Barclays Premier League Review 2010-2011
Here we are at the end of another season in the Barclays Premier League and let’s face it the table did have a familiar ring about it with a couple of exceptions. Most of the talk this year has been the apparent declining standards of the league and how it doesn’t compare with La Liga for the title of best league in the World. Personally, I prefer the way it is here with more than two clubs with a chance of winning the ultimate prize, rather than the procession that is Spanish football.
To bring this into perspective, in Spain, the winners, Barcelona, were 4 points ahead of Real Madrid, Valencia in 3rd were a massive 21 points further back.
Here we were treated to the spectacle of a 4 or 5 horse race during the season until the latter stages when Manchester United found their usual run of form and won the title.
The fact that United won with 80 points, scoring 78 goals, against the statistics of Chelsea last year, who amassed 86 points scoring 103 goals seems to have sparked a debate. Is the league as good as it was or are all the teams getting better, therefore reducing the amount of wins and goals scored? All I know is that I have leapt out of my seat at the ground and in front of the TV the usual amount of times, even when my team are not playing.
The Champions
Manchester United won a record breaking 19th title in a year which many had described them as having a transitional side, with Gary Neville retiring during the campaign, and planning for Van Der Sar and possibly Paul Scholes calling it a day at the end. United produced the performances of champions by achieving comebacks and maximum points on various occasions in difficult circumstances. Down at Blackpool and West Ham they turned it round to ensure their relentless grind towards the title was maintained.
Wayne Rooney shocked the football world by declaring that he wanted to leave after not getting assurances about the future squad. Alex Ferguson declared himself, “dumbfounded”, and was disappointed at the news that Rooney had intimated he was not going to sign a new contract. The man with the hairdryer does not lie down easily though, there followed a statement in which he said he felt personally let down, how the club had supported Rooney and described in detail how great and traditional a club United was. This seemed to confuse or embarrass Rooney who made a complete u-turn and signed a new contract, allegedly for lots more money. A genuine fear that his employers were not matching his ambition or a cunning plan to get a new bumper contract? He did however score a top contender for goal of the season with his overhead kick against Manchester City in the cauldron of a local derby.
In February 2011, Manchester United’s unbeaten run eventually came to an end, losing 2-1 at Wolves, there was to be no repeat of the achievement of the Arsenal team of 2003 - 2004 dubbed, ‘The Invincibles’.
Everyone said this United team was not as good as previous ones however; they became Champions again, and reached the final of the Champions League – not bad for a team in transition. This has to be considered as one of Alex Ferguson’s greatest title wins.
Chelsea – Blues At The Bridge
Chelsea were the defending Champions and they made a flying start scoring for fun. Then there was the unexpected sacking of Ray Wilkins in November, they were 4 points clear at that stage, the patience of the owner had obviously been tested for some reason and he acted immediately by relieving Wilkins of his duties. The senior players, Terry, Drogba and Lampard did not perform to their usual standard, and the club made what could be argued as the panic buy of the season by spending £50 million in the January transfer window on Fernando Torres. He not only apparently upset the balance of the strike force, but ended the season with a paltry 1 goal from 14 appearances. Chelsea rallied towards the end of the season but it was not good enough to retain their title.
Some say their season started to deteriorate when Ray Wilkins was sacked. The club apparently decided he was no longer, ‘cost effective’ and the club website was updated immediately, all details related to Wilkins being removed. Continuity, loyalty, patience, all words not appearing to be in the philosophy of the club who showed an infinite lack of class in the way Wilkins was treated. Chelsea boarded their bus after their final game with Everton, it was rumoured that Ancelotti was sacked there and then, demonstrating again how a gazillionaire treats that club as his plaything and the total lack of class from all concerned apart from the newly departed manager who has maintained his dignity.
Manchester City – Hey Big Spenders
Money talks! Much has been made of the millions pumped into the club by the men from Abu Dhabi and the purchase of a large number of players at what could be considered inflated fees. They paid £27 million for Bosnian Edin Dzeko in January, he is not yet reflecting the fee in his performances by scoring only twice in the league since his arrival at Eastlands. City did however do enough to ensure automatic qualification to the group stages of the Champions League, and win their first trophy for 35 years by winning the FA Cup.
Not to be outdone on the blue side of Manchester after the Rooney saga, Carlos Tevez stated he wanted to leave Manchester City. He apparently was stressed at being separated from his family and the rumours were that his relationship with Roberto Mancini had been stretched to breaking point. The club refused his transfer request, it dragged on for a while before everything was rosy in the garden again and he stayed.
This and the Rooney affair demonstrate how fragile relationships between players and clubs are and the value of a signed piece of paper called a contract.
