So Liverpool are not champions of Europe. That is history now as today we have new champions -Bayern Munich. Just had to get that out of my chest. Now to my review of 2019/2020 season, what a ride we have had! A season that had a bit of everything -VAR horrors, drama, winter breaks, COVID breaks, mid breaks in half times, mini-tournament, black lives matter movement -we’ve seen it all.
Manchester City started the defence of their crown picking
up where they left it by demolishing Westham 5-0. This was the first time
in more than a decade that a team was trying to win 3 league titles in a row
since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd achieved the fete in 2007/8, 08/09, 09/10.
The record remains. Pep Guardiola expensively assembled team is more than
capable to replicate this success given the calibre of the players and their
coach who is among the best in the world.
I believe Pep’s biggest undoing is his rigidity. He lost
injury-prone Captain leader Vincent Kompany and failed to replace him. His
standings in defence were not up to standard and they were soon found out.
Otamendi is a disaster in waiting, Fernandinho is a red card away and Ederson
is a false sweeper keeper. John Stones is a typical English defender
-overrated. In the end, his defense cost him the title as his rival Klopp ran
away with the league. Despite his failings at the back, Pep’s Man City were
firing from all cylinders scoring the most goals and breaking the 100-goal
barrier in consecutive seasons. This they did without relying on Aguero who
played a minimal role in the season due to his injuries. Raheem Sterling and
Kevin De Bruyne had stellar seasons individually with their personal best
stats. KDB is arguably the best midfielder in the world. He is reaching his
peak and he needs a Champions League medal so he may not last long at City if
they continue to fail where it matters. It is worth mentioning that Phil Phoden
also had a great season and is one to watch in the coming seasons.
Man City needs a rebuild and I am not sure one transfer season will fix their defense or their ageing squad. David Silva leaves after a 10-year stint in the premier league. Silva was one of the best midfielders in the world only overshadowed by the geniuses of Xavi and Iniesta. In the premier league, he made City tick and was responsible in getting City their maiden premier title and their dominance in recent times. The little magician leaves England with his reputation intact and as a legend. They are even doing a statue for him at Etihad and rightly so as he has been exceptional.
The wait was finally over! 30 years of hurt, disappointment finally came to an end. Liverpool are champions of England. They are now walking with the trophy they wanted most. I chocked a little writing that. It never occurred to me that Liverpool would overturn their fortunes and get back to their perch in my lifetime. From the Gerald slip to Rafa Benitez 18 titles rant, it was all too familiar. Enter Klopp and in a space of 4 years, Liverpool has become a powerhouse. Klopp is a pragmatic coach with the ability to deploy different players to cope with different oppositions without fundamentally changing his tactics. Gegenpressing heavy metal football. Liverpool are the definition of relentless! Never giving up. Their last-minute goals to win games at Villa, Crystal Palace, or that VAR penalty against Leicester ensured they picked points when it mattered. I watched Klopp in his last presser last season when LFC finished a point behind City says that his team just needed perfection to end their trophy wait. As they marched on obliterating every team along the way, it was only a matter of time before they were crowned champions. They broke records, equalled records, and almost became invincible. Liverpool are well and truly back on their perch. Klopp renewed his contract till 2024 and that means we are yet to see more. Klopp is a perfect fit for the Kop and it looks like it was a match made in heaven as they say like two peas in a pod. He has transformed the team from perennial failures to winners. He has made average players become players of the year. That is genius. I honestly think LFC can dominate the next few seasons due to their charismatic coach and his desire to win. Other teams are too far behind with Liverpool finishing 33 points above 3rd placed United, 18 points above City in the just-concluded season. It takes a couple of transfer seasons to bridge the gap with the closest challenger, City requiring an overhaul, Liverpool are here to stay.
Is there a weakness in this team? Maybe, Salah’s selfishness or maybe key injuries to Van Dijk, I cannot see any reason why Liverpool will not win the 2020/2021 season. A lot has been said about Trent Alexander Arnold and Robertson, those two epitomize Liverpool’s tactics and if you can keep them quiet, then you can get a result against them. TAA is brilliant and is just starting to peak. It can only get better. What more can it be said about Van Dijk? A colossus, imperious, leader, impenetrable, such is the character of the man. As long as he stays injury-free, then LFC will win many games with him.
It took a pandemic and historic events to get Liverpool their first premier league title -their 19th title. Their 20th title will not wait 30 years for sure.
Against all odds, United finished 3rd. That in
itself is an achievement of grand proportions given the summer transfer
debacles of Mr Ed Woodward. As a United fan we are accustomed to the failings
of Mr Woodward to the extent that if Pep or Klopp would manage United, they
would still fail. Bruno Fernandes was a transfer that should have happened in
the summer and not in the winter. The player, the agent, and the club was
willing to sell but Ed Woodward just couldn’t agree. In the end, he brought an
expensive defender in Maguire, AWB, and Daniel James. The 3 signings did well in
the first few games but struggled thereafter. Credit to OGS for getting the 3
signings despite Woodward’s shortcomings. Though overpriced, they added a
different dimension to United. Come January and United finally got their man,
Bruno who in my opinion singlehandedly got United to a 3rd place
finish. Bruno is a leader, he was a captain at Sporting and he brought that
leadership that was lacking in United. He came with a winning mentality and got
his teammates back to that attitude. I am not entirely convinced that United
deserved a 3rd place finish, I think other teams shortcomings made
it easy for United. Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea would all finish above United in
the coming seasons if OGS does not learn from this season. OGS lacks the
tactical nous to finish off teams when having a lead, he doesn’t seem to know
what is at stake when the stakes are high, For example, the semifinal FA game
against Chelsea, he drops Pogba and starts De Gea when he had used Sergio in
all FA games up to that point. DDG has a nightmare on goal and United miss out
on a silverware chance which would take these players to the next level. The
current team does not have a genuine taste of success apart from a few and the
club risks losing them if they don’t get silverware soon. This was a genuine chance
for OGS to land his first trophy but he messed it up. I can point also to the Tottenham
game which was the first game after the COVID break and OGS did not start a fit
Pogba who came in later and forced the equalizer. That was 2 points dropped for
United.
