The Premier League report card: Tottenham get A+, Manchester United get an F

The Premier League’s 25th edition wasn’t one of its finest and provided some tepid moments. The pre-season hype around the Manchester rivalry fell flat as neither Pep Guardiola nor Jose Mourinho finished in the top two.

Antonio Conte’s handling of Italy at Euro 2016 and Juventus before that should have tipped off mediapersons and the betting agencies but most failed to pick the Italian as a league winner. Mauricio Pochettino’s silent revolution at Tottenham had also gone completely unnoticed due to their customary (not anymore!) end-of-season collapse as they had managed to finish third in a two-horse race in 2015-’16.

Barring Everton in seventh, none of the other clubs performed according to the script. So what grades do the 20 clubs get this season?

Chelsea: A

The Blues made history by becoming the first Premier League club to win 30 games in a season, eclipsing their own record of 200404-’05 and 2005-’06 (29 wins). In a super competitive top end of the table, it would take something special to win this season’s league and Chelsea did exactly that, clocking up 93 points, the second highest in the PL era.

A start of three losses in their first six games was a minor blemish, but Chelsea would only lose twice more in the next 32 games as they romped to the title.

Best Player: Eden Hazard

Tottenham Hotspur: A+

Spurs actually improved on their league position for the third year in a row: after coming fifth and third, they came second, and pushed Chelsea till the 36th game of the season. Eighty six points is the highest return for a Tottenham team in 25 PL seasons and this was the year in which they scored the most goals (86) and conceded the fewest (26).

Their Champions League campaign may not have gone according to plan, but what Pochettino has achieved with the resources at his disposal and has rightly put the rest of the league to shame. Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Toby Alderweireld, Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker and Poch himself are in demand, but if Spurs can keep the wolves off the door, there is something special brewing in North London.

And the best part: There was no St Totteringham’s Day this time around; Arsenal were well and truly beaten and finished 11 points behind their bitter local rivals.

Best Player: Toby Alderweireld

Manchester City: C+

Guardiola was backed by many a pundit to win the League at a canter this season but finished 15 points behind Chelsea. It was also the Spaniard’s first season in which he had finished a league campaign not in the top two.

City were on and off throughout the campaign, and were dumped out of the Champions League as Guardiola’s philosophical rigidity let them down. Claudio Bravo as first choice keeper, Jesus Navas as right-back and John Stones’ abject run in the back four were only a few examples of the Catalan’s stubborn defence of his tactical leanings.

A third-place finish and Champions League group stage qualification was the only consolation for City in a season where they finished trophyless.

Best Player: Kevin de Bruyne

Liverpool: B

Despite a season with no other commitments and just about sneaking into the Champions League places, Jurgen Klopp’s Pool deserve praise, not censure for making them competitive when it really mattered. In a mini-table among the top six, the Reds were top, with 20 points taken off their closest rivals.

They struggled at the smaller teams and there are the pending issues of the left-back and the goalkeeping positions to be sorted out, but Klopp’s boys showed enough dynamism to prove that they can be a genuine threat next season.

Top Player: Sadio Mane

Arsenal: C-

Having qualified for every Champions League campaign since 2015-’16, that streak came to a crashing halt as the signings of Lucas Perez, Granit Xhaka and Skhodran Mustafi failed to ignite any title challenge or sustain any momentum Arsenal needed to finish in the top four. Perez wasn’t trusted at all, Xhaka’s aggression got the better of him and Mustafi faded badly after a bright start.

Their over-reliance on Alexis Sanchez caught up with the Gunners and it is questionable whether the Chilean will agree to play Thursday nights. Polarisation on Wenger’s position has never been this high and a loss in the FA Cup final against Chelsea will surely add to the growing voices of dissent against the Frenchman.

Best Player: Alexis Sanchez

Manchester United: F

Given a £150 million transfer budget at the start of this season, Jose Mourinho’s first season at United has been an emphatic failure. The statistics:

• Lowest number of wins for the team in the PL era (18). Even David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal (19) managed more in their final seasons.
• Lowest number of home wins (8) and second lowest points (34) for United in the Premier League. Apart from the top seven, Leicester City (10), Burnley (10), Bournemouth (9), West Bromwich Albion (9), Watford, Swansea City and relegated Hull City (all 8) had more or as many home wins as Mourinho’s team.
• As close to Chelsea (93) as they were to 11th-placed West Ham (45), with their 69 points. Seven teams scored more goals including Bournemouth (55) as they scored 54 goals. Only seven teams scored fewer home goals than United (26). Chelsea scored more goals at home (55) than United’s total.

With the world’s most expensive signing and the Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue Un Player of the Year in the team, injury crisis or not, there is a growing realisation that fortress Old Trafford is creaking. Like Wenger, Mourinho desperately needed that Europa League final win.

Best Player: Ander Herrera

Everton: B+

The Toffees did what they have done for sometime barring two horrendous seasons under Roberto Martinez, be one of the best teams outside the elite few. Ronald Koeman’s first season was a mixed show but the Dutchman made the most of the resources at his disposal, 61 points not too shabby a return.

The fact that seventh-placed Everton were 15 ahead of eighth-Southampton should be noted, as they were certainly the best of the rest. Romelu Lukaku’s 25 goals were a healthy boost and Koeman will struggle to retain the Belgian this summer.

Best Player: Romelu Lukaku

Southampton: B

A fourth top-eight finish in four years in not too shabby for a club of Southampton’s means and resources, yet the weight of expectations are weighing heavily on Claude Puel’s shoulders, as the Frenchman was booed during the Saints’ last-day defeat to Stoke City.

