5 Premier League teams who turned it around in second half of the season

At the dawn of this new year, as we enter into the second half of the season, Chelsea looks set to hold onto their lead and win the league in a spectacular fashion. But if history has ever taught us anything, Chelsea won’t be taking the title for granted.

With Liverpool on their heels, Man City with a world-class squad, Man Utd’s resurgence and Arsenal being ever present, the Blues will have to make sure to not lose focus throughout the campaign.

While the festive period usually gives us a clear picture of how the table will look like at the end of the season, over the years, we have seen gritty comebacks from teams. Favourites to win the league at the start of a new year have been surpassed by other unlikely contenders.

Here we look at the top 5 teams who turned it around in the second half of the season to win the league title:

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#5 Manchester United 1995-96

Manchester United had suffered a humiliating league title loss to Kenny Dalglish’s Blackburn in the previous season. It resulted in Sir Alex taking some huge decisions, like selling off reputed stars like Kanchelskis, Bruce and Parker and not buying any replacements.

From the Class of 92, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt were all promoted to the first team. At the start of the season, Manchester United struggled to win matches and Alan Hansen famously went on to say, “You can’t win anything with kids.”

But the mastermind, Sir Alex Ferguson, had other plans. Led by Eric Cantona, the kids came back from 10th position at the start of December and went on to win the league. Manchester United won the league with one of the youngest squads in Premier League and the Frenchman, Cantona, established his name in the Man Utd folklore.

#4 Manchester United 1992-93

After 26 barren years, Manchester United finally seemed to have gotten most of the ingredients right to win the league title in 1992. Yet, they lacked that leadership quality in a player to win close matches. In December, Man Utd lied in the 5th position in the league table and another season of disappointment loomed largely.

Sir Alex signed the mercurial Eric Cantona for a British record fee from Leeds mid-season. The signing made an immediate impact, as within weeks Man Utd went on to lead the table.

After numerous comebacks and gritty wins, Man Utd went on to win the league title, for the first time in 26 years and never looked back again. This laid the foundation for the glories to come.

#3 Arsenal 2001-02

Arsene Wenger had revolutionised the club within a few years but in 2001, Manchester Utd had just won their third Premier League title in a row. The last two Premier League campaigns had been humiliating for the London club as they could hardly compete with the Red Devils. 2001-02 seemed no different.

Manchester United, historically, did much better in the second half of the season than Arsenal. After the first 19 rounds of games were done, Arsenal led them by 3 points but surprise contenders Liverpool were leading the pack. Within a few weeks, Man Utd took over as the leaders and Arsenal were facing another season without winning the league.

However, Arsenal went on to have one of the best second half of the season England has ever seen. Out of the 19 matches, Arsenal drew 3 matches and won 16! They also went on to win the FA Cup as they completed the domestic double.

#2 Manchester United 2002-03

Sir Alex was unhappy about how United had blown away their lead in the last season to finish 3^rd at the end, their lowest league finish in Premier League era then. He went on to splash a world-record fee for a defender to sign Rio Ferdinand.

With Ruud van Nistelrooy in peak form and players like Scholes and Beckham providing him with numerous chances, goalscoring was never a problem. However, the team was still inconsistent and Thierry Henry’s most prolific period of form had seen Arsenal easily taking the lead in the first half of the season.

After struggling in 4^th and 5^th position throughout the first half, they had finished December in 2^nd position but clearly a notch below Arsenal.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s consistent goalscoring meant they followed Arsenal closely throughout the second half but it was Scholes’ goalscoring run that turned the tables. Scholes scored 6 important goals in the league in the second half of the season as Manchester United finally took the lead on the table for the first time on 12^th April 2003.

They held on to that lead and went on to win the league with the record of least days spent on the top of the table.

#1 Arsenal 1997-98

After finishing in the third position the previous season, Arsene Wenger’s men seemed ready to challenge Man Utd for the league title. United had won 4 of the previous 5 league titles but Cantona’s sudden retirement surely had an adverse effect on the team.

Man Utd seemed to have put that behind them as they romped to the top of the league and maintained that position from October up until April. Another famous league victory was close.

Arsenal, meanwhile, were struggling in upper midtable around 6^th and 5^th position. They ended the first half of the season in 6^th position and 13 points behind the leaders Manchester United.

Tables started turning as the new year reeled in. Arsenal went unbeaten right up until the 37^th round of matches. From 13 points behind, Arsenal had run over the league and won the championship on 3^rd May 1998 with 4-0 win vs Everton. The club captain, Tony Adams, scored the final goal and Arsene Wenger became the first non-British manager to win the league.