Across the Pond: Your Weekly European Soccer Update Post Season Edition Part 1

Welcome back! I apologize sincerely for the lack of soccer posts in the last few weeks (graduation, moving home, and job searching/interviewing, etc. have taken up almost all of my time). Since the last time I wrote, almost everything is settled in the major European leagues. The one big game still left is the UEFA Champions League Final, which is this Saturday in Lisbon. I'll talk more about that a little later. Before I do my final thoughts on the major leagues (and some not as major leagues too) let's do a little bit of housekeeping so you know what to expect in the next few weeks. I've decided to break up the recaps of the leagues so I can go into more depth. Today I'll do the Premier League and Champions League Final preview. In the next few days I'll cover La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, and a more compact recap of some of the less known leagues. The World Cup starts on June 12th, and I'll do a full analysis on every group before it starts. During the World Cup I'll continue to write, giving my predictions after EVERY round. With some help from inside sources, I'll also go over the venues in Brazil and what to expect from the host country. When the World Cup ends I'll go back to FC Dallas reporting, and I'll also write about the team between the Champions League Final and the start of the World Cup. The World Cup concludes in July and the major leagues don't start again until mid-August, so I'll use that time to write my predictions for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying groups. Then when the leagues start again in August you can expect a full analysis as well as recap of major transfers. Without further ado let's recap another exciting football year.

Barclays Premier League

Champion: Manchester City

Champions League (2nd, 3rd, 4th): Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal
Europa League (5th, 6th): Everton, Tottenham...Hull City also qualified because Arsenal beat them in the FA Cup final. Normally, Arsenal would go to the Europa League, but they finished in a Champions League spot, meaning the finalist (Hull City) gets that spot.

Relegation to League Championship (18th, 19th, 20th): Norwich City, Fulham, Cardiff City

FA Cup: Arsenal

League Cup: Manchester City

Manchester City won their second league title in three years, and also claimed what's known as "the double" by winning the Capital One League Cup. They did so by scoring lots of goals (102) and having the second best defense. Arsenal actually spent the most time at the top of the table, but they sputtered after New Year's, allowing Liverpool to move to the top spot. If not for a Steven Gerrard slip against Chelsea, Liverpool may have won the title. People will point to the collapse at Crystal Palace as the turning point, but really it was the Chelsea game. Credit to Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who won trophies in his first season. Yaya Toure was the most important player for City's run to the title. He scored timely goals and was a wall on defense. Despite choking late in the season, Liverpool and its fans should be very happy on how the season went. They return to the Champions League next year and if they add a piece or two on defense, will be legitimate title contenders once again. Chelsea were probably many people's favorites to win the title before the season, and it looked like they may achieve that feat. Like Arsenal, Chelsea struggled in the second half of the season. They ended up third in the league and were eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League semi finals. Questions will remain about Jose Mourinho's mind games, something he is famous for. For the first time in 10 years, Arsenal fans see their team win a trophy. Don't underestimate the significance of the FA Cup, it's a prestigious trophy and it certainly should lift some pressure off manager Arsene Wenger. Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis takes home the manager of the season award and rightfully so. When he took over the team, they were dead last and poised for relegation. They comfortably finished the season in 11th place and took down some big teams in the second half of the season. Sunderland completed a similar escape. With 6 games left they were dead last, 7 points from safety, and faced both Manchester teams and Chelsea in their final games. They won 5 of the last six, and tied the other game to escape relegation with a game to spare. The biggest team relegated is Fulham. The London outfit was in the Premier League for the last 13 seasons, and made it to the Europa League Final in 2010. Losing Clint Dempsey and Brian Ruiz in the past few seasons played a big role. A porous defense saw Fulham give up a league worst 85 goals. Norwich City return to the second tier after just two seasons in England's top flight. They can blame their lack of goal scoring, as they were the worst offense in the Premier League. Cardiff City are relegated just a year after winning the Championship. Lack of scoring and issues with the brass led to their downfall. Owner Vincent Tan is not very popular with Cardiff supporters, among other things, he changed the team's logo and colors and fired then manager Malky Mackay.The other big storyline was the struggles of Manchester United after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson which eventually led to David Moyes' firing. Moyes was known as "the Chosen One" but United ended up with their worst ever finish (7th) in the Premier League. I thought United may give Moyes a few more weeks next season, but this is a club that expects the best, and Moyes clearly isn't up to par. In all, the lead changed hands 25 times this season, the second most ever. The title wasn't decided until the very last day, something that's only happened 7 times. For the first time ever, two teams (Manchester City and Liverpool) scored over 100 goals and City finished one goal shy of the record.

