With the 2024-25 English Football season now over, here is a look at the stand-out stars of the last ten months in a combined XI.
In a season which belonged to the birds in terms of major cup trophies whilst Liverpool dominated the Premier League and plenty of EFL promotion battles raged until the end of season, there has been plenty of memorable moments like Bromley’s Third Round trip to Newcastle in the FA Cup for example.
As the season now begins to wind down in the off-season, it is therefore the perfect time to take a look at the stand-out stars in my 2024-25 English Football XI.
Goalkeeper
This season has seen plenty of stunning goalkeeping saves from Bromley’s Grant Smith to Everton’s Jordan Pickford, whilst Arsenal’s Daphne van Domselaar produced an exceptional performance to shut out Barcelona for the Gunners’ Women’s’ Champions League triumph.
Burnley’s James Trafford though has undoubtedly been the cream of the crop with 29 clean sheets – including a 12-match run of consecutive shutouts plus a strong save percentage at 84.5%, highlighting just how consistent and impressive he has been this year.
Add in the fact that England manager, Thomas Tuchel called him up for March then June’s internationals despite Trafford playing in the Championship, and it is little wonder why he deserves a spot on this XI such has been the quality of his performances.
Crystal Palace’s Owen Goodman also deserves a mention with 25 clean sheets in a memorable promotion-winning loan campaign at AFC Wimbledon, during which he saw off Ipswich on penalties in the second round of the Carabao Cup and impressed with his ability so he will be one to watch in the future.
Defence
Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen might only have done one season in the Premier League after agreeing a move to Real Madrid this summer, yet he has left a lasting impression with a series of impressive solid performances in defence as evidenced by topping the following categories within his club alone;
- Interceptions
- Blocks
- Clearances
- Headed Clearances
If also consider that the Spaniard is just 20 years-old and this has been his first season in England, he has undoubtedly done an exceptional job and is now leaving the Cherries a great profit following his £50m move to Real.
Brentford’s Nathan Collins also has earned his spot on the list with incredible consistency as the only outfield player to had played every minute in the Premier League this season, whilst he also topped the general blocks plus headed clearances statistics.
Like Huijsen and Collins, Ashleigh Neville has continued to quietly impress across in the WSL even despite Tottenham’s struggles as she topped the WSL’s tackling category with the most successful win rate, whilst she also managed the most tackles on dribblers plus interceptions.
Midfield
Given how impressive the midfielders have proven this season, this is a pretty tough section but Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze has stood out with 16 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for club and country, especially with his agility, ball control and shot quality proving problematic for opposing teams.
Eze also finished the campaign as one of the best in-form players with seven goals in six of Palace’s last seven games, just like he did at the end of last season, underlining how good he can be when in his stride especially as seen in Palace’s FA Cup success but more consistency would be nice next season.
Burnley’s Josh Brownhill might not stand out as an obvious pick but he deserves a place on merit after his midfield performances saw him score 18 goals and contribute six assists, which put him amongst the top Championship goalscorers in an impressive feat for the midfielder.
Another reason behind Brownhill’s inclusion is that he quietly led Burnley to promotion under the radar without much hype, in which he was a constant leading presence in the Clarets’ midfield yet able to pop up with plenty of clinical goals and his brace fittingly sealed their promotion in a win over Sheffield United.
Manchester United might of struggled this season but Bruno Fernandes proved a bright spark with 19 goals and 18 assists, which is a pretty impressive stat in the wider picture of Utd’s season which has otherwise been pretty disastrous with a limp Europa League final defeat to boot.
Fernandes’ stats therefore deserve recognition because even despite the poor performances of those around him, he has done the business otherwise it would of been a 17th-placed Premier League finish without his goals and it is great that he is up for the challenge amidst interest from elsewhere.
Before moving on to the forward selection, there are some players who deserve a notable mention despite missing out on a spot in the XI:
- Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal Women) – Having bravely left Spain for English football, Caldentey enjoyed a quietly impressive first season at Arsenal with 17 goals and seven assists and can only improve next season.
