Premier League GOAT Thierry Henry features twice in top ten individual seasons in Our League

Jason Soutar
Premier League legends Thierry Henry and Luis Suarez

Erling Haaland could be on this list very soon here the way he’s going this season. Here are the ten best individual seasons in Premier League history.

You are obviously not going to agree with this ranking, because it is such a subjective topic, but just know there are no agendas here whatsoever. I promise. Enjoy.

 

10) Mohamed Salah 2017/18
P36 G32 A11

Salah had played in the Premier League before joining Liverpool in 2017, but you would be forgiven for not noticing. His time with Chelsea was underwhelming and he moved to Italy where he established himself as a phenomenal player for Fiorentina and AS Roma.

In his first proper season in the English top flight, the Egyptian took the absolute p*ss. He broke the record for most goals scored in a 38-game season, netting 32 times. He also picked up 11 assists. Just ridiculous.

Although Liverpool failed to get close to winning the league in 17/18, they scored a colossal 84 goals, the second-highest in the division, only trailing City, who finished the campaign with a measly 100 points and 106 goals scored. A legendary front three was complete with the addition of Salah; and he, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino would go on to win the Champions League in 18/19 and the title in 2019/20.

 

9) Gareth Bale 2012/13
P33 G21 A4

Many players on this list will have won a trophy of some kind in their respective season, probably the Premier League. But Bale did not. Despite his lack of team silverware, he took home Premier League Player of the Season, PFA Players’ Player of the Year, PFA Young Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year.

The Welsh wizard carried Tottenham all season long as they finished fifth, narrowly missing out on Champions League football despite Bale’s 21 goals and nine assists in the league.

He won so many games on his own, contributing to all three goals in a win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, both goals in a 2-1 win versus Liverpool and produced game-deciding goal contributions against West Brom, Newcastle United, West Ham, Arsenal, Swansea City, Manchester City, Southampton and Sunderland.

8) Jamie Vardy 2015/16
P36 G24 A6

It certainly was a Vardy party in 15/16. We couldn’t make this list without a Leicester City player given their historic title-winning campaign, even if my colleague doesn’t think they are one of the ten best teams in Premier League history.

It was actually pretty difficult to choose between N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Vardy here. My first instinct was to say Kante, but then I changed my mind to Mahrez, before settling on Vardy. It was an extraordinary team who defied all of the odds to win the title.

Vardy broke the record for scoring in consecutive Premier League matches, famously netting in his 11th game in a row against Manchester United to break the record previously set by the Red Devils’ former striker, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The former England striker took home Premier League Player of the Season and was named FWA Footballer of the Year, with his team-mate Mahrez winning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, PFA Fans’ Player of the Year and Leicester Player of the Year.

 

7) Kevin De Bruyne 2019/20
P35 G13 A20

Many have come close to breaking Thierry Henry’s assist record since it was set in 2003. That year – more on that in a bit – the French striker assisted 20 goals. Mesut Ozil was close and should have done it in 15/16 when he had 19 assists. The German had 16 before the turn of the year but failed to break the record. It was outstanding, really.

Manchester City have won the title four times in the last five years as well as in 11/12 and 13/14, yet the only inclusion for the Citizens is De Bruyne in 19/20 when the club failed to win the Premier League.

In this campaign, the Belgian beast was named Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Players’ Player of the Year for the first time as he scored 13 and assisted 20 in what was an astonishing season in which Liverpool ran away with the title. The Reds’ best player this season was Virgil van Dijk, who was close to getting in the top ten until I realised defenders are boring.

 

6) Dennis Bergkamp 1997/98
P28 G16 A11

The non-flying Dutchman joined Arsenal in 1995 with Bruce Rioch in charge. His time with Inter Milan in Italy was not too successful but boy did he impress for the Gunners.

Arguably the most technically gifted player in the history of Our League, Bergkamp had his best season for the north Londoners in 97/98, helping Arsenal win their first league Premier League title.

