Every Premier League Team's Biggest Disappointment of the Season so Far
Every Premier League team will look back at a certain point of their season so far and wish they'd done things a little differently, wish a game had played out another way. After all, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
It's part of football that each and every club has their disappointments along the way, but it goes without saying that they wish this wasn't the case.
With 11 games gone already, we'll take a look back at every Premier League team's biggest disappointment of the season so far.
Arsenal
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Arsenal have been the Premier League's outstanding team so far this year. The Gunners sit atop the table and going into their match with Manchester United had lost just the once—an opening-day defeat to Aston Villa.
Any defeat is always hard to take, but Arsenal's narrow 1-0 loss to archrivals United will have been a bitter pill to swallow.
And to make things even worse, former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie grabbed the game's only goal.
Liverpool
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The fixture between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium was a meeting between the Premier League's top two sides after impressive starts to the season.
Liverpool had been the season's surprise package, pushing leaders Arsenal all the way. The partnership between Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez had looked devastating and many had tipped the winner of the contest to mount a strong challenge for the title.
Liverpool arrived in North London full of optimism, but it wasn't to be their day. Brendan Rodgers' men were second best and conceded two stunning goals.
Santi Cazorla broke the deadlock with less than 20 minutes on the clock, volleying home after his initial header had come back off the bar.
Arsenal's second was a contender for goal of the season. Aaron Ramsey punished the visitors for allowing him too much time outside the penalty area, hammering home a spectacular half-volley.
Southampton
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Who'd have thought Southampton would be sitting third in the Premier League after 11 games?
No, not me either...
But that's the reality. The Saints have performed to the highest level so far and, along with Everton, have lost the least amount of games.
There have not been many disappointments in this stellar season so far, but their one gripe will be the narrow defeat at the hands of Norwich.
Mauricio Pochettino's men weren't outplayed and felt they deserved something from the game. They had a strong penalty appeal turned down before captain Adam Lallana struck the post late on.
Despite that, youngster Nathan Redmond's first Premier League goal was good enough to separate the two sides—cutting in from the left wing to send a fierce shot past Artur Boruc.
Chelsea
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Chelsea went into their match with Newcastle on the back of six straight wins. Newcastle, however, had picked up just one point in their three preceding games—which included a 2-1 defeat at the hands of archrivals Sunderland.
An in-form Chelsea were expected to win and certainly had the better of the opening exchanges. John Terry hit the crossbar and had one cleared off the line in the first half, but Chelsea couldn't find a way past Tim Krul in the Newcastle net.
Alan Pardew's men dominated after the break, though, and went ahead through a Yoan Gouffran header before Loic Remy sealed the victory with a well-taken left-footed effort from just inside the penalty area.
Manchester United
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It's all change over at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson has left and David Moyes has taken over the reins. It is a new, different Manchester United. But expectations remain high.
Manchester United fans expect their team to win, regardless of who picks the starting XI. They've become so used to seeing the Red Devils win over the years that it becomes a disappointment when they don't.
They've had to put up with their fair share of disappointments this year, but there will be one that sticks out.
Manuel Pellegrini's men ensured Moyes' first derby ended in defeat. It also ended in humiliation.
A rampant City took a commanding lead into the break thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure. Any hopes of a comeback were put to bed within minutes of the second period as Aguero and Samir Nasri added to United's woes.
Wayne Rooney grabbed a late goal, but the damage had already been done.
Everton
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Similar to that of Southampton, Everton, under new manager Roberto Martinez, have enjoyed a wonderful start to the 2013/14 Premier League season.
Martinez finally made the move from Wigan after years of speculation linking him to other clubs. The Spaniard has Everton playing an attractive and effective style of football, with the Toffees losing just one game this term. And that game was to Manchester City.
Now there's no shame in losing to City, for any team, especially one that has a minute proportion of available funds compared to the Arab-owned Citizens. But the disappointing element in the defeat is that Everton took the lead early on through Romelu Lukaku and had City on the back foot.
A lapse in concentration just moments after the opener saw City level through Alvaro Negredo. Everton continued to trouble the City defence but fell behind on the stroke of half-time.
City wrapped up victory with little over 20 minutes remaining as Aguero's penalty struck a post before going in off Tim Howard.
Tottenham
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Tottenham have had an indifferent start to the Premier League season. Andre Villas-Boas' men have kept pace with those at the top of the league, but have stuttered along the way.
