Grading the seasons of all Premier League clubs

Welcome back to my blog, and today I will be grading the seasons of each Premier League club. Ready, let’s get started?

Arsenal — B

Arsenal were pretty terrible at the start of the season, and were even bottom of the table at one point. However, the Arsenal players, especially the youngsters like Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard did well to step up and play some great football, which led to their top 4 challenge. Arsenal ended up being Spursy, however, and lost the last top 4 spot to Spurs (ironic, right) despite having the upper hand. Despite their failure to secure Champions League football for the first time in years, Arsenal did do far better than last season and for that improvement I give them a decent B

Aston Villa — B-

Aston Villa had quite a disappointment of a season, considering the fact that they signed so many good players in the summer. Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia sound more like Arsenal or Spurs signings than Aston Villa signings, and yet Villa were so bang average this season. Their signings, with the possible exception of Buendia, have been mostly terrible the whole season, either injured or invisible on the pitch, and only Coutinho, Ramsey, Watkins and Matty Cash can truly say that they’ve had a good season. The rest of this Villa squad have been pretty meh the whole season, and Villa as a club should have done way better.

Brentford — A

Brentford get an A despite finishing one place ahead of Villa by one point, merely because they are a newly promoted club. To be fair to them, everyone expected them to just go straight back down to the Championship in one year, and yet they’ve finished just 3 places of the top half. Their squad is not the greatest, but their midfield has been terrific, especially in the second half of the season when Eriksen came in , and the Bees can be proud of themselves for this decent maiden campaign.

Brighton — A+

Brighton in the top half is still something hard for me to believe. My brain refuses to process it. The Seagulls have been absolutely electric this season, despite losing their way a bit in the middle. That is completely understandable, however, given that their squad depth isn’t great and their players don’t get as much rest as some of the other teams. Graham Potter did well to improve their form, however, and both him and his players should be proud of securing 9th place after such a gruelling season.

Burnley — D

This season has been Dreadful for Burnley fans (with a capital D). Not only did they see their beloved club get relegated, they also saw club legend Sean Dyche as well as marquee players James Tarkowski depart the club as well. It could get much worse, with their best players like Dwight McNeil, Wout Weghorst and Maxwell Cornet all probably eyeing moves elsewhere. These players are used to playing competitive football in top competitions, not matches against Rotterham United and Preston North End. In the end, terrible season for the Clarets.

Chelsea — A-

This season hasn’t been great for Chelsea like 20/21 was, yet they still did pretty decently. Reaching four cup finals and winning two of them as well as a third place finish is not exactly terrible for a club, but I kind of feel that the Blues underachieved. They have one of the best squads in Europe I would say, and other than win the Club World Cup and Super Cup Chelsea didn’t make any waves this season. Their players were pretty decent, but honestly I wanted to see players like Ziyech, Werner and Havertz kick off and light up the Prem, but sadly I didn’t get to see that. Havertz did improve, but other than that Chelsea’s recent signings (including one Romelu Lukaku) have been quite underwhelming this season. To conclude, pretty decent season from Chelsea but I expected more.

Crystal Palace — A-

For a Crystal Palace side that has been consistently finishing around 12th to 14th, this team at least finished twelfth in style. They’ve been playing engaging football with stars like Micheal Olise, Conor Gallagher and Zaha all entertaining Eagles and Prem fans alike. Viera has been a decent manager for the Eagles, and while they probably should have pushed for top 10, I can’t really fault this Palace side.

Everton — F

Easily an F. This season has been utterly dreadful for Everton fans, even worse than it was for United fans. Their team was supposed to finally make the push for Europe with an experienced manager at the wheel, not be in a relegation battle. This crop of Everton players are easily the worst since 2017, and Everton seriously need a rebuild. The signing of Dele Alli was honestly a terrible way to start off, and the Toffees are incredibly lucky that they remain in the Prem and are not where Burnley are right now.

