End of Season Review

[BaZ87]

I'll start things off:

Team: Liverpool

League Position: 4th

Season High: Chelsea away. We had a really difficult set of fixtures to start the season and although we'd already won at Arsenal and were unlucky to only draw away to Spurs, it was after the Chelsea game that you could see that they weren't one off performances and we were a match for anybody in the League this season. 2-1 flattered Chelsea that day.

Season Low: Sunderland away. We had some rotten luck that day and their late equaliser, coinciding with Mane leaving for the African Nations really knocked the stuffing out of our season.

Player of the Season: Mane. He added things to our side that we've missed for years - pace, power, directness and goals from wide positions. You could see just how influential he was to the side when he was away throughout January and ultimately that spell was the difference between us clinging on to a top 4 spot and challenging Chelsea for the title.

Young Player of the Season: Trent Alexander Arnold. The biggest compliment you can give him is that it's easy to forget he's a kid. He's probably the most all round talent we've had come through the academy since Gerrard - it's going to be interesting to see whether he ends up at fullback or whether Klopp plays him more in his natural midfield role moving forward.

Most Improved Player: Mignolet. Started the season relatively well but you always had that nagging doubt in the back of your mind that a mistake was always around the corner. I wasn't surprised he was dropped for Karius mid-season as Klopp clearly signed him as first choice but it was harsh on Mignolet. Since coming back into the side he's been outstanding though and as good as any other keeper in the League.

Best Signing: Mane. As above really - he was exactly the type of forward we needed, offering us things that none of our other attacking players could. Looks a bargain at £30m now.

Worst Signing: Karius. Who knows whether this will be true in the long term but of our summer signings he's shown the least so far. Was fortunate to get his chance in the side and cost us points in several games before losing his place.

Summary: Had you offered me 4th at the start of the season I'd have probably taken it but it's hard not to think what might have been had we had a bit of luck with injuries etc around the turn of the year. We've shown that we're a match for anybody on our day but the lack of depth to our squad and no cover for key players ultimately cost us a chance of challenging for the title.

Grade: B-

Expectations for Next Season: Consolidating our place in the top 4 and hopefully, by adding greater depth and quality to our squad, pushing harder for the title.

 

[Shamikebab]

Team: Man Utd

League Position: 6th

Season High: Hopefully on Wednesday!

Season Low: Tough to pick one really, probably losing Rojo and Ibrahimovic for the rest of the season in the same game.

Player of the Season: Herrera. Finally we have a manager that uses him regularly and he's paid it back. Playing in a new deeper role he's excelled both on the ball and off it. He doesn't get as many chances to score as he did but he pops up with some crucial assists.

Young Player of the Season: Marcus Rashford. It's been a difficult season for him, he's not been at his best but since the Chelsea game he's been our best player and has really upped his game.

Most Improved Player: Valencia. A player I'd all but written off, he's worked hard this season and really turned into a very strong, hard working fullback. His delivery still sucks though!

Best Signing: Bailly. I'd never heard of him and he's slotted in effortlessly to English football, a strong tackler and puts it all on the line for us. I sometimes forget how young he is

Worst Signing: Mkhitaryan. He's not done too badly, he's excelled in Europe but he isn't suited to our sitting back mentality and we need to change the way we play if we're to get the best from him.

Summary: If we win on Wednesday then coming out of a season with two pieces of silverware has to be considered good, especially one we've never won before. The league form is a concern though and we've clearly sacrificed that to achieve elsewhere.

Grade: C

Expectations for Next Season: Top 4. Nothing else will be acceptable.

 

[JohnnyG]

Bit early for this isn't it?
Some of us still have things to play for

 

[BaZ87]

I think it's safe to say you can write your review based on a win at the weekend.

 

[wedrum]

liverpool champions league football next season.
its been a long time and that completion needs us.

with a proper striker this season it could have been different but i will take 4th.
mane has been exceptional this season and hopefully klopp and the champions league can attract some decent players for the season coming.

 

[omnomnom]

Trent over Emre for young player of the season ?

 

[Derek W]

Team: Brechin City

League Position: 4th

Season High: Saturday 20th May. Winning the promotion playoff final over two legs against Alloa after beating Raith Rovers in the semi final, both after extra time and penalties!

