It may be an awful cliché, but a year really can change a lot in football. Since Christmas 2010, there have been plenty of teams who have improved, lots who have fallen away, and more than a few who have tread the same mediocre waters throughout 2011. Here then, a look at how the Premier League has shifted since December 25th 2010.
The Winners
Manchester City, clearly. It wouldn’t be a big stretch to say that 2011 has been the year of the Citizens. From the FA Cup success in May to their storming start to the current Premier League season, and the way in which the Carlos Tévez saga has barely put them out of their stride. At the same time last year, they had played 18 games, amassed 32 points and scored 25 goals, all amidst criticism of an overly defensive mindset. On Christmas Day this year, Roberto Mancini will be able to lay back and look at a table which has them on 44 points from 17 games, having scored a barely believable 53 goals. If 2012 continues on the same trajectory, then perhaps Mancini’s comparison between his own side and Barcelona may not look so far-fetched.
It may sound odd to say, given that at Christmas 2010 they were top of the table with a game in hand, but City’s Manchester rivals have also fared well. United were unbeaten in the league but had won only once away from home, taking advantage of a poor year in the league to lead the way. This year, they may have suffered the humiliation of a 6-1 home defeat against City, but they stand eight points better off having played only a single game more. Were it not for the might of the men from the Etihad Stadium, United’s praises would be sung from the rafters.
Alongside United, having both fared eight points better to this point of the calendar, are the rivals for a Champions League place, Tottenham and Liverpool. Redknapp’s men have climbed from 5th to 3rd, scored seven more goals and picked up those points in a game less than last year, while Liverpool have actually scored a goal less, but conceded nine fewer in winning their additional eight points over the first 17 games of the season.
The Losers
There are three teams who stand out above all others as the losers of 2011. They have each played a game less than when they unwrapped their presents last year, safe in the comfort of mid-table anonymity, and their falls have been equally spectacular.
Given that Sunderland recently dispensed with manager Steve Bruce, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that they are amongst the biggest fallers since Christmas 2010. He was, to an extent, a victim of his own success as sitting in 6th place at this point last season, with 27 points on the board from 18 games they were flying high and looking towards potential European qualification. A year which has seen them shorn of both Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan, however, has not been kind, and they now sit in 15th place, having amassed just 17 points. They sit just three points above the relegation zone, though with Martin O’Neill now in charge they must have hope for a better 2012.
The second biggest drop belongs to Blackburn. Steve Kean recently celebrated a year in charge of the club, and the idea that they would have been a lot better off keeping Sam Allardyce is not misplaced. Largely under Allardyce, Blackburn had earned themselves 22 points last season but this campaign have just ten. They have dropped from 12th place to 20th, and with just 20 games of the season left, they are looking firmly down the proverbial barrel of relegation. If there has been one chant from fans that deserves to be listened to, it is definitely “Kean Out”.
The biggest fallers since Christmas 2010, however, have been Bolton. Owen Coyle began his time at Bolton with some good results, but throughout 2011 they have fallen further and further away. Like Sunderland, they sat in the top half of the table with positive thoughts on their mind as they entered the new year. Twelve months later, however, they have just 12 points, a massive 14 fewer than last year, and are kept off the bottom of the table only by the awfulness of Blackburn. It is perhaps surprising that there haven’t been more calls for Coyle’s head, but should that form continue into 2012 then they can’t be far away.
The Mediocre
For all those who have moved up and down the table since Christmas 2010, the majority have stayed roughly where they were. Nine of the 17 teams who were in the league last year are within three points of their total from the same stage in 2010-11. They really should be grouped under the heading, ‘No, we’re alright where we are, really’.
Perhaps the only side who can consider it a success to be stuck exactly where they were last season is Arsenal. Arsène Wenger’s men started the season so badly that everyone had already decided they would finish outside the top four, but on Christmas Day they will once again relax with 32 points collected from 17 games. Admittedly last season that was good enough for 2nd place, whereas this time around they sit 5th, but they can’t be held responsible for how other teams fare. To have lost both Cesc Fàbregas and Samir Nasri and have done as well without them, Wenger must be getting something right.
Chelsea, on the other hand, are seemingly in crisis despite being in 4th place at Christmas (as they were last year) and having earned two points more than 12 months ago. Be it Fernando Torres’ lack of goals, David Luiz’s comedy defending or Frank Lampard’s regular appearances on the bench, there always seems to be a negative Chelsea story in the press, but the cold hard facts are that they’re doing much the same as last season, one which saw them qualify for the Champions League. Given the transitional nature of their campaign, such an end result would surely have to be considered a success for new manager André Villas-Boas, though whether it’s enough for Roman Abramovich remains to be seen.
Stoke, West Brom, Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham are all as mired in mid-table mediocrity as they were last year, while Wigan and Wolves remain as poor as they were last season. Another fight against the drop lies ahead of them, though I’d lay fairly decent money this time around that it won’t be both of them that survive.
Photo courtesy of 梓婷
