Mourinho sacked by Manchester United
The Special One isn’t looking so special now. Mourinho was sacked by United in December at which point they were 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool. United had managed a measly 26 points from 17 games at the time of Mourinho’s departure, which was their worst tally at that point since the 1990-1991 season.
There were rumours swirling around about a fall out with some of the top players such as Paul Pogba, who posted a cryptic message to Twitter seemingly in support of Mourinho’s firing, before being deleted shorty after. In stepped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker manager, who steadied the ship significantly… at least at first.
Ole’s at the wheel?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over the reigns as caretaker at the Premier League’s most decorated club and everything was going swimmingly at first. The club went on a twelve-unbeaten run in the league and fans rejoiced as they believed Ole was bringing United back to their glory days.
The Norwegian signed a three year contract to make him the permanent manager at the end of March and that’s when everything started to go wrong. United managed only one win from their next six league fixtures, with a 4-0 hammering to Everton being the low point. When Ole took over United were 19 points off the top. With one game to go the club now find themselves 29 points behind.
Two horse race
It’s been clear for a long time now that Manchester City and Liverpool were the only two sides in contention for this year’s title. With a game to go there is a staggering 23 point gap between second placed Liverpool and third placed Chelsea. Spurs were still within a chance at Christmas time but a serious drop in form saw them quickly fall out of contention.
Only a point separates the top two sides as it looks to be the closest finish since Man City beat their red rivals to the title on goal difference seven years ago. Liverpool were favourites to claim a first league title since 1990 at Christmas time, but a slight dip in form was all that City needed to edge in front and look set to finish the job with a game to go.
Wolves arrive on the scene
Undoubtedly the surprise package of the year, Wolverhampton Wanderers have secured a seventh place finish in the Premier League after being promoted from the Championship just last year. They’ve won 16 games so far with a game to go and have beaten top six sides such as Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Man United.
The club won the Championship convincingly last season with nine points to spare but few could have predicted the West Midlands club would perform so well in the Premier League. They’re the only freshly promoted side to survive this year, with fellow newcomers Cardiff City and Fulham returning to the Championship for next season.
A year of tragedy
It was a tough year for two Premier League clubs for reasons much bigger than football.
Five people were killed in a helicopter crash shortly after taking off from the King Power Stadium, including club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. The helicopter crashed in the car park about 200m away from the stadium.
Fans laid flowers and scarves outside of the stadium the following day to commemorate those who had died in the crash. Around 10,000 fans took part in a memorial walk before Leicester played their next home game against Burnley.
Tragedy also struck Cardiff City with the untimely death of Emiliano Sala, who passed away following a plane crash while on his way to finalise his transfer from Nantes.
The wreckage of the aircraft was found thirteen days after the crash on the seabed of the English Channel, along with Sala’s body.
A private fund was set up to search for the wreckage by his family as well as a GoFundMe started by Sports Cover, an agency that represented Sala, with raised over £280,000. Sala’s funeral was held in his hometown of Progreso, Argentina on the 16th of February, 2019.
Fulham’s heavy investment fails to pay off
Fulham splashed out on 12 players during the summer which cost them over £100 million, but failed to save themselves from relegation. On paper, Fulham had accumulated a strong side that should have been in able to stay in the Premier League for next season, but it wasn’t to be for the London side.
They have been in good form in recent weeks, winning three of their last four league clashes but it was too little too late as they are still ten points from safety with one game remaining. It just goes to show that big money signings aren’t always enough to result in a successful season.
Liverpool’s new shot stopper
It would be harsh to say that Liverpool didn’t have a good season last year but after their first-choice keeper Loris Karius made a few high-profile errors, many felt that what Liverpool were missing was a top-class goalkeeper.
Liverpool broke the bank for Brazilian keeper Alisson Becker, who they signed for a record-breaking £65 million from Roma. The signing has been a huge success, with Alisson keeping a clean sheet in 20 Premier League fixtures this year. Whether he has helped them to the title remains to be seen.
Written by Eoin Harte
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