RECAPITULATION
So far in the last 17
days, we have analyzed the year 2012 of the beautiful game which has been a
spectacular season to behold.
On this note, we kicked
off this series on 14 June, 2012 with the Africa
Cup of Nation (AFCON). Following the AFCON, we further discussed the Ligue
1, Bundesliga,
Serie
A and La
Liga that were published on this
blog on the 17th, 20th, 22nd and 23rd
of June 2012 respectively.
At this point, of the
top rated European leagues, the English Premier League (EPL) is discussed now
and last but it will not be the touchdown point to bring down the curtains on “the
twists and turns of the 2012 “beautiful game” season. This is due to the fact
that two more tournaments will be discussed in due course.
However, my chose of
the English Premier League to be discussed last is guided by the saying save
the best for last.
THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE (EPL)
According to Wikipedia, “the Premier
League ranked first in the Union
of European Football Associations (UEFA) coefficients of leagues based on
performances in European competitions over the last five years, ahead of the
Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A.”
In addition, the EPL is
also rated high with respect to the level of following on television and to
this end, as also revealed by Wikipedia , “the Premier
League is the most watched football league in the world, broadcast in 212
territories to an audience of 643million viewers.” The incredible following by
the EPL is one I have for long heard in my over 8 years of being an ardent
follower of the league and the attitude of my compatriots to the EPL adds
credence to this and makes me proud of being among the over 643million people.
The just concluded
2011/12 season of the League which was the 20th anniversary of the
newly formed FA Premier League was indeed a season to treasure and easily
reminisce which also doubles as adding spice to making the twists and turns of
the 2012 football year much more special in an unprecedented manner.
Among the greatest
events that got the league one to treasure is the twists and turns in the
performance of a host of the teams, notably Arsenal and Wolverhampton.
As at match day 3 on 28
August, 2011 the gunners (Arsenal) had lost 2 matches and drawn one, having a
deficit goals difference of 8. The high goals deficit and worse start of
Arsenal in their Premier league history was mainly attributed to the exit of
club captain Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri whom left to Barcelona and
Manchester City respectively. This depletion in the Arsenal squad got them an
underwhelming performance away to Manchester United in which they were bullied
by 8 goals to 2.
Though Arsenal still
had a couple of below par performance in a few matches, the transfer deadline
acquisition of Mikel Arteta, Yossi Benayoun, Andres Santos, Park Chu - young
and Per Mertesacker, rejuvenated the gunners as subsequent matches got them
having a balance and getting the results to at least shock those whom never
gave them breathing space and wrote them off a champion league qualification, a
notable example these pundits; Tommy Smyth of ESPNsoccernet Press Pass.
On the other hand, though
too early to conclude as at the opening stages, Wolves seemed to be a repented
side as far as late season survival battle is concerned. This is due to the
unusual manner they kicked off the 2011/12 Premier League season in which they
had possibly the best start to their premier league campaign in their
inconsistent and sojourn years in the top flight division. In this regard Wolverhampton
in the first three matches recorded 2 wins and a draw having a surplus/positive
goal difference of 3 which got them placed in 5th position, though
for a very short while with such bright start sojourned, leading to an ironical
ending as they subsequently got 18 points in 35 league matches bidding goodbye
to the premier league pending when they get promoted back to the top flight.
But this was just a tip of the iceberg of the side attraction that made the
2011/12 season more twisting and spellbinding.
However, asides the 8 –
2 whitewash of Arsenal, 19 times Champions Manchester United had a groovy start to the 2011/12 season and a good but
unfortunate ending. That said, Man U as they are fondly called were on the 29th
of October 2011 made to have a feel of how the gunners felt bullied in their
hands, no thanks to the 6 – 1 home defeat they (Man U) suffered in the hands of
Manchester City. A performance that got Manchester City on the lips of more
people as expected League Champions.
As
the league climaxed, the premier league became a two horse race between both
Manchester sides while other teams, notably Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea
and remarkably, Newcastle United were left to fight for the 2012/13 Champions league
spot. Though Chelsea lost out in the race but had a more outstanding way to
qualify for the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League season. To this end, please watch
out for part 7 of this series.
