Preview: After the first of a five-part series on my review on the 2008/09 season in the Premier League, the second part of the series will focus how the clubs which ended up in the top five spots had did this season. That means, the focus will be on Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Everton. United are tops once again but, how to those four clubs below them did?
A thought crossed my mind when I managed to sink in the news about Manchester United retaining the league title. Sir Alex Ferguson's side has now matched Liverpool's 18 domestic league title record. Bearing in mind with the transfer rumours especially surrounding a certain Cristiano Ronaldo is probably going to intensify more this summer, next season in the Premier League will be interesting as we will all be wondering whether Ferguson will be able to knock Liverpool 'off their perch' finally. When the veteran Scotsman first took on the job from Aberdeen back in November 1986, that was his main aim. Back then it seemed that no club will be able to chase Liverpool's record.
Well, look what happened since. After Manchester United came back from Japan after winning the FIFA Club World Cup, people were expecting them to slip up when they played away at Stoke City. Well, it was a late winner from Carlos Tevez (another person whose future at the club is always up in the air, apart from Cristiano Ronaldo) which earned the club all the three points. But then, there are a handful of United matches which stood out for me for whatever reasons it may be. The 4-1 loss against Liverpool which signalled Liverpool's intention in the title race (and I will forever be haunted by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard kissing the TV cameras), the 3-0 win over Chelsea (this was when Luiz Felipe Scolari was still the manager over there) which of a sudden make the Blues look so ordinary and the club I support look oh-so-great.
Then there are the matches which gave me the belief that when Manchester United are down, they will be able to get up again. The match which for me was a turning point in the club's title bid was the home match against Aston Villa. It might had ended 3-2 at almost the last minute for United and introduced the world to the young Italian striker Federico (or 'Kiko' he is being nicknamed) Macheda (he scored the eventual winner at almost the last minute)...but Villa looked like for a long time in the match going to win it. Along came the teenager who first came through the Lazio academy...and he scored a beauty of a goal. It took me a long time even after the final whistle on that my club had won all the three points...all thanks to an Italian teenager whom I do not really know until he came on as a substitute and scored the winner. Then there is the other home match against Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs looked like they are going to get all three points with being 2-0 up, but even under controversial circumstances...United managed to fight back and the final score: Manchester United 5 - Tottenham Hotspur 2. The two matches which made me go - 'Hang on a minute. United won?'.
Statistically Liverpool this season did better than in its previous seasons but, for a while when it looked like they might be seriously challenging Manchester United for the league title which they had not won it not since 1990 (and bearing in mind the Premier League was formed from the old Division one in 1992)...it was over before one can even say, Rafael Benitez. The man himself might had his own personal feud with his Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson but, it eventually cost Liverpool the title. In fact, if I have to speak from a neutral fan and not a Manchester United supporter...earlier in the season I was like almost everyone else believing this could really be Liverpool's time. Really, even former Liverpool player and currently a pundit for the BBC in Alan Hansen (who famously once said that you do not win anything with kids) even once wrote in his column believing the same thing too. But even as a United supporter, there are Liverpool matches which stood out for me this season.
For long, Chelsea's Stamford Bridge was a fortress. No team which played at their ground will be able to get away with all the three points. My club (Manchester United) almost did it this season but, we were denied by an eventual equaliser. Along came Liverpool. This was when Luiz Felipe Scolari was still the manager at Chelsea. 1-0 in the end...but to Liverpool. Chelsea's proud home record had been smashed. Liverpool gave the other clubs the belief that if they were able to win at Chelsea's own backyard, it is possible for the others to do so. That match which Liverpool totally thrashed my club 4-1. It came in the wake of them thrashing Real Madrid in the Champions League 4-0 in the second-leg of the last 16 of the tournament. Other incredible Liverpool matches include the 4-4 draw against Arsenal at home which almost all but end their title chase, but before that...there was the away loss at Middlesbrough (2-0) which for a moment gave the struggling side a shot in the arm that there is still hope for them in the league, then the times when Liverpool were on a scoring spree like when they were away at Newcastle (5-1, with a Steven Gerrard-inspired side) and hosting Aston Villa (5-0).
