EPL End of Season Review
So with 38 games completed, the same Champions crowned and two shock
relegations, how did everyone do?
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Would have been the perfect season had they got past Everton, but this was the
season United showed no-one has the depth and quality they do.
Key Men: Vidic, Ronaldo, Park, Carrick
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Whilst the manner of their season was an improvement, they will feel better
players may have carried the team further in competitions.
Key Men: Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano
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Considering the mess Scolari left, Chelsea have done very well. Robbed of a CL
final, in the FA Cup final and may have got further up the table, for Hiddink.
Key Men: Lampard, Alex, Essien, Anelka
Managers of the Season:
Sir Alex Ferguson (Man Utd)
Roy Hodgson (Fulham)
Worst Managers of the Season:
Gareth Southgate (Middlesbrough)
Mark Hughes (Manchester City)
Players of the Season:
1st Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
2nd Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd)
3rd Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
Worst Players of the Season:
1st Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)
2nd Alfonso Alves (Middlesbrough)
3rd Michael Owen (Newcastle)
Best Games:
Manchester United 1 Liverpool 4
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 4
Golden Boot:
Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea)
Young Player of the Year:
Stephen Ireland (Manchester City)
Signing of the Season:
Brad Friedel (Blackburn-Villa £2.5m)
Worst Signings of the Season:
Alfonso Alves (Heerenveen-Boro £13m)
Craig Bellamy (West Ham-Man City £18m)
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4 Trophy-less seasons tell their own story. The 08/09 side lacked bite and
crumbled in big games. How long does Wenger have left?
Key Men: Van Persie, Toure, Nasri
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David Moyes deservedly won the LMA award for this season. Started slow but
played some great stuff, nearly caught Arsenal, finalists in FA Cup.
Key Men: Pienaar, Feillaini, Howard
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Martin O’Neil has gradually steered Villa into a steady position as a Top 4 contender.
Will need more squad depth next season to continue that.
Key Men: Young, Agbonlahor, Friedel
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Insanely good season, Hodgson has turned relegation candidates to Europa League
qualifiers on a shoestring. Phenomenal really...
Key Men: Hangeland, Murphy
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Considering where Juande left the ship, Harry has done well to steer it to
safety. A bit more consistency (as always) would help but there’s plenty of money in the pot to improve the team.
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All in all, considering the club was on the brink of financial meltdown, Franco
and Steve have done a great job. Canny free and loan signings have carried the
Hammers out of the mire.
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How could you make the richest club in the world worse? Hire Mark Hughes of
course! A shockingly bad season really where their best player was straight out
of the academy!
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Are you sick of hearing Steve Bruce moan all the time about decisions etc? Bruce
has done more moaning than Wenger, yet in the midst of it, has achieved a
respectable place for Wigan.
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If the season had gone on for nine more months, they still would never have
survived. A club that has been slowly, but surely destroyed with mis-management
and precarious financial blunders. They will struggle to return next season
without a decent leader and a supportive board.
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Who said you have to play pretty to win? Stoke shook up the Prem this year with
Rory Delap’s new weapon and in the process, dumbfounded all by putting some established
rivals to shame.
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The position doesn’t really do Bolton justice, but they have slid since Big Sam left. Gary Megson
has done a decent job though as they were never really in trouble and have some
decent players.
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Absolutely shocking. How one can transform a UEFA Cup finalist into relegation
candidates in just three years is astounding. Boro fans must be wishing Smiler
was back, as it is, Sir. Miss-a-lot has sent them straight down to the
Championship. P45 for the scout who recommended Alfonso Alves!
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Considering the down-sizing that went on at Fratton Park, it certainly seems
that they will never scale those heights again, certainly with Paul what’s-his- name in charge. Poor season, did well to survive.
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After Paul Ince’s disastrous reign, they are probably fortunate to still be in the Premier
League. Allardyce should ruffle a few feathers in the summer.
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WBA were no Derby, fully competitive throughout and never even got annihilated.
Probably the only team who can finish bottom of the Prem and still have their
manager headhunted by Celtic. Like Adrian Boothroyd’s Watford, no-one wanted to see them go down.
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The club certainly has bigger ambitions than what was acheived. Roy Keane’s terrible run and then Ricky Sbragia’s interim saved the club eventually. Bad season considering level of investment.
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The end of season celebrations were more than slightly OTT but staying up is a
virtue in this League. Had the quality beneath them been better, they surely
would have gone.
(c) ChrisOnline.biz 2009
