23/24 Season in Review

Champions on the Weekend

Promoted/Relegated

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Champions 🏆🏆🏆

• Season in Review📈📉 - Grades Handed Out

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Standouts

• Off Island 🏝️ - Looking Ahead

Champions 🏆🏆🏆

When the Saints Go Marching In

• In his first season at the club, Manager Russell Martin led the Saints back to the PL with 19 new players. Southampton had a 25-match unbeaten run during the season and finished 4th in the table with 87 points and beat Leed’s for a third time to earn promotion.

• Prematch vibes (X).

• Leed’s looked sharp for the first 20’ of the match but at the 24’ mark Southampton found an opening (X) and it would be all they needed.

• We are going up, we are going up (X).

• Great Celebration scenes (X).

• Leeds are the first team in Championship HISTORY to get to 90 points and not go up.

• Leeds have now lost all 6 of their promotion playoff finals.

Manchester is RED

• Worst EVER finish in the table for Man United, Manager rumored to be sacked, playing City, the current “dynasty”, at full strength, a $100 bet on United to win would yield $750. No Problem - United take down City 2-1.

• Cinematic.

  • If you’d like the full experience of the FA Cup here are 2 min of the FA Cup Final.

• 1-0. Doesn’t matter the sport - turnovers are bad. Garnacho good (X).

• 2-0. Mainoo from Captain Bruno, brilliance (X). Another angle (X)

• 2-1. Onana had to make it close (X).

• Jonny Evans has now won EVERY major trophy there is to win, with Man United.

• Erik ten Hag - what a way to go out (X).

• Erling Haaland has NEVER SCORED in FIVE FINALS for City.

• If you recall from an earlier CS - this WORKED!

A Double and an Old Firm W. (Sounds like a great drink!) Glasgow is Green & White.

• Celtic scored late on this goal (X), to take down Rangers.

• Great bounce back for Brendan Rogers “Brodge” who was sacked after leading Leicester City to relegation the year before last.

• Collateral Damage.

  • United’s win means they will take the second Europa League spot next season. That also means Chelsea will get bumped down to the Europa Conference League and Newcastle lose out on Europe.

• 19th place, ok, but do you speak German?

  • The season before last, Vincent Kompany led Burnley on a GREAT campaign winning the Championship and promotion to the PL. VK was the hottest manager in Europe but stayed committed to the Clarets and led them back into their PL season. It did not go as planned as Burnley finished 19^th this season and were relegated back down.

  • Willkommen. And with that, VK has been named manager of Bayern Munich. Not a bad bounce after a relegation season.

• Foxes in the hunt for a new manager. Congrats to LCFC on your promotion back to the PL, now go find a new manager as Enzo Maresca has been poached by Chelsea to be their new manager. Bold move by the Blues, as Maresca is a top up and coming manager but has no big club experience.

• Burnley 2.0? Last season Burnley won the Championship by a lot, and were promoted to the PL. Manager Vincent Kompany was a HOT commodity but stuck with Burnley with the goal of sustaining the success and keeping them up. But, Burnley went right back down. Fast forward to this season and Ipswich Town, the team that earned back-to-back promotions and are now in the PL with the hot young manager, Kieran McKenna. It’s being reported McKenna has turned down several offers from bigger clubs to stay at Ipswich. This path ended up working out for VK as he landed on his feet with a "move up” to Bayern Munich. Maybe VK’s experience was enough of a roadmap that McKenna decided to stay?

• Tar Heel Fan? Looking for a PL team to root for? UNC’s hoops coach Hubert Davis representing the powder blue at the FA Cup.

• Pep for 1 more. The City manager’s contract runs through next season, and it is being reported that it will be his last in Manchester. We will see.

Season in Review 📈📉

Normal Distribution (aka Bell Curve)

It’s the end of the school year and the end of the PL season - so it’s time for the CS to hand out grades. And at the CS, we use the traditional “Bell Curve” - if you are interested in standard deviations and probability theory - check out the basics here (wiki).

CS Grade Criteria

• Grades are NOT just a listing of the final Table.

• The PL record AND additional Leagues count (FA, Carabao, Europe).

• Manager & ownership decisions count where applicable.

• CS detailed algorithms and analysis leveraged.

• For a reminder of Preseason Predictions check out this post from the CS.

• Grade Distribution

  • A - no more than 10% (2 teams)

  • AB - discretion

  • B - no more than 20% (4 teams)

  • BC - discretion

  • C - 50% (10 teams)

  • D - 10% (2 teams)

  • F - 10% (2 teams)

The Analysis

- - - - - A - - - - -

Aston Villa

Projected to finish 9^th, Villa finished comfortably 4^th and in a Champions League spot for next season. The energy and style of play Unai Emery brought were brilliant and made for some spectacular matches. Unai Emery wins, and he found a great spot in Birmingham. A 1-5 loss at Newcastle to start the season was not ideal, nor was limping home the final 4 matches, but everything else in between was a great ride including a huge 2-0 win at Arsenal and a 1-0 win home to City.

