Chris Maduewesi
Member
It has been a fascinating season laden with intrigues,and would rank as one of the best seasons so far in the Premier League era.
With just one more game remaining before the league wraps up,it is not cast on stone that #ManchesterCity have already won the competition,though you can't cast aspersions either on them not winning it.
A scenario of the 2011/2012 season could be on the horizon again with Manchester City likely going to need the last kick of the game to guarantee a second title win in three years.
A point is more than enough for Manuel #Pellegrini's men to be crowned champions,how Liverpool would now be cursing that 3-3 draw against Crystal Palace on Monday.
A win in that game for Liverpool would have set up an edgy encounter,although West Ham(with nothing to fight for) beating Manchester City at the Etihad stadium really looks like a tall order.
So in this write up,with the exception of Manchester City we try to look at each team that could have won the Premier league title and also the number of days that they spent topping the table.
Manchester United:
Yes!#ManchesterUnited! Come to think of it,are they not the reigning(maybe let's start calling them former) champions? It is only natural that prior to the start of the season they should be named amongst the favourites.
But David #Moyes from the onset didn't settle into the enormity of coaching Manchester United which led to his eventual sack. However,nobody would have been able to predict successfully that they would finish out of the #ChampionsLeague qualification zone,not to talk of even missing out entirely on Europe.
Yes such was the nature of United's season,that it seemed almost impossible to believe that they will end up in seventh position(champions for that matter)
If they win their last game against Southampton tomorrow,United will finish the league with the best away record,if only it could be exchanged for Champions League qualification.
Sadly it can't and they will have to bear their fate.
Well it might not worth anything now, but United spent just two days at the top of the table and afterwards never came close.
Chelsea:
Talk of Chelsea and what mirrors in your subconscious is the image of their Portuguese tactitian Jose Mourinho.
How he would be regretting once likening his team to :''a little horse'' learning how to jump. Maybe if he had left it at just horse,it would have be fine because his statements seemed like they came back to haunt #Chelsea.
The distressing fact about Chelsea this season,is that they cancelled out all the big guys but didn't seem to find a formula to tame the smaller teams.
If only Chelsea had won games against Aston Villa and Sunderland in the last few weeks of the season,maybe the title would have been heading to the Bridge.
They were in the running for the league title right from day one and spent 64 days on top of the league table.
#Mourinho constantly moaned about his lack of strikers,but where could Chelsea have been if they hadn't loaned out Romelu Lukaku who was a force for Everton this season.
Maybe if Juan Mata was not shipped out to Manchester United,Chelsea would have had some creativity when Oscar lost form.
Chelsea not winning this title boils down sorely to some of the wrong decisions they made this season at some point,because they had everything needed to do so.
Arsenal
How best can you explain that #Arsenal spent more days on top of the league but ended up not winning it.
In fact many believed that this was the year Arsenal would break their duck and win the Premier League title,alas it was not to be as they bottled it and the wait goes on for another year.
Arsenal recovered from a slow start and more than the other teams spent 128 days topping the table,well they faltered by the way side and will now be contented with finishing in their regular position in recent years,fourth.
Fair play to Arsenal,injuries did not help their cause. Aaron #Ramsey's injury halted their progress this season,but didn't they have the transfer windows to draft reinforcements?
The buy of Mesut #Ozil gave them a lift,but the German had a penchant of missing in big games that Arsenal needed to win.
It was a season that they shipped in goals in quantum against the big teams: 6-3 against Manchester City,5-1 against Liverpool and a whooping 6-0 against Chelsea;certainly not the making of a team who wants to win the league.
Arsenal's only hope of a silverware now rests on their FA Cup final next week,their fans would hope that Hull City is not Birmingham City in disguise.
Liverpool
Up until two weeks ago,#Liverpool seemed the anointed team to win the Premier League title. Playing with swashbuckling style,they seemed destined to end their 24-year wait for the title.
Brendan #Rodgers team spent 59 days on top of the summit,mostly in the latter part of the season but the manner they capitulated must be hard to swallow for their fans.
Starting with their most important games,they found a way to beat Manchester City but couldn't do the same against Chelsea.
However they pressed the self destruct when they allowed a 3-0 lead slip against Crystal Palace who drew 3-3 with them.
The scene of Luis #Suarez shedding tears would definitely be on the montage for next season and on ads.
Swayed by emotions marking the 25th anniversary of the #Hillsborough disaster the league seemed like an adequate compensation for them to reward those fans who died years ago,but they let it slip.
However they will look at their season and be happy having come back in the Champions League,missing out since 2010.
But it will remain a sour point remembering that up till April,they had everything under control and ended up surrendering it to others.
Manchester City are the biggest beneficiaries,capitalizing where others failed. But kudos to the them,they raked in goals at will and when Sergio #Aguero was missing through injuries Edin #Dzeko and Alvaro #Negredo filled in nicely.
Do you know: that Manchester City have not spent up to 15 days on top of the league? But they will certainly be crowned champions if they just get a draw against West Ham on Sunday.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
