Sunday 13 May 2018

What a Ride Its Been


The final touches were put on another spectacular Premier League season on Sunday. While there was very little surprise where the title would eventually end up for much of the season, the world's most competitive league still delivered as it excited football fans.

With that, let's take a trip down memory lane to look back at some of individuals, events and story lines that made this season so special.

KING MAKER

Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City in 2016 with a lot of expectation behind him, but things didn't pan out as expected as City proved to be inconsistent after the first nine games of the season. City disappointedly finished in third. That looked to have served as a learning curve for the Spaniard as the ex Barcelona manager polished off the rough edges and made some new acquisitions in the summer.

Even more importantly, individual player performances improved exponentially which translated into better all-around performances as a team as the blue half of Manchester blazed a path to glory the likes of which have yet to be seen in English football.

This culminated in Guardiola and his men securing a league and cup double and handing the Man City boss his seventh league title in a third different country.

RECORD BREAKERS


What can be said of Manchester City that hasn't been said this season? Not only did the Cityzens secure a third league title in six seasons, but they did it in style as they seemingly broke every record under the sun.

City became the first side to accumulate 100 points in the Premier League, set a new record for the most number of goals scored in a season with a 106, set a new record of longest win streak in the league with 18 consecutive wins, had the most number of wins and won more matches away from home than any other team.

Effectively, City threw down the gauntlet for the rest of the league, and in the process set down a new marker for the definition of greatness.

What's even more astonishing is how much City have improved in the span of just a season and if this season is anything to by it looks like City are just getting started meaning they could go on to even improve on some their feats from this season.

THE RISE OF KING MO SALAH

Coming out of the summer Mohamed Salah proved to be the signing of the season when he swapped the Stadio Olympico for Anfield. The Egyptian proved to be an absolute gem as he finished the season with 44 goals in total, and should be favourite for a Balon D'Or, but more importantly he's proven instrumental to Liverpool's campaign as the Reds finished in fourth.

Salah also scooped a host of individual accolades as he won the PFA Player of the year, FWA Footballer of the Year, Liverpool Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Year as well as the league's golden boot.

Those accolades pale in comparison as the Egyptian set the record for the most number of goals in a Premier League after scoring 32 goals. And this was done as Salah scored against 17 opponents he faced throughout the season.

END OF AN ERA

In what will probably the one of the biggest talking points of the 2017/18 season, Arsene Wenger announced his retirement as the manager of Arsenal in 2018. This brought an end to a career that spanned 22 years winning 17 trophies in the process.

The decision was long overdue as the results at Arsenal have been gradually backsliding as they've made their worst finishes in the Premier League over the last two seasons.

LOOK WHO'S HEADING TO EUROPE

A Premier League season is can't  be complete without an underdog story. This season it was Burnley who upset the odds as they first stunned champions Chelsea at the Bridge on the opening day of the season.

The Clarets would go on marching to  beat of that drum as they finsihed in seventh behind Arsenal, an astounding feat for a club recently promoted to league just last season and with limited resources.

That seventh place finish now means that Burnley will compete in the play-off round of Europa League marking an end to 51-year wait to make an appearance in European competition.

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