When Man Utd blew Arsenal away to win three in a row

The 2000-01 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United for the third consecutive season, once again proving to be too good for the competition in a race that was long over before the season end. Arsenal, Liverpool and Leeds United proved to be the best of the rest.

CHANGES

Manchester United, having been in charge of the league for the past two seasons, opted to make just a single key acquisition, opting for Fabien Barthez to replace Mark Bosnich in goal.

Arsenal, still United’s most prominent challenger, increased competition for places with the arrivals of the creative winger Robert Pires from Marseille for £7m, while Sylvain Wiltord joined from Lyon as the French double-winning side of World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000 set up camp at Highbury.

Aston Villa’s recruitment policy also raised some eyebrows; they banked on David Ginola still having some life left in him after his career looked like tailing off, while Luc Nilis’ transfer could have promised so much, only for a horrendous injury to curtail the veteran’s career. Most interesting of all was the outlay of £10m for Juan Pablo Angel from River Plate.

Leeds, who would reach the Champions League semi-final, were also ambitious in the transfer market; Robbie Keane (£11m from Inter) and Rio Ferdinand (£18m from West Ham) were significant statements, while Olivier Dacourt and Mark Viduka would prove themselves to be indispensable first-term players.

Chelsea were also desperate to evolve from a top-four side into a bona-fide challenger, and they spent £15m on bringing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink from Atletico Madrid to spearhead their attack. Eidur Gudjohnsen and Mario Stanic were also added as the Blues added further firepower to complement Gianfranco Zola.

Promoted from the first division were Charlton as champions, followed by Manchester City, while Ipswich, after years of play-off agony, finally made it to the big time.

SEASON SUMMARY

Both Manchester United and Arsenal started the season…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/when-man-utd-blew-arsenal-away-to-win-three-in-a-row-the-premier-league-in-2000-01/58

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-07-26 10:00:00

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