What next for United? Get a proper CB, cover for Bruno and a natural number 9 and maybe United have a chance to replicate their success next season by finishing top 4. With no signings, I see a 6th position at best next season as other teams around United have made reinforcements and have a better footballing structure than United.
Much has been said about United and penalties with MUFC now dubbed Penalty FC much to the chagrin of the haters. A record-breaking 13 penalties in a single campaign says one thing about the team - OGS has turned it around from a defensive, boring team to an exciting. offensive team. With VAR being used for the first time in the premier league, it was bound that incorrect decisions would be made and United benefited most than other teams. However, let's keep in mind that penalties are won inside the box so that tells you the number of chances United made this season. I look at it as progress and finally United has a worthy penalty taker in Bruno Fernandes. What wonders what might have been if Rashford, Martial, and Pogba did not miss those penalties given pre-Bruno Fernandes.
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| Chelsea |
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| Tottenham |
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| Arsenal |
Mikel Arteta was appointed mid-way through the season and
has turned around the fortunes of the club. He got them back to shape and has
instilled the winning mentality and that will stand them in good stead. Arteta
beat his mentor Pep deservedly and that was an achievement. Arsenal won the FA Cup for a record 14 times and winning a trophy is always a good thing especially for a new manager. Arteta becomes the first Arsenal coach to win it as a player and a coach. If they keep hold of
Abumayeng they will move up the table and have a shout to finish top 4.
Mourinho took over from Pochettino who was sacked. Pochettino was destined to be sacked after flirting with interest from United and he basically got distracted. It was a self-inflicted sacking. Mourinho at Tottenham is a strange one given he has now coached 3 clubs in England. That has the makings of a failure. Imagine Klopp managing another club in England, that can’t happen and if it did it would mean Klopp is no longer a top coach. The same thing for Mourinho -he has lost his mojo in my opinion, for me, I think he loves England and just wanted a job. I doubt he will be able to reinvent himself and this was proved by not adding much value to the team after taking over. I don’t think he will finish in the top 4 next season because his methods are outdated and his rigidity will always be a hindrance. He needs to adapt to modern football.
Juventus got their 9th title as a mere formality.
They were pushed but it was not enough to dislodge them. The club has the
technical players who can comfortably finish 1st. A club of this
size should concentrate on getting the UCL. Sacking Allegri was a mistake for
me. He got the club to two finals and though he lost, he got the experience and
would eventually triumph given the time. If Liverpool took the same approach,
Klopp would have been sacked for failing to win 2 European finals.
The French league was cancelled due to Covid-19 and the title
awarded to PSG who would still have been champions if they finished the league.
What was referred to as a Farmer’s league still got 2 teams in the final 4 of
the UCL and this will raise the profile of the Ligue and earn them some respect. PSG
came against the well oiled German machine and the brilliant trio of Neymar,
Mbappe and Di Maria would not have stopped the outcome. The experience of
losing a final will help the team moving forward and I think it is a matter of
time before PSG finally gets their hands on the coveted trophy.
Real Madrid won La Liga thanks to an out of sorts Barcelona.
Zidane has an incredible record but I don’t rate him highly as a coach. I think
he is a beneficiary of weak opposition. If faced with strong opposition, I
doubt he will be able to win as easily as he does. That said, winning does help
give you confidence and the more you win the more you get experience. He returned
to coach Real and he got them the title without Cristiano which was a good thing
to shake off the cr7 hangover. Benzema became the main striker and Ramos like
fine wine has aged better as a defender. With Barcelona requiring a rebuild, Real
Madrid has the title in the bag in the next season already. As for Barcelona, they
have been found out and the chickens have come home to roost. Despite Messi’s
consistency in terms of goals and assists, he was not able to stop their
shortcomings. The season ended miserably with an 8-2 demolition in the hands of
European champions Bayern. That was the last straw and Barcelona will need surgery
to recover. That said, the team is not in total disarray as many would believe. Messi's stats from last season were as good as can get. It is unfortunate that as good as the stats were the club finished trophyless for the first time in 12 years. I think the team just needs a proper coach -not sure Koeman is the right man
for the job. They still have some quality players and they should still be able
to redeem themselves. Messi has asked to leave after that last demolition game.
To me, of course not being a fanboy of Messi, I think the man is a spoilt brat
given he buckles under pressure. He retired from the national team when he
failed to win Copa America in a moment of frustration only to change his mind
later. That is a weak mentality. You rise to challenges not run away from them. Messi is as
responsible as the club owners for the mess that is at Barcelona currently.
Messi has acted as the coach, transfer director, president of the club. He
dictates the signings and therefore he has himself to blame. What next for
Messi?!
That rounds up my review of the just-concluded season. In a
couple of days, we go again with the new season with the curtain-raiser of the
community shield between Liverpool and Arsenal. A new season awaits with new
teams coming in from the championship. United now have to contend with not just
the top 6 but Leeds. It can only get tough for OGS. I don’t think he will last
the season especially if the club doesn’t sign players.
See you in a couple of days.