Spurs have struggled in front of goal this season, often relying on spot-kicks to ensure victories, and have suffered a couple of defeats.
The North London club were beaten by rivals Arsenal back in September and fell to Newcastle this weekend. Their biggest disappointment, however, came in a defeat against West Ham.
Spurs were hugely disappointing during the clash with West Ham, who were in the bottom three ahead of the clash.
Devoid of any creative idea when going forward, though Andros Townsend showed glimpses of promise, Tottenham conceded three—including Ravel Morrison's wonderful solo effort—whilst rarely testing Jussi Jaaskelainen in the West Ham goal.
Manchester City
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Manchester City have had a number of disappointments to contend with this season.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart has been under scrutiny from the word go and has subsequently been dropped after a series of errors.
City have also had their troubles on the road this season—in fact, they've failed to win on four occasions when playing away from the Etihad Stadium.
Cardiff, Aston Villa and Chelsea have all beaten Manuel Pellegrini's men, but their latest defeat on the road will feel like the worst of the lot.
City dominated the clash with Sunderland and went behind through a well-taken Phil Bardsley goal. Time and time again the visitors knocked on the Black Cats' door but were denied by a well-organised, resolute defence.
Newcastle
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Newcastle have suffered the same disappointment during the last two seasons—losing to fierce rivals Sunderland shortly after the Black Cats had appointed a new manager.
Last year Paolo Di Canio guided Sunderland to a 3-0 win over the Magpies. This year it was his successor Gus Poyet.
The hosts took the lead as Steven Fletcher got the better of young Newcastle defender Paul Dummett to head home Adam Johnson's centre.
Johnson then failed in his defensive duties, allowing Mathieu Debuchy space at the far post to convert Hatem Ben Arfa's cross.
The match looked like ending in a stalemate, but Poyet introduced Fabio Borini who struck a late winner—firing past Tim Krul from 20 yards.
Sunderland players, staff and fans celebrated wildly at the full-time whistle, illustrating the importance of the victory.
West Brom
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West Brom currently lie 10th in the Premier League table, but were at one point lying in 20th place.
The Baggies endured a difficult start to the season, losing at home to Southampton on the opening day before holding Everton to a goalless draw at Goodison Park.
Their third league game of the season was their lowest point to date, though...
A 2-0 defeat at home to Swansea had Baggies boss Steve Clarke feeling hugely disappointed. In an interview with the BBC, he said:
"Disappointing. Another home game where we have not scored. It is not a good way to start the season.
I thought we played a lot of good football, probably the best football we have played for a while. Swansea did not create a lot either. It was a possession game; the first goal was crucial.
It is a long season. We have to try to improve what we have done so far. We have to create more chances.
"
Aston Villa
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Aston Villa have been the Premier League's Jekyll and Hyde team this campaign.
Paul Lambert's side have often performed well away from home—possibly due to an altered formation and game plan—but have been disappointing at Villa Park.
Not at any point has this been more apparent than in the 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle.
Simply put, Villa were second best. There was a real lack of team cohesion which inhibited the home side from exerting any real pressure on the Magpies' defence. Villa's goal came from a set piece whilst the visitors carved open their opposition almost at will.
Matthew Lowton, Antonio Luna and Karim El Ahmadi all had a disastrous afternoon, and the other eight men on the pitch fared no better.
Hull City
12 of 20
Newly promoted Hull find themselves mid-table after 11 games of the season, which is something Steve Bruce would have taken before a ball had even been kicked.
The Tigers will have enjoyed their current stint in English football's top-flight after impressive wins over Norwich, Newcastle, West Ham and Sunderland, and their only real disappointment came in a 1-0 loss to Tottenham.
Neither the scoreline or the performance were the annoyance, however, but a poor decision by referee Michael Oliver to award Spurs a late penalty.
Jan Vertonghen's cross 10 minutes from time struck the arm of Ahmed Elmohamady, who was standing less than five yards from the Belgian, inside the Hull penalty area. There was nothing the Egyptian could have done to prevent the ball from hitting his arm but the referee pointed to the spot.
Roberto Soldado duly converted the penalty to snatch a point away from Steve Bruce's men.
Swansea City
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With a Europa League campaign to think about, Swansea's league form has suffered this season. Michael Laudrup's side have been far from their best so far, losing five and drawing three of their 11 games.
