Fansided

Ranking every Premier League season

By James Dudko

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 13: Scorer of the matchwinning goal Sergio Aguero of Manchester City celebrates with the trophy during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers at the Etihad Stadium on May 13, 2012 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 13: Scorer of the matchwinning goal Sergio Aguero of Manchester City celebrates with the trophy during the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers at the Etihad Stadium on May 13, 2012 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea’s Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 3, 2016. / AFP / Paul ELLIS / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Chelsea’s Belgian midfielder Eden Hazard celebrates scoring his team’s third goal during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on December 3, 2016. / AFP / Paul ELLIS / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images) /

24. 2016-17

Champions: Chelsea
Relegated: Hull, Middlesbrough, Sunderland

A one-sided title race, at least for three quarters of the season, and a series of high-profile matches that proved to be damp squibs mark the latest Premier League season as one to forget.

In many ways, the 2016-17 season is one where pragmatism took over daring as the watchword of the English top-flight. Just consider the marquee matches that didn’t live up to the billing.

How about Liverpool’s goalless draw with Manchester United back in October? It was a game so drab you could almost wave goodbye to joy as it left your soul forever. Then there was United’s goalless draw with Manchester City in April, a match criminally short on quality despite two mega-rich squads and a pair of celebrity managers.

Yet Jose Mourinho’s bus-parking United aren’t the only culprits this season. Even runaway champions Chelsea could teach the attack-minded a thing or two about sapping the life out of a game.

It was left to former United and Everton man Phil Neville to sum up the dismal fare on offer this season, per BBC 5 live Sport: “I’m turning off games because I’m bored watching them.”

Another reason to be disappointed with this season is the performance of many of its star managers. Remember when Mourinho and Guardiola were supposed to dominate the league after three games?

Well, Mourinho can push the EFL Cup and a likely Europa League trophy in people’s faces all he wants. Yet it won’t change a league finish that would make David Moyes and Louis van Gaal blush, a finish created by 1,001 home draws and trying to make the back six fashionable.

Then there’s Guardiola, who took over a squad strong enough to win three trophies and reach a Champions League semifinal under Manuel Pellegrini, only to set about dismantling it.

Like the season, the league’s two star names in the dugout failed to live up to the billing.

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