Coral’s alternative Premier League Team of the Season for 2015/16

Young Spaniard Bellerin is the standout winner at right back, having featured in five Coral Teams of the Week throughout the season, and has been a key player for the Gunners.

The likes of Branislav Ivanovic and Joel Ward were not too far behind, while Antonio Valencia threatened to oust Bellerin after being included in three of our teams towards the end of the campaign.

Multiple inclusions (right backs)

Hector Bellerin
Branislav Ivanovic
Antonio Valencia
Joel Ward
Matteo Darmian
Glen Johnson
Pablo Zabaleta

Centre back: Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal)

Like Arsenal teammate Bellerin, Koscielny makes our side after topping the Teams of the Week count for his position.

On top of helping his club to 14 clean sheets in the 2015/16 Premier League, the Frenchman scored four goals and was even captain for a number of matches.

Centre back: Virgil van Dijk (Southampton)

Four players battled it out for the other place at centre half, but we have gone for Van Dijk for his consistency this season ahead of Manchester United duo Chris Smalling and Daley Blind and Premier League-winning captain Wes Morgan.

Multiple inclusions (centre backs)

Laurent Koscielny
Daley Blind
Wes Morgan
Chris Smalling
Virgil van Dijk
Nicolas Otamendi
Ryan Shawcross
Micah Richards
Jose Fonte
Fabricio Coloccini
Joleon Lescott
Gabriel Paulista
John Stones
Scott Dann
Craig Cathcart
Ashley Williams
Robert Huth

Left back: Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland)

Van Aanholt managed to emerge as the winner for our place at left back, after being an integral part of yet another great escape for Sunderland.

A total of five goals and three assists is fantastic by anyone’s standards at full back. His strike against Everton in a 3-0 win helped confirm the Black Cats’ survival.

Multiple inclusions (left backs)

Patrick van Aanholt
Charlie Daniels
Nacho Monreal
Erik Pieters
Cesar Azpilicueta
Aaron Cresswell
Danny Rose
Christian Fuchs

Right wing: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City)

Player of the Season Mahrez predictably gets into this XI, and the Algeria international has featured in the most amount of our Team of the Week this campaign, after gaining an incredible 17 goals and 10 assists.

Many are still scratching their heads trying to fathom how the Foxes won the title, but it was largely down to this man, and no doubt the fans will be desperately hoping that he lights up the King Power Stadium for at least another year.

Centre midfield: Dele Alli (Tottenham)

A suspension at the end of the campaign perhaps slightly tarnished Alli’s debut Premier League season, but the teenager has otherwise been a revelation and made a mockery of the leap from League One to the top flight.

The 20-year-old Alli’s rise has meant that he’s earned England caps already, and is a touted starter for Euro 2016.

Centre midfield: Dimitri Payet (West Ham United)

Few can argue with Payet’s inclusion in this line-up either, after becoming a fan favourite for West Ham United, though he just edged out Philippe Coutinho, who was picked the same amount of times in our teams.

Multiple inclusions (central midfielders)

Dele Alli
Dimitri Payet
Philippe Coutinho
Ross Barkley
Eric Dier
Fernandinho
Cheikhou Kouyate
Mesut Ozil
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Wes Hoolahan
James Milner
Yohan Cabaye
Christian Eriksen
Moussa Sissoko
Ander Herrera
Danny Drinkwater
Jonjo Shelvey
N’Golo Kante
Aaron Ramsey
Alexander Tettey
Tom Cleverley
Giannelli Imbula
Cesc Fabregas

Left wing: Andre Ayew (Swansea City)

Out on the left wing, is Swans star Ayew, who has consistently shown that he is one of the bargain buys of the season after his free transfer from Marseille last summer.

Stars such as Pedro Rodriguez, Alexis Sanchez, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum missed out on a place, but can still hold their heads up high.

Multiple inclusions (wingers)

Riyad Mahrez
Andre Ayew
Pedro Rodriguez
Roberto Firmino
Sadio Mane
Alexis Sanchez
Georginio Wijnaldum
David Silva
Raheem Sterling
Jesse Lingard
Marko Arnautovic
Michail Antonio

Striker: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

Of course Vardy gets in, after a campaign that included winning the Premier League, scoring 24 goals and also going on a record goal run of 11 matches. He first featured in our Team of the Weeks after only Matchweek 9, though.

Will the former non-league player’s fairytale rise end up with success with England at the Euro 2016 finals this summer?

Striker: Odion Ighalo (Watford)

Perhaps quite controversially, Ighalo is the other striker that makes this side, after his magnificent first half to the season that saw him score 13 times in 15 games at one point.

Prolific superstars Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane just miss out. Maybe they just scored in weeks when others impressed more? Credit should also go to Graziano Pelle, Anthony Martial and Aleksandar Mitrovic too.

Multiple inclusions (strikers)

Jamie Vardy
Odion Ighalo
Sergio Aguero
Harry Kane
Anthony Martial
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Graziano Pelle
Romelu Lukaku
Callum Wilson
Joshua King
Diego Costa
Troy Deeney

Related

Check out our previous Teams of the Week for the 2015/16 season.