MANCHESTER, May 29 — Erling Haaland fired Manchester City to a third consecutive Premier League title, but there was also plenty to celebrate for Arsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United as they secured a return to the Champions League next season.
Liverpool and Tottenham were among the major disappointments as they crashed out of the top four despite high hopes for the season.
Chelsea’s scale of underachievement took some beating as the Blues finished 12th after spending over £500 million (RM2.84 billion) on new players.
After yesterday’s final round of fixtures, AFP Sport looks at the winners and losers from the 2022/23 Premier League season:
Winners
Erling Haaland
Haaland already has one trophy, individual prizes and a series of new records to show for his first season in England and is still only getting started.
Any doubts over how Pep Guardiola’s men would adjust to having a focal point up front were banished as Haaland’s 36 Premier League goals set a single-season record.
The 22-year-old has collected a clean sweep of Premier League player, young player and football writers’ player of the season awards.
But it is two more pieces of silverware that will turn Haaland’s remarkable season into a historic one.
Beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final on June 3 and Inter Milan a week later in the Champions League final and City will become just the second English side to ever do the treble.
Brighton
Brighton were one of the beneficiaries of a season of managerial change despite having their coach Graham Potter poached by Chelsea in September.
The Seagulls duly pocketed £20 million in compensation for Potter and hired Roberto De Zerbi, who has led the club into Europe for the first time in their history.
Guardiola hailed the Italian as “one of the most influential managers of the last 20 years” for his revolutionary style that has made Brighton one of the most attractive sides in Europe to watch.
The Premier League’s predators are already waiting to pounce for the likes of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister in the transfer window, but Brighton have become a conveyor belt of young talent.
Of the 20 goals scored by teenagers in the Premier League this season, 11 came from the Brighton trio Evan Ferguson, Julio Enciso and Facundo Buonanotte.
Newcastle
Backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Newcastle look the best long-term bet to challenge Manchester City’s dominance of English football.
But few expected the Magpies’ rise to be so rapid that they could secure Champions League football for the first time in 20 years in the first full season under the new regime.
Newcastle’s success can also not be explained solely by money. They appear to have learned from the early days of other state-backed projects City and Paris Saint-Germain in not splashing out immediately on superstars.
Instead, Eddie Howe has managed to get the best out of players that were previously seen as expensive flops on Tyneside such as Joelinton and Miguel Almiron and fostered a fine team spirit despite an influx of new arrivals.
Losers
Chelsea
The Blues finished with their lowest ever Premier League points tally despite spending more than any club ever has in one season in the transfer market.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be named as the new man in charge at Stamford Bridge in the coming days, but the Argentine has a huge job on his hands to turn a bloated squad back into contenders at the top of the table.
The biggest concern for Chelsea fans will be whether the club’s new owners will quickly learn from their foolhardy approach in their first season in charge.
Managerial stability
Only nine Premier League sides ended this term with the same man in charge that started the campaign, with a record 14 managers dismissed throughout the course of the season.
But a change of coach rarely brought about the desired result.
Chelsea, relegated Southampton and Leeds were the three clubs to fire two managers.
By contrast, there were no sackings among the clubs that finished in the top six, while Brentford and Fulham enjoyed brilliant seasons under Thomas Frank and Marco Silva respectively.
Even at the bottom, West Ham and Nottingham Forest were rewarded for sticking by David Moyes and Steve Cooper as they stayed up.
Leicester
Seven years after their stunning title triumph, Leicester will swap trips to Anfield, Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium for less glamourous assignments at Rotherham, Plymouth and Hull in the Championship next season.
Relegated Leicester’s fall from grace came as a huge shock as a talented squad boasting the likes of James Maddison and Youri Tielemans failed to deliver on their potential.
A run of two wins in their last 17 games sealed Leicester’s fate as they crashed into the second tier for the first time since 2014. — AFP
