Mail Sport's alternative awards for the Premier League season
Cristiano Ronaldo’s EXPLOSIVE Man United farewell, managers behaving badly, the spectacular reinvention of John Stones and THAT Antonio Conte rant… Mail Sport’s alternative awards for the 2022-23 Premier League season
- A dramatic and elongated Premier League season came to an end on Sunday
- There have been several iconic and memorable moments throughout the year
- Mail Sport picks out our alternative awards from the past nine months of action
Nine and a half months, one World Cup, numerous dramatic moments and several dubious VAR calls later and the Premier League season concluded on Sunday.
In what was a pulsating and entertaining campaign, there has been a title race and an intriguing battle for Europe, along with a desperate relegation scrap.
Manchester City eventually overtook Arsenal to secure their fifth league title in six seasons, while Manchester United and Newcastle made up the top four.
At the bottom, Southampton, Leeds and Leicester headed through the dreaded trap door after multiple twists and turns and will be playing Championship football next season.
Further fascination and jeopardy was added to a season that has seen 11 different teams undergo at least one managerial change by a winter World Cup in Qatar that saw the league break for six weeks between November and December.
After the end of the Premier League season, Mail Sports hands out our alternative awards
Following the conclusion of the campaign, Mail Sport looks back at some of the most iconic moments to hand out our alternative awards.
LONGEST FAREWELL NOTE
It seems an age ago but Cristiano Ronaldo was a Manchester United player at the start of the season, until a 90-minute interview with Piers Morgan burned bridges more spectacularly than any formal transfer request could.
Ronaldo, who had been left out of United’s team by Erik ten Hag after they started the season with defeats against Brighton and Brentford, didn’t hold back during the November sit-down
‘Since Sir Alex left, I saw no evolution in the club. Nothing had changed,’ he said. And while many United fans at that time would have agreed, his view on ten Hag was more contentious.
‘I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me,’ fumed the former Ballon d’Or winner. That was the end game. While Ronaldo was on World Cup duty, it was announced he and United had separated – and he now plays in Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo left Man United in November after a miserable time under Erik ten Hag
The final straw was an interview with Piers Morgan when he said he ‘didn’t respect’ Ten Hag
MOST EXPLOSIVE RANT
Antonio Conte’s fiery response to a friendly question after Tottenham’s 3-3 draw at Southampton meant he could never manage the club again.
‘We are not a team,’ he raged in breaking down why Spurs had let a 3-1 lead slip. He then proceeded to lambast his players, ownership and the club history. He went to Italy for the forthcoming international break and never returned.
Managers are becoming increasingly cute about how to use their platform to relay messages.
Pep Guardiola forcibly challenged his players as they lagged behind Arsenal by stating football couldn’t all be about ‘happy flowers.’ Erik ten Hag set his stall out early by calling Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to leave a pre-season match early after he’d been substituted as ‘unacceptable’.
Antonio Conte’s explosive rant after a draw with Southampton ended his time as Spurs boss
PUNDITS ‘AT WAR’
Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville repeatedly spoke over each other with growing emotion as they dissected United’s 4-0 defeat at Brentford in August. Neville wanted The Glazers to take the main hit, Redknapp blamed the players.
Presenter Kelly Dalglish stood by, partly because it was impossible to interrupt, but mainly because it made for great television. ‘Jamie, Jamie’ said an exasperated Neville at one point. ‘Look at me when I’m talking to you,’ snapped Redknapp.
Such confrontations have made the analysis almost as watchable as the football at times this season.
Jamie Carragher and Graeme Souness sitting opposite Neville and Keane after Liverpool’s 7-0 thrashing of United was almost cruel. When Neville tried to write it off as a ‘freak’ one-off, Souness jabbed his finger and retorted ‘he wasn’t watching the same game as I was’, as Carragher also piled in.