Bournemouth Cherries

Bournemouth surprised many by changing managers, away from Gary O’Neil, and to Andoni Iraola last off season. And, when the Cherries started the season winless in their first 9 matches and it looked like the predicted of relegation was very much in play. So, significant credit goes to manager Iraola for righting the ship and winning 7 or their next 9 matches. Instead of relegation being in play, Bournemouth made a late run where Europe was in the discussion. Losing the last 3 doesn’t take away from the overall body of work - 1 win away from a top 10 finish and a season where relegation was not in play and what seems to be a great young manager with a club that responds to him.

- - - - - AB - - - - -

Tottenham Hotspur

With Harry Kane and new Manage Ange Postecoglou Spurs were picked to finish 7th and potentially miss Europe again. Then, as the season got going Kane went to Bayern Munich and Spurs really seemed behind the eight ball. Yet, Spurs started the season on fire, in a very enjoyable attacking style of play, winning 8 and drawing 2 in their first 10. Then the injury bug hit, and the lack of depth showed as Spurs struggled. At the end of the day, Spurs finished comfortably in Europe and seem to have their manager and a great platform from which to be positioned well for next season.

- - - - - B - - - - -

Arsenal

A great season, the only thing that keeps the Gunners from an A - did not win any Cups. The defense led the way with just 29 goals allowed, fewest in the league. Scoring was top notch as well with the second most, 91. The leadership, manager and players took a big step from last season and have a lot of momentum heading into next season.

Liverpool

Liverpool 2.0. The Red’s went into the season knowing they had to fix some things on the defensive end and in the midfield. While they were predicted to finish right where they did, in a Champions League spot, there were tons of question marks heading into the season and pundits were debating whether they could get back to challenge a title or land back around the edge of Europe positions. In the end, the season exceeded expectations. Injuries required Klopp to dip into young academy players, who kept the train moving. They won the Carabao Cup, overcame the distraction of Klopp announcing his retirement. A title would’ve been an A.

Man City

Arguably the best team in Europe, and while they did win the PL it was expected but not dominant. Stumbles in the Carabao Cup, Champions League and FA Cup make a PL Championship season feel like a disappointment. Will not go lower than a B for the Champs but I wonder if Pep would give them a lower grade.

- - - - - BC - - - - -

Crystal Palace

This team was heading towards a potential disaster with 7 matches to go. They had won only 3 of their last 20 matches and sacked longtime fan favorite Roy Hodgson in the process. Oliver Glasner took over in mid-February and the transformation of the club was noticeable. While they were far enough away from relegation, the very difficult schedule remaining had people thinking they could be in trouble. All that was forgotten as Palace took 19 of a possible 21 points over that stretch and finished 10th in the table and, more importantly, seem to have their new manager that has key players bought into his system and an ownership group that is on the same page.

Everton

Sean Dyche did not lead the Toffees to their expected 13th place finish, but he did lead a team that overcame TWO FFP rules violations and point deductions, 12 points in total that got reduced to 8 after appeal. There was nothing average about this season and while Everton have a lot of work to do, they are positioned well heading into next season with Dyche in charge and a new stadium opening up. CS gives them a BC for overcoming the distraction and coming out ahead in what was not an average season.

- - - - - C - - - - -

Fulham

Prior to last season FFC had back-to-back-to-back promotion then relegation seasons. Last year they had a nice 10^th place finish, and while they finished 13^th this year it was 2 spots ahead of their preseason expectations. Very average season. Had just 1 streak all season, 3 straight losses, otherwise did not string together wins, draws or losses all season. Average.

Chelsea

A very interesting year for the Blues. Hired a high-profile manager in Pochettino who took on a very young, highly paid team that underachieved for the first half of the season sitting outside the top 10, well below their expected 5^th place projected finish. Great runs in the Carabao and FA Cup gave their fans some hope and then a GREAT run losing just once over that final 15 matches brought the energy and excitement back to Samford Bridge. That, and a true goal scorer in Cole Palmer. The big run that got Chelsea into Europe could make the case for a higher grade, but just after the end of the season Pochettino and the club decided to part ways. That’s an average season.

Man United

Worst finish in club history. A club that seemed to have no identity. Finished 4 spots behind their projected order of finish. This season was a big disappointment for United, that is until winning the FA Cup. ten Hag’s tenure is in jeopardy and the new players, and more depth will be needed for this team to get back to United levels. United is like the college student who skipped class all year and was going to fail the class and pulled an A out of their ass on the final. Cups are weighted more, so this way below average season becomes average.

Newcastle United

Flame out in the Champions League, missed out on Europe next season because Man U won the FA Cup. Just felt like Newcastle should’ve done more with the season. Their +23-goal differential was fourth best in the league, fifth best was +15. They finished about where they were projected but had some shocking home losses that just felt out of character. Many times, when they won, they won big. Just felt short of depth and consistency. Average.