Season Low: Saturday 15th April. Alloa away in April, got pumped 6 - 1 with our keeper getting sent off.

Player of the Season: Andy Jackson. Swept the board with the end of season awards. Consistent over the whole season, brings other players into the game in the attacking sense and had a decent season goal wise with 16 in the league. Also just signed a new 2yr contract.

Young Player of the Season: Essentially don't have one but i would give it to Finn Graham, 21. Tenacious midfielder, really gets into peoples faces and has a decent right foot on him. As the season progressed he really came into his own especially in the play offs where he had found energy to keep going over the 240 minutes.

Most Improved Player: Aron Lynas. Typically a squad member but with the number of injuries to a small squad got called upon in the latter stages of the season and whilst he has pace he's still very raw. As the games progressed he filled the right back position with more assured performances alongside captain Paul McLean (our regular right back who is just as comfortable as a centre back). As with Finn, kept going with youthful exuberance during the marathon play off games.

Best Signing: Finn Graham.

Worst Signing: Ross Caldwell. Looked to be a good signing when we played Aberdeen in preseason with good running (not much hope of getting past the Dons defence though) but sadly faded away and looked disinterested in most games. Scored a hattrick against Peterhead and gave us hope of seeing a player again but faded again. Came good in the play offs but as the fans got on his back, he didn't care at this point and looks like he'll be the first one out as his contract runs out this summer. Very much a confidence player and in the lower leagues, its mainly the moaners you hear so if they get to you then confidence will not exist.

Summary: Delighted with finishing 4th considering last season we had to get something out of 10 out of the last 12 games to get into a relegation play off place rather than automatically drop down. Our only expectations this season was to do enough not to be involved in any relegation battle so to get a play off position and then go on to beat full time Raith and Alloa in the final it exceeded all expectations.

Grade: A+

Expectations for Next Season: None whatsoever. We're a part time team and there's only one other part time team (Dumbarton) in the Championship so everyone else will have bigger budgets, full time players, and bigger crowds so every game will be a challenge. Our history involves us getting up then coming straight back down a league so if we can stay up i would say it would be a miracle.

 

[Shamikebab]

Trent over Emre for young player of the season ?

Emre is 23. For me young stops at 21. Should do for the EPL awards to, it's ridiculous every year.

 

[BaZ87]

I'll try to sort something out.

Trent over Emre for young player of the season ?

As Shami says, you can't really consider 23 as young these days. TAA kind of won by default as although we certainly don't have an old side, most of our players are in that early to mid 20's age range.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Team: Liverpool

League Position: 4th

Season High: Beating Middlesbrough and claiming 4th.

Season Low: Losing 4-3 to Bournemouth after being 3-1 up.

Player of the Season: Coutinho - Played roughly the same amount of minutes as Mane, scored the same amount of goals but got more assists. The heartbeat of this Liverpool team and our best player, by a distance.

Young Player of the Season: Lucas.

Most Improved Player: Mignolet - His new punch first, ask questions later approach to crosses has transformed him. He was always a great shot stopper but he was weak in the air and way too slow to distribute the ball. Massive improvement in all areas tbh.

Best Signing: Mane.

Worst Signing: Karius.

Summary: Without European football to contend with this season a top 4 finish was a must and we achieved that. I think it's clear we have the 6th best squad in the league and very few players that would get in our rivals teams so Klopp has achieved miracles with what he's got to play with. Hopefully the lure of Champions League football, should we qualify, will mean we can sign a higher calibre of player in the summer and push on next season.

Grade: B

Expectations for Next Season: Top 4, CL quarter finals and a domestic cup run.

 

[omnomnom]

Emre is 23. For me young stops at 21. Should do for the EPL awards to, it's ridiculous every year.

But it doesnt for the official awards. Whilst youre still eligible for the young player of the season then surely you are for this.

 

[Shamikebab]

Well we're less stupid than the officials.

