PREMIER LEAGUE REPORT CARDS – PART TWO: Man City won the title again despite not scaling heights, while Liverpool fell short and Man United were often shambolic… and Sheffield United had a shocker!
Another Premier League campaign reached its climax on Sunday and quite a lot looks familiar.
Manchester City are champions again, becoming the first team to win the English top-flight four times in a row, ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Meanwhile at the opposite end, the three clubs that came up – Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton Town – are the three going straight back down again.
In the middle there was intrigue, however, with Aston Villa storming into the Champions League, Manchester United looking like also-rans, and Chelsea riding a rollercoaster.
Everton and Nottingham Forest were jeopardised by points deductions but ultimately had enough to survive.
Manchester City were crowned Premier League champions after beating West Ham on Sunday
Following the season’s conclusion, we grade all 20 clubs in our annual report cards, with part two covering Liverpool through to Wolves.
CLICK HERE TO READ PART ONE – ARSENAL THROUGH TO FULHAM
LIVERPOOL
Finished: 3rd
2022-23 finish: 5th
The outpouring of love for Jurgen Klopp as he departs Anfield came with a wistful tinge for Liverpool fans.
When will things be as good again? What if Arne Slot struggles in the same way as David Moyes or Unai Emery did following great managers at Manchester United and Arsenal?
There’s also a distinct sense of what might have been with Klopp’s farewell season. Liverpool won the Carabao Cup but surprisingly folded in the Premier League title race and came up short in the FA Cup and Europa League.
Perhaps, like Klopp, they just ran out of steam. More accurately, star players suffered untimely injuries, Liverpool’s squad shortcomings were exposed and youngsters were called upon to step up (making a positive impression).
Slot has no time to lose taking Liverpool beyond the Klopp era. He needs to make his own imprint and a pivotal summer awaits.
GRADE: B
Jurgen Klopp says his goodbyes to the Anfield crowd and now Liverpool must rebuild again
LUTON TOWN
Finished: 18th
2022-23 finish: 3rd (Championship, won play-offs)
In the end, Luton’s romantic Premier League story lasted just the one season as everybody expected. But they were by no means no-hopers.
Indeed, the Hatters immediate return to the Championship was only fully confirmed on the final day and Rob Edwards’ side can be immensely proud of their effort.
Doubly so given the trauma of Tom Lockyer’s cardiac arrest on the pitch at Bournemouth in December, which prompted an outpouring of goodwill and galvanised the squad.
Wins were thin on the ground but highlights included a 4-0 rout of Brighton and a victory over Newcastle (and the bonkers 4-4 on Tyneside). Several big teams struggled to cope with Kenilworth Road and Ross Barkley was a player reborn in their midfield.
Edwards burnished his reputation and Luton will want to regroup and go again for promotion right away.
GRADE: C
Luton Town suffered relegation as everyone predicted – but did themselves plenty of credit
MANCHESTER CITY
Finished: 1st
2022-23 finish: 1st
This Manchester City team isn’t as good as last season’s or indeed the year before that. And yet, they are Premier League champions again – for a record fourth time in a row and for the sixth time in seven years.
Pep Guardiola’s side are masters when it comes to galloping down the home stretch, with nine consecutive league wins in April and May dashing the hopes of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Having said that, City haven’t lost in the league since December 6 but prior to that there were enough glimmers of hope for their rivals that the Treble winner might have lost their appetite.
Injuries to Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and others enhanced that but – in the end – City did what they do best and when it matters most, even if they couldn’t defend their European crown.
Guardiola continues to tweak things tactically and instil a burning desire. Now he has seen off Klopp, maybe he’ll hang around slightly longer. Which is very bad news for everyone else.
GRADE: A
Pep Guardiola’s Man City didn’t reach their peak but it was still good enough to win the league
MANCHESTER UNITED
Finished: 8th
2022-23 finish: 3rd
Even if Man United somehow beat City and win the FA Cup final on Saturday, it will only partially lift the gloom that has enveloped Old Trafford.
This has been a season of clear regression under Erik ten Hag, suggesting the Dutchman overachieved in a first season that saw United finish third and win the Carabao Cup.
His tactics have become indecipherable, United fundamentally lack a style of play and Ten Hag’s regular requests to ‘trust the process’ sound increasingly desperate.
In mitigation, he has had to cope with a genuinely crippling injury crisis and off-field distractions concerning owners and players.
Does Ten Hag deserve a shot at managing United under the proper structure Sir Jim Ratcliffe has pledged to bring in? The jury remains out.
GRADE: D
Scenes of dejection after conceding a goal were all-too-common for Manchester United
NEWCASTLE UNITED
Finished: 7th
2022-23 finish: 4th
Newcastle scored 85 league goals this season, harking back to the ‘Entertainers’ era. Unfortunately they proved quite fallible at the back at the same time.
