It seems like it was only yesterday when we were gearing up for the start of the 2013/2014 Premier League campaign. Now, at the conclusion of the season, each team will be analysing the positives and negatives of the past season in an attempt to eradicate any faults in preparation for the next campaign.
What better way to start a review than at the top? Manchester City finish the season at top of the pile for the second time in three seasons. Under new management, Manuel Pellegrini was able to clinch the title last Sunday along with the Capital One Cup. It can be argued that if City had surrendered the title to Liverpool, then their season could be labelled a failure, instantly putting pressure under the Chilean. There are fine lines in the world of football.
City's attacking threat was monstrous and they always had at least 2 world class strikers available, contributing to a staggering 156 goals in all competitions. At the back they had a rock solid defence, only conceding 37 goals in the league. What won Man City the league was that they had the right balance between defence and attack, something which Liverpool and Chelsea lacked.
As we move down the table, Liverpool were undoubtedly the overachievers of this season. I can honestly say that if anyone had told me Liverpool were going to challenge for the title and end up in 2nd position back in August, I would have laughed at you and told you to stop dreaming. Their Uruguayan centre forward has been instrumental in their success as he notched 31 goals as well as assisting 12 times. Whether Liverpool maintain the momentum of the success from this season into next, may be down to whether they can retain the services of Suarez for the foreseeable future.
As for Chelsea, they had an indifferent season and Mourinho's return to English football was greeted with a trophy-less season. Throughout the last campaign, it was evident that the Blues lacked a clinical striker as Ba, Torres and Eto'o were inconsistent. The trio could only muster 17 league goals between them, in comparison to Suarez's 31 and Yaya Toure's 20 goals. This problem will need to be rectified for the beginning of next season, or else Mourinho could find himself looking for another job.
Similar to Chelsea, City and Liverpool, Arsenal had an spell on top of the table back in November, December, but failures in the Summer and January transfer markets meant that their challenge tailed off as the season progressed. While it can be deemed that they failed in the league, Wenger and the Arsenal have a chance to end their trophy drought on Sunday in the FA Cup Final against Hull City. Failure on Sunday could result in the imminent departure of Arsene Wenger. As with Chelsea, the piggy bank will need to be broken in order to strengthen for next year. Personally, I'm hoping Arsene has a world class striker on the shortlist as well as strength and depth in defence. A busy summer ahead for the Gunners as they aim to prolong their stay in the title challenge next year.
Relegation is always a nasty experience to go through and this year, Fulham, Cardiff and Norwich were the victims. I believe that all 3 relegated teams could have escaped the drop if they had kept faith in each of their managers. Each team sacked their managers in a desperate attempt to improve their form, and not one decision was successful. On the other hand, this technique worked for Tony Pulis at Crystal Palace. Pulis was appointed manager back in November when Palace were languishing in 19th position and managed to raise them to an 11th place finish at the close of play on Sunday.
Fulham were able to score goals, but a leaky back four sealed their fate to the Championship while Cardiff and Norwich found hitting the back of the net harder than it sounds. Norwich's offensive incapabilities was not helped by the lack of goals from club record signing, Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, who only contributed a solitary goal all season.
Period of Transition
It was a season to forget for Manchester United as they watched their neighbours win the title and they slipped to 7th position after a dismal display in the league. Not much went right for the Red Devils as they broke many different records, all for the wrong reasons. The 12 games lost were more than the previous 2 seasons combined, highlighting an ageing defence and a team which was low in confidence for the majority of the season, even if they were the holders of the title. With a new man at the helm in David Moyes, United were in a period of transition after the end of the Ferguson reign. Moyes never had the support from the players and was sacked, rather controversially with only 3 games until the end of the season.
Much like United, Liverpool's Merseyside rivals, Everton, were also in a season of change. However, this season proved to be more fruitful than the Red Devils, as they reached fifth, and were close to beating Arsenal to the last Champions League spot, when two losses to Southampton and Man City effectively ruled them out of Champions League football next season. An exciting football philosophy coupled with the promotion of some quality youth players, Roberto Martinez enabled Everton to finish in a respectable position as they will look to build for the future.
Another campaign has drawn to a close, and many teams will need to strengthen their squads if they are to maintain or better their position from this season. It has been yet another exhilarating term, with many highs and many lows for each team. Now, we must enjoy pre season and all of the transfer rumours that follow it, before turning our attention to the thrills and spills that come with next season.
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