UEFA Season Review 6/10.
Top 5 Leagues, fifth-placed everything.
The season 2020–21 finished in all the five leagues yesterday, and it is, I believe, my duty, to reflect upon it. Today, we shall decide on everything in the fifth place, the team, player, Manager, forward, midfielder, surprise team, and surprise player.
Let us Begin.
Best Team #5
Chelsea
Today’s the game that could have propelled them to number three, or even two, but I see at the Premier League table and how they finished fourth, and I am not convinced of their quality. Yes, they are a good defensive unit, and they also do possess some attacking threat, but I can hardly be afraid of Chelsea, and that is what you need to be to get into the top three.
And without Tuchel, they would be somewhere like 20th, so it is clear that the players are not motivated by themselves, and that is a bad sign. Pep says, again and again, that the Barcelona side he coached were hungry for trophies. In all of the negatives though, this side has what it needs to win. They have the squad, the coach, the budget and just the ability to find wins.
Best Player #5
Romelu Lukaku
I would love to hear some united fans’ thoughts on Lukaku. He has been simply sensational this season, with 35 goal contributions in Serie A alone. His link up play has improved, goal scoring instincts have returned, and is much more willing to do the work.
I would not have said this even when he was at Everton, but I hope my opposition does not have a player of Lukaku’s calibre. I mean the players that are above him on this list, and those that have appeared, like Suarez or Ronaldo.
Best Forward #5
Cristiano Ronaldo
A good season by most standards, however he was not as good as we all know he can be. Besides, some players had a season that they will remember forever. He was great, though. Scored 29 goals in Serie A alone, and had a pretty prolific December to February.
Best Midfielder #5
Luka Modric
A veteran. He had, in my opinion, a better season than his 2017–18 one, when he won the Ballon D’or. He showed his class and experience, while maintaining a composed presence on the field. I really enjoyed watching him, too bad he didn’t win anything though.
Best Manager #5
Thomas Tuchel
Chelsea is good, now. It is mostly, if not entirely, because of Tuchel. I have almost never seen an impact this big, that too positively, on a team. Maybe Flick, but then again, he had so many great players, not only good, but almost legends of the game.
Tuchel deserves all the praise he gets and the outcome of this final should not affect that.
Surprise Player #5
Kelechi Iheanacho
As much as I would love to tell you that I was in on this player before he was famous, I wasn’t. I did see that yeah, he could pass a ball, last year. But, I never thought he would one of the best midfielders on the face of Earth!
Anyway, he played very well, scored some goals, won the FA Cup with Leicester, and never was meant to do this. He gets this place.
Surprise Team #5
Chelsea
I put the same team twice, with their manager on the list too. I cannot say this again, but Chelsea is a good side now. Especially under Tuchel.
This is an opinion, and let me know yours in the comments! Not included defenders and goalkeepers because I found them very hard to rank. I felt I shouldn’t rank them at all. If you want to let me know your rankings of the same, again, let me know in the comments.
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That’s it then!
