By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
Unpredictable, amazing, sensational – just three words that
spring to mind about the pulsating 2015/2016 Premier League season. The elite
was turned on its head by a story that even if you aren’t captivated by
football in general, would have grabbed your attention.
5000-1 at the start of the season, Leicester City defied the
odds, opinions and analysis given by pundits, bookmakers and general neutrals.
What they had though was togetherness, bundles of team spirit, some natural
quality and belief that they could take on the best and win.
And that is exactly what they did. Claudio Ranieri finally
became a title winner. These Leicester players will go down in Premier League
folklore – becoming the first new winners of the main English title since
Nottingham Forest in the late 1970s. They are only the sixth side to win the
title in the Premier League era.
Whilst Tottenham Hotspur gave them the closest challenge,
change was happening elsewhere. The historic name of Aston Villa went out of
the league with a whimper, whilst Chelsea and Liverpool FC sacked their
managers and both Manchester clubs failed to shine in a season that had it all.
Season 24 of the most envied league in global football
certainly had plenty of action throughout the gruelling nine months of top-flight
action.
2015/2016 PREMIER
LEAGUE STATS
Champions:
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Leicester City
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Runners-Up:
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Arsenal
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Third Place:
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Tottenham Hotspur
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Relegated:
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Newcastle United, Norwich City, Aston Villa
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PFA Player of the Year:
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Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City)
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PFA Young Player of the Year:
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Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur)
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Football Writers’ Award:
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Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
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Most Assists:
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Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) 19
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Golden Glove Award:
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Petr Cech (Arsenal) 16
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Highest Scoring Match:
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Norwich City 4-5 Liverpool FC – 23 January 2016
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Biggest Win:
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Aston Villa 0-6 Liverpool FC – 14 February 2016
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Top Scorers:
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Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) 25, Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) 24,
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 24, Romelu Lukaku (Everton) 18, Riyad Mahrez
(Leicester City) 17. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) 16, Jermain Defoe (Sunderland)
15, Odion Ighalo (Watford) 15, Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) 13, Troy Deeney
(Watford) 13
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August:
Classy City
The opening month of the season was all about Manchester
City. The Citizens made a very impressive start, winning their first five
matches and scoring goals for fun in the process. 11 goals scored, none
conceded and that made Manuel Pellegrini’s side early title favourites.
One of those early marks came on the second weekend against
defending champions Chelsea. The visitors’ were no match for City, losing 3-0
with Sergio Aguero, skipper Vincent Kompany and Fernandinho all finding the
target.
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| Jose Mourinho's spat with Eva Carneiro made many unwanted headlines for Chelsea |
Chelsea already looked like a team in trouble. Favourites
with many at the season’s beginning, they stumbled to just four points from
their first four games. Against Swansea in their season opener, they were held
to a 2-2 draw and had Thibaut Courtois sent off. Later in the match, manager
Jose Mourinho was furious with his physio staff that ran onto the pitch to
treat an injured Eden Hazard. A bitter row broke out between Mourinho and Eva
Carneiro (argument pictured), which dominated headlines off-the-field. Carneiro left the club
shortly afterwards and the matter has now reached an employment tribunal.
Despite signing Petr Cech from Chelsea in the summer, he had
a debut to forget as Community Shield winners Arsenal were surprisingly beaten
2-0 at home by West Ham United. Slaven Bilic was the new manager at Upton Park
and his side showed that result was no fluke by outclassing Liverpool FC at Anfield
to win 3-0 on Merseyside before the month was out.
Premier League newcomers AFC Bournemouth began with two
narrow defeats, before registering their first win at West Ham in an
entertaining encounter. Callum Wilson scored the first of 14 Premier League hat-tricks
this season and the Cherries left London with three points after a 4-3 victory.
September:
Martial makes his mark
Manchester United made Anthony Martial the most expensive
teenager in British football on transfer deadline day and he made an immediate
impression on his debut. He scored against Liverpool FC with four minutes
remaining to wrap up a 3-1 win for Louis van Gaal’s side. He added another two
in a 3-2 success at Southampton which meant they finished September top of the
table for the first time in almost two years.
The first signs of fallibility were seen at Manchester City. They became the third victims to away day specialists West Ham United and then collapsed in the second half at White Hart Lane, going from 1-0 up at the interval to lose 4-1. Tottenham won all three games in this month to shoot up the table after going through August without a win.
September was a good month for Everton who inflicted a third
defeat of the season already on Chelsea. Steven Naismith came off the bench to
score a hat-trick in a 3-1 triumph. A fortnight later, they came back from 2-0
down after an hour to defeat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at the Hawthorns. Romelu
Lukaku scored two on his return to one of his former clubs.
Chelsea vs Arsenal always has a bit of a taste to it and
September’s encounter was no exception. Arsenal finished with nine men and lost
2-0 as Arsene Wenger’s jinx against Mourinho continued. Diego Costa’s part in
the red card for Gabriel eventually saw the Spaniard banned himself for three
matches following retrospective FA action.
Arsenal’s response was deadly in an exciting end-to-end game
at the King Power Stadium. Leicester City were still unbeaten but that record
went when the Gunners won 5-2. Alexis Sanchez scored his first treble in the
Premier League. Claudio Ranieri made changes to his regular full-backs
following this loss and the Foxes would go unbeaten for the next three months.
October:
All change at Anfield
The first managerial casualties of the season took place in
October, with three clubs changing boss. First to switch were Sunderland. Dick
Advocaat stepped down after a 2-2 draw at home to West Ham United with the
Black Cats yet to win in eight matches and only having three points on the
board. Sam Allardyce returned to football management to take the reins.
