The year 2015 is filled with different memories in the sporting world. Some of these memories left some fans in dreamland while others are left in a nightmare. This is expected every year but no one wants his favorite team or player to be in a bad position. Surely, some football teams, players and coach has done well this year while some others has brought no joy to their fans.

FLOPS
Chelsea Football Club has to be the best place to start for my flop of the year 2015. It sounds cruel noting that they won two trophies (EPL and Capital One Cup) but the way they have started their defense of the trophy has been disappointing. They are placed in 14th position with their one win per month record still intact. The way this team has fallen apart like a pack of cards still baffles many, putting in mind these players are virtually the same players that dominated the league.

Their star player last season was Eden Hazard, but he and Wayne Rooney has to compete for the flop player of the year. Like Rooney, finding the back of the net is a tall order, while his usual mazy run and assist has dried. Comparing him to Ronaldo was just laughable, he is not even consistent enough to be compared with Neymar and Suarez, who have both been fantastic this year. Hazard needs to step up and improve his consistency.

And finally, Jose Mourinho. The self-styled ‘Special One’ really flopped this year. He has pride himself in his tactical ability to prepare his players for matches and his man-management. But this year his mojo deserted him. Even though he won the EPL title, he was sacked 7 months after winning it. His treatment of John Fearn and Eva Caniero was a bad advertisement for football while his fight with the FA ended in a stadium ban. He picked fight with everyone, including calling Arsene Wenger a specialist in failure. But the truth is Mourinho finishes the year jobless while Wenger finishes the year top of the league.

Some other flops include, Louis van Gaal, Wayne Rooney, Wilfred Bony, Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Mangala

TOPS
Towards the end of 2014, Barcelona was in turmoil. The best player in their history, Lionel Messi, was having issues with the coach, Luiz Enrique. And many journalist, including yours faithfully, started drawing comparison with Enrique’s clash with ‘King’ Totti while he was coaching Roma. Even though it was looking the situation will end the  same way, the turn of the year brought a great turn around. The combination of Messi, Neymar and Suarez (MSN) was a joy to watch. The all round performance of Barca has to be applauded, they excited their fans by winning all the trophies available in the year except for Spanish Super cup.
Juventus and Maximillano Allegri also impressed with scintillating performance. They won all their domestic trophies and almost won the UEFA Champions league but for Barca. I am still lost for an explanation of why Allegri was not in the list of best coach for the year 2015

In other sports, Lewis Hamilton (Formula one), Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams (Tennis), Tyson Fury (Boxing), Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry (Basketball), have all made us see that there is nothing impossible. They gave sport fans reasons to dream and believe they can achieve it.

As a fan and journalist, I look forward to a better 2016. And to all my fans, I say thank you for all your support, wishing you a prosperous new year.