The best teams, players and managers of EPL 2013-14

It’s been such a topsy-turvy season with so many twists and turns — the supposedly smaller teams have done very well, relegation battlers have pulled off miracles while bigger teams have struggled. Also, it would be quite hard to pick a favourite team, player and manager of the season — but we asked our sports desk to do exactly that. Jigar Mehta’s favourites Team of the Season - Liverpool: - The Reds finished in seventh position last season and no one ever imagined they would compete for the title this time around. But Brendan Rodgers turned the tables and scripted an amazing change. It was a fresh attacking Liverpool and they came close to winning the title for the first time in 24 years — stumbling only at the final hurdle. A club-record 11-match unbeaten streak and more than 100 goals for the first time since 1896, Liverpool were one of the most entertaining sides as they demolished the opponents at will. Manager of the year - Tony Pulis: Crystal Palace were down in the dumps in November when Ian Holloway left. After the 4-1 defeat to Fulham, Holloway resigned and Fulham were reeling at 19th position in the table. Tony Pulis took over and scripted a remarkable turnaround. He infused tremendous confidence, brought in clever signings and suddenly Palace’s work rate and discipline increased. They kept 10 clean-sheets in 24 games under Pulis. No club had finished higher than 17th at the end of the season after starting at the bottom of the table at the start of December but he turned it around completely and Crystal Palace finished a more than respectable 11th. [caption id=“attachment_1519621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Yaya Toure scored 20 and created nine goals in the EPL. Getty Images[/caption] Player of the year - Yaya Toure: Yaya Toure just edges out Luis Suarez as he played a crucial role in helping Manchester City clinch the title. The tireless Ivorian scored ripped through the opposition defenses, scored crucial goals and was brilliant with the set pieces. 20 goals and nine assists is just brilliant for a midfielder. Pulasta Dhar’s favourites Team of the year - Southampton: Watching the trio of Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Ricky Lambert tear apart more illustrious opponents with flair and style was pleasing to watch. Luke Shaw and Dejan Lovren confirmed again that Southampton have been a breeding ground for emerging and lesser known talent. Mauricio Pochettino’s calm demeanour on the sidelines was in complete contrast to how his team played — fearlessly and positively. The Saints improved by six places compared to last year — taking seven points off Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs. Against equally matched opponents, their 54 goals saw them off comfortably. Manager of the Year - Roberto Martinez: Martinez ruthlessly exposed David Moyes’ failings by making an almost similar roster of players play incredibly better. It’s become a common joke, but Everton played a style more like Manchester United while the champions increasingly looked like Everton of old. Brilliant loan signings Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu and Gareth Barry were all masterstrokes and he made players like Steven Naismith, Sylvain Distin, Leon Osman and James McCarthy punch well above their weight. Don’t be surprised to see Martinez at a top-top club in the next few years. Player of the Year - Yaya Toure: It was a hard choice between Luis Suarez and Yaya, but the latter pips it in terms of being a complete footballer. He has 1.5 tackles and 0.7 interceptions a game, a 90.1% passing success rate, 4.5 accurate long balls/game, nine assists and 20 goals (five from outside the area, three with his wrong foot). He’s massive, powerful and sublime on the ball and it’s hard to think of Manchester City being so dominant without his presence. Tariq Engineer’s favourites Team of the season - Manchester City: In the end, they had too much quality, especially at home, where they dropped just five points over the course of the season. And despite being criticised for being poor travellers, only Liverpool lost more games away from their home ground. Finally, when the heat was on at the end, Man City won five straight games to claim their second title in three years. Manager of the season - Brendan Rodgers: That Liverpool went as close as they did to winning their first title in 24 years was in large part a result of Rodgers’ ability to create a system that got the best out of his players. He was instrumental in the reinvention of Steven Gerrard, managed to turn a recalcitrant Suarez into a world beater and unleashed the talent of Raheem Sterling. Now the hard part will be replicating this success year after year. Player of the season - Luis Suarez: The only person in any of Europe’s top five leagues who has been able to keep pace with Suarez in the goals column is Cristiano Ronaldo. And that’s despite Suarez missing the first six games of the season. He essentially averaged a goal a game in the Premier League and there’s no question Liverpool would not have challenged for the title without Suarez being at his absolute right up until the last few games of the season. Ashish Magotra’s favourites Team of the year - Liverpool: Liverpool probably didn’t do themselves justice during the last few games of the season and Steven Gerrard’s slip, which ended a 11-game winning streak, but how many people really expected the Reds to be challenging for the title this season? How many expected them to finish second? How many expected them to play a brand of football that was thrilling and exciting? Liverpool are my team of the year simply because they refused to back down. They scored goals. They attacked. They had fun. Luis Suarez, Jordan Henderson, Daniel Sturridge, Steven Gerrard, Philippe Coutinho were all stars. Liverpool may never see a season like this again – but will remember this season as a very special one. It made the EPL fun again for a lot of people. Manager of the year - Manuel Pellegrini: 38 matches, 27 wins, five draws, six losses, 102 goals scored, 37 conceded, 86 points, 1st place. And he had to contend with Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger too. Liverpool’s Brendan Rogers was amazing too. But Pellegrini dealt with the pressure in the most dignified manner possible. While Man City’s squad depth is superb it also means that as a manager one has to deal with big egos too. But most of all, he’s the pick because of what he said after snubbing Mourinho’s handshake after the Chelsea manager jumped into the crowd to celebrate a winner at Stamford Bridge: “I did not want to. I did not expect anything different from him. It’s normal.” Player of the year - Yaya Toure: Luis Suarez was outstanding – 31 goals and all that yada. He also won the player of the year awards from the players and press writers. But for me, the player of the year has to be Yaya Toure. 35 games, 20 goals, nineassists, 2917 minutes played. This man was a marvel. Given the depth Manchester City have in their squad, Toure still manages to stand out as someone they have no back up for. He is consistently exceptional and that can’t be said for too many other players in the league.