Arsenal – Style Without Substance
The team that seems to flatter to deceive. They play arguably the best football in the league but have lacked in recent years as Arsene Wenger puts it, ‘the mental strength’, to close games off and win the biggest prizes. From a position of challenging on 4 fronts, they ended up without a trophy again. Their season seemed to implode after a shock defeat in the Carling Cup Final against Birmingham. After a misunderstanding in defence, Martins swooped to score the winner in the match which ended 2 – 1 to the Blues who although eventually relegated, qualified for the Europa League after winning the trophy.
Arsenal did beat Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage at home but after Van Persie was dubiously sent off in the Camp Nou, they lost 4 - 3 on aggregate and their season came to an unfortunately familiar end, even suffering the ignominy of having to play in the qualifying round of the Champions League for next season.
Tottenham – Average At Home After Euro Adventure
A season of 2 opposites for the men from White Hart Lane. Stellar performances in the Champions League; reaching the quarter finals on their first journey into the competition. Famous victories against the holders Inter Milan at home and AC Milan in the San Siro, balanced against some mediocre performances in their domestic league.
Too many draws against the so called weaker teams in the bottom half of the league cost valuable points. There is a balance of moving from midweek Champions League matches to the grind of the Premier League which took even teams like Manchester United about 10 years to achieve. Creditable wins at The Emirates and Anfield were among the domestic highlights of a season where they qualified for next years Europa League.
Liverpool – A Giant Awakening
Forget a game of 2 halves, this was a season of 2 halves for the Merseysiders. Roy Hodgson didn’t seem to fit at Anfield after his arrival in July 2010, results were poor, the fans turned against him and he left the club in January 2011.
King Kenny returned to more than steady the ship; the turnaround was nothing short of miraculous. The feel good factor was back and they quickly climbed the table. The January transfer window saw them sell Anfield hero Fernando Torres to Chelsea for £50 million and invest the money in Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. Carroll had scored the only goal of the game against Arsenal at Emirates earlier in the season whilst playing for Newcastle. Who would guess that within weeks he would be the subject of a record breaking £35 million transfer to Liverpool? The usual recriminations, 2 versions of the story, Carroll saying he did not want to leave, Newcastle saying he did ask to. Anyway, he left.
Promising starts for Carroll and especially Suarez, apparently there will be further funds available from the new board to try to push the Reds back into the higher echelons of the league. The performances towards the end of the season were achieved without their captain and ‘legend’ Steven Gerrard so could there be a new era beginning?
The Mid Table contenders
Everton – Toffees, Sweet As A Nut
When you hear about the millions of pounds flowing around the Premier League you never seem to talk about Everton. Yet without the massive investment seen elsewhere, they are the team that broke the top 4 monopoly in finishing 4th in 2005 and every year they seem to finish close to the top handful of clubs who have spent the money. After a slow first half of the season, they pushed Liverpool this year, with a little more luck with injuries and a quicker start off the blocks could have finished higher than 7th.
Fulham – Fair Play At The Cottage
Another solid season from the Cottagers, playing attractive football and finishing 8th in Mark Hughes’ first season in charge, whilst Clint Dempsey became the Club’s highest ever goal scorer in a Premier League season finishing with 12 goals. The calculations were done at the end of the season and Fulham qualified for next year’s Europa League through the ‘Fair Play’ route. It means an early start to next year’s season but gives them an opportunity to emulate the feats of 2010 when they reached the final only to be beaten by Atletico Madrid.
Aston Villa – Villains Or Heroes?
What a start to their season, manager Martin O’Neill resigned 5 days before the start in August and after a caretaker period in which Kevin MacDonald, the reserve team manager took charge, Gerard Houllier was appointed to take the helm in September 2010. In January, for all their star players, Villa were perilously close to the drop zone and invested £18 million on Darren Bent from Sunderland. This proved to be the catalyst for survival, the England forward netting an impressive 10 goals in 16 games. Houllier played a lot of youngsters during the year who are hoped to be able to provide a bright future at Villa Park. There was still room for experience though as Houllier signed Robert Pires for free on a 6 month contract who chipped in with some useful performances.
Sunderland – Unlucky Black Cats
Steve Bruce’s season took an early turn for the worse in August, losing Fraizer Campbell who suffered a cruciate injury ruling him out for some considerable time. January proved equally as hard to cope with as Darren Bent decided on a move to Aston Villa, leaving Sunderland light of attacking options. The curse of the forwards struck again though as late on, Asamoah Gyan and the on loan Danny Welbeck suffered hamstring injuries. The season was a struggle, the Wearsiders only guaranteeing Premier League safety late on, eventually finishing 10th. There are a crop of youngsters coming through so there are positives at the Stadium Of Light.
