Premier League

When Jose Mourinho arrived and became Special - the 2004/05 Premier League

 
9:00am on Thursday 2nd April 2020
By
Martin Macdonald

The 2004-05 English Premier League title was won by Chelsea in relentless fashion. Jose Mourinho’s first season in England proved to be unilaterally impressive; his side lost just a single league match all season, conceded just 15 goals and recorded a massive 95 points. Arsenal finished in second position but in truth there was no title race worthy of mention; Chelsea were, by some distance, the best team in the country.

CHANGES

Roman Abramovich provided a level of financial clout never before seen in English football, and Mourinho utilised his resources to full effect. The players that were brought in all played a major role in the side’s success over an extended period; Didier Drogba came in from Marseille for £24m, while defensive duo Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho, who had performed so diligently for Mourinho in Porto’s Champions League-winning season, joined for a combined fee of £30m.

Petr Cech, who would be first-choice goalkeeper for the next decade, arrived for £12m, while the brilliant Arjen Robben was a shrewd acquisition from PSV.

Manchester United spent the biggest single fee of the window, capturing the immensely talented Wayne Rooney from Everton for a fee extending to £30m. Alan Smith (Leeds, £7m) and Gabriel Heinze also helped to bolster their squad.

Real Madrid, after acquiring David Beckham the year prior, turned their attention to the Premier League once again, securing deals for Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Owen from Newcastle and Liverpool respectively. The Reds, under new boss Rafa Benitez, raided Spain in response, securing the highly-rated Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia.

From the second tier, the promoted sides were Norwich City, West Bromich Albion and Crystal Palace, who came up via the play-offs despite finishing the league season in sixth spot.

SEASON SUMMARY

As impressive and virtually faultless as Chelsea’s season was, the innate level of inconsistency in their rivals created less of a race and more of a procession. Arsenal, maintaining their unbeaten record from the previous campaign, started in superb form, but after falling to defeat Manchester United at Old Trafford at the end of October, picked up just one win in six, allowing Chelsea to open up a five-point gap at the top.

After the sides fought out a 2-2 draw at Highbury in November, the Gunners were able to keep pace until February, when damaging losses to Bolton and Manchester United meant that not only had they fallen 13 points off the pace, they had also dropped into third in the table behind United.

At the same time Chelsea just kept winning matches. A run of 13 of them, plus a draw, from January through to April sent them blistering into the distance and neither Arsenal nor United were able to claim anything like that level of consistency. Mourinho’s side were enviable in attack but it was their stingy defensive play that proved so impressive, recording 10 clean sheets in row and their 15 goals conceded in the entire season remains a Premier League record.

The long wait for Chelsea’s fans came away to Bolton, where one of their players of the season, Frank Lampard, scored twice in a 2-0 win to commence the celebrations.

Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one.Jose Mourinho

Arsenal were able to rally to some degree, finishing in second on 83 points, seven ahead of Manchester United in third. One of the stories of the season, Everton, came next. Despite working on a constrained budget, David Moyes negotiated the Toffees above rivals Liverpool in the table, and with it a shot at the Champions League - one, however, that would be doomed to premature failure in the qualifying round. As for Liverpool - well, their unacceptable league form was eclipsed by one of the most famous Champions League victories of them all, coming back from 3-0 against AC Milan to win on penalties in Istanbul.

Bolton Wanderers, under Sam Allardyce, finished level on points with the Reds, exceeding all expectations.

At the foot of the table, one of the founding members of the Premier League, Southampton, were relegated in what proved to be a thrilling final day. None of the three relegation positions were yet decided and West Bromich Albion, Norwich and Crystal Palace joined the Saints in battling to be the one side who could save themselves. Norwich failed miserably, being thrashed 6-0 at Fulham, while Southampton went ahead against Manchester United but lost 2-1 to end the season bottom.

That left two. Crystal Palace looked to be in the box seat, leading 2-1 going into the final 10 minutes, but a Charlton equaliser meant that West Bromich Albion survived courtesy of a victory over Portsmouth. They stayed up by a single point.

AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE SEASON

FRANK LAMPARD

The dynamic central midfielder added a dimension of goals to his already superb game, hitting 13 across the season.

MANAGER OF THE SEASON

JOSE MOURINHO

The Portuguese arrived in a haze of expectation and duly delivered, taking Chelsea to the title at a canter.

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON

WAYNE ROONEY

Rooney took to the step up from Everton in emphatic style, and begun to deliver on the promise of his early days at Goodison Park.

TOP GOALSCORER

THIERRY HENRY - 25 GOALS

The quicksilver forward collected the award for the third time in his career, courtesy of his 25 goals.

TEAM OF THE SEASON

GOAL OF THE SEASON

WAYNE ROONEY won Goal of the Season for this lobbed effort against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup…..

But as this is a Premier League season review, it has to be this strike - again by Rooney - versus Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

MOST EXPENSIVE TRANSFER

Wayne Rooney

Everton to MANCHESTER UTD

£30m

KEY MOMENT OF THE SEASON

Chelsea taking advantage of United’s late-season slips to set up clinching the title at Stamford Bridge against their closest rivals, which they duly did in a comprehensive 3-0 triumph.

Latest news

Lille vs Lens Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the Ligue 1 tie between Lille and Lens on Friday, March 29th 2024 from the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

  • 58 minutes

Cadiz vs Granada Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the La Liga Primera clash between Cadiz and Granada on Friday, March 29th 2024 from Estadio Nuevo Mirandilla.

  • 1 hour

Barnsley vs Cambridge United Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the EFL League One game between Barnsley and Cambridge United on Friday, March 29th 2024.

  • 1 hour

Port Vale vs Bristol Rovers Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the EFL League One game between Port Vale and Bristol Rovers on Friday, March 29th 2024.

  • 1 hour

Barrow vs Grimsby Town Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the EFL Championship tie between Barrow and Grimsby Town on Friday, March 29th 2024.

  • 2 hours

Reading vs Northampton Town Predictions: Team to Win, Form, News and more 29/03/2024

Here are our predictions for the upcoming EFL League One tie between Reading and Northampton Town on Friday, March 29th 2024.

  • 2 hours

Most read