 

[BaZ87]

You can always post your review omnomnom

 

[FrankJH]

Team: Manchester Utd

League Position: 6th

Season High: Europa Win (with a special mention to beating Chelsea 2 - 0 for the comedy claims that 1/2 their squad were ill coming out the week after the game)

Season Low: Losing 4-0 at the Bridge (with a solemn mention to all those interminable draws at OT)

Player of the Season: Herrera , but Bailly a close 2nd

Young Player of the Season: No discredit to Rashford, but he struggled for vast amounts of this season so for me its between Tuanzebe and Harrop who are hopefully both going to be big players for us.

Most Improved Player: Reluctantly Valencia, because I cant see the point of a attacking full back that cant cross for toffee

Best Signing: Mkhi - He needs to work on his conistancy without doubt, but to get 5 away goals in Europe in his first season has to be acclaimed.

Worst Signing: Fellaini (well it doesnt say worst signing this season after all). All four signings made big mistakes at one time or another but overall they were very good - brilliant signings.

Summary: League performances were much better than under LVG even if the results dont show it. Give JM his due he has made Utd hard to beat, which is exactly what was required after the last few years.

Grade: C (up until last night due to all those draws) , B now we have CL to look forward to - even if its likely to be a nightmare draw.

Expectations for Next Season: As is typical for JM a 2nd season title fight and hopefully get into the knock out stages of the CL

 

[Shamikebab]

for me its between Tuanzebe and Harrop who are hopefully both going to be big players for us.

Harrop played one game... He's also older than Martial. It was a good goal but it's highly unlikely he makes it here.

now we have CL to look forward to - even if it's likely to be a nightmare draw.

We're in Pot 2. Shouldn't be too bad a draw unless we get the worst of pots 3 and 4.

 

[Sheff]

Team: Spurs

League Position: 2nd

Season High: Spurs putting 6 past Leicester and finishing the season strongly.

Season Low: Losing 4-2 against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, they didn't take advantage of all the good possession in the second half prior to Conte bringing the big guns out.

Player of the Season: Dembele, he's a monster - especially when you consider that he played a great deal of the second half of the season injured.

Young Player of the Season: Considering most players I would consider are established in the first then I'd say Harry Winks, when brought on he slotted in so smoothly - especially when against Man City at the Etihad. The players themselves have said that he exerts a calming influence when on the pitch, helping to control the game.

Most Improved Player: Son, I thought he was very good last season but this season he has been immense. He can sometimes be a bit to selfish but I think that can be a good thing as the opposition have to be concerned about goals coming from any of our front 4.

Best Signing: Wanyama, the spaghetti loving god. He was exactly the type of player we needed, the only criticism is that he gives the ball away a fair bit with his passing but a lot of time that is due to him try to play a through ball rather than pass sideways.

Worst Signing: Sissoko, although I do think he has been better than a lot of people give him credit for. He's got an awful first touch though.

Summary: Brilliant performances in the League and FA Cup (up until the semi-final), I'm gutted that this season has finished tbh.

Grade: Domestically A-, D for Europe.

Expectations for Next Season: Push for the title again, improving our points total and at least a cup final.

 

[FrankJH]

Harrop played one game... He's also older than Martial. It was a good goal but it's highly unlikely he makes it here.

Also coming back from injuries last year - I think he deserves chances in EFL / FA Cup

We're in Pot 2. Shouldn't be too bad a draw unless we get the worst of pots 3 and 4.

Pot 3 doesnt look that great imo, could be some very difficult draws

 

[HangTime]

Team: Arsenal

League Position: 5th

Season High: FA Cup Semifinal win over MC. Was a fairly decent game but beyond that was actually a great atmosphere, great day out. A welcome respite from the 'meh' atmosphere at the Emirates in the build up.

Season Low: Losing 3-0 to Palace.

Player of the Season: Alexis. Pretty obvious really, made a difference in several games.

Young Player of the Season: Difficult to say really. Based on what I've seen, probably Martinez who deputised well when called upon, but he didn't really play enough to warrant an award. Don't really want to give it to our best young player (Bellerin) by default as he dropped off a couple of times.

Most Improved Player: Gonna go for Gabriel but Alexis runs him close, just misses out because he was pretty good last season too. Considered Ox but it isn't so much that he's improved, just been utilised more.