- Kevin Schade (Brentford) – After an injury-hit 23-24 season, Schade certainly found his feet with some underrated displays for Brentford and hopefully can continue his improve next season if stay fit.
- Morgan Gibbs-White – Having proven an integral part of Forest’s European qualification charge with his best season yet, Gibbs-White certainly deserves recognition for his progress and performances.
Forward
The forward selection has undoubtedly felt the most easiest of this season’s picks because Liverpool’s winger, Mohamed Salah is a sure-fire pick such has been his impact under new boss – Arne Slot, with 34 goals and 23 assists in all competitions at 32-years-old.
For any player aged 30+ to achieve those numbers let alone in a season under a new manager is incredible and it would be a blunder to even snub him, hence why he is the first name within this section as he has been just too good to even consider leaving on the sidelines.
Down in League Two, there has been a fairytale season for Bromley’s Michael Cheek who finished as the league’s top goalscorer in his first EFL season, having managed 25 goals (26 in all competitions), and contributed eight assists – of which seven came in the league.
Cheek also share a same stat as Salah in that they both converted nine of their goals from the penalty spot, underlining just how great a season the 33-year-old has had when some at his age might of struggled to adapt to a first season of EFL action.
His League Two Player of the Season award therefore was a deserved accolade for his achievements in a season which he won’t forget, and made leaving him out of this XI impossible if consider the overall context of his achievements..
Newcastle’s Alexander Isak enjoyed a prolific season as the top-flight’s best central forward with 27 goals plus six assists across all competitions, during which he scored the winner to clinch the Carabao Cup title in a campaign where he has been superb on and off the ball with his agility and ball control.
Rounding out the forward picks, Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy has earned a spot on the XI with arguably his best season yet in which he scored nine goals and contributed 12 assists, whilst he proved a nightmare presence on the right wing with his crosses, timing and awareness to make runs.
Honourable mentions go to Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa who have both enjoyed superb seasons but I just couldn’t separate them, especially if consider that Murphy has unexpectedly impressed in comparison to last season. which gave him the edge on merit.
Arsenal and England’s Alessia Russo also deserves a mention after she managed 22 goals for club and country – her best seasonal total – but unfortunately, there was no room to fit her into the XI but she can only continue to get better as a player in the next few seasons.
Manager
After losing Emma Hayes to the USA Women’s managerial job, Chelsea Women could of easily hit the doldrums after a decade of success as they faced the task of adapting to a new manager at the helm.
Instead they rose to the occasion with an unbeaten domestic season in which they achieved the treble of WSL, Women’s FA Cup and Women’s League Cup under Sonia Bompastor, who has seamlessly filled a void that many feared would be like the ‘impossible job’ associated with England Men’s Senior Team.
Aside from a pair of defeats to Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, Bompastor has otherwise put little foot wrong in how she adapted not just to her new team but English football with exciting football and an ability to extract maximum consistency even with squad rotation.
Bompastor is therefore undoubtedly manager of the season across English football, just ahead of Arne Slot who won the Premier League with Liverpool but ultimately faltered in the cup competitions through a mixture of his squad rotations and tactics which made this decision much easier.
Newcastle’s Eddie Howe also deserves a shout out for giving the Magpies their first domestic trophy in 70 years with their Carabao Cup triumph, and likewise to Oliver Glasner who turned Crystal Palace’s early-season struggles into a maiden FA Cup success.
Another name worthy of a mention is Bromley’s Andy Woodman because in his first managerial season within the EFL with Bromley – who too made their EFL bow, he has done an exceptional job to achieve a 11th-placed League Two finish and historic FA Cup run with exciting football.
Arsenal Women’s Renee Slegers is another boss that needs a nod because she took over a team who stuttered at the start of the season, yet somehow took them to a WSL runner-up finish and the Women’s Champions League title in an impressive feat given the morale when she took charge.
