The English Premier League’s surprise packages

LONDON – A campaign where several of the English Premier League’s big guns have misfired has left the door ajar for more unfancied teams to shine.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United have had poor, injury-ravaged seasons, but the overall quality of the English top flight means the league was no worse for their struggles.

Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur have in varying circumstances exceeded expectations and done so playing high-octane, entertaining football.

Villa prove Ferguson right

On the opening weekend of the season in August 2023, legendary Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was asked which team had most impressed him.

He replied Villa, despite the fact they had just been hammered 5-1 by Newcastle and were bottom of the table.

Come May, the 13-time Premier League winner was made to look prophetic as the Villans finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League for the first time since 1983.

They finished above Chelsea, United, Tottenham and Newcastle, and did so playing an energetic brand of high-pressing football.

The Midlands side achieved this despite losing three key players – Emiliano Buendia, Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara – to season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

So how have Villa managed to pull off such an impressive season in such adversity?

Unai Emery has to take a lot of the credit. Previously known as more of a cup manager – he has four Europa League titles to his name – the 52-year-old Spaniard has shown that his talents extend to the marathon of a league campaign.

Since he took over in October 2022 with Villa in 16th place and one point above the relegation zone, only the Premier League’s top three of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have collected more points than Emery’s side.

Villa also reached the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League on their first return to European action since 2011.

This improvement has not been purely a result of splashing the cash – Villa’s net spend for the season is 10th of the 20 Premier League teams.

Emery has shown a propensity to improve players, with the most notable example being striker Ollie Watkins, who is a Premier League Player of the Season nominee after a campaign which has seen him record 27 goals and 13 assists in all competitions.

Said Emery of the England striker: “He is very competitive. Every day at training, when we are finishing, he wants to take more exercises, he wants to do more at the end of training.”

Cherry-picking the right boss

If Villa had a poor season opener, then Bournemouth had an utterly wretched start to the campaign.

Winless after their first nine league games, having lost six of them, there were murmurs about whether the Cherries had made the wrong choice in replacing Gary O’Neil with Andoni Iraola.

That comparison was not helped by O’Neil’s good work with new club Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite a small squad and the second-lowest net spend in the Premier League.

But Bournemouth’s hierarchy kept faith in the 41-year-old Spaniard and the Cherries set a club-record Premier League points total (48) after a 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in April. And Iraola joined compatriots Emery, Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola as well as Jurgen Klopp as Manager of the Season nominees.

And Iraola has done it with style, with Bournemouth finishing a comfortable 12th, despite a late-season wobble.

Describing his footballing philosophy, he said: “I prefer too much chaos to too much organisation. I prefer us to play at a high pace, even if it means a touch of precipitation, than play at a lower pace and have a bit more control. We have to do our bit for the people to enjoy it.”

The former Spain defender turned Dominic Solanke into a 19-goal Premier League striker in the 2023-24 season, and with a youthful squad featuring the likes of Alex Scott, 20 and Dango Ouattara, 22, it would not be a surprise to see the Cherries kick on a set another new record points tally next term.

Good start to post-Kane era

The campaign might have ended with the disappointment of missing out on a Champions League return, but it is difficult to see Ange Postecoglou’s maiden season as anything besides a net positive.

It was always going to be a tough first campaign without Harry Kane, following his departure for Bayern Munich, but a fifth-placed finish has shown Spurs are definitely not a one-man team.

The impressive start to the season – eight wins and two draws from their first 10 matches – was never going to be sustainable and despite their weak ending to the campaign, which ultimately cost them a Champions League spot, there remains plenty of promise.

Said Postecoglou: “I don’t see fourth as the prize... I don’t want to finish fourth if we haven’t grown as a team.”

The signings have all largely worked out, with rapid centre back Micky van de Ven looking the pick of the bunch. Postecoglou has also got more out of players like Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr and Richarlison than his predecessors.

But most importantly, after the Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte years, Spurs finally look like they have a manager who actually wants to be at the club.