On
Newcastle, though they were not able to get a date with UEFA Champions League but
UEFA Europa League in the forthcoming 2012/13 season, Newcastle United was
impressive, somewhat making me have a flashback to the performance of
Montpellier in the French Ligue
1. The incredible display of football and resilience by
Newcastle United was evident in the award of the Barclays Premier League
Manager of the year to their gaffer, Alan Pardew whom guided the club to 5th
place, their best position in 9 years added to the fact that this is a side
that got relegated in the 2008/09 season further gaining an immediate promotion
in the 2010/11 season where they had a 12th place finish. That said,
the 2011/12 season 5th somewhat of a geometric progression finish of
Newcastle United is indeed a remarkable twists in their once again romance with
the EPL.
Oh,
I forgot, at some point in January Tottenham were also big contenders for the
league title not until they got struggling for form to get the results for the
UEFA Champions Leguae which they ended up losing out due to Chelsea’s historic
UEFA Champions League triumph which I must reiterate will be discussed soon.
At
this juncture, Manchester City winning the league though a twist is not surprising
as it has been long awaited due to what I call the bottomless well investment
since the Abu Dhabi United Group take over in August 2008. That said, since the
Abu Dhabi United Group takeover of Man City, starting with the acquisition of
Robinho from Real Madrid for a reported £32.5million and of recent Sergio
Aguero from Atletico Madrid for £35million, Manchester City has spent over £200million
in the acquisition of players. Others are Edin Dzeko from Wolfsburg at £27m,
SAMIR Nasri from Arsenal at £25. Also, Yaya Toure, James Milner and David Silva
were purchased from Barcelona, Aston Villa and Valencia respectively at £24m
each to mention very few as many other big names are not on the list.
In
the 2008/09 season, the season of takeover, they finished at 10th
place and have since had an ascending finish to the season. To this end, in the
2009/10 season and 2010/11 season, they finished in 5th and 3rd
place respectively, a progressive finish of a kind I call a geometric progression league
position improvement.
That
said, 4 years since takeover, Manchester City have established themselves as a
firm competitor for the Premier league and other trophies which has had a multiplier
effect in them winning 2 trophies (English FA Cup in 2010/11 season and 2011/12
EPL) so far and having a successive UEFA Champions League qualification after
having had their first experience in the 2011/12 season.
But
indeed, the 2012 was closed on a beautiful note with the tenacious performance
of Manchester City whom had to wait till the dying minutes of the game to turn
around what seemed to be a 2 – 1 defeat to 10 man Queens Park Rangers to avoid
ceding the 2011/12 Premier League title to rivals Manchester United that had
their eyes firmly on the trophy having had their 1 nil victory match over
Sunderland concluded a few minutes before the Man City game ended.
Moreover,
what makes this year one to fondly look back at, most especially to the Man
City fans is due to the fact that firstly Man City had to wait 44 years to win
the league title and also the manner in which they clinched the 2011/12 title which
is a déjà vu to the 1967/68 season when they (Man City) had to wait till the
final day to win the league at the expense of Manchester United courtesy a 4 –
3 victory over Newcastle United.
The
dramatic ending to the season with both clubs tied on 89 point but the 64 goals
difference of Manchester City ahead of the 56 by Manchester United made the 20th
anniversary of the EPL worth remembering and no doubt will give more room to
more twists and turns in the forthcoming 2012/13 season, a season I can’t wait
to witness.
Image Source: Google Image
The above image
depicts the victorious Manchester City sequel to their fisrt league title in Eddie,
REFERENCES
“Football
transfers – August 2011” BBC SPORT 25 May 2012 <www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/14365319>
Griffin “Top 10
Most Expensive Football Transfers” Soccer Lens 3 Sep. 2008. 25 May 2012
<soccerlens.com/top-10-most-expensive-transfers-in-football/5244/>
“Manchester
City F.C.” Wikipedia 27 May 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_City_F.C.>
“Premier
League Manager of the Season” Wikipedia 27 June 2012 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_League_Manager_of_the_Season>
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