Each year Rant predicts the season ahead. Manchester United’s performance, the winners, the losers and the individual stars. There have been mixed results over the years – check out 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13.
The 2013/14 season proved one of the more traumatic in United’s recent history. While Rant predicted that United might struggle under David Moyes – forecasting a third place Premier League finish – the season proved far more difficult than anticipated. We incorrectly thought that United might exit at the Champions League Round of 16, believed that the FA Cup run would end in the quarter-final, and that United might even win the Capital One Cup. Oh, the optimism of it all!
Elsewhere, Rant correctly predicted that Manchester City would win the Premier league, but that north London side Arsenal would finally drop out of the Champions League places. We thought that Sergio Aguero might be Player of the Year, with Eden Hazard the Young Player.
In Europe Rant thought Bayern Munich and Barcelona would contest the 2014 Champions League final, and Italian side Lazio would win the Europa League. Such are the vagaries of forecasting anything in football. However, Paulo di Canio and Chris Hughton might have cause to regret Rant’s correct prediction that they would both be sacked this season!
United’s Season
- Premier League: third – SEVENTH
- Champions League: second-round – QUARTER-FINAL
- Carling Cup: winners – SEMI-FINAL
- FA Cup: quarter-final – THIRD ROUND
- Player of the Year: Robin van Persie – DAVID DE GEA
- Under-21 Player of the Year: Ben Pearson – SAIDY JANKO
- Academy Player of the Year: Andreas Pereira – JAMES WILSON
Premier League Top Ten
- Manchester City – FIRST
- Chelsea – THIRD
- Manchester United – SEVENTH
- Tottenham Hotspur – SIXTH
- Arsenal – FOURTH
- Liverpool – SECOND
- Everton – FIFTH
- Swansea City – 12th
- West Bromwich Albion – 17th
- West Ham United – 13th
Relegated
- Sunderland – NORWICH CITY
- Hull City – FULHAM
- Crystal Palace – CARDIFF CITY
Champions League
- Winners: Barcelona – TO BE CONFIRMED (Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid)
- Runners-up: Bayern Munich – TO BE CONFIRMED
Europa League
- Lazio – TO BE CONFIRMED (Benfica or Sevilla)
FA Cup
- Arsenal – TO BE CONFIRMED (Arsenal or Hull City)
Carling Cup
- Manchester United – MANCHESTER CITY
World Cup 2014
- Winners: Brazil – TO BE CONFIRMED
- Runners-up: Spain – TO BE CONFIRMED
Player of the Season
- Sergio Aguero, Manchester City – LUIS SUAREZ
Young Player of the Season
- Eden Hazard, Chelsea – EDEN HAZARD
Sack Race
- Alan Pardew, Newcastle United – SAFE
- Chris Hughton, Norwich – SACKED
- Paolo di Canio, Sunderland – SACKED
better be a Ferdinand prediction in there….