Manchester United hold off resurgent Liverpool for three in a row

The 2008-09 English Premier League title was won by Manchester United, their third in a row, in a season in which the perennially underachieving Liverpool emerged as a true force once again.

United were forced to collect a huge 90 points in order to see off the challenge from Anfield, with Rafa Benitez’s side defeating United both home and away within the campaign.

CHANGES

In one of the most breathtaking deadline days ever, Manchester United were able to add to an already-enviable strikeforce with the inclusion of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham for fee of £30.75m, but, even with such an incredible deal squeezing through with minutes to spare, United were outdone by their city rivals.

Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi takeover went through at the last moment after protracted negotiations, and to issue a message to the rest of the league, they completed the signature signing of Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5m in the last moments of the window. The player himself would later admit he thought he was joining Man Utd…

Elsewhere, Arsenal’s prudent spending continued to keep the purse strings tightened, with the only prominent arrival being Samir Nasri, brought in from Marseille for £9m.

Chelsea, who had run United so close the previous year, brought in new coach, World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari, and he arrived with the Portuguese duo of Deco and Jose Bosingwa.

Tottenham’s money was spent on David Bentley, so impressive for Blackburn the previous year, for £17m and Russian hitman Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow. Liverpool spent big on Robbie Keane from White Hart Lane, but that deal proved short-lived, the Irishman returning to London before the season was out.

West Bromwich Albion were promoted from the Championship as winners, followed closely by Stoke City. Hull City won the play-off to fill the slots for the 2008-09 season.

SEASON SUMMARY

European champions Manchester United suffered from the inexorable lure of Real Madrid turning the head of…

Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/manchester-united-hold-off-resurgent-liverpool-for-three-in-a-row-the-2008-09-premier-league/50

Author : [email protected] (Martin Macdonald)

Publish date : 2024-07-31 10:00:00

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