Stoke – Wizard Potters
Stoke had a great season, reaching the FA Cup Final only to fall to a Yaya Toure goal for Manchester City. With City qualifying for the Champions League it has allowed Stoke to participate in a European competition next year for the first time since 1974 when they will be one of the 4 English representatives in the Europa League. Finishing 13th, they also were part of a strange transfer saga in January. Demba Ba agreed personal terms after Stoke and Hoffenheim reached an agreement on the transfer fee, but he then failed the medical. So, not fit enough for Stoke, he signed for West Ham and went on to score 7 goals in 12 games.
Survival Sunday
A manic last day of the season dubbed ‘Survival Sunday’ Sky. Teams changed position at the bottom as the games were going on not only on points gained but goals scored. The Sky team were very excited, the conclusion of the proceedings was that West Ham, Blackpool and Birmingham lost their fight and were relegated. Avram Grant lost his job, his press conferences may not be missed but those involving Ian Holloway will be as will Blackpool’s attacking, expansive football.
The gap between the bottom clubs and those at the top was exceptionally slim throughout, and at the end of the season. There was a concertina effect in mid table, the points tally between the 8th placed club and 18th was 10 points, the league was played out with such fine margins. The general consensus is that we are in age where although some teams will always be better than others, there are really no easy games, on any given day any team can beat another. Much more exciting than Spain!
Match Of The Season
As is usual when writing a review of the season, there are a number of contenders for the best game and every fan will have their own choice. Two of the top games were both in early 2011, the first being Chelsea against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge in January 2011. Chelsea, striving to push towards Manchester United at the top of the table were 2 -1 down after 84 minutes. The Blues thought they had secured all 3 points after late goals from Drogba and Terry but there was more drama to come though as Ciaran Clark nodded in at the death for the equaliser.
The second choice is Arsenal against Newcastle in February. Arsenal were 4 – 0 ahead at halftime, Newcastle rallied in the second half achieving a magnificent comeback which culminated in a dramatic equaliser scored by Cheik Tiote 3 minutes from time. This incident was reported on by a very excited local radio commentator, using, (shouting), the immortal words. “Boom Boom, Cheik Cheik The Room” as the man from the Ivory Coast ensured a share of the spoils.
Manager Departures
The unpredictable life of a football manager was brought sharply into focus when a matter of weeks after a 5-1 win against local rivals Sunderland, Newcastle manager Chris Hughton was sacked. This was a man who had stood by the club, produced a fantastic season in the Championship achieving promotion for the club and returning them to the Premier League at the first attempt. He was and still is a popular man on Tyneside; unfortunately the club cited the need to recruit a manager with more experience. It could be argued that Hughton was gaining that experience but once news filtered out that he had not been offered a new contract the writing was on the wall.
A week later, here we go again, Sam Allardyce was sacked by the new owners at Blackburn. They were in relative comfort, mid table; the club stated "We have taken this decision as part of our wider plans and ambitions for the club.” Money talks again, patience with the development of clubs seems to be in very short supply, another manager biting the dust.
Roberto De Matteo was relieved of his duties at WBA. They were 2 points clear of the relegation zone; the club felt a change of manager would help in their quest for Premier League survival. Roy Hodgson came in and did a great job in steering the club to a 11th place finish. It is always an enigma how some managers and players do not; ‘fit’ certain clubs but go on to achieve good things elsewhere. A polar difference between this and his Liverpool experience, the fickle finger of fate?
Infamous incidents
There were a number of incidents which amazed, shocked, surprised us and occasionally made us laugh.
Mario Ballotelli, throwing darts out of an upstairs window at Carrington because he was bored; Ashley Cole firing an air rifle out of a window at the club’s training ground hitting a student on work placement.
The whole sorry affair regarding Ryan Giggs and that super injunction, are we really that interested in his alleged extra curricular activities?
Kolo Toure’s ban for taking his wife’s diet pills which contained a banned substance.
Keys and Gray, the less said the better. We will adapt to a change in coverage styles after the pair were relieved of their responsibilities at Sky after alleged sexist comments by them were made public. Football really is a, ‘funny old game’, (thanks Greavsie).
Unexpected Success Stories
There some players who shone and are held up as being astute signings including Javier Hernandez who exploded on to the scene scoring 13 goals in his debut season. Charlie Adam was one of the main reasons Blackpool were in with a chance of survival until the final day, William Gallas turning out to be a great choice on a free transfer, a ‘no brainer’ signing as described by Harry Redknapp at the start of the season. Meanwhile Joey Barton was reborn in the midfield at Newcastle who had a successful season, consolidating their Premier League status.
Summary
Summer has arrived, the silly season for transfers begins and people professing to be, ‘In The Know’ will relate rumours of potential moves from club to club.
Anyway, where did we end up? Manchester United won the title; (again), Chelsea showed their usual lack of class and continuity and sacked their manager and assistant. Big money continues to talk with Manchester City, Arsenal had their annual collapse, and Spurs show consistent inconsistency.
The league now looks like it has a top 6 not top 4; the signs for an even more exciting season next year are there for all to see.
