Season Review: Higher Mid Table (6th - 10th)

6th: Chelsea
Points: 64 Won: 18 Drawn: 10 Lost: 10 GS: 65 GC: 46 GD: 19

Chelsea will miss Drogba's presence on and off the field next
season
The year started off full of expectation back in August, but soon fizzled out into disappointment under the leadership of Andre Villas-Boas. The dressing room had lost their confidence in the manager, and the fans and the board had rapidly lost their patience with an under achieving Chelsea side. After a miserable night in Naples where senior figures Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole were dropped, this proved to be the final straw. AVB consequently got the chop, and Chelsea's fortunes were transformed under Roberto Di Matteo. Di Matteo guided Chelsea to an FA cup win, and most importantly the Champions League final after heroic comebacks against Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Di Matteo performed a miracle in the Cup competitions, but was unable to prevent Chelsea finishing the lowest they have done for 10 years. Despite this disappointing domestic finish, the season turned out to be a huge success as Di Matteo secured Abramovich's long term ambition of winning the Champions League. After acquiring the signatures of Hazard, Marin and possibly Hulk for next season, Chelsea are sure to be a force to be reckoned with once again next year.

Overall Rating 8/10
Star Man: Didier Drogba

7th: Everton
Points: 56 Won: 15 Drawn: 11 Lost: 12 GS: 50 GC: 40 GD: 10

Everton's midfield maestro, Steven Pienaar
David Moyes has overseen another solid season as Everton boss, but the Evertonians may start to get a bit agitated that the team isn't making considerable progress. However, with players such as Steven Pienaar in the ranks, the team has a considerable amount of creativity in which Everton fans have enjoyed for the last few seasons. Although Everton were slow coming out the blocks once again, they soon found their stride and slowly crept up the table. They finished in 7th place, 1 place above their Arch rivals Liverpool. By finishing above their rivals for the first time since 2005, this made Everton's season better then usual, and Everton fans will revel in finally being able to call themselves the best team in Merseyside for the first time since their title winning sides in the 80's.

Overall Rating: 6/10
Star Man: Steven Pienaar

8th: Liverpool
Points: 52 Won: 14 Drawn: 10 Lost: 14 GS: 47 GC: 40 GD: 7

Despite his erratic finishing, Luis Suarez's trickery and flair has
 been vital to Liverpool this season
Like Chelsea, the season started full of expectation, and seemed to be going according to plan until around December. They were sitting in 6th place, and were within reach of the Champions League places. But Kenny Dalglish oversaw the worst run In Liverpool history, as Liverpool went 7 league games without a win, which resulted in them losing their grip in a return to the Champions League. Whereas Defence was strong, Attack was weak, and high money transfers Jordan Henderson, Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing proved to be massive flops. Although they triumphed in the Carling Cup and reached the FA cup final, their league form was unforgiveable, particularly their home form. They only won 5 games out of their 19 home games, meaning Liverpool fans often went home miserable. This was enough to see Kenny Dalglish sacked, but Liverpool fans will once again start the season in high spirits due to the appointment of former Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers. If Rodgers can install his 'sexy football' style of play into Liverpool, then surely both performance and results would improve. But remember, this is Liverpool. The laughing stock of English football in recent years. Can they finally rid of this infamous title next season?

Overall Rating: 3/10
Star Man: Luis Suarez


9th: Fulham
Points: 52 Won: 14 Drawn: 10 Lost: 14 GS: 48 GC: 51 GD: -3

Fulham's American star, Clint Dempsey
Fulham have returned to the highs that they were at under Roy Hodgson, and Fulham fans would be celebrating in an extremely successful season with former Spurs boss Martin Jol in charge. With the inspired signings of Moussa Dembele and Bryan Ruiz, Fulham now possess the flair on their ranks that they have been lacking for a number of years. Hangeland has been his ever imperious self, and Clint Dempsey has been a revelation, finishing 4th in the scoring charts by scoring 17 goals in the Premier League this season. This incredible scoring record has attracted attention from England's top clubs, and deservedly so. After expressing his ambition to play in the Champions League, Arsenal have been alerted to his availability, as have Liverpool. Dembele is also attracting attention from Chelsea, and if Fulham lose these two, I'd be extremely worried if I were a Fulham fan for next season.