Fun to watch without question but ultimately Eddie Howe’s side have slipped back, though they might make the UEFA Conference League if City win the FA Cup final.
Major positives have been the form of Alexander Isak, the class of Bruno Guimaraes and the impact of Anthony Gordon. They absolutely have not looked toothless in attack.
On the flip side, they were battered by injuries, were forced to do without £55m Sandro Tonali and were out of their depth in the Champions League (the 4-1 drubbing of PSG aside).
Newcastle’s transfer business has been largely shrewd since the Saudi takeover and a repeat this summer should propel them back towards a top four challenge.
GRADE: B
Alexander Isak enjoyed himself in a prolific goalscoring season as Newcastle finished seventh
NOTTINGHAM FOREST
Finished: 17th
2022-23 finish: 16th
In the end, Forest were grateful for the existence of three worse teams to finish below them after a turbulent season of manager swaps, owner outbursts, points deductions and VAR scandal.
Evangelos Marinakis lost faith in Steve Cooper in December after a torrid run left them staring down the barrel of a relegation fight.
Nuno Espirito Santo just about kept them up and improved certain aspects of Forest’s performance – but by little tottering steps rather than leaps and bounds.
In the end, the defensive command of Murillo, craft of Morgan Gibbs-White and goals of Chris Wood helped steer them to safety.
Much needs to simmer down in the off-season and Nuno needs to get a firm grip on the squad to make next season less chaotic.
GRADE: D
Evangelos Marinakis will be relieved Nottingham Forest stayed up after a testing season
SHEFFIELD UNITED
Finished: 20th
2022-23 finish: 2nd (Championship)
We’re not quite talking Derby 2007-08 levels of abysmal here but Sheffield United’s campaign wasn’t a whole lot better.
The Blades collected just 16 points – only five more than that record-breakingly bad Rams side and they conceded 104 goals as opposed to Derby’s mere 89.
Both Paul Heckingbottom and Chris Wilder failed to find much spark in a side that appeared to have lost all hope by the autumn.
They were forced to endure a succession of humiliations, especially at Bramall Lane. Even Burnley stuffed nine goals past them home and away, while Newcastle hit eight on just one afternoon.
At least the Championship should be more to their liking next season.
GRADE: E
Sheffield United capitulated week after week in one of the worst-ever Premier League seasons
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Finished: 5th
2022-23 finish: 8th
You get a very different perspective on Tottenham’s year when viewed from the standpoint of last summer and the giddy position they found themselves in come early November.
Through the first lens, you’d say Ange Postecoglou’s maiden season has been a substantial success.
The football has been vastly more entertaining than the dreary Antonio Conte era, smiles have returned to faces and a fifth-place finish in a ‘reset’ season with a manager unproven in England and post-Harry Kane is a good outcome.
Though the second lens, given Spurs led the table 10 games in following an exhilarating start that was the ultimate new manager bounce, not making the top four or doing better in the cups begins to look like a disappointment.
But, hey, it’s certainly been watchable and there should be a lot more to come.
GRADE: B
Ange Postecoglou restored smiles to Spurs faces – if not his own – with freewheeling football
WEST HAM UNITED
Finished: 9th
2022-23 finish: 14th
Farewell to David Moyes, whose final season at the London Stadium featured some testing moments but ultimately saw an encouraging top-half finish.
They went off the boil after Christmas – with a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal and disappointing cup exits – taking a good bit of the sheen off.
Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek deserve the plaudits but West Ham conceded far too many and Kalvin Phillips proved a dud.
Moyes will be remembered for delivering a European trophy but if the Hammers get the next appointment right and rebuild properly, they should be able to kick on.
GRADE: C+
Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus both enjoyed excellent seasons for West Ham
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
Finished: 14th
2022-23 finish: 13th
Disaster beckoned when Julen Lopetegui walked out of Molineux on August 8 – the eve of the season – but Gary O’Neil has done brilliantly to ensure there was not even a sniff of relegation danger.
Wolves have limped over the finish line to be fair, with just one win in their last 10, with that dramatic late defeat to Coventry in the FA Cup knocking the stuffing out of them.
But the worst fears of Wolves fans weren’t realised and O’Neil deserves great credit for that, with the increase from 31 to 50 goals an unexpected bonus.
Matheus Cunha performed well for Wolves as they stayed well clear of relegation danger
Matheus Cunha has proved money well spent, while Hwang Hee-chan has done well. Mario Lemina and Joao Gomes have performed solidly in midfield.
The task for O’Neil now is to rebuild Wolves into a top-half outfit.
GRADE: B
