ARSENAL
 Position: 4th
Points: 68

It’s safe to say Arsenal’s campaign this season would have pleased the rest of the Big Four (Liverpool, Chelsea and Man United) more than Arsene Wenger himself. A second successive season in 4th place, after the heady heights of the Champions League final last May, no doubt had to be a disappointment for Gunners fans. With the Gunners gracing their spanking-new Emirates Stadium for its inaugural season, it was always going to be tough going trying to settle in, let alone hit the ground running at the start of the season.

Injuries to key men Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie in the second half of the season didn’t exactly help either, with the Frenchman clearly suffering from fatigue in the opening weeks of the season, having played in the Champions’ League final and reaching the World Cup final with France barely 7 weeks later. Yet, in his shadow of his normal self, the world’s most lethal striker still managed to haul his beloved Gunners back from potential 1-goal defeats at the Emirates with crucial goals against Middlesbrough and Newcastle, as well as in wins against Sheffield United, Watford and Reading (2).

Many fans pointed the finger at Wenger’s youth policy for being responsible for the Gunners’ failure to mount a serious title challenge this season, saying that it was not enough to throw in the youngsters and expect them to flourish in the cutthroat atmosphere of the top of the Premiership.

On the contrary, however, it was actually the younger players who dragged the club forward this season and the older ones who disappointed. Players like Cesc Fabregas, van Persie, Theo Walcott and Gael Clichy could safely admit they did the club proud this season with their contributions, while on the other hand, the more experienced and supposedly ‘more mature’ ones like Alexander Hleb, William GallasJulio Baptista let the club and their younger teammates down with less-than-impressive performances. and

Another famous gripe about Wenger’s men this season was their failure to put away chances they created. On more than one occasion this season, the Gunners strung together swashbuckling, intricate passing moves that had even the neutrals drooling, yet often failed to provide the finishing touch on even half of those. As a result, the Gunners suffered disheartening defeats or draws against teams that, on other days, would have been relieved just to get away with a two or three goal loss

Time is essential for the youngsters to grow up but a quality midfield signing or two for next season is a must. Especially should Hleb or Rosicky under perform once again and if the ageing Fredrik Ljungberg leaves in the summer.


LIVERPOOL
 Position: 3rd
Points: 68

At the beginning of every season, there’s talk of the Premiership title finally coming to the red half of Liverpool.

Season 2006/07 was no different, with the kopites truly believing their side would be up there with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea come May.

Perhaps only boss Rafael Benitez had the foresight to look ahead at the end of Nov after a fifth Premership defeat to Arsenal all but ruled the Reds out of the title chase, and realigned his priorities to a bigger, more realistic stage—the Champions’ League.

However, critics of Benitez will again enquire, in a less than friendly tone, about the Reds’ failure to maintain the pace at the very top, and there may be several reasons why. Firstly, it appeared that the team relied too much on inspirational captain Steven Gerrard. While one of the best all-round midfielders ever to grace both Anfield and Wembley, Gerrard does sometimes have his off-days and if he doesn’t play, then the general consensus is that Liverpool don’t either. A noteworthy example: when Gerrard struggled to open his account for Liverpool early on in the season, after his World Cup exploits with England, the rest of the team appeared clueless and uninspired in front of goal.

Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt worked his socks off and netted a healthy return of 12 goals in his first Premership season, but Benitez’s insistence on playing a lone striker upfront meant that the Dutchman toiled without much support.

The need for a 20-goal-a-season striker is apparent—think what a Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o or even Berbatov, could do to a Reds lineup that already boasts an enviable midfield depth of artists and artisans, in Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Mohammed Sissoko and the Argentinean Javier Mascherano

Besides the obvious consistency problem upfront, the fact that Liverpool emerged with the worst record in the games among the Big Four has to be one of concern if Benitez is serious about challenging for the title. In six games played against rival challengers, ‘Pool’s record reads: Won 2, Drawn 0, Lost 4.

