Premier League: The season which had a bit of everything - including 39 managers

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The Premier League play came to an extremity connected Sunday, with Everton staying up astatine the disbursal of Leicester and Leeds.

It was a play with engaging battles for the title, European places and relegation. But it was a unusual season, too.

We should beryllium utilized to thing aft the twelvemonth of Covid-era shot with seasons ending successful July - and bare stadiums.

But we did person different interruption this play for a wintertime World Cup, and that was conscionable the extremity of the iceberg.

BBC Sport takes a look astatine immoderate of the antithetic things to hap this season...

A grounds magnitude of managerial changes

All 39 radical to negociate a Premier League crippled this season

This was a play of unprecedented managerial overhauls, with 14 changes successful total. Chelsea, Leeds and Southampton sacked 2 managers each.

Including caretakers and interims, respective of whom were chopped and changed, 39 radical took complaint of astatine slightest 1 Premier League crippled this season.

Only 1 of the managers - Graham Potter going from Brighton to Chelsea - near retired of choice. And helium ended up being 2 of the 14 changes arsenic helium was sacked by Chelsea aft little than 7 months.

Only 9 of the 20 Premier League teams ended the play with the aforesaid manager who started it.

All 3 relegated teams - Leicester, Leeds and Southampton - ended the play with short-term managers whose deals person expired.

Chelsea are acceptable to name Mauricio Pochettino to regenerate stop-gap Frank Lampard, who started the play arsenic Everton boss. Roy Hodgson and Ryan Mason are retired of declaration astatine Crystal Palace and Tottenham respectively.

Read astir the Premier League's managerial carousel here

Chelsea's messiness of a season

'This is my club' - Lampard connected his Chelsea return

Chelsea's 2022-23 play volition unrecorded agelong successful the memory, but not for the close reasons.

The Blues finished successful the bottommost fractional (12th) for the archetypal clip since 1995-96, but that is hardly fractional the story.

Since Todd Boehly took implicit arsenic proprietor astatine the extremity of past season, they person spent £583m connected players and had 4 antithetic managers (including interims) this season.

The £300m+ spent successful January and £270m splurged successful the summertime are 2 of the 3 biggest transportation model spends ever - with Real Madrid's £292m successful the summertime of 2019 successful between.

Boehly sacked Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel earlier appointing Potter connected a five-year woody and paying £21m compensation for him and his coaching staff.

Seven months later, Potter was sacked and his lawman Bruno Saltor took interim charge. He was fixed 1 crippled earlier Boehly brought backmost Lampard - the antheral who had been sacked a mates of years ago, starring to Tuchel's arrival. They lone won erstwhile successful his 11-game spell.

Tuchel, meanwhile, ended the play winning the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. And Pochettino is present connected his mode to Stamford Bridge.

Such was their glut of January signings that summertime enlistee Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who started each their Champions League radical games, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos were near retired of their squad for the knockout stages.

In total, £168m worthy of 2022-23 signings (Aubameyang, Badiashile, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka and Fofana) failed to play 1,000 minutes for Chelsea this season.

Forest's maverick attack works

Steve Cooper connected wherefore Nottingham Forest signed 21 players

Chelsea went for prime (in theory, if not successful practice) with their signings - but for Nottingham Forest it was astir quantity.

They signed 29 players crossed the people of the play aft galore of the 2021-22 Championship promotion squad had left.

Even transportation windows did not halt them, signing escaped agents successful September and February.

For each the 14 managerial changes, it was a large astonishment Steve Cooper was not 1 of them. He was wide expected to beryllium sacked erstwhile Forest were bottommost aft 8 games, but alternatively helium got a caller contract.

In April, helium was again rumoured to beryllium connected the brink but Forest issued a nine connection saying helium would stay successful charge.

It worked successful the extremity arsenic Forest stayed up, with each 4 teams beneath them changing managers.

A truly unfastened relegation tussle

This play we each - well, not the teams progressive - enjoyed a truly unfastened relegation tussle.

On 31 March, the bottommost 9 clubs were separated by conscionable 4 points with 10 oregon 11 games to go. Crystal Palace, successful 12th, had 27 points. Southampton, who were bottom, had 23.

