Unfortunately, the 2016/2017 season of the English Premier League has reached its conclusion and we as fans just can’t be very happy about it because now we have to wait until mid August to see some EPL soccer action again.
English Premier League 2016/2017 Campaign review
Nevertheless, it’s time to make the 2016/2017 campaign review and make some early predictions for the next year. After a sci-fi type of the 2015/2016 season when the absolute outsider Leicester City became the champion of the English Premier League, no one knew what to expect from the upcoming year. As expected, couple of teams started well, especially Manchester City who recorded six consecutive wins in the first six rounds, but then, during the month of October, two teams separated themselves on the top, Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur and they stayed there until the end.
The defending champions Leicester City disappointed the fans with their appearances during this period but managed to hit the top gear later in the season to end 12th after the final round. Besides two aforementioned top ranked teams in the league table, Manchester City and Liverpool managed to qualify for the Champions League next year, while Arsenal failed to accomplish that. The Gunners stayed fifth, one point short of Liverpool, meaning that the fans at Emirates will have to be satisfied with Europa League match-ups next year.
Probably the biggest disappointment was the poor performance of the Red Devils from Manchester finished who were considered one of the top candidates of raising the English Premier League silverware after signing Coach Jose Mourinho and the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba. However, the Red Devils failed to climb above the 6th position and the fans knew that their EPL season was a bust. With 2 months left in the season to be played, Jose Mourinho announce that his focus will turn to winning the Europa League which would automatically send the Red Devils to the most elite European club competition, the UEFA Champions League. This is exactly what happened as the Manchester United defeated the AFC Ajax Amsterdam on May 24th, in the final game of the Europa League with a 2:0 finals score. Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored each in the most important game of the season for the Red Devils.
Everton FC finished seventh and the fans at Goodison will also have a privilege to enjoy the Europa League match-ups next season. The Southampton FC finished 8th with only 46 points and at one moment they hoped to fill in the final Europa League spot, should Man Utd win the competition. However, the rules of the UEFA clearly stated that if the English Premier League has 5 teams making the Champions league competition, then they will get only 2 spots in the Europa League.
With a lot of drama at the top, the other side of the table pretty much played out without too much fuss as it was certain which teams would leave the top flight EPL few round prior to the season end. The teams that are relegated from the EPL are Hull City, Middlesbrough FC and AFC Sunderland and they will play in the Championship next year.
Boro’ and the Black Cats, among the others were projected to be the main candidates for relegation and that proved to be accurate after the season started. The Hull City was the only of the three relegated teams that had a solid chance for survival couple of rounds before the end. The game that determined their faith was the home loss against at that time already relegated Sunderland (0:2), in round 36, which allowed the Swansea City team to make a difference and secure the survival while sending the Tigers to the lower ranked competition.
Individual and team stats accomplishments
For the second straight season, Harry Kane (Tottenham) was crowned as the League’s top scorer with 29 goals, while Romelu Lukaku (Everton) and Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) scored 25 and 24. Top assister was Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne with 18 while Spurs’ Christian Eriksen and Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson collected 15 and 13.
On the defensive end, Idrissa Gueye from Everton and N’Golo Kante from Chelsea dominated with 135 and 127 total tackles while Ben Mee from Burnley collected league-high 46 blocks. Chelsea’s goalie Thibaut Curtois had most games with clean sheets (16) while his colleague, Tom Heaton from Burnley collected most saves this year (141). Most undisciplined players where Jose Holebas from Watford with 14 yellow cards and Danny Simpson from Leicester City with 12 yellow cards while three players were sent off (red card) twice during the season (Miguel Britos from Watford, Fernandinho from Manchester City and Granit Xhaka from Arsenal).
On the stat sheet, this season didn’t deviated much from the previous one, although slight raise in the goals per match-up (2.80 goals per game oppose to 2.70 last season) has been recorded. There were 49% of home wins, 22% draws and 29% away wins (380 games overall). The home team averaged 1.60 goals per game while the visiting team averaged 1.20 goals per match and both teams scored in 51% of the matchups. There were total of 1064 goals in the 2016/2017 English Premier League season, while 77% of the match-ups had over 1.5 goals in total. 54% of the games had over 2.5 goals while 32% of the clashes had over 3.5 goals in total. Average attendance at the stadiums was 35.807 fans.
