When the revered Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in 2016, the instant success that was expected didn’t quite happen, but when Pep eventually got it right, he really got it right and guided the City to the first-ever 100-point tally for a championship-winning side.
As City entered the history books, it was the end of a historically significant period for Arsenal as Arsene Wenger departed the Gunners after 22 years to much emotion, even if he did lose the support of a minority of fans towards the end of his tenure. It was a superb campaign for the promoted sides, Newcastle, Huddersfield, and Brighton, as for only the third time in Premier League history all three preserved their top-flight status.
CHANGES
Guardiola’s responded to a first season which fell below expectations by going on the offensive in the transfer market. Over £220m was spent on new recruits including Ederson, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Danilo and Benjamin Mendy.
Chelsea’s title defence was bolstered by the purchases of Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater, Antonio Rudiger, and Davide Zappacosta. Manchester United meanwhile took Nemanja Matic from the Blues, as he joined Romelu Lukaku and Victor Lindelof at Old Trafford. But the shrewdest acquisition came from Liverpool, as they spent £37m on Roma’s Mohamed Salah, who went on to claim the Premier League golden boot.
Crystal Palace attempted to revamp their playing style by replacing Sam Allardyce with Frank de Boer, with disastrous results. Mauricio Pellegrino came in at Southampton boss and Marco Silva joined Watford, though neither would survive the season.
SEASON SUMMARY
Signs that all was not well at champions Chelsea were revealed on the opening day of the season as Burnley arrived at Stamford Bridge and promptly won 3-2; the visitors would go on to enjoy a superb season under Sean Dyche to eventually finish in seventh and qualify for Europe.
Chelsea’s run of five defeats in seven Premier League matches,…
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Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-08-04 10:00:00
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