English Premier League Season Recap – Man U wins again, Newcastle relegated

The English Premier League 2008/09 season has finished with Manchester United retaining for the trophy and Newcastle United, West Bromwich Albion, and Middlesbrough all being relegated. Liverpool had an early lead over Man U but couldn’t hold on and ultimately ended in 2nd place. Fulham enjoyed a terriffic season with a 7th place finish that will give them a Europa League spot for next season. Aston Villa was dreaming of a Champions League spot only to crumble the last few months. Here’s the recap of this past season.

Manchester United champions again

During the halfway point, Liverpool looked to have a strong chance at challenging Man U and holding onto their lead. However, Sir Alex Ferguson and his players closed the season emphatically and won the league trophy again. This team had a few hiccups, including a couple losses in March, but won the matches when it really counted. Cristiano Ronaldo has now won several EPL titles, a Champions League title, and could be heading to Real Madrid in the offseason. With Ronaldo likely to leave, can Man U repeat? As long as SAF is managing the team, they will have as good a chance as any other club to lift the league trophy. The one bad thing about repeat champions is that it is a bit boring and a win from Liverpool would provide a little boost into the league. It’s not good if the Premier League turns predictable.

Fulham turn it around

The past few seasons saw Fulham struggle to stay alive but manager Roy Hodgson has the club on the right track. A 7th place finish and Europa League spot has been a remarkable turnaround from previous seasons. Fulham were one of the best defensive teams in the league, and were able to rely on a strong showing at Craven Cottage. Can this team have any success in Europe? They will have to get more depth which will mean spending some money. With a busy schedule for next season, can they continue their rise up the Premier League table?

The top 4 remain the same

Aston Villa looked to be the team to crack the top 4 as they were above Arsenal at the half-way point. However, the team fell apart and the usually top 4 of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Man U remains the same. This is one of the problems with the EPL and most European soccer leagues, that the teams who will finish in the top of the table are very predictable. These are usually the biggest spenders and can outspend a team like Villa, Fulham, or West Ham. If the league wants competitive balance (and maybe it doesn’t, who knows) then there have to be some changes made. Salary caps, a luxury tax, or something should help the smaller clubs. However, this seems unlikely to occur anytime soon so the top 4 will probably remain the same.

Newcastle, WBA, and Boro relegated

It’s a sad day for the Toon Army who will see Newcastle play in the Championship next season. Newcastle have no one to blame but themselves are they continually underacheive even with having more resources than most EPL clubs. West Brom is not a surprise as they were just promoted and had a noticably weak squad. The best the club can hope for is to win an automatic promotion spot and somehow avoid relegation in the Premier League. Middlesbrough have struggled for a few seasons and did not finish the season strong. Overall, all these teams didn’t get the points they needed and Newcastle not in the Premier League is funny and sad. Which of these teams will be promoted if any after next year?

2008/2009 English Premiership Table
			Overall							Home						Away
RK		TEAM	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA		W	D	L	GS	GA		W	D	L	GS	GA		GD	P
1		Manchester United	38	28	6	4	68	24		16	2	1	43	13		12	4	3	25	11		44	90
2		Liverpool	38	25	11	2	77	27		12	7	0	41	13		13	4	2	36	14		50	86
3		Chelsea	38	25	8	5	68	24		11	6	2	33	12		14	2	3	35	12		44	83
4		Arsenal	38	20	12	6	68	37		11	5	3	31	16		9	7	3	37	21		31	72
5		Everton	38	17	12	9	55	37		8	6	5	31	20		9	6	4	24	17		18	63
6		Aston Villa	38	17	11	10	54	48		7	9	3	27	21		10	2	7	27	27		6	62
7		Fulham	38	14	11	13	39	34		11	3	5	28	16		3	8	8	11	18		5	53
8		Tottenham Hotspur	38	14	9	15	45	45		10	5	4	21	10		4	4	11	24	35		0	51
9		West Ham United	38	14	9	15	42	45		9	2	8	23	22		5	7	7	19	23		-3	51
10		Manchester City	38	15	5	18	58	50		13	0	6	40	18		2	5	12	18	32		8	50
11		Wigan Athletic	38	12	9	17	34	45		8	5	6	17	18		4	4	11	17	27		-11	45
12		Stoke City	38	12	9	17	38	55		10	5	4	22	15		2	4	13	16	40		-17	45
13		Bolton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	41	53		7	5	7	21	21		4	3	12	20	32		-12	41
14		Portsmouth	38	10	11	17	38	57		8	3	8	26	29		2	8	9	12	28		-19	41
15		Blackburn Rovers	38	10	11	17	40	60		6	7	6	22	23		4	4	11	18	37		-20	41
16		Sunderland	38	9	9	20	34	54		6	3	10	21	25		3	6	10	13	29		-20	36
17		Hull City	38	8	11	19	39	64		3	5	11	18	36		5	6	8	21	28		-25	35
18		Newcastle United	38	7	13	18	40	59		5	7	7	24	29		2	6	11	16	30		-19	34
19		Middlesbrough	38	7	11	20	28	57		5	9	5	17	20		2	2	15	11	37		-29	32
20		West Bromwich Albion	38	8	8	22	36	67		7	3	9	26	33		1	5	13	10	34		-31	32