The winners of the Premier League were decided pretty early in the season. Manchester City started with a shaky start but eventually got hold in the new year and stayed way ahead of the curve for the majority of the season after that. Manchester United played well despite a rocky start much like their Manchester rivals. Thanks to the efforts of players like Bruno Fernandes and Rashford, they wound up as the runner-ups this season. Overall, the city of Manchester can certainly celebrate their two teams and their premier victories.
Liverpool started the season really well but due to many unfortunate injuries, they were hanging by the thread to just remain in the top 4. But if there’s one thing that Liverpool can do- it’s to deliver with resilience and so they did. With goals from their goalkeeper, and almost ten undefeated games at the end of their season, they managed to creep into the top 4 and ended up in the third place, with a chance at next year’s UCL.
Leicester had a very stable season overall with more wins than losses or draws. Unfortunately, they were in a very tough match off with Chelsea and Liverpool for the last two spots of the Top 4. The game that decided it all was their second last game of the season with Chelsea, and they did have a winning streak against Chelsea and effectively stole the FA cup from them in their previous match. But this time around with Chelsea’s high spirit and the homeground advantage, they were defeated in a close 2-1 which led to Chelsea slipping in the 4th spot of the table. Nevertheless, the team played very well this season and Jamie Vardy will remain a fan favorite for another season.
Speaking of Chelsea, the European Champions of the season who completely turned their luck around under their new German manager, Thomas Tuchel, they had a successful season overall despite barely making it into the race for next season’s UCL. In fact their season was successful enough for multiple renewed contracts for their manager to players like Silva and Giroud. One of their players, Christain Pulisic, is under a special spotlight from friends from the western side of the world, particularly the USA. As an American native, he made his name as the Captain America of Soccer for being the first American male for playing in and winning a UCL final, followed by helping USA win the Gold Cup within a week of this feat, all at the mere age of 22.
Tottenham and Arsenal stayed mediocre throughout with the Spurs having a small advantage of a single point over them. Both the teams just slipped under West Ham due to the efforts from many players including Antonio, Souček, Bowen and Lingard. This led to them missing the opportunity of the Europa Club qualifiers. However, their season wasn’t all bleak since Son and Kane made history with the most goal combination in a Premier League season beating Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton’s 25-year old previously held record. Arsenal, on the other hand, won their last 5 matches, but it was too late an effort and so they ended up in the eight position just as they did last season, although they did improve their performance by five points.
The newly qualified team of the season, Leeds United, performed way over expectations with the ninth spot. Special commendation to Bamford who scored 17 goals as the fourth highest goalscorer in the PL, tied with Son.
Everton bagged the tenth spot thanks to veteran signings like Rodriguez and Allan and Aston Villa the eleventh largely because of Grealish who was among the best players of this season in the first half. The latter leaped a huge jump this season after almost being relegated in the last. Newcastle, Wolves, Crystal and Southampton took the relative spots from 12 to 15. Newcastle had an interesting season with a five spot boost in the last eight matchweeks with a mindblowing performance from Joe Willcock. On the contrary, Wolves had a much worse season than expected due to the many transfers and fractures in their team. Palace didn’t have a particularly fruitful season either and they stayed in the middle range of the league yet again. Southampton was another one of the teams who suffered greatly due to injury to a key player, Ings, and the result of their reliance really showed. Brighton took the 16th spot despite having a great team and Burnley took the 17th with a season in which the remained in the bottom half from their very first game.
As for the relegated teams, Fulham, West Brom and Sheffield United were all at least 11 points below the curve of Burnley, who just managed to stay in for the next season, and will be out of the league for the next season. With a whooping 29 losses, Sheffield United showed that they just aren’t ready for the heat of the Prem yet.
The PFA awards were all taken by Manchester City whether it be Phil Foden for Men’s best young player, or De Bruyne as the best Men’s player. Even their women’s team bagged a win with Lauren Hemp as the best young player.
The Premier League also initiated the no room for racism campaign in partnership with Kick It Out. In the campaign, the PL also boycotted its social media accounts for a weekend on Friday, 30th April, to Monday, 3rd May. The campaign continues to run with a tab on the Premier League’s official website dedicated to the cause, including news, a reporting system for abuse and a link for education on such matters. Throughout the season, many players like Sterling and Rashford were abused and chosen as scapegoats by “fans” due to their skin color if their teams ever suffered any losses. The English football system has a deeply rooted problem of hooliganism and racism but addressing it, even in the slightest manner, is a step in the right direction and towards a better future for all.