But even the times when Liverpool looked like they were on a roll, it was due to the performances of striker Fernando Torres (how his performance against my club in the 4-1 thrashing...something which United defender Nemandja Vidic would not forget given there was shades of the Euro 2008 final and the Germans will always remember how Torres ended Germany's hopes of a title) and club captain Steven Gerrard. But if either one or the two are not in action or not on form, then Liverpool will not become of a sudden world-beaters. After Robbie Keane was sold back to Tottenham Hotspur, questions were raised whether Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez would live to regret that happening. Judging how the season went for the Reds eventually, a 'yes' for me. There are also the times I wondered whether Liverpool looked like a Jeykll and Hyde side. They were just so good in Europe but in the league...they were not. Then there were the talk that Benitez is one who controls everything, even right down to the tactical side of things. For those who remembered his time in Spain, it was not that really surprising in regards to how Benitez is like.
For long, the common thinking in English football is that the England job is the 'impossible job'. But the managerial changes at Chelsea this season had led to the thinking that maybe it is the Chelsea job is the new poisoned chalice in English football. Chelsea began the season with much hope with Luiz Felipe Scolari as the man in charge and for a while, Chelsea were playing like Brazil. The club became much loved again. But only just. Alarm bells were ringing when the club was lying fourth in the league. Then there was all sorts of reports of players not agreeing to what the manager was doing. For whatever the reason it may be, the former World Cup-winning coach (Scolari won it in 2002 with his native Brazil) was shown the door in February. In came...Guus Hiddink.
But hang on a minute. The Dutchman who is also the coach of the Russian national team is only doing it until the end of the English footballing season. He is doing it out of his friendship for the man who reportedly pays his salary as Russia coach in Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. Each time Guus Hiddink repeatedly emphasised that he will be off when the season ended, the question kept popping up on will he stay on beyond the current season. That is due to Hiddink bringing in the good vibes at the club once again with the players wanting him to stay on. And for a moment, Chelsea looked like they were also in the hunt for the Premier League title under the Dutchman who is well-liked wherever he goes in his coaching career. But when Hiddink ruled his side out of the race, the FA Cup became the Dutchman's aim. Chelsea did eventually won the FA Cup, and Hiddink left the club with a silverware before he became fully concentrate on his Russia job. Whether Carlo Ancelotti will be able to live up to expectations remains to be seen.
But until then, there were four Chelsea matches this season stood out...for me, that is. Guus Hiddink winning it in his debut, away at Newcastle (2-0). The Midas touch is definitely there. Then there was the one against West Ham (1-1), given it is Chelsea receiving a fan favourite who is sitting at the dugout for the Hammers in Gianfranco Zola. The home match against Bolton is another noteworthy match...4-3 was the final result, and for a moment Chelsea looked they were cruising to their four-goal lead. Bolton cut it...but almost just, and Hiddink was not amused at the defensive lapses his side had. The final one...away at Arsenal, and winning it 4-1. That came in the backdrop both Chelsea and Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals, both being eliminated in very different manner.
For the first time this season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had been heavily criticised for what he has done. For all the rivalry he has with his Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson, Ferguson once stood up for Wenger ahead both their sides playing in the first-leg of the Champions League semi-final. By referring to how United were almost becoming a shadow of their former selves, Ferguson told the press this, "Don't forget, you lot [the media] had me at the door three years ago. You had me in my bath-chair down on Torquay beach." But even way before those comments, when speaking on France Football magazine after Arsene Wenger had been named coach of the year in his native France, he was frustrated at the barrage of criticisms at his way. Wenger's army of critics kept emphasising that his youth policy is simply not working at all. But that did not deter for a period of time, the constant rumours of Cesc Fabregas being linked back with a move to his native Spain especially to his former club Barcelona and there were admiring glances from the Spanish capital when he was being linked to the Real Madrid job with the now-Real president Florentino Perez a fan of his work.
