The 2007-08 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United for the second season in succession, though they were pushed all the way by their rivals of the era, Chelsea, who shrugged off the mid-season departure of Jose Mourinho to push United all the way to the final round of the season. United finished on 87 points, two clear of Chelsea.
CHANGES
Manchester United, after reclaiming their title in 2006-07, made major moves to strengthen an already impressive squad. Carlos Tevez arrived on a two-year loan from West Ham, while a raid of Portuguese football picked up Brazilian Anderson from Porto for £17m and Nani from Sporting for £14m. The arrival of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich rounded off a dangerously productive window for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.
Long-time Manchester United target, Fernando Torres, left Atletico Madrid for Liverpool for a fee of £23m, who also bolstered by adding Ryan Babel from Ajax for £12m.
Chelsea went back to Lyon to pick up flying winger Florent Malouda for £13.5m and also added Nicolas Anelka mid-season from Bolton Wanderers for £15m. For Arsenal, however, it was more a case of who had left, rather than who came in.
Thierry Henry, one of the greatest players in their history, left for Barcelona, with the Gunners choosing not to reinvest the money earned into the squad.
Tottenham, under Martin Jol, spent big on Darren Bent, for £16.5m, but Jol would eventually be replaced mid-season by the Spaniard Juande Ramos. Manchester City meanwhile welcomed Sven Goran-Eriksson to English football, replacing Stuart Pearce.
From the Championship arrived Sunderland and Birmingham City via automatic promotion, and Derby County, who won through the playoffs.
SEASON SUMMARY
Manchester United had finally ended Mourinho and Chelsea’s control over proceedings the season prior, but Mourinho wouldn’t hang around long enough to mount a response. After a below-par start to the season Jose was gone in September, with Chelsea…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/manchester-united-hold-off-chelsea-in-a-race-down-to-the-wire-the-2007-08-premier-league/51
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-07-30 11:00:00
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