé. He burst on the scene with goals and never looked back.
PD Djibril Cissé. There was never a dull moment with this technicolour thriller. His goals kept QPR up and his red cards kept them sweating to the very end.
DF Gylfi Sigurdsson's loan arrival at Swansea provided a goal-scoring threat from midfield that, at times, had previously felt lacking and was key to propelling the Welsh club into mid-table safety. Unfortunately, other Premier League clubs are now aware of the Hoffenheim midfielder's quality and will presumably compete for his signature.
BG Gylfi Sigurdsson's arrival at Swansea on loan from Hoffenheim in January was an inspired bit of business.
AH Yohan Cabayé. Papiss Cissé may have had the more striking impact but he arrived in January. Newcastle's £4.8m midfield capture from Lille underpinned the club's excellent campaign.
JJ Sergio Agüero. Thirty goals in a debut English season allowed Roberto Mancini to exile Carlos Tevez; and he ended the 44-year title drought by scoring the winner against QPR.
SJ Papiss Cissé. So much for the theory that January is a bad time to buy players. The Senegalese has been a sensation.
AL Mikel Arteta and Yohan Cabayé have had transformative effects on their respective teams in an unsung way. Both were bargains. Sergio Agüero's title clincher has to make him buy of the season, though. Expensive but worth every penny.
KM Michel Vorm. Swansea's £1.5m buy from Utrecht is a dependable and sometimes spectacular goalkeeper.
SN Yohan Cabayé. The Frenchman was a key part of a Newcastle team that exceeded all expectations. A snip at £4.8m.
BR Newcastle's Francophones.
DT Sergio Agüero. A striker of class and achievement, with 30 goals and the season's decisive moment.
LT Demba Ba. He may have been eclipsed by Papiss Cissé in recent months but Ba's 16 goals for Newcastle in the first half of the season represent a fantastic return from a free transfer.
RW Sergio Agüero, whose acclimatisation was immediate and whose 23rd league goal decided the title race.
PW Newcastle have the top two playing up front.
Winner: Sergio Agüero
Worst flop
SC André Villas Boas (Chelsea). The Portuguese was never ready to handle Chelsea's experienced players. Bit off far more than he could chew.
PD André Villas-Boas. He had a very difficult job – as will his permanent successor – and he could have pulled it off if not for laughably crude man-management.
DF André Villas-Boas. He arrived at Chelsea as Europe's coach of the moment and at a cost of around £13.5m from Porto. While many of his ideas and his general philosophy were admirable, his execution appeared naive. He will come again but, given the goodwill with which he was welcomed, his tenure felt like a huge let-down.
BG In an Orwellian world where Opta's eggheads diligently record footballers' every move, Stewart Downing's record of no goals and no assists left him looking decidedly over-priced.
AH Roger Johnson. In terms of money spent, take your pick at Liverpool. But in terms of devastating impact on a club it has to be the Wolves captain.
JJ Kenny Dalglish. Where do you start with the manager who wore a T-shirt in support of Luis Suárez and whose Liverpool team ended 37 points behind the champions? And as for those media performances…
SJ Roger Johnson, useless on the pitch and a liability off it, just about pips Charles N'Zogbia and Jordan Henderson.
AL Joint award for Park Chu-Young and Marouane Chamakh, Arsenal's attacking tweedledum and tweedledee.
KM Samir Nasri. Not at all a bad player but his subdued contribution to Manchester City cannot begin to justify the £24m fee.
SN Stewart Downing. No goals or assists from a £20m winger is damning.
BR Charles N'Zogbia. So much talent. Roberto Martínez compared him to Lionel Messi last year. Amazingly he was not joking.
DT Stewart Downing. People forget he had made a clean sweep of Aston Villa's player-of-the-year awards a year ago.
LT Joey Barton. Very nearly cost QPR Premier League status. When will people realise this bullshitting bully is a wrong 'un?
RW André Villas-Boas, invited to reshape Chelsea but never up to a job that remains to be done.
PW Roger Johnson was an unmitigated disaster for Wolves, while the real Charles N'Zogbia never seemed to turn up at Villa.
Winner: André Villas-Boas
Biggest gripe
SC The Carlos Tevez saga. A Shakespearian feud that dragged on too long and damaged English football's image.
PD Having to watch Aston Villa.
DF The effect the Elite Player Performance Plan will have on aspiring, ambitious clubs with flourishing academies outside the Premier League elite.
BG The fact that fan behaviour is now often so appalling that Tottenham Hotspur fans were actually congratulated for not booing or jeering a player who looked to be dying on the pitch at White Hart Lane after suffering from cardiac arrest.
AH The ruination of the FA Cup final. A 5.15pm kick-off on the day before the title race resumed meant, winners Chelsea apart, the Cup final was relegated to an afterthought.
JJ Goalkeepers being treated as if they are sheltered under the witness protection scheme: they can use their hands, after all.
SJ The way Roy Hodgson has been treated by some in the media before he has been fitted for his FA blazer.
AL The Blackburn debacle has been woeful but nothing was as unpalatable as Carlos Tevez's behaviour this season. Mancini's U-turn was understandable but depressing.
KM The glossiest games tend to be on a Sunday, yet travelling fans then encounter trains at their very worst while work is being carried out, as it was when Manchester United played Swansea last weekend.
SN Criticism of Blackburn fans. It is easy to tut when it's not your club that is being destroyed from within. Their protests proved to be fully justified.