West Ham

Heading into the season if felt like David Moyes was asked to manage the club with his hands tied behind his back as ownership kept turning down requests for player acquisitions. But, what a start. 6W 2D 2L in their first 10, yet there just was not the energy with the club. They got into Europa League play but got knocked out in the round of 16. As the season went along, it didn’t matter if the club was winning or losing - supporters were pretty vocal on their displeasure for Moyes’ style of play. Projected to finish 10^th, the Hammers came in at 9 and then announced Moyse would not be retained after the season. Average.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Lost their manager (Julen Lopetegui) the week before the season started because he didn’t like that ownership decided not to spend on players for fear of FFP impact on the club. Hired Gary O’Neil, former Bournemouth manager, who was able to generate some excitement thru the first half of the season with a roster that was lacking depth. O’Neil got a great win at his former club (after being sacked in the off-season) and there was talk of Wolves making a run at Europe. But injuries caught up with them and they limped home. Projected 14, Finished 14. Average.

Nottingham Forest

Projected to finish 16, ended up 17, which is where they would’ve been even without the 4-point deduction they incurred during the season. Had some great early season wins at Chelsea and home to Villa but just could not get things going. Even after a mid-season managerial change, nothing really changed. Forest benefited from three very poor teams below them and stayed up with the fewest points in the history of the PL. This should really be a C Minus, but we don’t have those.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Hot, hot start with the manager of the moment in de Zerbi. The club was scoring in bunches early and often. This put them competing for Europe next season. Then BHA completely lost their way. They got knocked out of the Europa Leage early and couldn’t score in the PL. Projected to finish 8th, they fell to 11^th. C Minus if we had one.

- - - - - D - - - - -

Luton Town

Relegation should mean F, yet the Hatters were projected to finish 20^th and they were in position to avoid relegation until the second to last match week. This is a team that 9 years ago were in level 5 and yet here we are talking about them in the PL. In addition, offensively they looked like they belonged. LT scored in 25 of their last 26 matches. Add to that the best tv viewing in the PL and while relegated, we will pass them.

Brentford

Based on pre-season expectations, Brentford underperformed more than any other club finishing 16^th and projected 11^th. What keeps them from an F grade is they never were really in danger of relegation, and they were 2W 2D in the West London Derby’s against Fulham and Chelsea.

- - - - - F - - - - -

Burnley

Maybe the most frustrating team of the season. At times played like a team that should be able to avoid relegation and at other times they just found ways to lose. This team gave up more late goals than any other team (not a stat, just a feeling) and many of them were blatant errors on their goalies and defenders. Add to it losing your manager at the end of the season and it’s back to the Championship without a manager.

Sheffield United

16 points. 104 goals allowed. -69 goal differential. 3 wins. Not. Good.

Final Position in Table - Predicted Position Based on ODDS - Variance

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

Standouts

For season stats, you can check out PremierLeague.Com/Stats. Here is the summary.

Here’s a couple that stood out to CS.

• City led the PL in goals scored from Outside the Box with 15. Wolves were the only team to never score from outside the box.

• Phil Foden (City) had 6 goals from outside the box, more than any other player.

• Sheffield United allowed 7 own goals, next most was 4. Every team allowed at least 1.

• Darwin Nunez, Liverpool, hit the woodwork 9 times, next most was 5.

• Ollie Watkins (Villa) had 19 goals this season, NO PKs. For comparison, Haaland (City) had 27 goals, 7 were PKs and Cole Palmer (Chelsea) 22 and 9.

• Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) committed the most fouls, 83, second most was 66.

• 13 teams did not save a penalty all year, only West Ham saved more than 1, 2.

• 6 players played every minute of every game this season. 4 were goalkeepers. Defender Max Kilman (Wolves) and Defender William Saliba (Arsenal) were the other 2.

For a more in-depth team by team analysis, with interesting statistics check out this great article from premierleague.com. Here is an example of the information included.

Off Island 🏝️

Looking Ahead

Three things dominate the PL off-season

1. Player transfers & manager movement

2. International Team Matches

3. PL Club team tours

For player and manager movement, CS will provide updates as they become available.

Here’s a quick view of the “summer schedule” worth paying attention to (including the Europe Finals which really is the end of the season).

Europa Conference League Final - Wednesday May 29, 2pm on CBS

Olympiacos (Greece) +206 v Fiorentina (Italy) +128

Champions League Final - Saturday June 1, 2pm on CBS - London, England.

Borussia Dortmund (Germany) +450 v Real Madrid (Spain) -180

June 8 - USMNT plays Colombia in a friendly.

June 12 - USMNT plays Brazil in a friendly.

June 14 - July 14 - Euro 2024. Should be a GREAT tournament.

June 20 thru July 14 - Copa America, which the USMNT is participating in. Full schedule here.

July 26 thru August 11 - Olympics for USNT’s. Here is a good wiki on the format and who is in.

Late July - Early August - Some clubs take “international tours” to promote their club and prepare for the upcoming season. Here are a few, including some coming to the US.