Prem Wrap Up I

With all 2o teams in action simultaneously on Sunday the Premiership was the first of the elite European leagues to wrap up its season. Looking back it was a pretty good season for a neutral observer/general fan of the game. At this level there really aren't many shockers over the course of a 38 game season but there was enough drama and quality play to keep me interested. Here are some thoughts on the way things ended:

1. Chelsea are just champions and I think their margin of a single point over Manchester United is maybe a touch misleading. They won all 6 games they played against the so-called "Big 4", they set a club record for goals in a season, and they had the best goal difference by a wide margin. Ancelotti's triumph in his first season outside of Italy is impressive and in the likely event they win the FA Cup for the domestic double will minimize the pain of the getting bounced from Europe in the round of 16.

2. After United and Chelsea there really is a gap to the rest of the elite teams. On their day Arsenal and co. can run with anyone but they continue to lack the depth, stability, and consistency to take the points available game after game after game. This is as much a question of resources as it is of culture. The atmosphere present at Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford is missing elsewhere.

3. The race for the final Champs League spot was fantastic, maybe even as engaging as the title pursuit itself. Although by game 37 it was down to a winner take all match between Manchester City and Spurs, for most of the season it seemed like 5 teams had a legitimate shot at 4th (those two plus Liverpool, Everton, and Aston Villa) and all played enticing football for stretches of the season. It is too early to tell but I think this season was not an aberration and the future will look more like the spring of 2010 than previous seasons.

4. The Portsmouth debacle is really sad. There really is not much to say other than a bunch of people in suits did really, really, really stupid things and the players on the field along with Avram Grant did an admirable job of playing on under terrible circumstances. Their relegation was inevitable but this is one of those things that bum me out about the game. It is really weird/awesome/funny/bizarre that in the same season Portsmouth were relegated and reached the FA Cup final AND Burnley were relegated by qualified for the Europa League.

Tomorrow I will be back to revisit my Prem Predictions from last summer.