Another season of Premier League action has passed us by. Thrilling matches, sensational goals, chronic underperformance—the league had it all in abundance.
At the end of it all, it was Liverpool who stood tall, reclaiming their perch at long last in Arne Slot’s first season in charge. The likes of Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, and Brentford punched above their weight, while Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur had astoundingly horrible seasons.
In this article, we look at some of the biggest talking points of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
The promoted teams fail to do more than make up the numbers
This is the second straight season that has seen the newly-promoted teams go straight back down. Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton gave up rather tamely, which has naturally raised questions about the quality of these sides. Together, the three managed to pick up a total of 59 points combined. For context, Leeds United in 2020/21 had the same amount of points.
While there is growing discourse about the ever-increasing chasm in quality between the promoted sides and the rest of the league, the recently relegated sides do not escape scot-free either. Southampton have just about avoided the ignominy of being the worst-ever side in Premier League history. Leicester City never really recovered from losing Enzo Maresca to Chelsea in the summer and were in complete freefall in the second half of the season. Ipswich, meanwhile, spent close to £120 million on summer signings only to finish second from last, and even though they were the only side among the three to show the stomach for a fight, it does not reflect well.
Surely Burnley, Leeds United, and Sunderland do better than them next season?
Mohamed Salah has a season for the ages
In the last year of his contract. Suitors from Saudi Arabia putting in astronomical bids. A new head coach. A new play style. With so much going around in terms of upheaval, not many expected Mohamed Salah to have the kind of campaign we’ve been accustomed to. In fact, some even suggested that Liverpool cash in on Salah given the money on offer from the Middle East.
Oh, how naive we were. The Egyptian King ran down the wing and had a season only a few players in Premier League history have ever been capable of. 29 goals and 18 assists is a hall-of-fame-worthy performance over the course of any season.
Doing this without any distraction is one thing, but producing numbers like these amid constant scrutiny over his future deserves even more appreciation.
Mo Salah is truly in a league of his own. There is him, there is daylight, and then there is the rest. The Egyptian King? More like the Premier League’s King.
Nottingham Forest’s dream run
No one had good old Nottingham Forest upsetting the Premier League’s established order this season, and for pretty valid reasons—they’d just about survived the drop by the skin of their teeth last term and were among the favourites to be relegated this season.
Except, no one told this to Nuno Espírito Santo and his charges. Within the course of a season, Forest went from the league’s punching bags to one of the most relentless, disciplined, and well-drilled sides in the division.
Thanks to Espírito Santo’s simple yet exceptional tactics, and the players’ willingness to run into the ground for their boss, the City Ground became a place of pure joy and immaculate vibes. The Tricky Trees doubled their points tally from last season and were consistently in the Champions League places for most of the campaign.
While they sadly ran out of steam in their quest for a thoroughly deserved return to the Champions League towards the end, a return to European football via the Europa Conference League is no mean feat for the Midlands club.
Manchester United’s and Tottenham Hotspur’s “Dumb and Dumber” campaigns
As usual, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were expected to challenge for a spot in the top four this season. The Red Devils had entered the season with confidence that the FA Cup victory, coupled with new sporting ownership INEOS’ splurge in the summer, would see the club start their journey back to being one of England’s dominant sides. For Spurs, it was a case of Ange Postecoglou learning his lessons and implementing his ideas better in his second season at the club.
Those lofty expectations turned into a nightmare of biblical proportions, as both sides stumbled to the bottom of the table like two drunkards ambling aimlessly down the street with no sense of control or direction. It felt like both teams were competing against each other to see who could fall to lower depths. When one team lost, the other followed suit with a level of awfulness hitherto unheard of.
Eventually, Spurs finished 17th, but they did so with the silver lining of the Europa League trophy after beating their fellow strugglers in a final arguably worse than a Sunday League affair. As for Man United, they ended the season in bust and ridicule, with a summer of introspection ahead of them after completing their transition from semi-failure to utter failure.
Lack of competition in the so-called most competitive league in the world
While the Premier League likes to call itself the world’s most competitive league due to the standard and quality of its teams, this season was defined by a sheer lack of competition at both ends of the table.
While Liverpool should be absolved of any blame for the ease with which they strolled to the title, the same cannot be said for the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City this season. Though both were expected to be title contenders, neither played like one. Man City’s diabolical stretch from November to January left them in no position to mount a fight-back reminiscent of seasons gone by, while the Gunners will fail to find solace despite finishing second for the third time in a row courtesy of their inability to deliver in the season’s crunch time.
Relegation dogfights in the Premier League are a heritage thing. In the past, the likes of Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, and Leicester City have all mounted stunning and borderline-impossible fight-backs—often on the final day of the season.
However, this season was not one of those. Southampton went down with seven games left to play, while Ipswich and Leicester followed suit not long after. The fact that hardly anyone spoke about the manner of their tame surrender was due to the football gods providing the people with two highly illustrious dumpster fires in Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
For a league that thrives on the quality of its competition, this season left a lot to be desired on that front.
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