But does it occur to one's mind that before a certain Andrey Arshavin arrived from Zenit St. Petersburg, Arsenal were having a string of injuries? And among them was when captain Cesc Fabregas (he only inherited it after William Gallas openly criticised his team-mates at Arsenal, though Gallas never specify whom he was aiming his criticisms at) had a long injury layoff after irony of ironies, his international team-mate at Liverpool in Xabi Alonso clashed with him both their clubs were playing at the Emirates Stadium. For a brief period of time, football fans were celebrating the return of Brazilian-born Croatian international Eduardo when he finally featured in the FA Cup tie against Hull City because it was thought that he may never come back again after a harsh tackle on him last season when Arsenal was playing Birmingham City. Now he is on the sidelines, again. But other than that when most of the Arsenal regulars were back in action, it also came at a time when Arshavin managed to settle himself into the fast-paced world of English football. It was soon acknowledged that his arrival was the best thing that ever happened to Arsenal this season when it looked like they were out of a Champions League qualification spot which Aston Villa were holding on to for some time.
Apart from the two stand-out Arsenal matches which I mentioned in my first part of the look-back special (the 4-4 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby back in last October, the 4-4 draw away at Liverpool which all but ended Liverpool's title hopes), there were also others too. While Chelsea managed to bounce back from their Champions League misery by beating them 4-1, it made Arsenal's time looked more worse. Aston Villa's famously beating the Gunners 2-0 at their own backyard coming at a time when Villa had not managed to beat Arsenal at their own backyard for a long time, the famous 2-1 home loss to newly-promoted Hull City which saw Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger really fed-up after the match. And like Liverpool, Arsenal for a period of time this season looked like a Jekyll and Hyde side. Rising to the occasion against sides which are of the same calibre as them, but not so at the so-called lesser sides. At the beginning of when the criticisms of Wenger was almost being heated up in the English press, along came their 2-1 home win over Manchester United which silenced just about everyone who had criticised Arsenal and Arsene Wenger.
For all the injuries Everton had this season, they managed to end the season with being fifth in the standings. While the top three in the Premier League head to the Champions League group stage proper with Arsenal having to play in the qualifiers, Everton are off to the UEFA Europa League. Even their FA Cup loss to Chelsea was not affected because the fifth-best side in the Premier League is still in the Europa League next season anyway. But really, considering when Everton manager David Moyes is also named the Manager of the Year...the club is an example that sometimes one do not need a wealthy financial backer to go places. Marouane Fellaini was the most stand-out signing (and it is not due to his Afro hair-do but really, that is his hair-do) with the Toffees still banking on their academy players to make it to the senior side with people like Dan Gosling (he was the one who scored in Everton's FA Cup replay against Liverpool), Leon Osman, Jack Rodwell. But then, it has been Everton way of doing things considering probably the most famous alumni is now at Manchester United - Wayne Rooney.
Aston Villa was the club which make strides in the first-half of the season with people thinking they could really be breaking up the monopoly of the 'Big Four'. It also resulting in a number of Villa players in the England squad, but since then...it is people like Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott being noticed and earning their way into the England squad. Everton's run towards the final stretch of the Premier League season helped matters. It was not always the case with Everton. The 'People's Club' only managed to stabilised their league standings when David Moyes arrived at the club. That was in 2002, and since then he is third-longest serving manager in the English top-flight after Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger. When considering the cut-throat world of Premier League management, Moyes is actually in a good position with a supportive chairman Bill Kenwright behind him.
For me, the stand-out Everton matches...it has to be their matches against Aston Villa this season. It was a 3-2 loss when they hosted Villa, considering when it looked like they would get a draw only for Villa to win it at almost the last minute...and this was after Everton scored one seconds before that! Then there is the 3-3 draw away as well.
