Where was the competition?

Chelsea are a clear winner in this one-horse race. They won the league with three games to spare and with their nearest “competition” being a whopping thirteen points behind them. They’ve had a strong season with some excellent performances from Eden Hazard and new signing Cesc Fabregas. There’s no doubt that they’ve out performed their competition and done so at strength, but why weren’t they actively challenged for the title from other teams?

Some of the reason lies with the sluggish start to the season shown by Liverpool, Manchester United, and even Arsenal to an extent. West Ham and Southampton spent the first half of the season in the top spots before the aforementioned teams woke up and clawed their way back up the table – and by that point, they had already dropped too many points early in the season to reasonably push for the title. This division of points amongst teams certainly broke up the top four and prevented one or two teams from strongly pushing forward, but there should have been at least one team giving them a run for their money.

The team who should have done better – and only have themselves to blame – are without question Manchester City. Manchester City have a strong squad, and won the league well last year – but they dropped the ball time after time this season. They also let Burnley take four points off them over the season; this from a team who scored 13 goals against West Ham over two legs last year. It’s an unacceptable season from a team who should have at least tried to give Chelsea something to worry about.