The curtain of the Premier League this season has fallen, and the dust of the championship and relegation has settled. But every fan will have this idea-"If there is an if, will the result be different?".
What would have happened if Saliba hadn't been injured? What if Chelsea insisted on using Tuchel? What would happen to Aston Villa and Everton if Gerrard and Lampard hadn't been sacked?
In today's article, from the perspective of ordinary fans, CAB PORTAL will give you an overview of the turning moments of the Premier League teams this season.
Arsenal
Arsenal has been going smoothly on the road to the championship until the second leg of the Europa League 1/8 final against Sporting Lisbon. That night, the main players such as Ben White, Thomas, Odegaard and Saka took turns to rest, but Saliba did not rest. If Arteta also chose to rest Saliba at that time, would Arsenal have become the champions of the Premier League?
We will never know, but this is the dilemma of a team like Arsenal fighting on two fronts. How much can the team "take into account"? Will completely abandoning the European war hurt the morale of the team? Will it not send the wrong psychological information to the players?
In any case, it proved to be a costly night as they lost Tomiyasu and Saliba, especially Saliba, had he been in the squad in April, Arsenal must not have won four games and put the title race The initiative is handed over to others.
It's easy to name the turning point of Aston Villa's season. In October, Villa lost 0-3 to Fulham, Gerrard was fired and Emery returned to the Premier League.
After that, Emery led Aston Villa to an astonishing 49 points in 25 league rounds, creating the record for the most points in the same round in the history of Aston Villa. In the end, at the end of the season, Aston Villa successfully squeezed out Tottenham and broke into the Conference League qualifiers for next season.
In any case, it proved to be a costly night as they lost Tomiyasu and Saliba, especially Saliba, had he been in the squad in April, Arsenal must not have won four games and put the title race The initiative is handed over to others.
Aston villa
It's easy to name the turning point of Aston Villa's season. In October, Villa lost 0-3 to Fulham, Gerrard was fired and Emery returned to the Premier League.
After that, Emery led Aston Villa to an astonishing 49 points in 25 league rounds, creating the record for the most points in the same round in the history of Aston Villa. In the end, at the end of the season, Aston Villa successfully squeezed out Tottenham and broke into the Conference League qualifiers for next season.
Brentford
That must have been Brentford's incredible 2-1 win over Manchester City ahead of the World Cup. Thomas Frank's side are in dire form ahead of the trip to the Etihad. They are now four league games without a win and were knocked out by fourth-tier Gillingham in the Carabao Cup a few days ago.
But in that game against Manchester City, Ivan Toni, who was not selected for the World Cup squad, slapped Southgate in the face with action. Double ring + lore, the 27-year-old led his team to defeat Guardiola's team. This result was the catalyst for Brentford's 12 unbeaten league games since then. At the end of the season, they finished 9th in the league, dispelling all fans' worries about the Premier League for two years.
Brighton
In the 14th round of the Premier League, Brighton beat Chelsea 4-1.
That game was the first time Potter, who was Brighton manager at the start of the season, faced his former club. New coach De Zerby told Chelsea with practical actions that you can buy the coach players, but Brighton's youth storm will not stop.
In the end, the sixth place in the league and the result of breaking into the Europa League, it is easy to forget that De Zelby's Brighton coaching career started with five winless games. Only scored 2 points in the league game, and did not score a goal in three of them. It was a perfect victory against Chelsea and opened the prelude to Brighton's miracle this season.
Chelsea
After such a disastrous season, it's hard to pick "one" bad defining moment.
Many Chelsea fans will say that firing Tuchel was a mistake. This is indeed a turning point for Chelsea this season, but this decision itself is not the biggest mistake, but the timing of the decision.
The unfriendly relationship between Todd Boehly and Tuchel led to the latter's dismissal. However, there was already a gap between the two sides before the start of the season, and it was not until one month after the start of the season and the transfer window closed that the two sides parted ways.
If, if Potter had had a full pre-season to work with the players, to convey ideas to the players, instead of solving problems amidst the pressure of a packed schedule and results, he might have had more chances at Stamford Bridge. Make your mark.
Chelsea's season never really started, they made the decision to change managers at the wrong time, and from that moment on they were on the back foot and never got back on their feet.
Everton
In early November, Everton had two away games against Bournemouth in four days, one 1-4 and one 0-3, marking a new low point for the team's record under Lampard's coaching. His side have won just one of their last six games (4 lost, 1 drawn) and fans have lost faith in Lampard at this point.
However, that did not prompt the Everton board to act at that stage. On the contrary, when entering the rest period of the World Cup, the Everton executives still hoped that Lampard could turn the situation around. It was not until after the World Cup that Lampard presented a six-match winless report card that they realized that Lampard Germany is really not good.
Everton relegated in the final season, and many people remember Ducure's valuable long-range goal. But after Lampard left, Sean Dyche, who took over the team at the time of life and death, was Everton's real relegation hero.
Leicester City
Leicester relegated and looking back at the season, there were so many "what ifs?"
If the World Cup in November hadn't stopped their winning streak, or if Rodgers had replaced Daniel Iverson with Danny Ward in goalkeeper earlier, or Rodgers had been sacked sooner, would Leicester have? What about staying in the Premier League?
But last summer, Leicester City seemed to have the first signs of danger. The club's inactivity in the transfer market contributed to Rodgers' negative sentiment from the beginning, and then infected the entire team. If Leicester City had been more decisive in the renewal of the team at that time, they might not have fallen into the current predicament.
Liverpool
Looking back on the bumpy journey that has taken Liverpool throughout the season, Liverpool started off track but eventually got back on track.
It can be said that the failure to sign a midfielder last summer was a turning point for Liverpool this season. But the most prominent turning point for CAB PORTAL came when Luis Diaz was injured again in Dubai last December. In other words, if he recovers earlier, Liverpool will surely achieve more victories and fewer defeats. He is so important.
But Liverpool would not have pursued Gakpo so desperately in January had he not suffered another knee injury. Now, Gakpo has switched to playing in the middle and has become a perfect replacement for Firmino. Therefore, although Diaz's absence is embarrassing, Gakpo is a big gain for Liverpool.
Tottenham
The turning point of Tottenham's season has been centered on the appointment and removal of management personnel. In many respects, the club could have made better choices to save their season.
If you have to say which choice led to the failure of Tottenham this season, then I think it is the winter window team that should break up with Conte. At the end of last year, Conte made it clear that he would not renew his contract with the club. Talent is officially leaving.
During the World Cup in November, Tottenham ranked fourth. If there is a decisive change of coaches at that time, the new head coach will have enough time to save the entire season. At that time, Tottenham still maintained a positive momentum on the three fronts of the league, the Champions League and the FA Cup. At that moment, they had a high probability of finding a feasible target who was willing to take over the job permanently.
Even if he can't find a coach, Ryan Mason will have plenty of time to make his mark.
But in the end, Tottenham had conflicts with Conte, and the team finally failed to qualify for the European competition next season for the first time in 13 years.
Wolves
In the early morning of October 20th, Michael Bill sat down with the Queen's Park Rangers executives to discuss his upcoming departure from the team to serve in the Wolves. The Wolves were also preparing for a welcome ceremony to welcome him later.
But eventually Queens Park Rangers persuaded Bill to stay. Wolves were stunned and then fell into chaos, but they calmed down and finally found Lopetegui. Later, it was this man they coveted for more than six years that led them to successfully avoid relegation at the end of the season and achieved a good result of 13th in the league.
