Avoiding the Drop

The Premier League season is 38 games long. Every team’s going to play the full schedule by the middle of May; that makes this particular time of year – right before the break for the FA Cup – the de facto “middle” of the season. It doesn’t quite come out that way on the schedule (most teams have actually played 20 games, not 19), but it’s the way it’s broken down in the collective consciousness of fans and pundits everywhere.

With half the season in the bag, then, it’s a good time to stop, look back at this time last year at this time and see how each team’s improved. Let’s take a look at that after the jump.

That’s this year’s table and points compared to last year’s table and points, along with the total changes for each stat. It’s interesting to think back to last year a bit; our memory is likely fairly clear on who’s at the top, but the middle and bottom are easy to forget. A couple of things stand out.

• It’s easy to forget, but last season Tottenham was absolutely terrible. They usually aren’t that bad, and they finished in a respectable tenth place, but it’s hard to fathom that they were ever in 16th place halfway into the season. Harry Redknapp’s a quirky guy, but he really has turned things around for this team. You also see a difference in Portsmouth’s results; this time last season, most of their points had been earned by Harry Redknapp. Without him (and, to be fair, without any money or decent players), Portsmouth’s stranded.
• Obviously, Liverpool’s start has been terrible. I didn’t quite realize how terrible it’s been until I looked at this, however; out of all the Premier League teams, no team has a bigger difference between points earned this season and points earned last season at this time of year. They’re slightly aided by their league position; however, this is the fewest points they’ve had at the break since the 2003-04 season, when they earned 26. That year, however, they were in sixth place on the table, behind Charlton and Fulham for the ever-so-precious top four spot; their competition this year seems much more difficult to overcome. They were able to do it in 2003-04 by picking up 30 points out of their remaining 18 fixtures; I don’t see 63 points being enough to crack the top four this season. So pretty much every game is a must win at this point, which makes for a really dicey second half.
• I can’t help but feel bad for Gary Megson. He’s five points behind where Bolton was last year, but Bolton’s also played two less games this year than they had this time last year; should they win both their games in hand, they could actually have more points after twenty games this season than they did last season. In fact, if they were to have won both of their games in hand, than they’d actually be in ninth place this year; that’s ahead of Sunderland, who’re being touted as the next big thing at the moment. The draw with Hull was embarrassing, but it shouldn’t have ended in his sacking; he’s doing pretty much the best he can with that team. If the owners want more points, they need to spend more money.
• Wigan without Steve Bruce this season: 15th place. Sunderland without Steve Bruce last season: 15th place. That said, the difference between Sunderland this year at New Year’s and Sunderland last year at New Year’s is only one point.
• Everton gets off the hook sometimes for the fact that they’ve got no money and a small squad with a lot of injuries. This time last year, though, they were still a small squad with a lot of injuries…and they were winning more games. Everton’s actually got healthy strikers this season, too, unlike last year. They’re only behind Liverpool in point difference from last year.