Prove us wrong - this is the worst Premier League season ever!
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Reading Time: 5min | Mon. 03.03.25. | 12:56
OK, this might sound harsh from our side, but some truths must be said. And it has nothing to do with our sympathies towards certain clubs
Let's begin with the ones not to blame for this piece - Liverpool. Arne Slot's team is marching towards the much-deserved Premier League title, as they're 13 points clear of their closest contender and have been excellent from the opening round all the way to this day. But that's the issue here - the Reds are the only big English club living up to expectations in this 2024-25 season. And the following lines have no intention of diminishing their remarkable achievement.
Since the establishment of the Premier League in 1992, everyone else has bottled it massively this year like never before. Do you disagree with that conclusion? Let's see how things stand at the beginning of March.
The current runners-up, Arsenal, have already said farewell to their title hopes following a recent home loss to West Ham on February 22.
It is a blatant decline compared to their previous two campaigns, which saw them in contention for the first EPL title after 2004 until the final matchday of the season.
Last year, they lost the race to Manchester City despite collecting 89 points, which was not enough since the Cityzens triumphed with 91 points thanks to their last-round victory over West Ham.
The 2022-23 was even tighter in terms of the Gunners' skirmish with Pep Guardiola's side for the final victory. The Londoners were eight points clear of Guardiola's side earlier that season and had led the league for a long time (248 days, to be precise), but ultimately their challenge collapsed, finishing five points below Manchester City.
Interestingly, Arsenal have lost only three games this season compared to six two seasons ago, but what proved crucial is the number of draws - nine already, which is three more than at the end of that entire campaign.
Moreover, almost all of their attackers have been facing severe injuries throughout the season, affecting the team's scoring output in the last few rounds.
It must be said, though, that Arsenal are at a much higher level than all other 'big' clubs this season. The defending champions, Manchester City, are going through their worst season in the last few years, as Pep Guardiola's once-mighty machine has obviously reached the expiry date.
Rodri's horrific injury proved to be the crucial moment of the season when everything went downhill for the Sky Blues. Kevin De Bruyne has been just a shadow of his former self, while Erling Haaland couldn't do it all by himself in the attack. City's latest reinforcements, like Savinho, Nico Gonzales, Khusanov and Marmoush, are still not capable of delivering the expected cutting-edge level necessary for battling successfully on various fronts.
Last but not least, Pep seems like a man fed up with all that after almost a decade at the Etihad. Just like his long-time EPL rival, Jurgen Klopp, he could probably enjoy a bit of rest before engaging in another project (who said the Spanish national team).
A bit 'southern' down the Premier League table, Enzo Maresca's Chelsea are having another rollercoaster campaign, reaching highs and lows in the span of just a few weeks without any visible order. The fact they are pretty much still in that rebuilding process serves as a sort of alibi for the Stamford Bridge outfit and their frantic campaign.
With the exception of impeccable Cole Palmer, who's been running riots and terrorizing defenders across the league, all other Blues have faced inconsistent form.
Yet, it's a spectacular output compared to Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur. Being a Red Devil or Spurs this season is what masochism represents in a nutshell. Those two sides are in complete shambles, dropping points and tarnishing their heritage week after week.
The only palpable difference lies in the fact that Tottenham's chairman, Daniel Levy, has shown an endless trust for his coach, Ange Postecoglou, unlike Manchester United owners. They sacked Erik ten Hag, but not even his replacement, Ruben Amorim, could shake things up. On the contrary, United look as awful as it gets. The relegation bells can be heard not that far away from Old Trafford, whose deplorable state perfectly encapsulates the moment the entire club finds itself at the moment.
On the other hand, Spurs have their state-of-the-art ground, but that new White Hart Lane can't prevent Ange's constant hiccups. What started as an interesting story, embellished with some fine attacking, risky football, turned into a horror. Tottenham have lost 14 out of 27 Premier League games, standing toe-to-toe with Manchester United, and will probably survive in the top flight only due to painfully impotent slots like Ipswich, Leicester, and Southampton. For the squad relying on James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son, that's a complete disaster. And countless sidelined players due to injuries are not an excuse we can accept at this point.
That 'disaster' can be applied to United's season, too, as their ongoing struggle deserves an entire analysis aside from all the others. Thirteen years after Sir Alex Ferguson's last game at the helm, three-time European champions are closer to the second tier than to the Champions League, and some critical voices say that Fergie's reign - between 1986 and 2013 - is actually the incident in United's entire history, the only period when the Red Devils were among those European giants. A decade before his arrival and a decade after his farewell, Manchester United can be labelled as a pitty-worth mid-table side miles away from any serious heights.
Finally, we must mention Newcastle United, as that dark horse of English football is approaching another disappointing race exit. Bearing in mind Alexander Isak's breakthrough season, this puts even more criticism on Eddie Howe's name, as the Magpies boss failed to exploit the Swede's magnificent campaign.
Still, they've got that Wembley League Cup showdown against Liverpool to hold on, at least for another two weeks. That triumph would change their season's entire perspective despite the EPL's shortcomings.
At the end of this analysis, it's our duty to mention the exceptions - Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth, who both have punched way above their weight, primarily thanks to their respective managers, Nuno Espirito Santo and Andoni Iraola. However, it would be unfair to expect that two promising local bands save the entire festival packed with once-exquisite headliners who've bottled it big time.
Hopefully, the next season will recreate some of that old excitement, drama and suspense that the Premier League has been known for years. One thing's almost for sure - it can't be worse than the current one.
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