The end of the footballing year sparks debate as we look back on how teams have performed throughout the campaign. I sat down with some football journalists to discuss who may have been the most underwhelming side in the top flight this season.
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00:00Michael, looking back at the Premier League season as a whole, there was a lot of big
00:05expectation for a certain amount of teams. In terms of the most underwhelming performers,
00:10whether it be managerial-wise, or just in terms of not scoring enough goals, or where
00:17you think they might be in the Premier League table, and they're a lot lower than that,
00:21who stands out for you in that sort of era?
00:24Yeah, I mean, there's a few who have underwhelmed this season. I think, in general, the promoted
00:30sides have come up. I mean, you mentioned Burnley to me, which I think is a good shout.
00:34Under Vincent Kompany, they really impressed last season in the Championship, but just
00:38haven't brought that into the Premier League this season, or look like they're probably
00:42going to be relegated at the weekend. Sheffield United are already down, I mean, 16 points
00:46with, what, two games left. That's atrocious. I think they're probably one of the worst
00:50sides, probably in Premier League history, to be totally honest. The standard candidate
00:54is Manchester United, because they're an eighth in the Premier League table. This is the most
00:58expensive squad that has ever been assembled in the history of football, and they're eighth
01:02in the table. Crossed out of the Champions League, went out with a whimper in the Carabao
01:07Cup. The only saving grace has been the FA Cup. Listen, I'd be surprised if they win
01:11that final at Wembley against Manchester City, but all the records that have tumbled this
01:15season, the most number of defeats, probably one for the most number of goals conceded,
01:18the number of shots they've faced in games, it's just been incredible. Listen, they've
01:23had their problems with injuries as well, and there's been a lot going on behind the
01:25scenes for Eric ten Hag to deal with, but in my eyes, it can only be Manchester United
01:30after just such a disappointing campaign that I think probably will ultimately end with
01:36Eric ten Hag moving on in the summer.
01:38Maybe Chelsea is the one that you're pointing towards, just because of the amount of money
01:42that they've spent. Obviously, not even last summer, but in transfer windows gone by, they've
01:47gone out and got Mauricio Pochettino in. But yeah, they've started picking up towards
01:53the end of the season, and maybe they're showing good signs, but it's been spluttering, to
02:01say the least, hasn't it, with the young squads?
02:03Well, there's a few names you can put out there, and it depends if you're looking on
02:07the whole season or just more recently. For me, it was a three-horse race until it wasn't
02:13in the Premier League, so I would say Liverpool have got to be disappointed by how they're
02:17season's been going more recently. Klopp's last year, for it to not fall off a cliff,
02:23but there's a gap now with the top two, and they're not there. Mathematically, they might
02:27still be in it, but they're not, really. They're not going to win the league this year, and
02:31Klopp's last year, knocked out in Europe, so that was disappointing from them.
02:37Choosing this year's most underwhelming Premier League team is actually quite a difficult
02:41task, because there have been so many. But for me, I would say potentially Brighton-Hove Albion
02:47as a fan myself. We've just not been quite at it this year and outside the top half,
02:52but I think you can put that down to injuries, I think you can put that down to
02:55being in Europe for the first time ever, so I'll cut Roberto Di Zerbi and the likes some slack.