Season in Review

I know that my season review came a week late but been busy with stuffs and my health was not in tip top condition. After 10 months of football, both the beautiful and bad sides of it, the season came to a close with a very good game in the FA Cup with Liverpool winning it on penalty…. A second consecutive penalty shoot up after last season Arsenal win against United. Let’s just summarize the season as per below.

Milestone

- Shearer and Henry became the new record goal scorer for their respective clubs. Henry also became the first Arsenal player to score 200 goals for Arsenal.

- Sunderland became the new lowest points holder in a season beating their old record of 19 points. They only manage to collect 15 points this season.

Goodbye

- Alan Curbishley said goodbye to Charlton after 15 years in charge at The Valley. He took charged for the last time in the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford with a 4-0 defeat

- Alan Shearer said goodbye to football and his adoring Newcastle fans. Although he had to say goodbye earlier due to an ankle injury, he will always be his local team hero forever…(and always the one who snubbed United)

- Denis Bergkamp last season with The Gunners. I am not sure if he is retiring though.

- Souness and McCarthy said goodbye to their clubs, Newcastle and Southampton respectively and the only managerial casualty of the season. Newcastle fortune turn for the best after that and even qualifying for an European competition next season (Intertoto Cup if I am not mistaken..another entry route for the UEFA Cup…correct me if I am wrong), Sunderland continue to slide down.

- West Bromwich, after last season incredible last day escape, was not able to save themselves this season. Birmingham City joins West Brom and Sunderland to the Championship League next season.

- Highbury, Arsenal’s home since 1913 will be replace by a new stadium…..aiyo…I forgot the stadium name…Ashburn Grove or something…. but the main thing is Highbury no more…and on the last game on the pitch, Henry scored a hatrick for a fitting goodbye.

- Steve McClaren said goodbye to Boro and took the team to their first European Cup Final…the UEFA Cup but beaten 4-0 by Seville. He will be taking over from Sven to be the next England manager…. Good luck to him.

- Keano quit United which came as a surprise not just to the supporters of the club but all football fans. The United captain said goodbye after almost 15 years with the club and the real reason of him quitting United is still in doubt. He was said to have left United in mutual consent.

Surprise

- West Ham and Wigan were taunted as relegation candidate even before the season starts but at the end of the season, both clubs finished in the middle of the league which is quite an achievement. West Ham finished 9th while Wigan just below West Ham. Both teams even qualify for the final of both domestic Cups. Although they lost but for clubs who were not given a lot of chances, they had surpasses their own supporters’ expectations.

- Martin Jol just missed out on the last day to bring Spurs to that elusive 4th spot to qualify for next season Champions League. Spurs had been struggling on the wrong half of the table for the last 2 decades and this season was quite a surprise seeing them at a dizzying height of 5th at the end of the season. Although finishing 4th would be a dream but they had actually achieved what they have targeted for the season….to qualify to European competition via EUFA Cup. Expect Spurs young team to pressure for that Champions League spot next season.

For United, it was another disappointing season although we did win the League Cup (Mickey Mouse Cup) to not finish the season empty handed again. Although we did improve on our league position but we are still struggling to match Chelsea. We the limitless budget from Abrahamovich, Chelsea looked unstoppable this season and took charge of the league while the other teams are playing catch up. While the other team including United are looking for players that are in their budget, it seems that Chelsea are not even bothered about the budget. The only thing that Mourinho has to do now is to name who he wants…and he will get him. As of today, Ballack who had been rumored to be joining Chelsea since he indicated his intention to leave Bayern, is a Chelsea player. Next on the book for the Blues is Shevchenko. If he does sign for Chelsea, it is gonna be an even harder task for other teams to challenge for the title next season. Chelsea now looks more like a fantasy football team rather than a real football team and you wonder if anyone ever gonna challenge them with the kind of money and budget they have.

The shock early exit from the Champions’ League was the biggest blow for United, the first time in 10 years United had failed to qualify to the knock out stage and did not even finish 3rd in the group to play in the UEFA Cup. Couple with Keano exit, it was a good year to end 2005. Luckily, United picked up after that and finished the league creditably behind Chelsea. United even put a bit of pressure on Chelsea before succumbing to Chelsea relentless form that gave them another title and left others to wonder if they ever gonna challenge for the title.

Park Ji Sung is a good buy for United and showed he was bought not just for selling replicas in Asia. His pace and determination on the pitch helped United and also gave United other options in the team when Giggs or Ronaldo are out. The best buy without a doubt for me is Edwin Van der Sar who was an incredible form through out the season. He was the main reason for some of the games that United didn’t even deserve to win with his saves.

Rooney’s influence in the team seemed to be increasing in the team. With him in the team, there is a different aura about the team and the way the team plays. He is just 20 years old but everyone is looking for him to supply that magic that can turn a game into United favour. When he was holding his feet in the game against Chelsea, the whole of England and football fans around the world feared for the worst. With the metatarsal injury, his involvement in the World Cup looked bleak although Coach Sven refused to rule him out yet. Alan Smith deserved a mention….well…for his horrific injury in the FA Cup quarter final match against Liverpool. I still cringed remembering it.

So, what does the next season hold for United? Well, one sure thing, we might not see Van the Man in a red United jersey again next season. He was pushed back into the pecking order with Saha form in the 2nd half of the season. When he stormed out of Old Trafford in the last game of the season against Charlton for not being included in the team, it was clear that he won’t be part of the United squad next season. There were talks of him joining Spurs with Defoe coming in for him and the latest I heard is he is gonna be part of the deal to take Diarra from Lyon to United. For any transfer news, I think we just have to wait till the World Cup ends.

For next season, I think the main thing for United is….how can we stop Chelsea winning the title for the third time. What can we add to the team to challenge a team where money is not a concern? What would Fergie do to challenge for the title? Would bringing in the likes of Diarra or anyone else challenge a team with Lampard, Ballack, Robben, Drogba and possibly Shevchenko for the title? Would selling Van and depending on Saha and Rooney with the help of Rossi be good enough? Well, I guess we just have to wait till the season starts again in August…but till then, we have the World Cup to entertain us.

P/S: Did I leave anything out ?? Well, do share.