Jamie Redknapp and Gary Neville clashed over who was to blame for Man United’s struggles
VAR CRIME AGAINST COMMON SENSE
Manchester United’s winner against City at Old Trafford in January still beggars belief when Marcus Rashford shepherded the ball from an offside position to allow Bruno Fernandes to score.
Assistant Darren Cann raised his flag but because Rashford had ran alongside the ball rather than physically touched it, referee Stuart Attwell overturned his colleague and awarded a goal.
VAR panicked and decided they couldn’t over-rule Attwell on basic law but the PGMOL later admitted any future repeat would have a different outcome.
‘There seems little doubt that offside would have been a better decision,’ they said. ‘No one would really have argued had the goal been disallowed.’
In a season of several VAR errors, the decision to allow Bruno Fernandes’s equalising goal against Manchester City when Marcus Rashford was in an offside position is one of the worst
Rashford blocked off Manuel Akanji from clearing the ball, allowing Fernandes to tuck home
QUICKEST PLUMMET IN FORTUNES
On January 14, Southampton looked set for a healthy revival under Nathan Jones having beaten Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, Manchester City in the EFL Cup and relegation rivals Everton in the Premier League in the same week.
How quickly things change. Less than a month later, Jones was sacked on February 12 after three consecutive league defeats amidst the general consensus that his appointment had been a disaster.
Some of Jones’ outlandish post-match comments and appearing to blame his players was a contributing factor but how many of those Saints fans welcoming his departure had been at Goodison only 29 days previously celebrating James Ward-Prowse’s match-winning double and believing better times were ahead.
Nathan Jones’s disastrous three month spell at Southampton dramatically imploded
BENEFITS OF FAN POWER
Every club in the bottom half of the table have fired their manager at some point this season except Nottingham Forest and West Ham – who have both been rewarded for their loyalty by staying up.
The Forest situation is a result of supporters sometimes knowing best. A 4-0 defeat at Leicester in October left Forest bottom of the table after eight matches and fears for Steve Cooper’s job given the past record of owner Evangelos Marinakis.
However, the Forest fanbase made their feelings clear – chanting the name of Cooper throughout to leave club bosses in no doubt that sacking him would be a divisive move.
So Cooper stayed and as reward for Marinakis, Forest fans created the best atmosphere in the league for the rest of the season. There is no question their home kept them in the Premier League – 30 of Forest’s 37 points were won at The City Ground.
Nottingham Forest got their reward for staying faithful to Steve Cooper as they survived
MANAGERS BEHAVING BADLY
Thomas Tuchel’s decision to grip Antonio Conte’s hand extra-hard for extra-long after Chelsea’s London derby against Spurs in August nearly caused a major disturbance.
His compatriot Jurgen Klopp also got over-excited after Liverpool’s late winner against Spurs, sprinting over to yell at fourth official John Brooks, pulling a hamstring in the process.
Maybe Klopp had taken lessons from Pep Guardiola. He was so emotional about Manchester City scoring against Liverpool at the Etihad, he celebrated right in the face of Reds substitute Kostas Tsimikas who had been minding his own business warming up on the touchline.
Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte’s infamous handshake was a hugely dramatic moment
BEST REINVENTION
England central defender John Stones became a right-back-cum-midfielder for City’s win against Liverpool at the start of April and performed so well he’s become a huge part of Pep Guardiola’s tactical masterplan to win the Treble.
Stones is in the best form of his life wherever he’s asked to play. In the recent 4-0 win against Real Madrid, he helped City dominate a midfield that included the great Luka Modric, and was still an extra body in the heart of defence when needed.
He’s not been the only one to reinvent his game. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s role in Liverpool’s midfield when they are in possession has played a big part in their good end-of-season form.
Having been used as a wide player by Manchester City the previous season, Gabriel Jesus was back at No 9 for Arsenal and spearheaded the attack as Mikel Arteta’s side returned to the Champions League. Joelinton has excelled in midfield for Newcastle having flopped as a striker under Steve Bruce.
John Stones’s transformation into a defender-cum-midfielder powered Man City onto the title
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