City makes in 4 in a row, the Villains become heroes, and the gulf widens with the Championship: the Ridley Review turns it’s attention to wrapping up the 2023-24 Premier League season.
Predictions Vs. Reality
Let’s see how my predictions from last year matched up with the real world:
| Team | Actual Finish | My August Predictions (How they relate to actual finish) | Final Points |
| Manchester City | 1 | 1 () | 91 |
| Arsenal | 2 | 3 (1) | 89 |
| Liverpool | 3 | 2 (1) | 82 |
| Aston Villa | 4 | 8 (4) | 68 |
| Spurs | 5 | 10 (5) | 66 |
| Chelsea | 6 | 6 () | 63 |
| Newcastle | 7 | 9 (2) | 60 |
| Manchester Utd. | 8 | 4 (4) | 60 |
| West Ham | 9 | 7 (2) | 52 |
| Crystal Palace | 10 | 12 (2) | 49 |
| Brighton | 11 | 5 (6) | 48 |
| Bournemouth | 12 | 11 (1) | 48 |
| Fulham | 13 | 15 (2) | 47 |
| Wolves | 14 | 16 (2) | 46 |
| Everton | 15 | 18 (3) | 40 |
| Brentford | 16 | 14 (2) | 39 |
| Nottingham Forest | 17 | 13 (4) | 32 |
| Luton Town | 18 | 19 (1) | 26 |
| Burnley | 19 | 17 (2) | 24 |
| Sheffield Utd. | 20 | 20 () | 16 |
115 Charges
Man City predictably made a casual Sunday stroll through the final game, coasting to a 4th straight title after dispatching West Ham. While credit is due to Pep Guardiola, who has fashioned a side so strong and cohesive that they are almost unbeatable when healthy, dark clouds remain on the horizon in the form of 115 breaches of Premier League finance rules.
Although no one seems to know when a ruling might come, given City’s dispute of the charges, one of two outcomes will happen.
Option 1: With Everton and Nottingham Forest getting points slashed from their totals this season over lesser issues, the Premier League drops the hammer on the Cityzens in the form of transfer embargoes (can’t sign players from other teams for a set period of time) and massive points deductions possibly leading to relegation, or even outright expulsion from the league.
Option 2: City wields its oil money and “Big 6” status to get off with a slap of the wrist, most likely in the form of a fine or one transfer window embargo. This is, most irritatingly, the most likely outcome, given how the richest clubs are throwing their weight around like they own soccer and governing bodies have yet to really make a stand (the Super League debacle was moreso due to fan backlash in my humble opinion)
Did City cook the books? Highly likely. Does it matter? Get your popcorn ready!
The Worst Newly Promoted Side Ever
Sheffield United gave up before the season even started. With ownership turmoil, these fools had the genius idea to sell their best two players and not replace them. Fired manager Paul Heckingbottom has my condolences; not even Pep himself could’ve kept this team up. Why they sacked him I have no idea – at that point you are just wasting money on a severance for an already lost cause. They did make some effort come January, bringing in the criminally underrated Ben Brereton Diaz, but by that point the ship had long since sank.
Derby County may once have netted fewer points, but nothing will ever top the sheer hopelessness of this team.
At a Crossroads in East London
The home of AFC Richmond Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park, is a charming, old-school stadium. The fans get super close to the game, the crowds are always rowdy, and they have cheerleaders and, previously, a live eagle! After years of boring, unambitious play under former manager Roy Hodgson, Palace finally took the shackles off under Oliver Glasner and let the boys cook. And cook they did – stealing 6 wins in their final 7 games to fly like an eagle up the standings.
The question becomes now what? Big clubs are going to be lurking around their elite young attackers, but this is a group with trucks full of momentum and surprising depth: if they have the balls and the shrewdness to keep the boys together for one more year, they can finally make a play at qualifying for a European spot.
Underrated Managers
Shoutouts are due to Marco Silva, Mauricio Pochettino (more coming up on him), Rob Edwards, Thomas Frank, Gary O’Neil, and Sean Dyche. All managed tough situations for one reason or another and I think all did a splendid job considering their circumstances.
An Ode to Klopp
Jurgen Klopp, one of the sports zanier characters, hauls out of town having brought Liverpool back to their glory days of the 20th century. Although they did spend a sizable chunk of $$$ on players over the years, it is also true that their spending paled in comparison to Man City. That Klopp was able to compete with the Blue Half of Manchester with much less depth was a testament to his considerable coaching skill.
The Prem won’t be the same without his wacky quotes and intense pressing.
Injury Luck
Injuries play a much bigger role in the final table than the good folks on TV seem to think. Last seasons darlings, Brighton and Newcastle, were among the least injured teams last season. This season the opposite held true; both plummeted down the standings. That doesn’t mean the work Roberto de Zerbi and Eddie Howe did was any worse than last season. They just got unlucky.
On the side, I have no idea why Brighton were so okay with letting de Zerbi go. You can only do so much when a large chunk of your best players are hurt most of the year.
Light at the Blue End of Stanley Park?
Farhad Moshiri has been laughably bad as owner of Everton. Spending a ton of money of both players and coaches alike, they somehow got worse and worse and ended up in a situation with no more money to spend and no attackers of note in the entire team. Last winter, he and The Powers That Be at Goodison Park were deciding on a new manager between Sean Dyche and Marcelo Bielsa.
The sheer incompetence was on open display: they couldn’t have picked two more opposite visions if they tried. Bielsa sort-of turning down the job ended up being the best thing that happened to Everton in years. Dyche recreated his trademark siege mentality with the Toffees, narrowly surviving again last season and then, remarkably, improving this season despite points being deducted for issues predating his arrival.
I hope they stick with him and let him build a little bit; Dyche has a reputation for being uber-defensive, but I for one would love to see him rock some actual game changers in his squad for once and see what he can do.
The “Race” for Fourth
Usually the race for 4th in the table, and the final spot in next year’s Champions League, is hot and spicy all the way through the season. 2023-24 traded drama for comedy; for large swaths of time, it looked like no one wanted the spot. The contenders:
-Newcastle were decimated with injuries early and never fully recovered. Aleksander Isak, long a pick of mine to break out, DID stay healthy and kick butt.
-Manchester United needed a reality show; drama on and off the field, a defense with more holes than the Moon, and a coach who looks totally lost.
-Chelsea were toast by October; they just squeaked into the lesser European places via a late rally so impressive it cost the coach his job.
-Spurs got Spursy after a shockingly competent start.
-Brighton were devasted by injuries.
-West Ham were looking solid until they sold all their depth in January and, shockingly, ran out of gas afterwards.
That left Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who stumbled and staggered over the finish line. Boosted by spectacular early season home form, they gained just enough of a cushion to back their collective booties in despite a mediocre second half of the season. This isn’t to take away from the accomplishment: this is the second most impressive accomplishment I have seen since I started watching the league in 2009, behind, obviously, Leicester’s miracle season.
Rich But Dumb
That’s all that really needs to be said about Chelsea’s owners, who are now looking for a 5th coach in 2 years after dumping a guy who was finally putting something resembling a team on the field.
That’s a Wrap
See you next fall! Stay tuned for Euro and Copa America power rankings and predictions in the coming weeks.
I loved this analysis! Spot on as always…