BR Tedious and unrelenting debates about referees and "decisions" as though some continual weekly injustice is being wreaked. Sport is imperfect. Television can mislead. Just get on with it.
DT Match of the Day's uninformed punditry and chummy 19th-hole blandness.
LT The Premier League's failure to force Sir Alex Ferguson to attend post-match press conferences.
RW The denial of first-team opportunities to such gifted teenagers as Paul Pogba, Josh McEachran and Raheem Sterling.
PW Footballers' tweets being picked up by newspapers and then worked into match reports. I hate that.
Best pundit
SC Gary Neville. My mate had a fantastic debut season for Sky. Surprisingly unbiased.
PD Graeme Souness. Wins debates with incisive reasoning while conveying the impression that he could also win them with a swift punch to the chops if he felt like it.
DF Gary Neville's analysis has become essential viewing.
BG Gary Neville.
AH Gary Neville. Pat Nevin and Graeme Souness have again brought insight and entertainment but the former Manchester United captain has combined both in a fine start to the job.
JJ Gary Neville apart, none: for some reason our esteemed ex-footballers think the dressing room omertà still binds them.
SJ Gary Neville. Not afraid to speak his mind, talks sense (unlike most of his counterparts on Match of the Day) and provides excellent tactical insight.
AL Graeme Souness. Consistently sharp and eloquent opinion just pips Gary Neville's makeover.
KM Gordon Strachan. He provides a different perspective, with a keen eye for the less obvious factors influencing a match.
SN Gary Neville. Offered analysis that shamed his BBC counterparts, and in his debut season too.
BR Gary Neville. Passion and insight. Talks for hours every Monday and always fresh, never clichéd.
DT Gary Neville, by a country mile. Insight and anecdotes, and full of opinion. He has set the bar.
LT David Pleat. Superb tactical insights and detailed knowledge of players are complemented by wonderfully clear, yet evocative, analysis. Always a pleasure to listen to.
RW Gary Neville, by a distance.
PW Gary Neville has been great but his newspaper column is even better than his TV stuff. His article on diving was one of the best reads produced by any sports writer this year.
Winner: Gary Neville
Change for next season
SC That goalline technology comes in or, at the very least, is guaranteed to come in before the following campaign.
PD Allow referees to award penalties for certain fouls outside the box.
DF Introduce windows in which managerial changes can take place, with deadlines of August 31 and December 31 so any new coach can benefit from time to tinker. Chelsea can have their own window from mid-February to early March to dispense with their latest high-profile incumbent and appoint an interim to steer them to the FA Cup.
BG Considering football is supposed to be fun, I'd like to see more fans lighten up, stop being so angry about everything all the time and actually enjoy this jamboree they're paying through to nose to be part of.
AH Retrospective punishment for diving. The excuses are almost as annoying as the cheating itself. "But his leg was there!" Give it a rest. Review the incidents on a Monday, issue an immediate ban and the offenders will at least think twice.
JJ Referees should be made available to the media post-match. Why managers and players are answerable but the men in black are not is baffling.
SJ Bring in retrospective punishment for diving. The only way to stop the cheats.
AL Retrospective punishment for simulation and violent play. Whether or not the referees see it should not matter if TV footage is conclusive.
KM Clubs level on points should be separated by goals for, not goal difference.
SN That a footballer admits to being gay. This final taboo needs to be smashed and doing so could provide inspiration for generations of young men.
BR More matches to be played at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon.
DT It would be nice now if all the Joey Barton fans in the media who have been taken in by his nonsense know better. You've been had.
LT That, when it comes to club takeovers, the "fit and proper person" rule will be implemented rather more stringently.
RW Abolish the meaningless and occasionally troublesome pre-match handshake.
PW I'd like to see referees demand a peek at the TV monitor before ruling on a controversial goal, whether the rules say they can or not. What are the authorities going to do, suspend them? Reinstate the wrong decision?
Is the Premier League the best in the world?
SC It is the most exciting league in the world but the best football is played in Spain.
PD No. Excitement high, quality low, which is why English teams were spanked in European competitions (about which Stoke and Spurs got scandalously snooty).
DF In terms of drama, with an element of slapstick thrown in, it can't be beaten as the last day illustrated.
BG Well, it's not the Macedonian Regional Third Division (North), but it helps pay the rent.
AH For entertainment yes, quality no.
JJ After being at the Etihad Stadium to witness Manchester City's ridiculous last-breath title-winning goal? Yes.
SJ For drama and entertainment, yes. As for quality, ask Basel, Athletic Bilbao and Napoli what they think of our top two teams.
AL Maybe. Maybe not. But it sure is the most exciting.
KM No. La Liga has more depth. Atletico Madrid and Athletic, for example, both got to the Europa League final.
SN Not while the likes of Venky's are allowed to buy clubs and extortionate ticket prices stop proper supporters from following their teams.
BR It's got the best adverts.
DT For excitement, yes. But let's not be too self-congratulatory. Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have been deeply ordinary at times. This is far from a great Manchester United team but they still managed 89 points.
LT Technically, probably not. In terms of dramatic tension, unpredictability and sheer excitment, most definitely.
RW It depends what you want from football. In terms of relentless top-to-bottom competitiveness and guaranteed drama, undoubtedly.
PW It's very watchable, isn't it? The best players may be elsewhere but you don't meet many football fans around the world who don't keep up with English football.
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