Football Season Review

Crewe entered the season knowing that they would likely struggle to repeat their fairy tale 2012/13 season, which saw them winning the JP Trophy and challenging for the play-offs. The Alex lost skipper Luke Murphy over the summer and signed several untested players, most of who failed to impress, and they started their campaign with a dreadful run of form, as they won only once in their opening ten games and failed to keep a clean sheet until the 11th round, when they recorded a shock 2:0 away win over Preston. Just like in the previous season, Steve Davis's men kept playing some attractive football, but their defence was simply too poor to make that brand of play effective, and Crewe looked certain to go down with one half of the season gone, as they won only 4 times in their opening 22 matches. Moreover, Bradden Inman and Anthony Grant were both dropped from the first team during this period due to a lack of effort in training, and it seemed that not all was well behind the scenes at that point. Davis eventually became a bit more pragmatic in approach, as he gave up on his usual 4-4-2 formation and started changing his tactics depending on his side's opponents. Crewe's results improved as a consequence, with goals of on-loan Arsenal forward Chuks Aneke proving crucial to their revival. The Alex suffered a major blow in March, when Davis's son Harry suffered a season-ending injury, but his absence did not affect them too much in the late stages of their campaign, as they lost only three of their final eleven games and managed to seal their survival with a 2:1 home win over Preston in the last round of the season. Crewe should not be expected to strengthen too much during the summer, as they are a club that heavily depends on the products of its youth academy. Ryan Colclough, who started the season brightly only to get injured in November, will be like a completely new signing, but Davis will hope to unearth some more gems from the youth team, as Aneke and Uche Ikpeazu, who both played key roles in Crewe's great escape, might not be with the club next season.

Player of the Season: Chuks Aneke