Nottinghamshire

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...

Passing in football has become an obsession.

The tiki-taka style of Barcelona has now become the basis of managerial philosophies across the leagues and lands of Europe and beyond.

The problem is, few teams have the ability to execute it at the level required to make it effective.

Pep Guardiola took it to another level when he was in charge of the La Liga giants and it has served his Manchester City side well since he took charge in 2016 having won 18 trophies in the following nine years.

And, if the Premier League season had come down to how well teams pass the ball, unsurprisingly the eight-time champions would have been celebrating a ninth title.

With nearly 90% accuracy, they rarely put a foot - or pass - wrong.

And yet, in reality, it did not translate to success on the pitch this year.

Whether it was teams finally finding the chinks in the passing-machine armour or the side's misplaced passes proving more costly than in previous seasons without key players, City could not take advantage of their dominance with the ball.

And for one of the most acute examples of ability with the ball not translating to on-the-pitch success, we only have to look at Southampton.

The Saints at one point looked set to break Derby County's record for the least amount of points in a Premier League campaign, and yet they were less than 1% behind actual league champions Liverpool when it came to passing accuracy.

While fans could have some appreciation for watching nice football, they might have appreciated some scrappy displays that resulted in hard-fought results and possible safety more.

In contrast, Crystal Palace had the least accurate passing of any team in the league.

And yet, Oliver Glasner's side ultimately finished 12th - just three points off a top-half finish - and won the FA Cup final against the club with the best passing ability of them all.

They are not the only team to have had successful seasons in their own right while being in the bottom six for passing accuracy.

Nottingham Forest were 19th in this table metric, but in reality were fighting for Champions League places.

Bournemouth and Brentford also battled for possible European spots into the final weeks of the season, and even Everton finished the campaign comfortably away from relegation that at one point they looked set to be in a battle to escape.

So what does this tell us? When it comes to winning football matches, passing the ball well is not the be-all and end-all.

*Table data from Opta

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...

"We never do it the easy way."

Something muttered by many a football fan as they watch their side go 1-0 down again.

As frustrating as it can be watching from the stands or on the TV, it is a position some teams thrive in.

Luring the opposition into a false sense of security, it is almost as though they do not get going until they have given the other team a chance.

And if the league was measured on how well a team bounces back after conceding the first goal, then this season would have seen Brighton coming away with a Premier League title.

There were 17 occasions in 2024-25 when the Seagulls conceded the first goal, but from those they came back to win five and draw five - rescuing 20 points in the process.

It will not have made for comfortable watching for the fans, but it does show the tenacity of Fabian Hurzeler's side to turn a match around.

The sign of champions is to win when you are not at your best and that is what Liverpool did this campaign. They may not have have conceded first as often as Brighton, but they still came back to win four times and draw seven.

It will not have always helped the cause of those chasing European spots, but Newcastle, Fulham and Aston Villa all showed the resilience that they could go one-goal down and still get much-needed points from a game.

At the other end of the scale, while some teams thrive in this situation, others flounder.

Nottingham Forest surprised many onlookers going from relegation candidates to battling for a Champions League spot in less than 12 months.

But key to that was their defence. There were not many occasions where they went 1-0 down - however, when they did, their ability to turn it around was in relegation territory.

The silver-lining for Reds fans, though, is that they really did make it difficult for the opposition to get in front and this is a strength they will hope to build on going forwards.

Pat Riddell
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Ideally, this summer will see Nottingham Forest build on the success of European qualification and near-misses in the FA Cup and making the Champions League.

It is pretty obvious where we need to recruit – injuries and fatigue caught up with us at the end of the season and losing the likes of Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Murillo cost us in important games.

Last summer's business, adding Elliot Anderson and Nikola Milenkovic, was particularly astute. But the other signings did not strengthen the squad as we might have hoped, and the recruitment team will do well to find a few more rough, or even polished, diamonds.

We are well stocked in central midfield but really need competition in defence and attack.

Our position now, compared with 12 months ago, is a different proposition for potential players - rather than battling relegation, those looking to make a name in the Premier League outside of the 'big six' have a new destination. And financially we are in a fairly good place to be growing the squad sustainably.

That said, beyond new signings it is a time to consider how we develop tactically.

Steve Cooper tried and failed to move from a 4-2-3-1 formation to 4-3-3, and it is no easy transition without well-drilled players and strategic nous.

Foregoing possession and playing on the break has served Forest very well in recent seasons, but it was evident in the latter games of the campaign that when teams offered up the ball the Reds were not really sure how best to capitalise. What happens when we have more than 50% possession? How do we adapt to those games?

That problem will rear its head again. Of course, I'm not the only one thinking this - and Nuno Espirito Santo will have inevitably started thinking about how we progress.

Greater depth in players, as well as a settled squad and management team, will make the transition easier.

But, for the first time in a generation, we can start a new Premier League season without nervously looking over our shoulder and instead setting our sights above us.

Find more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external