Premier League 2016-17 end-of-season awards

Chelsea are 2016-17 Premier League champions, the top four is all but set and Hull, Middlesbrough and Sunderland are relegated. That means it’s time to announce FanSided’s end-of-season awards.

Player of the Season: Eden Hazard

The best player on the best team in the league. N’Golo Kante deserves recognition for another remarkable season — he’s now the second player in Premier League history to win back-to-back titles with different clubs — but Hazard’s creative contributions outweigh the Frenchman’s relentless ball-winning talents. Hazard’s had a wonderful year after deciding not to try last season, reasserting himself as the league’s best player. His dribbling ability is unmatched by all but the very best in the world — there’s a reason Real Madrid are interested — and while his 15 goals and five assists aren’t the most eye-catching statistical return, his holdup and combination play have been essential to the league’s most prolific attack. Hopefully we get to see him lead this Chelsea side in the Champions League next season, before one of the usual suspects tears him away from Stamford Bridge with what is sure to be close to a world-record sum.

Manager of the Season: Antonio Conte

With respect to Mauricio Pochettino, whose young Tottenham side took another impressive step forward this season, there could be only one winner here. In his first season in the Premier League, Antonio Conte has Chelsea on the brink of the second-best points total in top flight history. His switch to a back three in the second half of a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in September was arguably the biggest turning point of the season, as the Blues went on a record-equaling 13-match winning run. To do all that with a squad that finished 10th a season ago, even if that was more down to a lack of focus than talent, and after what was reportedly a disappointing summer transfer window for the Italian, only makes his achievements this season more impressive.

Rookie of the Season: Leroy Sane

The PFA Young Player of the Year award went to Dele Alli this year for the second season in a row. Also nominated were Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku — not exactly new kids on the block. Our Rookie of the Season award tries to remedy that by acknowledging only those players under the age of 23 who appeared in the Premier League for the first time in 2016-17.

Leroy Sane has been terrific for Manchester City in the second half of the season, his pace and dribbling ability essential to the Citizens attack. The German winger struggled to find a place in Pep Guardiola’s side early on, as Nolito was preferred in attack, but he looks set to finish the season with 20 starts and six more appearances off the bench. His five goals and two assists aren’t stellar, but then he’s only 21 and this is first season in a new league. His pace is frightening, and especially difficult to contain in the wide-open matches City have so frequently found themselves this campaign. He’ll receive much more defensive attention next season, but it’s hard to imagine him not continuing to improve. Sane narrowly beat Everton’s Tom Davies and Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford.

Game of the Season: Manchester City 1-1 Liverpool

There was plenty of competition for this prize, from top-of-the-table clashes between Tottenham and Chelsea and Tottenham and Manchester City, to the defense-optional relegation battle that was Swansea 5-4 Crystal Palace. Liverpool probably provided more entertainment than any other side, for reasons both good and bad, including their dramatic 4-3 loss to Bournemouth and their 4-3 win against Arsenal on the opening day of the season. But it was the Reds’ trip to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City that takes the prize for its combination of technical quality, a fascinating tactical battle and, in the final 20 minutes, an end-to-end nonsense fest that showed the very best and very worst of the two managers involved. Also, Adam Lallana’s miss. Wow.

Goal of the Season (team, individual): Olivier Giroud vs. Crystal Palace, Emre Can vs. Watford

Eden Hazard, Alexis Sanchez, Philippe Coutinho, Sadio Mane and Andy Carroll all deserve mentions, but nothing they did could top the acrobatic efforts of Olivier Giroud and Emre Can. Giroud’s scorpion kick goal against Crystal Palace was not only a once-in-a-lifetime moment of technical precision, but it capped off a wonderful team move, and earns our prize for team goal of the season.

Can’s goal against Watford didn’t feature the same quality of buildup, but the finish was even better, the German running backwards as he executed the best bicycle kick in the Premier League at least since Wayne Rooney’s effort in the Manchester derby in 2011. The Liverpool midfielder takes our individual prize.

Performance of the Season: Alexis Sanchez vs. West Ham

Romelu Lukaku’s four goals against Bournemouth in February were impressive, but for creativity, difficulty level and overall influence, the performance couldn’t match Alexis Sanchez’s three-goal, one-assist masterclass against West Ham in December. The Chilean has been one of the most captivating players in the league since arriving at the Emirates two seasons ago, but his 14-minute hat-trick against the Hammers may have been the single most efficient illustration of what makes him so good, the first goal coming after a wonderful touch, turn and run; the second a perfectly-placed volley from the top of the box; and the third a delicate scooped finish following a one-footed step over few players in the league are capable of imagining, let alone executing. If this is to be Sanchez’s last season in the Premier League, he will have left quite the impression.

Pleasant Surprises

There were a number of unexpectedly good performances this season, from both players and teams. West Brom shocked the league early on, racing to 40 points in club-record time and scoring at a rate unheard of for a Tony Pulis side. They faded somewhat after that, but this is surely the most exciting Pulis team we’ve seen in his decade in the top flight. Burnley were another club to impress, despite being widely tipped for relegation at the beginning of the season. The secret? A remarkable home record. The Clarets have picked up 33 of their 40 points at Turf Moor (and could make it 36 of 43 against West Ham on the final day of the season).

As for players, David Luiz was probably the most pleasant surprise, establishing himself as a key contributor at the heart of Chelsea’s back three after being widely ridiculed upon his return to the club. In an otherwise disappointing season for Crystal Palace, Wilfried Zaha appears to be growing into his game and has shown much more consistent flashes of the talent Sir Alex Ferguson paid £15 million for in 2013. He may not be long for Selhurst Park. Elsewhere, Oriol Romeu has become one of the best holding midfielders in the league under Claude Puel, while Fernando Llorente impressed during Swansea’s late, successful bid for Premier League survival.