The Football Addick

Another Premier League season has come and gone. For some teams in the Premier League, the 2016/2017 season was highly successful and thus they can be happy with their efforts. However, for many teams in the league the season was tough and some will be glad that the season is over. The Football Addick analyses the performances of all teams that finished in the TOP HALF in the Premier League and rates their success out of 10. Which teams got the highest marks? Despite their three trophies, did Manchester United receive a mark higher than five? And who was the star man and disappointment for each team? Find out the answer to all these questions in the upcoming pages. Antonio Conte guided Chelsea to their 5th Premier League title 1st: Chelsea - 9/10 After a tough start, Antonio Conte managed to reverse both his and Chelsea's performances as they cruised to the Premier League title. However, the season ended on a sour note as they were defeated 2-1 in the FA Cup Fin...

Arsenal have had a turbulent season. Despite claiming 75 points, Arsenal were unable to match the progress of their rivals and thus fell to a lowly 5th placed finish. The league and the Champions League are Arsenal fans top priority. Unfortunately for Wenger, a humbling defeat to Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League only added to their disappointing season. Thus, Arsene Wenger has come under fire. With Arsenal set to decide about Wenger's future tomorrow, The Football Addick  answers one of the biggest questions in world football: Arsene Wenger, In or out? To answer the question, this article will give reasons for both sides of the argument. Should Wenger be relieved of his managerial duties? Or did his FA Cup victory save his job? Find out my verdict in the following pages. Arsene Wenger: In or Out? IN: Club Legend: Arsene Wenger is one of the best, if not the best manager in Arsenal's history. He took the reins of a struggling team i...

Another Premier League season has come to an end. Teams such as Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Bournemouth have all impressed this season and can be satisfied with their efforts as they surpassed the targets they set for themselves at the start of the year. However, proceedings have not gone quite as planned for several Premier League clubs. This can be highlighted by the eleven managerial casualties that have taken place since the start of the 2016/2017 season; showing that a plethora of clubs have underachieved this season. In this article, the Football Addick lists the five Premier League clubs he thinks has underachieved this season... 5) Manchester City 5) Pep Guardiola has not been able to work his magic as his team finished in a disappointing 3rd place Expectations were lofty for Manchester City this season. Firstly, they hired the manager that has achieved all there is to achieve in the game, all at the age of 45; Pep Guardiola. They also bolster...

Having secured a Top four finish at the expense of Arsenal following a comfortable 3-0 victory over already relegated Middlesbrough, Liverpool will now enjoy the luxury of participating in the Champions League next season. This will come as a huge relief to everyone connected with the Merseyside club, who have only qualified for Europe's most prestigious club trophy twice in the past eight seasons. However, in order to compete with the best sides in Europe, Liverpool need to strengthen their side in a number of areas. Although it can be argued that their main weaknesses are either at Goalkeeper, left back or centre back; it has become apparent that Liverpool's main flaw this season has been their struggles to breakdown lower league sides. Daniel Sturridge has suffered from injuries and a loss of form and thus has lost his place as Liverpool's starting striker Daniel Sturridge has shown signs that he is returning to his best form of late, but has suffered too freq...

For many months now Chelsea have looked destined to be crowned Premier League Champions, and they finally achieved their goal with 2 games to spare following a hard fought 1-0 victory at West Brom. It has been a remarkable season for Antonio Conte in his first season in West London, and it could get even better should he lead his team to success in the FA Cup Final against Arsenal later on this month. So how did they do it? This article will examine the factors which contributed to Chelsea's triumph in the 2016/2017 Premier League season. Chelsea celebrate after securing the Premier League title last night Master Tactician A lot of credit has to be given to Antonio Conte, who identified the issues that hindered Chelsea earlier on this season and made the changes necessary to get the best out of his side. Quite simply, reverting to 3-5-2 was a masterstroke. 6 games into the season and Chelsea weer struggling. A 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at home was disappointing, but a 3...

On Sunday night, the Players' Player of the Year award for the 2016/2017 season was announced. In an award decided by each and every footballer plying their trade in the Premier League, it was N'Golo Kante who emerged victorious, fending off competition from Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez. Although most viewers of the Premier League on a weekly basis would have noted Kante's imperious performances in almost every game he has featured in, the question must still be raised: did he deserve to win the trophy? Or did one of the other contenders have a better season than the Frenchman? In this article, The Football Addick (@FootballAddick) ranks the six footballers that were nominated for the award in order of how they have performed, before revealing who he thinks should have won the PFA Players' Player of the Year for the 2016/2017 season. 6) Zlatan Ibrahimovic 6) Zlatan has had a good season but could it have been bet...

Germany are probably Europe's most decorated footballing nation, having won four world cups and three European Championships. However, despite the success of the international team, many of the nation's best players have largely remained in their homeland for the vast majority of their career's. Therefore, despite being Europe's top footballing nation; when you think of the Premier League's greatest players,  surprisingly   very few are German. Nevertheless, although German players have largely stayed away from English shores, there has been a handful of whom have decided to test themselves in the world' most exciting league. Players such as Lukas Podolski, Andre Schurrle, Jens Lehmann and Markus Babbel were all decent players when playing in England, but unfortunately none have made the Top 5. Bastian Schweinsteiger is probably the best and most decorated player to grace the Premier League, but unfortunately he has been omitted because of the torrid time he e...

Frenchmen have participated in the Premier League in their droves over the years, all to varying degrees of success. In his third edition of TOP 5, The Football Addick will now turn his attention to naming his TOP 5 Best Frenchmen to play in the Premier League, using facts and figures to reinforce his claims. There has been a multitude of talent that has crossed the English Channel to play in the Premier League in the last 25 years. Unfortunately, many extremely talented Frenchmen that have made their mark in the English game have had to miss out. Amongst the players that I considered but narrowly missed out include Patrice Evra, David Ginola, Robert Pires, Claude Makelele and Nicholas Anelka. All in their own right were fantastic servants to their English clubs, but unfortunately did not quite make the list. Now onto the list of the TOP 5 Frenchmen to play in the Premier League. Which former Chelsea defender made the list? Where did a legendary Arsenal midfielder finish in the top...

The Premier League has been fortunate enough to have hosted some of the world's most talented Spaniards to ever play the beautiful game. Although this list is probably not as prestigious as the Top 5 Dutchmen, the players listed below are still extremely talented players of which it could be argued are some of the best to ever grace the Premier League. In his second edition of Top 5, The Football Addick now turns his attention to the greatest Spaniards to ever play in the Premier League, using facts and figures to reinforce his claims. In contrast to the Top 5 Dutchmen, it was a little bit easier to choose my Top 5 Spaniards to grace the Premier League. Despite possessing a multitude of Spanish talent over the past 25 years, in my eyes there are a clear cut 5 who are more than deserving of being on this list. Nevertheless, there were those that came close to making the list but just missed out, including: Jose Manuel Reina, Juan Mata, Luis Garcia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Mikel Arte...