The Champions and the followers
In order to honor the new English Premier League Champions, Chelsea FC, we will start from the top. The London Blues are definitely the team that deserved the title the most this year. They have experienced some minor difficulties at the beginning of the season as they were 3-1-2 after the first six rounds with two consecutive defeats by Liverpool and Arsenal in round 5 and 6. After that, the Blues entered the unbelievable streak of 13 consecutive wins and parked themselves on the top of the table, staying there until the end.
They finished the year with 93 points, seven more than the second ranked Tottenham, 30-3-5 record and 85-33 goal difference. Surely, this was a great year and a magnificent success for the newcomer at the team’s bench, the Italian manager Antonio Conte. Also, there is no question about the fact that Chelsea FC will represent a pretty big factor both in the EPL and in Champions League next season, and we all know that the club’s owner, Roman Abramovich likes to make his manager’s wishes come true when it comes to the new signings.
Tottanham Hotspur finished this season as the runners-up, and that is their biggest league success since the English Premier League creation in season 1992/93 (former First Division). Streak of nine consecutive wins from February 26th until May 5th also represents the team’s record, and frankly, the Spurs played the best soccer in England this year, when we take the London Blues out of the picture. Next season, if Tottenham manages to keep their star players and provide some roster improvements, team from north London might even make the final step and take the title, but still it’s a long shot from this point. We definitely expect them to make some bigger impact in the upcoming Champions League season.
Manchester City Blues entered the season the best way possible but the hype gradually dwindled as the team started to underperform and managed to record four defeats during the months of December and January. With these warm-cold type of results the team couldn’t keep pace with the London teams and it became clear that the Champion title is going to be the impossible task for them. Team also ended their appearances in the EFL Cup and FA Cup competitions during these winter months but they managed to qualify for the knock-out stage of the Champions League. French side AS Monaco stopped them in the quarterfinals series of the CL. When we look at the whole picture, I’m sure that City’s fans can’t be satisfied with this past season but at least they got qualified for the CL, unlike the Gunners.
The Reds from Liverpool also had a warm-cold type of season. German manager Jurgen Klopp has been signed to get the title back to Liverpool but so far, during his one and a half year tenure he hasn’t managed to do that. Yes, it would be a big surprise if he did that in such a short period but I’m sure that the fans and the players are certain that he is the guy who can make it happen and they will give him enough time to accomplish that. Team ended the season ranked at the No. 4 spot which provides the appearance in the qualifications for the Champions League group stage next season and having in mind the strong competition in England this year, this is a pretty solid achievement. If the team decides to improve their roster during the break, and the word is that they will, Liverpool could finally make that title run next year.
Voices calling for the departure of Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger have intensified after the final round of the season and cognizance that the Gunners will not play in the Champions League next year. This is the team’s worst ranking in the league since season 1995/96 when they also finished 5th. It is also the worst English Premier league ranking since Arsene Wenger’s arrival in October 1996. Another worry represents the fact that their star players Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil are entering the final years of their contracts and it’s highly unlikely that they will want to renew the agreements if the team doesn’t play in the Champions League. Very interesting and uncommon summer break is in front of the club and if they don’t make some critical upgrades (with or without Wenger), the fans patience could reach the critical spot.
Joes Mourinho’s first season at the helm of Manchester United can be described as satisfying. Nevertheless, pretty big number of fans are probably disappointed, especially with the fact that team finished the season ranked sixth in the league table that provided only Europa League competition, but after the team managed to win this competition by defeating the Ajax in the final game in Stockholm on Wednesday (2:0), they earned the right to play in the group stage of Champions League next year. This was also the third accolade the Red Devils won this year, after Community Shield (English Super Cup) and EFL Cup (English League Cup). With couple of quality newcomers, especially on the defensive end, Manchester Reds will definitely play a big role both in the English Premier League and in Champions League next year.
