The final day of the season was overwhelming: 10 games at once, each with its own rhythm and storyline. But from the mass of narratives, one theme emerged that had lurked all season: this is a brutally hard, extremely competitive league in which any slip-up is punished. And nobody, as Jonathan Wilson writes for the Guardian, is safe.
That message was driven home by Tottenham avoiding relegation at West Ham’s expense. There was clear anxiety around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in injury time as Spurs held on to their 1-0 lead, with everybody aware West Ham were 3-0 up against Leeds. Yet the fact Tottenham were in that mess at all, Wilson argues, suggests how badly the club has been run over the past couple of years.
“Jonathan Wilson says Arsenal's championship proves wealth isn't everything as slip-ups are punished in brutally competitive league.”
West Ham learned the lesson even more painfully. Given the advantages they should accrue from renting the 2012 Olympic Stadium on extremely generous terms, their relegation underscores that money alone cannot guarantee safety.
But the season also offered a counter-narrative: enlightened management can still transform a team’s fortunes. Arsenal, the champions, did not bludgeon the league into submission with their wage bill. Wilson says it is good that the prevailing model of football has been challenged, good that the Premier League has a champion who seemed constantly to be battling their own doubts. Arsenal may not have been the most thrilling champions, and their football did not offer the same aesthetic thrill as Manchester City at their peak, but their success shows that wisdom can still elevate a club.
There has been significant bunching of the table: the days when champions gathered points tallies in the high 90s seem over, and hopefully so too are the days when mid-30s points totals were enough to stay up. Wilson notes that complaints about style of play often correlate with how well a fan’s team has done, but the underlying lesson of the season is clear: wealth matters, but slip-ups are brutally punished, and no club can afford to take safety for granted.