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

#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.