The 2014/15 Barclays Premier League season was a bit of a rollercoaster, apart from Chelsea, who looked clear winners from early on. So many Premier League teams were involved in up and down seasons resulting in some fascinating stories and some serious drama.
We're gearing up for the start of a new Premier League season here at Balls.ie and together with Setanta Sports we wanted to bring you a collection of mental little factoids from last year's Premier League campaign to allow you to wonder what might happen this time out. So dream big.
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The following facts are things that if we told you this time last year, ahead of the 2014/15 season, you would have laughed in our faces or told us to jog on. Storylines that played out which seemed more like something out of a GOAL! film than actual Premier League football. And yet, they happened.
On the 4th of April Chelsea played host to Stoke City, and while they eventually struggled to a win, they were left absolutely flabbergasted by a 64 yard strike from Charlie Adam. The shot from deep inside his own half saw Adam embarrass Thibaut Courtois and grab headlines all over the World.
Manchester United fans were delirious with the news that the club had managed to capture Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid, and his early season form suggested he was worth every penny of his £59.6m fee. But injuries, his dislike for English weather, and an unfortunate home invasion incident unsettled Di Maria and he packed his bags for France with just seven full games completed in the league and a lot of upset former fans.
Some professional pundits who are paid to give their opinion on football had Southamton tipped for relegation in August 2014, having sold half of their first team to Liverpool. Instead, Southampton played better football than they had the year before thanks to a number of smart signings, once of which was Sadio Mane. When The Saints thrashed Villa 6-1 on May 16th 2015, Mane bagged himself a hat-trick in just 2min and 56secs, the fastest in Premier League history.
When Leicester City entered the month of April rooted to the foot of the table, they were down. That was it, everyone apart from the players and management had ruled The Foxes out of the relegation battle. Out of nowhere, Leicester showed unbeleivable spirit to win seven of their last nine games and comfortably survive relegation.
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Harry Kane had a decent end to the 2013/14 season, but he hadn't yet earned a starting place at Tottenham Hotspur. It took a while for Pochettino to trust Kane enough to make him a regular starter, but when he did, Kane grabbed his opportunity with both hands and responded by banging in goals left, right, and centre and singlehandedly winning Spurs matches. Nobody saw that one coming.
Aston Villa had an absolutely crazy season. Playing some dire football under Paul Lambert, they had scored just 12 league goals when Tim Sherwood took over the reigns in February, and all of a sudden they were a decent side again. They quickly battled their way out of a relegation battle and found themselves in an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool. They won convincingly to qualify for the final, where they were beaten by Arsenal. The resurgence of Benteke under Sherwood was stunning.
Radamel Falcao was signed on loan from Monaco late in the transfer window, and while he was coming off the back of a long injury lay-off, it was expected that he would regain at least some of the form that saw him once emerge as one of Europe's most feared strikers. Instead, Falcao looked a shadow of his former self, and while he certainly tried his best, his never once looked fully fit and managed just four league goals, the same amount as United centre back Chris Smalling.