The Premier League campaign has been a relative disappointment, but a defeat to Cardiff would have felt like salt in the wound.
Steven Caulker's towering header on the hour mark proved the decisive goal, but a red card to goalkeeper Michel Vorm in the dying minutes compounded the misery for the visitors.
Cardiff City
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Cardiff boss Malky Mackay will certainly be happy with the Bluebirds' campaign to date, though a poor showing on the opening day of the season will have taken the gloss of what was a monumental day in the club's history.
A visit to Upton Park on August 17 was Cardiff's first-ever fixture in the Premier League. Excited Welsh men, women and children traveled to east London from Wales' capital in the hope of seeing their side get a result against Sam Allardyce's Hammers.
It wasn't to be.
Mackay's side were comfortably beaten as Joe Cole and Kevin Nolan scored in each half to secure a 2-0 win.
Norwich City
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Undoubtedly, the biggest disappointment for Norwich City this season was the 7-0 hiding Manchester City gave them.
Prior to the clash, it had been widely speculated that Chris Hughton could be next to lose his job. A succession of poor performances that led to defeats added fuel to the fire surrounding the Norwich boss.
If he thought things couldn't get much worse, he was wrong.
For once, the attention had turned away from his struggling side and was put firmly on Manchester City who had dropped under-fire goalkeeper Joe Hart, replacing the Englishman with Costel Pantilimon.
It was the perfect day for the Romanian to make his debut as City ran riot, finding the net seven times.
West Ham United
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West Ham will be disappointed with how their whole season played out so far—aside from the victory over London rivals Tottenham, of course.
Sam Allardyce has a real problem. Injuries to strikers means that the Hammers have no recognised front man.
West Ham outplayed Aston Villa last weekend with wingers Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis enjoying real success on the flanks. Their intelligent crosses came to very little, though, with Villa's defenders unchallenged for most part.
Fortunately for West Ham, Villa also struggled up front as the game petered out to a goalless draw. Disappointing nonetheless.
Stoke City
17 of 20
Mark Hughes' Stoke City lie just one place above the relegation zone.
The former Manchester City, Fulham and QPR manager is attempting to change Stoke's 'route one' image by implementing a different style of football, and the Potters almost secured the most unlikely of victories against Premier League champions Manchester United.
Stoke led 1-0 and then 2-1 before the Red Devils showed just why they are still a force to be reckoned with, even without Fergie at the helm, by fighting back to claim all three points and break Stoke fans' hearts.
Fulham
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Martin Jol is favourite with bookmakers to lose his job.
The Fulham boss has been unable to turn around his side's fortunes following a terrible start to the Premier League campaign. The Cottagers have lost seven and drawn one of their 11 games and are now firmly in a relegation battle.
The latest in a long line of disappointments came just this weekend as Liverpool put Fulham to the sword. The match finished 4-0 in favour of the Reds, but the scoreline was not the worrying thing.
Fulham exhibited a real lack of fighting spirit which will concern all involved with the West London club. Whether Jol remains the manager or not, Fulham will need to find something to turn around their season pretty quickly.
Sunderland
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Sunderland have been a club in crisis for a while now. The terrible appointment of Paolo Di Canio almost ended in disaster. Fearing another season like the last, the Sunderland board took the decision to fire the outspoken Italian and hire former Brighton manager Gus Poyet.
The Uruguayan has a real job on his hands. The Black Cats have shipped 22 goals so far this campaign, scoring just eight in reply, but have showed some promise during the recent weeks.
Poyet secured his first win as Sunderland manager during the 2-1 victory over Newcastle, but then followed it up with a hugely disappointing defeat at the hands of Hull. Lee Cattermole and Andrea Dossena were sent off in the first half as Steve Bruce's side won by a solitary goal.
Crystal Palace
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Crystal Palace look certain for the drop.
Having parted with ways with manager Ian Holloway, Palace are currently operating without a full-time manager. Caretaker manager Keith Millen recently stated that he would not be applying for the job on a permanent basis.
Trying to pick one specific moment from a long line of disappointing events is difficult, but one that will hurt Palace fans most is the defeat to Arsenal.
The Eagles performed superbly against table-topping Gunners but still crashed to a 2-0 defeat after Mikel Arteta had controversially seen red.
