The 2014-15 English Premier League title was won by Chelsea with relative comfort; having stumbled in the closing stages in the previous season, they made no such mistake this time.
They steamrollered the opposition to finish on 87 points, losing just three times all season, one of which after the title was already won. The bullish, brash Diego Costa typified their style and proved perfect for the English game; his dominance of the bottom half teams put the Blues in control, while the guile of Eden Hazard and vision of Cesc Fabregas loaded the bullets for the Spaniard. It was a win that reminded of Mourinho’s first spell at Chelsea and hinted at a dynasty that, unfortunately, failed to materialise.
CHANGES
Liverpool, after the glorious highs and near miss of the previous season, suffered another major setback before the season had even begun with the transfer of talisman Luis Suarez to Barcelona for £70m. His replacement, on paper, was Mario Balotelli, but his arrival was doomed from the start and was gone before anyone had even noticed.
Elsewhere Manchester United issued their intent with a £65m transfer of Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid, a move that was more logical than the end product proved to be, while also spending over £30m on young full-back Luke Shaw from Southampton.
Arsenal landed a major coup, signing Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for £38m, while Everton smashed their transfer record with the £28m capture of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea. However, the best business was undoubtedly completed by the eventual champions – the arrivals of Costa and Fabregas were instrumental in the Blues’ title triumph.
On the managerial front, two interesting changes occurred – Mauricio Pochettino arrived at Tottenham, while Ronald Koeman replaced him in the Southampton dugout.
SEASON SUMMARY
Chelsea, still stinging from the manner in which they capitulated the season prior, started with intent and kept their foot to the accelerator for much of the opening months of…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/mourinho-masterminds-chelseacs-return-to-the-top-of-english-football-the-2014-15-premier-league/43
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Martin Macdonald)
Publish date : 2024-08-02 12:00:00
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