The last three Premier League winners all suffered nightmarish title defenses. Will Manchester City continue the trend?
The saying ‘it’s difficult to get to the top, but even harder to stay there’ is true in all aspects of life, especially football. This summer, for the third consecutive time, the reigning World Cup champions failed to make it past the group stages.
The Premier League is no exception. For the last three years the champions have all followed up with abortive campaigns.
Failed title defenses
2015/16 Chelsea
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After Chelsea stormed to the title back in 2015, no one foresaw their follow-up season. Chelsea looked such a solid outfit that Gary Neville suggested if they bought a player like Gareth Bale they’d be untouchable for the next four years.
Alas, Bale remained in Madrid and Chelsea spent the following season in unfamiliar territory, drifting about the lower half of the table.
Chelsea’s eventual 10th place finish was the worst title defense in the Premier League’s 24 year history. Their collapse was almost as shocking as what was going on at the top of the table – almost.
2016/17 Leicester City
No one expected Leicester to retain the title, but neither were they expected to flirt with relegation.
Things got so bad for the Foxes that they dumped boss Claudio Ranieri, the man who had written football’s greatest ever fairytale only few months earlier. In the end they clawed their way to 44 points and avoided the unthinkable.
The biggest reason for the Leicester’s demise was the loss of N’golo Kante. The tireless Frenchman’s presence is conducive with success – proven as he lifted a second consecutive Premier League title that year, this time in the blue of Chelsea.
2017/18 Chelsea
Chelsea had been there before – top of the pile with a seemingly formidable side.
It can’t be said that Chelsea rested on their laurels. Throughout the two transfer windows they spent £235 million on the likes of Morata, Bakayoko, Rudiger, Drinkwater, and Barkley.
But its questionable whether any of those were first choice targets, certainly for boss Antonio Conte, or if they would have been better off simply hanging on to Namanja Matic and Diego Costa.
In a truncated table Chelsea couldn’t even maintain an academic interest in challenging for the title. A fractious relationship between Conte and the board didn’t help matters and saw them slip all the way out of the top four.
Will Manchester City break the cycle?
City smashed a plethora of Premier League records last season: most points, most wins, most goals, best goal difference, longest winning streak… You get the picture. Manchester City were pretty impressive. So impressive, in fact, that there had never been a bigger points gap at the top.
It may seem unthinkable now that the chasing pack could usurp Pep’s men, but football does possess an infinite capacity to amaze.
Threats
One ill-omen for City could be missing out on transfer targets. Fred chose to sign for their arch rivals; while, after weeks of negotiations Jorginho opted to follow his manager to the capital and join Chelsea.
However, City did finally land Riyad Mahrez. The former Premier League player of the year cost £60 million and would undoubtedly improve any squad; but his signing alone won’t succeed in getting the ostentatious North-west overly excited.
In contrast, other sides are capturing their targets early in preparation to mount a serious challenge. Liverpool had already been tipped as City’s biggest threat and a summer of mouth-watering investment has left the Kopites giddy for the new season to start.
Meanwhile, Mourinho will be hoping to dramatically close the gap on his old rival. It took the ‘Special One’ a couple of seasons to dethrone Pep in Spain and he certainly has the talent at his disposal to do it again.
Strengths
What differentiates Manchester City from any other champion in recent memory is not only the strength of their squad but also the depth.
Although City are having a quiet summer thus far, Sheikh Mansour has written checks quicker then Ed Sheeran writes catchy lyrics during the last couple of windows. The result is a second team strong enough to challenge for honors in its own right.
Crucially, City have not lost any key men from the side that lifted the title – a blow that proved fatal in the cases of both Leicester and Chelsea.
And they certainly have the right man in charge to avoid complacency setting in. Pep is meticulous to the point of obsession and is always pushing his players to the next level in a quest for utopia.
After wrapping the league up so early some worried they would take their foot off the pedal. But with the Catalan at the helm the Sky Blues continued to steamroll opponents and the records fell like dominoes.
Pep is no stranger to kicking off a season as champion. The serial winner successfully defended the title twice in both Spain and Germany, and will look to add England to that list this campaign.
Do you think Manchester City will retain the title this season?