Last August, just ahead of the start of the 2013/14 Premier League season, I previewed the upcoming campaign and stuck my neck out with what I thought would be the final table. It’s now May and another football season is over. (Bring on the World Cup!)
Firstly, what a great season it proved to be. It was just as unpredictable as I, erm, predicted! One thing I did call correctly was the champions. I thought Manchester City’s new signings and manager would improve the club and they did. Manuel Pellegrini turned them into an even more exciting and destructive attacking team, with the right amount of title-chasing know-how to grind out a few wins too.
I half-predicted the rise of Liverpool, expecting them to finish in the Champions League places but not to come so close to topping the table. They played the best football of anyone but ultimately they simply conceded too many goals. I also said that Luis Suarez had ‘burned too many bridges’ at the Reds and should leave. What do I know? I still don’t like him one bit but Suarez’s apparent evolution to a calmer, more mature temperament undoubtedly helped him to an outstanding season with some wonderful goals.
In contrast to Liverpool, Chelsea missed out through lack of goals. I said that Fernando Torres and Demba Ba wouldn’t do it for them and they needed a top striker in order to win the league. They got Samuel Eto’o in but he’s past his best and wasn’t the answer.
I thought Manchester United would struggle, but couldn’t believe just how much they did. For a combination of reasons it didn’t work for David Moyes – his style jarred with ‘the United way’, the players didn’t seem to take to him and perhaps he changed too much too soon. I also feel the players underperformed and that Sir Alex Ferguson left him with an ageing, and frankly not good enough, squad. I said a trophy-less season would be tolerated but ‘Champions League qualification is a must’. That didn’t happen and Moyes is gone – I think the right decision.
My tips for relegation were not as successful as my prediction of champions! I had Crystal Palace, Hull City and Stoke City to go down, and none of them did. Palace seemed certain to at one stage but new manager Tony Pulis came in and saved them – it was a fantastic turnaround and fair play to him. Hull and particularly Stoke simply had decent seasons, and were better than I thought they would be.
I had Cardiff City and Norwich City down as strugglers, but for me the real surprise was Fulham. Looking back, placing them in seventh was probably overambitious, but I still look at them and think they were too good to go down. I’m still not sure how they did with that squad, but they just could not defend.
West Bromwich Albion and Swansea also finished much further down than I thought they would, and Everton higher, but otherwise the rest of my table wasn’t far off. Interestingly, the only other team I got exactly right was fifteenth-placed Aston Villa.
Southampton 2-2 Arsenal, 28 January
Lastly, a word on Southampton. What a phenomenal season! I know it petered out, and there was disappointment at how the FA Cup run ended, but I’d have bitten your hand off for eighth place! The style of football and the emergence of young, English talent really was a joy to behold and a source of such pride. The worry now is Saints becoming a victim of their own success and losing star players, and possibly manager Mauricio Pochettino. For me, selling Luke Shaw but keeping Adam Lallana and the boss would be a hell of a successful summer. We shall see.
I might have another go at predicting next season when it gets nearer, but really the whole beauty of it is in never really knowing what could happen. Bring on 2014/15!
James Andrews 