Benitez, like the shrewd tactician he is though, would have duly noted all the points win which Liverpool were lacking this season and rest assured he would have ruminated on just how to solve them. It remains to be seen if the players will actually carry out Phase 4 of the Rafa-lution next season.

CHELSEA
 Position: 2nd
Points: 83

For the first time since Jose Mourinho landed in London, Chelsea weren’t crowned champions of the Premiership, and it has to be a bitter pill to swallow for the cocksure and ever-controversial Portuguese manager.

Ivorian striker Didier Drogba certainly did his utmost to help Chelsea’s cause this season with 20 goals. In a season where he was expected to play second fiddle to record £30 million ($90 million) signing Andriy Shevchenko, the burly Ivorian confounded his critics with a true goal machine’s performance, ensuring that he was the first name on the team sheet every week.

As Drogba flourished under Mourinho’s tutorship this season, another big name withered. Shevchenko, touted for great things after a typical ruthless finish against Liverpool in the Community Shield on his Chelsea debut, flopped spectacularly in his first season in English football. The running joke around London was that Carlos Bocanegra of Fulham scored 5 league goals this season, one more than Shevchenko—and he’s a centre-back!

The other big signing, Michael Ballack, also promised much, but delivered little. It was easy for the German skipper to raise himself for midweek Champions’ league glamour ties against Barcelona and Porto. But when it came to playing on the cold, wintry frozen pitches of Charlton and Wigan, Ballack looked uninspired, disinterested even.

It remained for Ghanaian Michael Essien, to raise Chelsea’s game above ordinary levels when they were running on empty at the end of the season chasing four competitions. The combative midfielder drove his teammates on by both fair and foul means. He also went some way to justifying his enormous £24.4 million ($73.2 million) transfer fee when he showed amazing versatility by playing well as a defensive midfielder, right-back and even centre-back!

However, even Essien’s exploits proved to be insufficient to match up to this season, and rumours are abound of a simmering feud between Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich quite possibly result in one or the other leaving the club before next season.

For sure, Abramovich’s riches have ensured that the standards are now being raised to phenomenal levels, and it’s now inconceivable to end up without either the Premiership title or the Champions’ League, or even both, at the end of every season. It appears that success has come at a price to Chelsea, and while the boss appears to be safe for now, it’s worthwhile to note the potential of more conflict and challenges ahead in a whole new grueling season.

MANCHESTER UNITED
 Position: 1st
Points: 89

There can only be one word to describe Manchester United this season: unstoppable. From the opening day of the season, Alex Ferguson’s men signalled their intentions to the rest of the league in the best possible way with a 5-1 thrashing of Fulham.

From then on, the rest of the league could only watch and wonder as the Red Devils swept all before them, ending with a massive 83 goals scored.

17 of them from Cristiano Ronaldo, whose displays saw him scoop all 4 of the Professional Footballers’ Assocation (PFA) awards, as well as the Football Writers’ Association Award.

The 22-year-old Portuguese star dazzled virtually every Premiership defence this season with his blistering pace and wizardry on the ball. Poor bewitched fullbacks were left on the ground as the winger led from the front, inspiring his teammates in the process.

The other R of Man United, the bullish Rooney, worked in tandem with Ronaldo and hammered 14 goals in the league.

But it wasn’t all attack which brought Fergie’s men their first title since 2002/03. The backline contributed with a real obstinacy to concede, with 17 clean sheets and Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar finally looking like the goalkeeper the team had been missing since the departure of Peter Schmeichel.

The newly forged central defence of Serbian Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand also blossomed, with the Serb already looking a steal at £7 million ($21 million).

With Ronaldo finally putting pen to paper in a new deal that will keep him at Old Trafford till 2010, the future of one of the world’s brightest young players has been secured. With Ferguson starting his transfer activity early on with a triple haul of Bayern Munich’s Owen Hargreaves and promising youngsters Luis Nani and Anderson from Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto respectively, the message is clear to those who are eyeing the title next season—come and get it if you can.