2013-2014
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After many years, Liverpool seemed destined to win the league. They were playing some of the best football the Premier League had seen with Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling setting the league alight. But certain fairy tales don’t end with a happy ending. Steven Gerrard slipped and allowed Demba Ba to go in on goal and score giving Chelsea a 2-0 win.
This was followed by a 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace after going 3-0 up. This allowed Manchester City to finally get their act together and sneak in ahead of Liverpool. With Jose Mourinho back at the managerial hot seat of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea finished 3rd and Arsenal who had led the table for large periods of the season once again finished 4th.
It was heart wrenching for Liverpool fans and equally so for Manchester United fans who saw their side (defending champions) finish 7th. David Moyes with the combo of Ed Woodward were inadequate in their preparations for the season and were mocked throughout the campaign. David Moyes was sacked with 4 matches to go and Ryan Giggs took up the reigns as player-manager for those games. We also witnessed the rise of Everton, Southampton and Tottenham challenging for the 4th place.
2014-2015
Jose Mourinho did it again. He came back, weaved his wand and made Chelsea champions again and this time leading the table for 274 days, a PL record. Manchester United being managed now by Louis van Gaal finished 4th while City and Arsenal took the 2nd and 3rd positions respectively.
Liverpool sold Suarez and never quite replaced him ended up finishing 6th. Tottenham were starting to show what they can do under the young tactician – Mauricio Pochettino. Sergio Aguero ended up with the Golden Boot and Joe Hart with a record 4th Golden Glove. This was the season when Eden Hazard was unplayable and seemed like he could reach the levels that could make him one of the best players in the world.
The story of this season also features Leicester City who had a dismal campaign and were destined to be relegated being bottom at Christmas, they won 7 of their last 9 league games to stage one of the greatest relegation escapes in the Premier League era. Jonas Gutierrez was back in the team after fighting testicular cancer and scored in the 2-0 win over West Ham United, an emotional moment for the club, fans and the player. The season end saw Drogba, Gerrard and Lampard leave the Premier League.
2015-2016
The reason last season’s greatest escapes mattered so much was because Leicester City won the title during the 2015-2016 season. Starting the season with 5000/1 odds to win the title, they did it under Claudio Ranieri after sacking Nigel Pearson. This will surely go down as one of the most unpredictable wins in the Premier League. In a league where giants literally bleed money, Leicester won through shrewd tactics, signings and a lot of heart.
Their win proved that Premier League is now more competitive than ever and the big boys cannot just bully you anymore. The trio of Mahrez, Kante and Vardy proved that you don't need to cost millions to take the game by the scruff of its neck and bang the ball in the back of the net.
This was down to others not performing as expected too with Manchester United finishing 5th , Chelsea 10th , Manchester City 4th and Liverpool 8th. As the season progressed, everyone expected Leicester to finally go down the table, with Arsenal and Tottenham to take over the title race. That didn’t happen. Arsenal with their best chance in years to win the league didn’t capitalise and ended up crawling above Spurs on the final day of the season. Spurs, on the other hand, were simply breathtaking under Pochettino.
They were solid at the back and could outrun any team in the league with Kane, Dele Alli and Eriksen doing well in attack. Surprisingly they drew with Chelsea and Leicester won the title. They lost the last match 5-1 to Newcastle United and ended up finishing below Arsenal yet again. West Ham United said farewell to the Boleyn Ground with a 3-2 victory over Manchester United.
This was probably the only season when almost everyone was happy that Leicester won and it reminded us that heart and hard work is as important as money and glamour in the world of football.
