10 True Football Facts That Would Have Sounded Ridiculous 1 Year Ago
If there is one thing you can predict in professional football, it's that it is often completely unpredictable.
Players make unexpected moves, heroes turn into villains and teams can have rapid changes in fortunes.
Inspired by this reddit feed, here's a list of 10 completely true statements that would have made you sound completely mad if you said them last year...
Arsenal Have Won Two Trophies Since Manchester Utd Last Won a Competitive Game
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This time last year, Arsenal were the default source of mockery for football fans looking to ridicule an empty trophy case. However, in May the Gunners picked up their first piece of silverware in nine years, the FA Cup.
A few months later, they won the slightly-less-important-but-still-shiny Community Shield.
Hence, since the last time Manchester United won a competitive game—a 3-1 victory over Hull at the beginning of May—the Gunners have picked up two trophies.
Vincent Tan Is the Good Guy, Malky Mackay Is the Bad Guy
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Since taking over at Cardiff, billionaire businessman Vincent Tan was painted as a cartoon villain for changing the Bluebirds' shirt colour to red, for replacing the head of recruitment with a friend's young son, for firing popular manager Malky Mackay and—worst of all—for wearing a football shirt like this.
In August, however, it had emerged that Cardiff had put together a dossier showing Mackay's racist, sexist and homophobic text messages with former head of recruitment Iain Moody.
Suddenly, Mr Tan didn't seem quite so bad.
Cesc Fabregas Is a Chelsea Player and Frank Lampard Is at Manchester City
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"Cesc Fabregas to Diego Costa... 1-0 to Chelsea! Everton will need Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto'o to come up with a response now."
There's a quote you probably wouldn't have seen a year ago.
If you were told that Fabregas was coming back to the Premier League, you probably wouldn't have guessed he would arrive at Stamford Bridge. His "Once a Gunner, always a Gunner" Tweet from 2011 doesn't read quite so well now.
Also, no one would have guessed that 36-year-old Frank Lampard would be in Manchester City's squad, albeit on loan from his new team... that technically don't exist yet.
Costa Rica Will Win Their World Cup Group Featuring Italy, England and Uruguay
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In most people's eyes, Costa Rica were simply making up the numbers in a World Cup group featuring England, Italy and Uruguay. The CONCACAF federation is weak, they said. Costa Rica have no pedigree, they said.
Suffice to say, not many folks would have predicted that Los Ticos would win the group undefeated and only miss out on a semifinal place via a penalty shootout.
Brazil Will Lose 7-1 in a World Cup Game on Home Soil
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Prior to the World Cup, Brazil fans may have had a slight inkling that the Selecao were not a world-beating side. Regardless, most pundits expected them to reach the final.
Yet absolutely no one expected them to be trounced 7-1 by Germany on home soil, representing the heaviest and most humiliating defeat in a lifetime.
Luis Suarez Is Serving Another Ban for Biting Someone
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This time last year, Luis Suarez was still serving a ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic, the second time in his career that he had sunk his teeth into someone on the field.
One may have thought the Uruguayan would have learned some restraint, but of course, we all know what happened with Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder at the World Cup.
For the second consecutive season, Suarez is missing the opening matches as a result of a ban for his atrocious behaviour.
This time last season, the talismanic striker was also giving us lessons in loyalty by using the press (the same press he constantly criticised) to try and engineer a move away from Liverpool. At least that move was predictable.
Atletico Madrid Won La Liga and Were Champions League Finalists
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What's that? The duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid was broken? By a team whose business model relies on them selling their best players to European rivals? And they also went all the way to the Champions League final? And they just beat their city rivals in the Spanish Super Cup?
Nope, sorry. I don't believe it.
Manchester Utd Spent £145.5 Million on New Players This Summer
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One year ago, it would be hard to convince a Manchester United fan that they would have Juan Mata, Radamel Falcao and Angel Di Maria among their attacking options.
It would also be hard to see that Manchester United has transformed into the kind of club that Sir Alex Ferguson always criticised: one guilty of "kamikaze spending."
Fergie always poked fun at his rivals' tendencies to break the bank for quick results. Over the summer, the Red Devils did exactly that, spending £145.5 million (as per The Guardian) to become the biggest spending club in England.
It's a new dawn at United, and one where the owners realise that their place in the top two is no longer a given.
Javier Hernandez Is a Real Madrid Player
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Real Madrid finally won La Decima, then celebrated by selling one of their best players to a team that finished seventh in the Premier League and by bringing in Chicharito.
Welcome to Backwards Land, where hot snow falls up and hamburgers eat people.
Crystal Palace Are Still in the Premier League
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After somehow sneaking in through the playoffs, Crystal Palace were welcomed back into the Premier League after an eight-year break.
Around this time last year, things looked extremely bleak for the Eagles: They lost nine of their first 10 games, they had a 40-year-old Kevin Phillips up front and manager Ian Holloway walked away.
They looked deader than a Dodo.
But somehow, Tony Pulis came in and pulled the south London side from the mire. Not only that, but they finished 11th in the league!
Football, bloody hell.