Losing more key players in the summer, the Saints were at the top of a six-team pack in the middle separated by two points. Expected to lose Virgil Van Dijk and possibly Oriol Romeu too, they must look forward to another summer of rebuilding and consolidation.

Best Player: Oriol Romeu

Bournemouth: A

The Cherries’ ninth-placed finish in only their second season of top flight football is possibly, the most positive story to come out of the Premier League this season.

For Eddie Howe, survival was achieved comfortably and the football wasn’t dreary either, a 4-3 win over Liverpool and a 6-3 loss to Everton among the more memorable matches that Bournemouth played this season. Howe, incidentally is also the highest finishing English manager in the English football pyramid this season.

Best Player: Joshua King

West Bromwich Albion : B

Albion may have finished 10th with 45 points, but earned 40 of those by gameweek 26 and with the magic mark for survival reached, subsequently proceeded to go on gardening leave till the end of the season.

Relegation was thwarted in an unremarkably Tony Pulisque style, as Albion scored the most number of goals from set pieces (20) this season. Some things never change.

Best Player: Gareth McAuley

West Ham United: C

Finishing only four points off Manchester City in the final Champions League spot the season before and holding onto the services of Dmitri Payet, West Ham were expected to push on. None of the big-name strikers were signed and the Olympic Stadium wasn’t much of an home either.

The Frenchman departed in January amidst infighting to compound Slaven Bilic’s problems as they shipped a bucketload of goals. Were in early relegation trouble but escaped nonetheless to finish a disappointing 11th.

Best Player: Michail Antonio

Leicester City: C-

It was never going to be easy repeating last season’s exploits but the Foxes lost the plot, lying in 17th position with 24 games played. Claudio Ranieri was sacked and Craig Shakespeare installed as Leicester recovered to finish 12th eventually.

The twin threats of Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy were particularly disappointing as the departure of N’Golo Kante crippled Leicester. A run to the Champions League quarters was the only silver lining in an otherwise turbulent season.

Best Player: Christian Fuchs

Stoke City: B-

Broke a sequence of three consecutive ninth-placed finishes, as Stoke struggled with consistency all season.

Things could have been worse for Mark Hughes’ men as they spent the first seven games in the bottom three. Seemed to have lost the defensive solidity and the fear factor that the Britannia once had, a middling season through and through.

Best Player: Joe Allen

Crystal Palace: C+

A 4-0 home loss to Sunderland may have dragged Palace down, but the Eagles managed a breathtaking eight-game unbeaten spell during which they claimed victories over Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

Alan Pardew had made a right mess of things but survival expert Sam Allardyce was handed his first gig after a failed stint as England manager and kept them up, before resigning after the end of the season. Christian Benteke’s 15 goals and Wilfred Zaha’s contribution (7 goals, 9 assists) were absolutely vital.

Best Player: Wilfred Zaha

Swansea City: C

A game of managerial musical chairs took place at Liberty Stadium as the Premier League’s first American manager, Bob Bradley, lasted only 11 games.

Eventually, it was Paul Clement who dragged the Welsh team to safety with four wins in their last five matches making sure they finished 15th but this was their lowest ever finish in their six seasons in the Premier League. Clement’s first job in the summer will be to ensure that Swansea’s most prized asset, Gylfi Sigurdsson, is not poached by the league’s mid-tier clubs.

Best Player: Gylfi Sigurdsson

Burnley: B

The Clarets took their foot off the gas in the last few seasons of the Premier League but were 12th with six games to play. They were also the only promoted team not to go down as Turf Moor was unbreachable for large parts of the season.

Sean Dyche deserves credit for this as do the defensive duo of Michael Keane and Ben Mee. Despite having the second worst away record of the division, stayed up comfortably.

Best Player: Tom Heaton

Watford: C

Only the bottom three scored fewer goals than the Hornets’ 40 as Walter Mazzarri didn’t exactly endear himself to fans this season. An early 3-1 win over Manchester United showed promise but it fizzed out as Watford lost their last six games.

Struggled to replace Odion Ighalo’s goals from last season and sold him to China in the winter window. In the end, Mazzarri quit as Watford finished 13th, down from the heady heights of 13th last season, after spending 60 million pounds this summer.

Best Player: Jose Holebas

Hull City: B-

Given that Hull had less than 18 fit players for the opening game of the weekend, it is a minor miracle their relegation was confirmed only on the penultimate weekend. Mike Phelan had the side bottom and out by Christmas, but Marco Silva’s appointment afforded brief hope with the Portuguese almost pulling off a “Great Escape”.

Hull’s immediate priority should be to tie down the majority of the player and aim to bounce back next season as Silva looks all but set to leave. With the payoff from this season’s revenue pool, there is a hope that they can bounce back at the first attempt next season.

Best Player: Harry Maguire

Middlesbrough: F

The lowest goals scored in the division, as Boro’ went down without a trace of a fight in their first season back in the Premier League. Neither Aitor Karanka nor Steve Agnew were able to inspire the Teesiders as they looked to assemble a whole new squad as they were only kept out of bottom place due to Sunderland’s ineptitude.

Best Player: Calum Chambers

Sunderland: F

After years of escaping the drop, the Black Cats ran out of their nine lives as David Moyes surprisingly went the whole season unsacked. Jermain Defoe and his 15 goals tried but failed to ward away the inevitable drop, as Ellis Short and his board of directors must try and cement a mid-table finish in next season’s Championship.

Best Player: Jordan Pickford