The Best Teams that DID NOT win the Premier League
The 5 Best Premier League Teams to NOT win the Title
The runners-up, the number two's, the good but not great, that's what this article encompasses.
There have been a lot of impressive sides in the Premier League, but unfortunately, only one at the end of the season gets to hoist the Premier League trophy, and today we look at the five best teams who fell just short of the elusive goal of being Premier League Champions.
Newcastle fans - disconsolate after Kevin Keegan resigned, he almost won them the title in the 90s
Fasika Zelealem is back with another countdown from 5 to 1, this time, of the best teams that didn’t win the Premier League.
5. Newcastle United (1995/96)
The 1995/96 season remains the last season Newcastle United were realistic title challengers and it was a title lost for the Magpies.
Newcastle possessed some of the best players in the division, fielding the likes of David Ginola and Les Ferdinand. The Tyneside club largely led the league between August and March as well as holding a 12-point lead over nearest rivals Manchester United in January.
But come the business end of the season, the wheels slowly came off for Newcastle who saw their lead over Manchester United decrease week by week.
After suffering just three defeats in their first 25 games of the season, Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle lost six times in their last 13 games of the season as United rebounded from a tough December to lose just one game from mid-January till the end of the season.
There have been many theories over the years as to how Newcastle managed to essentially bottle a title they had come so close to.
One of them is the infamous psychological mind games of Sir Alex Ferguson.
It was the words of Ferguson who criticised the effort of the Leeds United players and suggested they wouldn’t play as hard against Newcastle as they did against United; a game Ferguson’s men narrowly won 1-0.
That brought about one of the most famous rants in Premier League from Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan who said Ferguson had gone down in his estimation and he would “love it” if his side managed to pip United to the title.
While it was Newcastle’s highest finish (2nd) in 69 years and assured them European football next year, I’m sure the Newcastle players look back on that season from time and time and attempt to comprehend how they did not secure a first Premier League title for one of England’s biggest clubs.
4. Tottenham Hotspur (2016-17)
It was Tottenham Hotspur’s first 2nd place finish in Premier League history and their only 2nd place finish since the 1962-63 season.
They may count themselves unlucky having not secured a first Premier League trophy, but it was an impressive season headed by the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Son Heung-min.
Young and Hungry - Spurs 2016-2017 were good, but not good enough
Spurs finished on 86 points, their highest tally in the Premier League era, and went unbeaten at home in all competitions in what was their last season at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham suffered just four defeats in the Premier League with three coming at the hands of Manchester United, Liverpool and eventual title winners Chelsea and Spurs were the unfortunate casualty of going head-to-head with a historic Chelsea side whose tactics and set-up masterminded by Antonio Conte not only influenced teams in the Premier League but those in lower divisions.
From February to May, Spurs went on an incredible run as they looked to hunt down Chelsea with 12 wins in their last 13 games as well as 6-1 and 7-1 wins over Leicester City and Hull City in their last two games of the season.
Despite not winning the title, Spurs’ manager Mauricio Pochettino and his Spurs side should be proud of their season in what they achieved, and, in any other year, it would have been them hoisting the Premier League trophy.
Read more on our football blog
3. Liverpool (2013-14)
The 2013/14 season seemed like the one Liverpool were destined to end 24 years of hurt since the last time they won a league title.
Liverpool had amassed a high level of attacking talent with the likes of Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, and Philippe Coutinho all on the pitch at the same time which doesn't make the fact that Liverpool scored 101 league goals (*highest number of goals scored by a Premier League runner-up) a big surprise.
Liverpool were a joy to watch that season, whether as a fan or a neutral, they made every game enjoyable thanks to their superb attack and their absolutely terrible defence.
While some people blame the infamous Steven Gerrard slip against Chelsea or the sending off of Jordan Henderson in their 3-2 win against Manchester or even the collapse against Crystal Palace where they got "Istanbuled" as reasons to why Liverpool didn't win the title, I believe that it was the inability of the defence to keep goals out.
The Gerrard Slip - The CFC admin showing a lack of class
Liverpool conceded 50 league goals, just three shy of Hull City who finished in 16th place.
As a Liverpool fan myself, while I do look back on that season and understand we should have won that title, I ultimately have some fantastic memories of that season and moments I will remember for the rest of my life.
Plus, we won it last year so that kind of cushioned the blow a bit.
2. Manchester United (2011-12)
Nine goals.
That was the difference between Manchester City winning their first league title in 44 years and Manchester United painstakingly finishing as runners-up to their noisy neighbours.
Both teams won 28 games, drew five, and lost five but City scored four more and conceded four less, therefore, earning them a title win due to a +8-goal difference.
Remember, this was the same United side that decimated a third-place Arsenal 8-2 and while the talent level of the squad wasn’t as comparable as United sides in the past, the fact they ran a City side to literally the 94th minute of the last day of the season speaks volumes about the mentality of that Manchester United side.
In fact, United pipped City to the title, strolling to their 13th Premier League title finishing 11 points ahead of their rivals and weirdly finishing with an identical 28 wins, five draws, and five losses as last season…
AND NOW ONTO NUMBER ONE!
1. Liverpool (2018/19)
I can hear it now, “you’re only choosing them because you’re a Liverpool fan”, “how can we trust your bias opinion”.
I understand but there really is no case other than the Liverpool side of the 2018/19 season as the greatest team to never win the Premier League title.
They finished on 97 points, the highest total ever by a team not to win the title and the third-highest points total in the history of English top division football.
Just one point separated Liverpool and Manchester City who scored back-to-back Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola.
Klopp - never humble in defeat
Liverpool matched a club record 30 league wins and made it two consecutive unbeaten seasons at Anfield whilst losing just once in the Premier League, a crucial 2-1 defeat to eventual champions Man City in what proved to be a critical result for Liverpool missing out on a first Premier League title.
While they had to wait another year to finally win the coveted Premier League title, Liverpool did secure the Champions League trophy, a victory that did wonders for my mental health I must say after losing out in the Premier League.