By now, Liverpool FC fans were getting impatient with
Brendan Rodgers. Some tepid performances, coupled with inconsistent results led
to his sacking, hours after a draw in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Arriving in England was ‘The Normal One’ as Jurgen Klopp
took over in the Anfield hotseat.
Six successive defeats sealed Tim Sherwood’s fate at Aston
Villa. A late winner for Andre Ayew of Swansea City at Villa Park consigned
Sherwood to the sack in the Midlands. Remi Garde was his chosen successor but
by the end of the month, Villa were bottom of the table. They would stay in
that position for the rest of the campaign.
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| Sergio Aguero destroyed Newcastle in October with a five-goal show |
Sergio Aguero (pictured) put in a masterful performance at the start of
October against a hapless Newcastle United. He scored five goals in a 20-minute
period as City destroyed the Magpies 6-1 for the biggest home win of the
season. Two weeks later, AFC Bournemouth lost 5-1 at the Etihad with Raheem
Sterling making his only significant contribution to his new club with a
hat-trick.
This was a tough period for Eddie Howe, who saw his side
lost 5-1 again the following weekend – this time at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
After a sluggish start, Harry Kane scored a hat-trick of his own and he
wouldn’t stop scoring until the season ended. Howe also had to deal with
devastating ACL injuries to top scorer Callum Wilson, record signing Tyrone
Mings and winger Max Gradel.
November:
Heaven for Vardy
November belonged to Leicester City and Jamie Vardy. Vardy
had already started the month on a very impressive run, having netted in eight
successive matches. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record was there for the taking.
After scoring against Watford and Newcastle United, Vardy’s run stretched to 10
ahead of Manchester United’s visit to the King Power Stadium at the end of the
month.
Midway through the first half, Vardy collected a Christian
Fuchs pass and slotted past David de Gea to achieve Premier League history. He
became the first player to score in 11 consecutive Premier League matches. The
game ended 1-1, but showed Leicester’s mettle as they began to look like
serious contenders for at least a Champions League spot.
Arsenal and Manchester City continued to produce mixed
results. The Gunners lost 2-1 to West Bromwich Albion and saw Santi Cazorla
miss a late penalty. A week later, they laboured to an away draw at Norwich
City and lost Cazorla and Sanchez to lengthy injuries. The main positive was
the form of Mesut Ozil who was finally producing the goods in his third season
with the club. He would assist the most goals this season with 19, just one
short of Thierry Henry’s all-time season record.
Manchester City were missing Aguero for most of the month as
he had been injured on international duty. It evidently showed at Villa Park as
they created very little and it finished 0-0. Two weeks later, they were
dismantled by Liverpool FC at the Etihad. Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho
and Adam Lallana were all in devastating form as the Reds won 4-1.
Sunderland started November with a battering, going down 6-2
at Everton. Arouna Kone became the latest hat-trick hero and most unlikely one
too. He wouldn’t score again all season. Sam Allardyce immediately began to
tighten the defence up and it showed towards the end of the month with back-to-back
victories and clean sheets against Crystal Palace and Stoke City.
December:
Chelsea crisis
As Christmas approached, Chelsea continued to be in crisis.
Progression might have come in the Champions League but the defending champions
were languishing in 16th place and had won just four times in the
top-flight. Mourinho had basically fallen out with all of his squad and it
showed in December.
The Blues were stunned at home by AFC Bournemouth. Glenn
Murray arrived off the bench in the 78th minute. 90 seconds later,
he stooped low to head home the only goal of the game and consigned Chelsea to
an eighth defeat of the season. Nine evenings later, Chelsea visited Leicester
City for a game that was to defy both teams’ seasons.
Hazard limped off injured and on a night where you would
have expected a response from the champions, they didn’t produce it. Leicester
were stunning and fully deserved their 2-1 victory which left the Blues just
one point above the relegation zone. Vardy and Riyad Mahrez were both on
target. Afterwards, Mourinho told Sky Sports: “My work was betrayed.” Three
days later, he was sacked by Chelsea. Guus Hiddink took temporary charge with
the aim incredibly to steer the Londoners away from a relegation battle!
Also out of a job in December was Garry Monk at Swansea
City. Just one win in 11 games sealed his fate at the Liberty Stadium. It was
Leicester who produced the final nail in his coffin too, winning 3-0 in South
Wales with the sensational Mahrez scoring a treble. Alan Curtis would take
temporary charge until mid-January.
Leicester would spend Christmas on top, although it would be
Arsenal who topped the charts heading into 2016. Despite a shocking 4-0 defeat
to an out-of-form Southampton on Boxing Day, Wenger’s side had an excellent December
with a 2-1 win over Manchester City among their highlights. Petr Cech also
became the record holder of clean sheets in Premier League history, achieving
his 170th shutout in the 2-0 win over AFC Bournemouth. Leicester
lost at Anfield on Boxing Day, but still sat second with Manchester City and
Tottenham close behind.
It was a poor month for Manchester United. Like Chelsea,
they were beaten by AFC Bournemouth in an incredible couple of weeks for The
Cherries. United were then defeated at home by Norwich City and the media
immediately put the pressure on Louis van Gaal with Mourinho now available on
the job market. A Boxing Day loss at Stoke which even saw Wayne Rooney dropped
didn’t help matters. The Red Devils finished the month in sixth place and
winless from the festive programme.
Having achieved just two wins all season, Steve McClaren had
a bit of relief in December as Newcastle United surprised Liverpool FC on Tyneside
to beat them 2-0, then followed this by beating Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart
Lane – ending Spurs’ 14-game unbeaten run in the league.
To read part 2 (January-May) - Click Here
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