Like millions of football fans around the world, I made my season predictions at the beginning of the season (if you want to see how bad they were you can read them here), so nine months later here I am, to sum up how they and the season in general went. This season has been one of highs and lows for fans of all teams, and as an Arsenal fan, I can definitely relate!
My pre-season predictions followed these trends of highs and lows, although mainly lows, with me predicting Manchester United to win the title, Spurs and Liverpool missing out on Champions League football and Aguero winning the Golden Boot, among more successful predictions like Middlesbrough and Hull to go down, Newcastle to go up and Guardiola to struggle in his first season in the Premier League. The logic behind some of my predictions was clearly misplaced, however, I probably wasn’t the only football fan to write off the chances of Chelsea, who let us remember had just achieved a 10th place finish the season before. The Blues’ early season form, especially being systematically taken apart at the Emirates in September, meant that it looked like this would continue. Yet, Conte’s tactical change to a back three, which wasn’t surprising when you take into account this is the way that he set up with Juventus and Italy, changed their season.
Conte’s tactical nous, the renaissance of Eden Hazard and the performances of N’golo Kante are seen as the driving forces for Chelsea’s title win, however, the true unsung hero of the campaign for me is known among Chelsea fans as Dave, and to everyone else as Cesar Azpilicueta. A Premier League ever-present this season, Azpilicueta looked comfortable in this new system, despite being a natural full back and therefore unaccustomed to playing in a back three, finishing the season second to Kante in the number of interceptions and tackles for Chelsea this season. It’s no surprise to me that Chelsea’s Spanish defender is being targeted by Barcelona and Real Madrid in his homeland, this season he was far and away the league’s best defender.
From the early weeks of the season, it looked like blue would remain the colour of the ribbons on the Premier League trophy, however, after ten games and ten wins, it looked like it would be the sky blue of Manchester City that adorned the trophy. In my predictions, I said that City would challenge for the title, however consecutive December losses to the team who would eventually be champions and the last year’s title winners outlined their defensive frailties, which ultimately cost them in the title race. City’s wide midfielders and strikers are probably the strongest in the Premier League, with guaranteed goals in Aguero and assists in De Bruyne, but their star players struggled with form and injuries. Gabriel Jesus also looked like he has huge potential when he played following his arrival in January, and the signing of Bernardo Silva from French champions Monaco for next season means that they have the strongest attack in the league, but just like this season defensive frailties will be what could cost them next season.
As for the other time in Manchester, who I predicted to win the title at the beginning of the season, their season was characterised by the number six, the number on the back of their new world record signing and the position in which they finished at the end of the season. Yet, they won three trophies (admittedly, two of which I’ve called to be scrapped in the past), and as a result got Champions League football, so their season cannot be seen as all bad. But, with a team including the world’s most expensive player, England’s all-time record goalscorer and arguably one of European football’s most consistent strikers, Manchester United should have challenged for the title.
This season has been a rollercoaster, but no more so than Arsenal’s. Following the basic cycle of a year in the red half of North London, until December Arsenal looked like they could challenge for the title, but by February title hopes were gone and the annual thrashing by Bayern Munich had been served. This season, however, didn’t have the ending of the others since 1996, it ended without a top four place and therefore without Champions League football next season. The season may look like a failure now, but history will forget that they finished fifth and only remember that they won the FA Cup, a silver lining to the grey cloud of this season. The same can be said for those who look at Manchester United’s season as a failure, it may not have been as successful as it should have been but in time people will remember the victorious finals rather than the overall league position.
This season’s been one of success for Chelsea, goodbyes for Spurs, and change for Manchester City. One of trophies rather than league success for Manchester United and Arsenal and new highs for the surprise packages of Bournemouth and West Brom, and lows for Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hull. But, for everyone, especially after the events in Manchester this week, it’s been a way of bringing people together.
If next season is anything like the last, then I expect it to be as unpredictable and pulsating as ever. The transfer window will probably mean a lot of changes to squads, and managerial changes (including the big question about Arsene Wenger’s future) will also shape next season. I’ll do predictions for next season as well, but they’ll probably follow the same pattern of this season and therefore probably not worth placing a bet on!
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