My Awards

 Player of the Year: Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

Suarez not only won the golden boot for top goal scorer, he did so in just 33 games after being suspended for the first six for a biting incident. He became only the seventh player in Premier League history to score 30 goals. It took him just 15 games to score 20 goals, which is a record. He signed a contract extension with Liverpool in December that keeps him at Anfield until 2018. It's been quite a change for Suarez who seemed certain to leave Liverpool a year ago. The club decided to throw its support behind him and he flourished. I've always been a huge Suarez fan. His passion for the game and winning is second to no one right now. If you want proof see his actions in the 2010 World Cup when he infamously used his hand to stop a sure goal. He was properly shown a red card but Ghana missed the penalty kick and Uruguay won the game. Most recently, Suarez was crying after Liverpool blew a three goal lead against Crystal Palace. Yes, he has his share of off the field issues, but since the biting incident 13 months ago, Suarez has been innocent.

 Manager of the Year: Tony Pulis (Crystal Palace)

After 12 games, Crystal Palace had only 4 points. In the next 26 they piled up 41 and easily escaped relegation. So what happened? Tony Pulis happened. Pulis is known for being a defense-first coach, gaining that reputation while leading Stoke City to the Premier League a few years ago. Pulis is a mastermind at getting everything out of his teams. Palace don't have nearly the talent to be where they are, and if Pulis was manager from the start of the season, this team may have finished in the top 8. Aside from saving their season, Pulis' Palace ended Liverpool's hopes of winning the title. If Palace can keep most of their players and maybe even add a few, Crystal Palace can be this year's Southampton.

 Goal of the Year: Pajtim Kasami (Fulham) vs. Crystal Palace

One of the brighter spots in Fulham's season was this goal against Crystal Palace. The skill it takes to chest a ball at a full sprint and blast it in the top corner off a volley is almost impossible. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaROUmMOVU

Honorable mention goes to Jack Wilshere's goal against Norwich.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHswyAFEWc

 Signing of the Year: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham)

I picked Eriksen because of how cheap Spurs bought him for. At only ten million pounds, Eriksen was a bargain. He did struggle with injuries this season, and Tottenham probably underachieved for the amount of talented players they brought in. Andre Villas Boas, the former manager, also benched Eriksen but Tim Sherwood brought him back into the starting eleven, and Eriksen ended the season with ten goals and ten assists. If he remains healthy, Eriksen can become one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League.

UEFA Champions League Final: Real Madrid vs. Atletico Madrid Saturday, May 24 1:45 CST

So if you remember I predicted a Bayern-Chelsea final. Needless to say I was dead wrong. Instead, for the second year in a row we have two teams from the same country, actually the same city, playing in the Champions League Final. Atletico's dream season continues. They held off Barcelona heroically to win the league, and now look for the prestigious double. A 0-0 in the first leg against Chelsea gave Atletico a slight edge going back to London. Chelsea actually took the lead in the second leg, but Atletico scored three unanswered goals to clinch a spot in the final. Real Madrid arguably had the tougher task, facing Bayern Munich. They took a 1-0 lead from the first leg back to Germany, and shocked the world after that. Two Sergio Ramos goals in the first 30 minutes basically put the tie to bed. Real ended up winning 4-0, 5-0 on aggregate. Real took advantage of Bayern's late season dip in form, but to blow them out like they did stunned everyone. Atletico Madrid are waiting on the status of star striker Diego Costa, who suffered a grade 1 hamstring tear on Saturday. Normally Costa would be ruled out for a couple of weeks, but the Spanish striker traveled to Serbia to receive a horse placenta treatment. No, that's not a typo. Costa is still doubtful to play in the final, especially if he isn't close to 100%. Real Madrid received a boost as both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale are expected to play.

Diego Costa's fitness is in doubt for this weekend's match against Real Madrid

  Prediction: After watching Atletico win the title this Saturday, I get the feeling this team is destined this year. They lost Costa after 20 minutes, and a few minutes later lost Arda Turan, also one of their best players. However, coach Diego Simeone regrouped at half-time and Atletico held on to win the title. On paper, Real are the more talented team, especially if Costa can't go. The teams have played each other 4 times this season, twice in the league and twice in the Copa del Rey. Real won both Copa del Rey legs, but lost at home to Atletico in the league. The last match ended in a 2-2 draw. However, Real surprisingly dropped out of the league title race in the last two weeks of the season, and seem to be in a bit of a funk. I expect a close game with Thibaut Courtois being the hero for Atletico Madrid in penalty kicks. 1-1 after extra time, Atletico win on PK's.

Part two coming soon,

Adam Bakiera
Follow me on Twitter: @abakiera and be sure to follow @RiffRamSports