Everton FC had yet another pretty satisfying season as the team ended the year ranked seventh in the league table, thus qualifying for the Europa League competition next year. The Toffees played extremely well at Goodison Park this year where they went 13-4-2 with a 42-16 goal difference. Team didn’t manage to finish at one of the top four spots that lead to Champions League like they did in 2004/05 season but after finishing 11th for two consecutive seasons, No. 7 spot looks like a great success. It’s uncertain how the team will cope with the next season, especially if their top striker Romelu Lukaku leaves the team, but it is clear that Dutch expert at the helm, Ronald Koeman knows what he’s doing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Liverpool Blues go one step further next year.
Southampton FC’s fans hoped that with the Red Devils win of the Europa League competition, they will have the chance to compete in this competition next year. However, this will not be the case and the Saints will not play in the Europa League as the UEFA rules will allow a maximum of 7 English Premier League teams to participate in the CL and the Europa League, combined. The fans are certainly disappointed because of this rule, as it would have been the Saints second consecutive Europa League appearance and a great motive to keep improving for the next season.
The middle part of the league table features the teams that didn’t managed to qualify for the international play but also earned the right to play in the EPL next season by finishing above the relegation line.
One of the teams that are worth of mentioning is the West Bromwich Albion, who started the year very well and had a great chance to secure the Europa League match-ups at Hawthorns next year, but finished the year horribly with only five points earned in the last 12 rounds.
The defending champions Leicester City FC have starteded the year disastrously and in January, the survival came in question. They decided to fire coach Claudio Ranieri and Craig Shakespeare took the command. After this (surprising) change, the team recorded five consecutive wins and got out of the danger zone to finish 12th.
Another squad that stayed in the league because of a great streak was Crystal Palace. Fifth team from London was near the relegation line throughout the entire year, but managed to win six of eight games between February 25th and April 23rd thus securing the survival.
Relegated Teams
The Hull City is the first of three teams that finished the season below the relegation line, meaning that there will be no English Premier League soccer at the port next season. The Tigers are probably also the team that has the most reasons to be unsatisfied because they had a chance to secure the survival but failed with a three consecutive defeats in the last three rounds. Most hurtful loss was probably the one that occurred in round 36 against at that time already relegated Sunderland team at home. After this blow, team couldn’t get back mentally and the result is the Championship. Surely, team from the northwest will be one of the favorites for the spots that earn promotion to the Premier League next season.
Constant injuries and obvious lack of chemistry between the players, especially in the second part of the season made only one possible outcome for the Middlesbrough team, the relegation. Boro’ recorded the longest winless streak in England this season as they managed to play 16 rounds without a victory (since December 17th last year until April 26th this year), and the only win they recorded in this calendar year was over the worst team in the league Sunderland, at home. They have a pretty strong squad on the paper and they will definitely be the contender in the Championship next year, but the big question looms above the future of their roster because some players might be reluctant to play in the lower ranked competition.
Finally, we came to the point when we have to write a couple of words about the worst team of the English Premier League this season, but there is actually not much to say, except that they were the worst team in the league. AFC Sunderland, aka the Black Cats finished the season at the rock bottom No. 20 spot with only 24 of 114 possible points earned. There was not much light at Stadium of Light this year as they managed to record the most losses (26) and most conceded goals (69). Next season will be the one of reckoning for the Black Cats because I’m not sure that they can be a contender in the Championship with their current roster.
It’s time to say Goodbye
To summarize, this was a very exciting and scintillating season, especially for the Chelsea FC’s fans who are probably the happiest ones at the moment. Next year should be much more exciting as we can already see that couple of teams are getting ready to make big splashes in the transfer market and openly attack the title. Stay tuned over the summer as we will bring you frequent updates on the transfer rumors, player and coaches movements and top new from the English Premier League.
Hopefully, we will be the witnesses of another title death race in the 2017/2018 season, which will include as many squads as possible. But for now, it is time to say Goodbye to the English Premier League excitements.
