Premier League Review, Part 1
Snapshots of the best and worst of the season.
Manchester United
Best Player: Nemanja Vidic
Worst Player: Nani
High Point: Finally drawing level with Liverpool on 18 league titles.
Low Point: Losing 4-1 at Old Trafford to Liverpool.
Key Moment: Federico Macheda’s last-minute winner against Aston Villa stopped United’s slide and got their campaign back on track.
One To Watch: Federico Macheda
Most Improved Player: Darren Fletcher
Manager Watch: You can’t criticise Alex Ferguson. English football’s second greatest manager ever.
League Rating: 10/10
Liverpool
Best Player: Steven Gerrard
Worst Player: Andrea Dossena
High Point: Outplaying United at Old Trafford in 4-1 win.
Low Point: 4-4 home draw with Arsenal that effectively ended all chances of a first title since 1990.
Key Moment: Depends how you view their season. Arguably, it was Rafael Benitez signing his new contract, and stabilising the club. Or, perhaps their run of three home draws against average teams.
One to Watch: Emiliano Insúa
Most Improved Player: Dirk Kuyt
Manager Watch: Benitez has appeared to have learned his lessons, with the team playing more attractive football as the season progressed.
League Rating: 8/10
Chelsea
Best Player: Frank Lampard
Worst Player: Deco
High Point: Destroying Arsenal 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Low Point: 3-0 capitulation at Old Trafford, which is possibly the worst Chelsea have played since Jose Mourinho swaggered into the club 5 years ago.
Key Moment: Sacking Felipe Scolari, and bringing in Guss Hiddink, who got Chelsea playing again.
One to Watch: Franco Di Santo
Most Improved Player: Florent Malouda
Manager Watch: Scolari was arguably never given enough time, but his team was a joke. Hiddink galvanised the club, and almost made them popular.
League Rating: 6/10
Arsenal
Best Player: Cesc Fabregas
Worst Player: Emmanuel Eboué
High Point: Winning 2-1 at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s second home defeat in a matter of weeks.
Low Point: 4-1 home hammering by Hiddink’s resurgent Chelsea.
Key Moment: The 2-0 loss at Stoke in November confirmed what we already knew: Arsenal can’t play against teams who mix it.
One to Watch: Jack Wilshere
Most Improved Player: Theo Walcott
Manager Watch: Although it’s not allowed to criticise Arsene Wenger, his arrogance has once again left Arsenal without a trophy. That’s 4 years and counting...
League Rating: 5/10
Everton
Best Player: Joleon Lescott
Worst Player: Lars Jacobsen
High Point: Finally clambering over Aston Villa to get into 5th place for the second season in a row.
Low Point: 3-0 home defeat against Portsmouth in August.
Key Moment: David Moyes finally committing his future to the club seemed to settle the team as they pushed for Europe.
One to Watch: Dan Gosling
Most Improved Player: Phil Neville
Manager Watch: David Moyes continues to overachieve on a relatively modest budget. But can he take this team any further?
League Rating: 9/10
At the star of the season, I, along with many other esteemed football personalities and journalists made predictions. Here is how my predictions compared with those of FourFourTwo Magazine, Setanta Sport’s Steve McManaman and the Sunday Tribune’s Miguel Delaney.
Me: 1/5
FourFourTwo: 0/5
Steve McManaman: 1/5
Miguel Delaney: 1/5
...more reviews to come soon!
By: Ciaran Leinster
Photo: thinboyfatter
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