Eventually teams started to propulsion distant - and Southampton stayed wherever they were - but it was inactive the archetypal play since 2017-18 that nary squad were relegated aft 35 games.

Two of the teams down determination changed managers aft the extremity of March - and some went down. Leicester hired Dean Smith, and Leeds turned to Sam Allardyce and Karl Robinson, with the brace thought to beryllium connected deals with immense bonuses if they stayed up. Leeds' wealth was safe.

By the last time it was betwixt Everton, Leicester and Leeds for the last 2 relegation places - with Abdoulaye Doucoure keeping the Toffees up with the only extremity against Bournemouth.

Difficulties with VAR

VAR: How referees marque decisions

Referees' assemblage PGMOL spent much clip than it would privation apologising for video adjunct referee mistakes.

On 1 Saturday successful February, it said atrocious to Brighton and Arsenal for abstracted games. In one, the VAR did not gully the offside lines; successful the different they drew them from the aforesaid player.

In September, again connected the aforesaid weekend, PGMOL acknowledged Newcastle and West Ham had goals against Crystal Palace and Chelsea respectively wrongly disallowed by the VAR for fouls.

There are not ever apologies for mistakes - and apologies are not ever nationalist - truthful determination is nary mode to cognize however prevalent it is.

But we bash cognize Brighton person had 3 apologies.

After 30 rounds of games, determination were 10 incorrect VAR interventions, 19 missed interventions and 30 VAR errors for on-field offences. There were 83 close interventions during that time.

That's not adjacent mentioning Liverpool defender Andy Robertson claiming helium was elbowed by an adjunct referee and Reds brag Jurgen Klopp injuring his hamstring aft shouting astatine a 4th official.

By the extremity of the season, PGMOL main Howard Webb gave his clip to Sky Sports and BBC Radio 5 Live to explicate immoderate of the mistakes.

A mid-season break?!

Clubs had astir six weeks without Premier League games from mid-November to 26 December due to the fact that the World Cup successful Qatar took spot successful Europe's winter.

Some teams gave players who were not going to the World Cup anyplace betwixt a fewer days to a mates of weeks off, portion different teams flew to the different broadside of the world.

The United Arab Emirates, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Portugal were immoderate of the destinations - with astir fractional of the Premier League teams playing friendlies during that time.

Liverpool and Arsenal played games successful the Dubai Super Cup, Everton were successful the Sydney Cup, Crystal Palace hosted Brazilian broadside Botafogo, a fewer teams faced La Liga clubs and Fulham adjacent hosted West Ham successful a London derby the week earlier Christmas.

The array looked rather antithetic then, with Arsenal apical astatine Christmas, Chelsea lone disconnected the European places connected extremity quality and Wolves bottom.

And Cristiano Ronaldo was a Manchester United player.

The magnitude of World Cup players did not look to person a detrimental effect connected the 2nd fractional of the season. A league-high 16 of Manchester City's squad went to Qatar and they won the title, portion lone 2 Southampton players, a associated low, did and they sank to the bottom.

A due rubric contention (until adjacent the end)

For overmuch of the season, it looked arsenic though Arsenal were going to triumph their archetypal rubric since the 'Invincibles' of 2003-04.

Arsenal were 8 points supra City - albeit having played a crippled much - coming into April. They topped the array for 29 games successful total.

But they suffered the aforesaid destiny Liverpool person successful caller years and were incapable to support up City's relentless winning signifier successful the 2nd fractional of the campaign.

Mikel Arteta's broadside spent 248 days apical - the astir without finishing archetypal successful English top-flight past - yet City wrapped up the rubric with 3 games to go.

Since Guardiola took implicit successful 2016, City person taken betwixt 21 and 30 points successful their last 10 games of a Premier League play - an mean of 2.43 points per game.

City person been favourites to triumph the league each twelvemonth since 2015-16, with Arsenal starting the run astatine 50-1 sixth favourites.

Premier League champions City present crook their sights to the Treble. They look Manchester United successful the FA Cup last and Inter Milan successful the Champions League last successful the adjacent 2 Saturdays. Win some and they go the 2nd squad to triumph each 3 aft United successful 1998-99.

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