Leeds United — C

Leeds have had quite the nerve-wracking season, but it hasn’t all been rainy days for the Yorkshire side. Sure, their club legend Marcelo Bielsa has been replaced by the manager who failed his one major European gig at RB Leipzig, but Jesse Marsch’s appointment was a necessary and ingenious one which ended up saving the Whites. Marsch will have to stamp his own style into the Leeds players in the coming months if he doesn’t want a repeat of this season, and honestly all I can say about Leeds is that they’ve been given a chance to remain in the Prem and should do their best to stay there.

Leicester City — C

Leicester City have been spectacular these past few seasons, and honestly this season was just so disappointing for them. They still finished 8th, which is pretty ok if you ask me, but Leicester fans and Prem fans in general thought they would do so much better. Their squad is far better than Brighton’s, and yet they finish barely one point higher than them. Quite sub-par from the foxes.

Liverpool — A

The only reason I’m not just handing an A+ to Liverpool is because they lost both the Premier League title and the Champions League, the two major trophies they were competing for. I can’t blame them much for losing out, but winning the FA Cup and Carabao cup isn’t exceptional for a Jurgen Klopp side who were electric for 99% of the season. So while Liverpool did well to keep their quadruple hopes alive till last week, I can’t give them an A+ for faltering at the closing stages of two major tournaments.

Manchester City — A

Manchester City have done well this season to win the Premier League, but honestly I would have been surprised if they didn’t. Their squad is easily the best Premier League team ever (based on pure footballing quality), and they’ve done well to retain their Premier League crown. I still feel, however, that they should have won at least one cup this season, forget the Champions League (which they could’ve won if they didn’t capitulate at the last minute to Real).

Manchester United — D

A terrible season for all those at Old Trafford. Manchester United have been a pain to watch this season for all fans (including me), and I’m just happy that this disaster of a season is finally over. Erik Ten Hag will be taking over from next season, and hopefully we do much better. Just maybe this will not be another false dawn for us Red Devils.

Newcastle United — A

I honestly feel Newcastle United have had a good season. This side has come back from being rock bottom in the table to finishing 11th. If that doesn’t show you this side’s resilience and grit, I don’t know what will. Eddie Howe has been absolutely fantastic this season, and purchased wise signings to improve his team in January. All those January signings have been useful and have helped bring Newcastle to safety, and it will be interesting to see how Newcastle fare in this transfer window as well as the 22/23 season.

Norwich City — F

Norwich City imploded in typical fashion, and as expected ( by everyone but 2021 me) went straight back down. Epic fail of a season.

Southampton — C

The fact that the Saints managed only 9 wins this campaign tell you how gruelling this season was for Southampton fans and players. The South coast side were the definition of bang average this season, and I have a feeling things could get worst next season.

Tottenham — A+

Tottenham getting top 4 after that terrible start under Nuno is an indication of how much change Antonio Conte has brought about in this Spurs side. From turning Son into a goal-scoring monster to bringing in crucial reinforcements like Kuluskevski and Bentancur, Conte has made a positive impact on this Spurs squad, perhaps the first manager to do so since Poch. This Tottenham is perhaps the best one since the 16/17 season when they finished 2nd behind Chelsea, and you can look forward to some exciting football from them next season.

Watford — F

Watford have a far stronger squad than Burnley, but still finished below them. This season was extremely disappointing for the Hornets, and they could have done much better. Their defence was like pudding the whole season, and Moussa Sissoko struggled to keep their midfield together every single game, to no avail. Watford were simply terrible this season, period.

West Ham United — A

This may seem weird considering West Ham finished lower, but hear me out. David Moyes isn’t exactly known for being a genius manager anymore, but for these past two seasons he’s been overachieving with West Ham. The fact that they retained European football is astonishing consider main man Antonio was no longer firing, and Lingard was no longer at the club. That squad is by no means better than Leicester, yet it finished above the Foxes by 4 points. Not bad for the Hammers by any means.

Wolves — A

Wolves finishing in the top half was something I didn’t see coming, and Wolves as well as Bruno Lage have done well to ensure a top half finish. Bruno Lage has led his Wolves side spectacularly, letting them play entertaining football while also getting results. Some key players like Raul Jimenez or Pedro Neto were off-form or injured, which means that Wolves have the potential to grow even more next season.

That’s all for this article, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Do check out my older articles as well, and till my next article, adios!