Overall Rating: 7/10
Star Man: Clint Dempsey

10th: West Bromwich Albion
Points: 47 Won: 13 Drawn: 8 Lost: 17 GS: 45 GC: 52 GD: -7
Chris Brunt has been inspirational in West Brom's highest
finish in the Premier League since its formation

Roy Hodgson has led West Brom to another comfortable mid table, a huge success as West Brom were once considered a 'ping pong' team, due to their frequent promotions and relegations to and from the Premier League. But Hodgson has managed to create an established Premier League club, with players such as Chris Brunt, Odemwingie and Ollson proving to be excellent signings. But now West Brom face a massive challenge with Hodgson departing as boss, and it is unlikely that they'll be able to find a manager that is any where near as successful as Hodgson has been. If replaced by someone without experience and adequate managerial capabilities, West Brom will definitely be flirting with danger next season. But that is in the future, and West Brom will be another team who will be left very happy by their exploits this season.

Overall Rating 7/10
Star Man: Chris Brunt

Final League Table: 6th - 10th

6(CL)Chelsea3818101065461964
7Everton3815111250401056
8(EL)Liverpool381410144740752
9Fulham381410144851-352
10West Bromwich Albion38138174552-747

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

(GOLF) BMW PGA Championship Betting Tips

Image
BMW PGA Championship Betting Tips Last year's champion, Chris Wood *Odds provided by Sky Bet Fransesco Molinari - 14/1:  The Italian recorded four straight top nine finishes in Virginia Water between 2012 - 2015, before a T55 finish last year snapped that streak. He has been in great form recently which suggests he could record another high finish this week, having finished in a T6 at The Players Championship in his last start. Chris Wood - 33/1:  The defending champion should not be ruled out for winning the title two years in a row. In addition to his win here in 2016, he finished in a T4 in 2015 and a T21 in 2014. In his last solo start just over a month ago, he finished in a T4 at the Volvo China. At 33/1 he represents great value. Shane Lowry - 40/1:  Lowry was one of the favourites to lift the title last year, but crumbled on the first two days, leading to a disappointing missed cut. However, in the past five years before that, he had recorded...
Read more

Eastleigh 6-4 CPR All Stars

This afternoon, CPR, a team who have only played 4 games together to date, came up against an academy side who train day in, day out, week in, week out. Eastleigh, a team who's first team play in the 6th tier of English football, were the opponents for the second round of the Hampshire county cup, and on paper; were expected to smash us. The team lined up as follows: GK: Kevany LB: Barby CB: Hastings CB: Ross RB: Marsh CM: Rolt CM: Adolphous LM: Finlay RM: Stroud CF: Rice ST : McMillan Subs: Parslow, Honeywood, Nott, Dunnage The only absentee for the big game was Lloyd-Bisley, who has been ruled out for around 6 weeks with a broken foot. But his absence was covered by the returning Dunnage, who had shaken off a groin injury, and Honeywood, who was also making his first appearance since his move from Nottingham . Curley Park would've been forgiven for sitting back and absorbing pressure, but they got off to an electrifying start to break the deadlock after only 2 m...
Read more

Arsenal in talks to sell midfielder to Serie A club

Image
Lucas Torreira's time at Arsenal looks as if it is coming to an end. The Uruguayan signed for the Gunners in 2018 in a £26m move from Sampdoria. He quickly became a fan-favourite with some combative performances in the middle of the park. However, he failed to build on his promising start and was only used sparingly by Mikel Arteta at the back end of the 2019/20 season. And now, acording to Sky Sports , the Spanish manager is looking to cash in on the 24-year-old. Arsenal are reportedly in talks with Torino over a season long loan move for Torreira. The Serie A club would then have the option to make the move permanent. Torino would pay Arsenal £22m over two instalments. Fiorentina are also believed to be interested in his services. The funds acquired for selling Torreira could then go to signing a replacement. Arsenal have been linked with Atletico's Thomas Partey in the last few months. Atletico will only let the Ghanaian leave if Arsenal activate his £45m release clause. It ...
Read more