It may not have been a classic Premier League season. The title was over by late April, but in theory by the end of February. The relegation battle did nicely for a while, but any end of season round which features a 3 minute break to carry players off the pitch smacks somewhat of anti-climax.

Nevertheless, there were enough winners and losers to praise and commiserate for our off-season entertainment.

Manchester United’s star signings:

Last year it was almost time for an obituary on the career of Juan Mata, and while he may have redeemed himself, United’s recent trend for turning players of world renown into tripe for at least a season continues.

When Di Maria loses his starting spot to Ashley Young and Radamel Falcao turns into a figure of Torres-like sporting ridicule, clearly something has gone wrong with Manchester United’s star acquisitions.

When Falcao joined in August, a memorable quote from Phil Neville read, “It doesn’t matter where he fits it, just play him and he’ll score goals.” But Falcao was unable to fulfil these prophecies – or Phil Neville is rubbish at punditry.

With all the energy of Duracell bunny but all the finishing qualities of one too, he showed little on the pitch to vindicate the much-celebrated move. Although Di Maria occasionally managed to punctuate the season with flashes of brilliance, his mediocrity serves as a reminder to any potential star considering a move to Manchester in the summer.

The Premier League:

Gary Lineker, pointing to West Brom’s victory over Chelsea, said that we had the best league in the world. “In no other league does this happen.” It may be that Gary Lineker simply missed Freiburg’s (eventually relegated) win over Bayern Munich, but even if excitement still reigns over the Premier League, quality seems woefully absent.

It was another year, in a worryingly long line of them since 2011 (excluding Chelsea’s anomaly in 2012), in which the Premier League failed to properly impose itself on important Champions League proceedings.

Something has gone wrong and it is certain that, Chelsea aside, few Premier League teams will have a realistic continental chance next season.

It has been proven that these things come and go in cycles, but there is little to doubt that currently the Premier League is in the doldrums of European football.

Even the ageing sick man of Europe, the Serie A, had a Champions League finalist and two Europa League finalists.

A European Overview:

The European Leagues finished more or less as expected. Barcelona, Bayern Munich, PSG and Juventus are all serial winners in their own countries and each managed to cruise to the title relatively unhindered.

PSG probably had the toughest time against a resurgent Lyon and a strong-starting Marseille, but their quality shone through.

Bayern and Juve both made equally good cases that their respective leagues may be a touch too easy for them.

Barcelona were without a doubt the stand-out team of the year, and fully deserved a stunning treble after a few years of unfulfilled ambition.

In the smaller competitions, Andre Villas-Boas continued his success with teams expected to win the title in leagues with (relatively) little competition, and Dnipro proved to be the surprise of the Europa League, although winners Sevilla are establishing their names as perennial favourites for the award of best non-excellent team in Europe - bets on the likelihood of them to finish third in their Champions League group and win the Europa League again are probably currently suspended.

Caretaker Managers:

“Never mind with the world’s best, we have got them in our ranks” was once the thought process behind Barcelona’s hiring of new coaches, and since it proved so successful, it seemed that the mid to lower table Premier League teams thought just the same.

Yet for neither John Carver nor Chris Ramsey was it a Guardiola-esque performance of unknown qualities, but rather more reminiscent of the reality of throwing a small child into the deep end without armbands.

Although the former managed to survive drowning, largely thanks to the rather hapless performances of his rivals, both did little to enhance their reputation as full time generals rather than second-hand lieutenants.

The success of Tony Pulis, the veteran of clubs in plight, or of the reputable Dick Advocaat, may remind clubs that however likeable they may be, the assistant manager may not be the best bet for future success.

Underrated Managers:

Vilified during his presence, but yearned for in his absence, Newcastle fans must be feeling like the Germans of the 1930s who had decided to pass on the liberal decadence of the Weimar Republic in return for a Nazi Germany after Alan Pardew left to mastermind a brilliant end-of-season spurt with Crystal Palace, while Newcastle plummeted to new depths of misery.

From dartboard pin up on Tyneside, this season was the perfect time for Alan Pardew to remind English football that however much he may be disliked, he may actually be a quite talented manager.

Tim Sherwood will also enjoy a summer where he managed to walk the walk as well as the talking the talk. His Aston Villa team seemed revitalised after the stale, turgid regime of Paul Lambert, and it only adds to the fact that his maverick behaviour on the touchline might also provide the team with much needed impetus.

Other managers with a broad chest this summer will be Nigel Pearson, the first class graduate from Alan Pardew’s School for the hot-headed but successful manager Sam Allardyce (or Allardici as he would like to style himself), who led West Ham to mid-table comfort after taking over with them in the Championship, and of course Mark Hughes and Ronald Koeman deserve massive credit for their overachievements.

The Greats:

The winners, and deservedly so in a season where pundits tried to find moments of crisis to create some title-race excitement in a season of quasi-domination, Chelsea were already the favourites after a solid first year under Mourinho where the foundations were laid for next year’s success, and this year the ‘little horse’ turned into a veritable thoroughbred.

The squad effortlessly combines practicality, quality and balance. Even more disconcerting for the opposition is that the team seemed to grow in confidence and quality with every passing victory.

Whisper it, and quietly so in case there are any other disbelieving Londoners supporting Chelsea or Tottenham around, but this Arsenal team seems to be the most complete since the last era of silverware glory.

In a season where results where only count from October onwards, Arsenal would be atop the Premier League tree together with Chelsea (more or less). A second FA cup triumph consolidated another year with a trophy, and however pathetic their Champions League exit may have been, there is a sense that another team, and maybe another era, is growing around Arsene Wenger.

Honourable Mentions:

Caps must be doffed to Louis van Gaal, who may have taken the first step in Manchester United’s rehabilitation to respectability; Ryan Betrand, who smuggled himself into the PFA team of the year after years of derision due to his start, and win, in a Champions League final alongside such footballing greats as Salomon Kalou; as well as the underrated, or previously unappreciated, English strikers of the future, Harry Kane and Charley Austin.