Bergkamp was an absolute genius who toyed with defenders. His touch, finesse, close control, finishing and wisdom were a joy to behold and if anyone needs to be reminded how good the Dutch forward was, just watch his hat-trick against Leicester in August 1997. It is probably the greatest treble in Premier League history.

There is a reason Bergkamp was one of the first players inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame and this season went a long way to cementing his legacy in the English game.

 

5) Alan Shearer 1994/95
P42 G34 A13

Back then, there were 22 teams in Our League, so we don’t like to say that Shearer holds the record for most goals in a season as he played in 42 games, which is four more than anyone possibly could these days.

But Shearer was the best player in the league in 94/95 as Blackburn Rovers won their only league title. Looking back on this, younger fans might think this was similar to the Leicester fairytale, but the club’s owners had invested a lot of money and had a good team. Arguably the first iconic strike-force in the Premier League was born at Ewood Park, with Shearer and Chris Sutton forming a new and improved SAS.

In 42 appearances, Shearer scored 34 goals and provided 13 assists while Sutton had 15 goals and ten assists.

While they were a decent team, Blackburn were certainly underdogs and ended up finishing seventh in the league the following campaign.

Shearer went on to have a decent career, becoming the all-time Premier League scorer and has held this record since his retirement. We think Harry Kane is inevitable, though.

 

4) Thierry Henry 2003/04
P37 G30 A6

The Invincibles. They were not bad. Going a whole season unbeaten is some achievement and Thierry Henry was comfortably the best player in that team and in their historic campaign.

Henry was an unbelievable footballer who would have been worth at least £200million in this day and age. Without him, a team that went unbeaten for an entire campaign might not have won the league at all.

There is nothing I can say that hasn’t been said already to justify his inclusion in the top five on this list. He is the greatest Premier League footballer of all time and he bullied defenders every week in 03/04.

 

3) Cristiano Ronaldo 2007/08
P37 G31 A7

This season was Ronaldo’s penultimate in England and comfortably his best. You just had to be there to witness it. To think he only went from strength to strength after joining Real Madrid in 2009 is laughable.

Following his 07/08 campaign, the Portuguese superstar won his first Ballon d’Or, was named FIFA World Player of the Year, PFA Players’ Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season for the second year in a row and was the Premier League Golden Boot and European Golden Shoe winner.

United won the league by two points thanks to Ronaldo’s 31 goals and seven assists.

 

2) Thierry Henry 2002/03
P37 G24 A20

The only player to appear twice in this list is Henry, the Premier League GOAT.

This season is the only time in Premier League history that a player scored at least 20 and provided at least 20 assists. Just outrageous.

Arsenal were the highest-scoring team in the division in 02/03, scoring 85 goals, but the Gunners could not get their hands on the trophy, losing out to Manchester United a year before becoming Invincibles and earning a gold Premier League trophy.

United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy beat him to the Golden Boot by a single goal, but the French legend took home the PFA Players’ Player of the Year as he averaged a goal involvement every 75 minutes.

 

1) Luis Suarez 2013/14
P33 G31 A12

Suarez played for the best team that didn’t win the Premier League and what a bloody season he had. The best individual campaign by a player in Our League, in our opinion. Which is what matters.

The Uruguayan did absolutely everything he could to bring the Reds their first Premier League title, but it was not meant to be. He scored 31 goals and provided 12 assists in 33 games after missing the first five games through suspension. It could have been more goals as well, with Suarez rocketing the woodwork a gargantuan nine times. He also didn’t take penalties. That job was Steven Gerrard’s, whose slip against Chelsea will never be forgotten.

Suarez was named Player of the Month twice in 13/14 and claimed PFA Players’ Player of the Year, FWA Footballer of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, Premier League Golden Boot, FSF Player of the Year and the European Golden Shoe.

He left Liverpool the following summer and helped Barcelona win the treble in his first season in Catalonia. What a player he was in his prime. Just go and watch his best bits from this season. What a bully. And when you’re done that, have a little prayer for Norwich, the poor b*stards.

Topical Top Ten Cristiano Ronaldo