| By David Butler On the 29th of March 2013 I wrote about Manchester United's fall from grace under David Moyes. The article concerned how teams faired the season after winning the Premier League title. For the most part, teams that win the title offer a strong challenge the following season too, often retaining the trophy. Given Chelsea’s current plight I thought it was pertinent to resurrect this idea. Only twice was a Premier League winner outside of the top three teams the season after winning the league; Blackburn Rovers were 7th in the 1995-96 season after topping the pile the year before and Man United’s infamous 2013-14 season under David Moyes saw them finish 7th. Winning the league usually doesn't just have repercussions for the successful season only. GIven that the human capital on the field typically changes minimally, the champions often come back to win the league or are runners up the season after too. The table below looks at the same pattern for La Liga and the Bundesliga. |  |
The lowest position a champion has finished the following season in La Liga was 7th (Valencia 2004-2005) while Werder Bremen (1993-1994) and Wolfsburg (2009-2010) both finished 8th the year after being crowned champions. While approximately 80% of champions in the EPL have returned to win the league or finish runner up the the next season, this rate is lower for La Liga (60%) and Bundesliga champions (50%).
Something has definitely gone wrong for Mr. Mourinho. In my view Chelsea's fall is a product of many factors coming together: underperforming or burned-out stars, the sale of key personalities in the summer, aging defenders, transfer failures (not securing the signing of John Stones), fielding young talent that may not be quite ready, public relation disasters with staff and injuries to key players (such as Costa and Courtois) have all contributed to the 'crisis' . While the stats would indicate that the champions may well bounce back from 16th, could Chelsea manage to finish worse than 7th?
Something has definitely gone wrong for Mr. Mourinho. In my view Chelsea's fall is a product of many factors coming together: underperforming or burned-out stars, the sale of key personalities in the summer, aging defenders, transfer failures (not securing the signing of John Stones), fielding young talent that may not be quite ready, public relation disasters with staff and injuries to key players (such as Costa and Courtois) have all contributed to the 'crisis' . While the stats would indicate that the champions may well bounce back from 16th, could Chelsea manage to finish worse than 7th?
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