Best Signing: Rob Holding. Could be the long-term successor to Mertersacker, and gives options for playing 3 at the back.

Worst Signing: Gnabry signing for Werder Bremen. He looked extremely good in preseason and is a much, much more exciting prospect than Iwobi who is basically just filling a shirt and offers very little.

Summary: Time has finally caught up with Arsenal resulting in the lowest finish in over 20 years. Quite a strange season, unlike most years it never felt like we really hit top gear but equally there weren't many periods where I felt we were being massively unlucky with injuries or decisions.

Grade: C+ (but winning the FA Cup might push this to B-)

Expectations for Next Season: Depends a bit on who is manager. Generally speaking though I would expect similar i.e. to be challenging for European qualification and a decent cup run with the return of Cazorla and Wilshere.

 

[ScottyJKB]

Team: Leeds United

League Position: 7th

Season High: Brighton at home. We won 2-0 against a team destined to go up in the automatics and it could have been easily been a more convincing scoreline. At this stage we were something like 9 points clear of 7th place and not too far away from 2nd.

Season Low: Burton away. Leeds needed to win the final three games vs Burton, Wolves and Wigan to secure play offs. The team didn't turn up until the 80th minute, by then the game (and the season) was over.

Player of the Season: Tough to choose between Bartley and Jansson. Personally, I'd choose Bartley as he's been an absolute rock at the back and a real leader on and off the pitch, he will be a huge miss for us next season.

Young Player of the Season: Ronaldo Vieira - 18 year old who's destined for big things. The lad seems to have everything; ball control, pace, vision, skill and shooting. We've just tied him down to a four year contract, but if we don't go up next season he'll be snapped up sharp.

Most Improved Player: Wood - went missing in so many games last season, but really stepped up to the plate this time around scoring 30 goals in all competitions for us. Same as Ronaldo Vieira - I can't see Wood staying around much longer unless we go up.

Best Signing: Jansson - the man wears his heart on his sleeve, celebrates tackling like he's scored a 40 yard overhead kick and is quite simply a step above the Championship. Same issue with the two guys above, next season really has to be the season for Leeds.

Worst Signing: Grimes - nowhere near Championship standard.

Summary: Overall, surprisingly it was a very good season. I was fully expecting a mid table finish and we landed just outside the play offs. If we didn't have such a woeful start and an absolute collapse at the end we would have ended up in the POs (at the least).

Grade: B

Expectations for Next Season: If Monk didn't hand in his resignation yesterday I would have hoped to build on last season and aim for automatic... But now as we'll be starting fresh again I'd hope we have the play offs as our target. It's very much looking like Karanka will take charge, I'm not bothered at all about the way he plays... just want promotion!

Already missing the football... Hurry up!

 

[Tummy]

Team: Sheffield Wednesday

League Position: 4

Season High: Actually struggled with this; I think the double over Newcastle. Wednesday played excellently over both legs.

Season Low: The overall style this season. The horrific play off semi final legs (Away, Home) against a Huddersfield, who Wednesday comfortably beat over both legs in the league.

Player of the Season: Meh.

Young Player of the Season: Do we even have any 'young' players in the first team? George Hirst has been nothing short of magnificent at youth level.

Most Improved Player: None; though Banna, Lees, Lee, Westwood have continued to be good.

Best Signing: None; either been injured for long periods or failed to make an impact.

Worst Signing: Emanuelson. A single substitute appearance. The majority of the signings have failed to ~significantly~ improve the first team, a lot have been injury prone. Rhodes (loaned until the official start of the transfer season, then will be a Wednesday player proper) has been hugely disappointing, but is clearly staggeringly unfit.

Summary: I'm disappointed. Yes Wednesday have a good finishing position; Yes Wednesday achieved more points, Yes Wednesday are arguably a stronger squad, but the football has been considerably less exciting, less ambitious, several players form has dropped.

Grade: B

Expectations for Next Season: Carlos has signed a contract extension; I have mixed feelings about this, he is a good manager, but I wonder if he has taken Wednesday as far as he can. The team needs money spent on it and improvements, not to mention the style of football has to become more ambitious.