The Football Addick

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...

Belgium never used to be a footballing powerhouse. Prior to reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2014, 'The Red Devils' had not even qualified for a major tournament since 2002. But a remarkable generation of Belgian footballers have emerged and many have chosen to ply their trade in the Premier League; beginning with Vincent Kompany in 2008. More have made the move to English soil year after year, to the point where the Premier League is now home to some of the most talented footballers that Belgium have ever produced. Narrowing down the list to just 5 is always a hard task and some may be surprised by some of the names I have chosen to emit.  Amongst the players that were considered  but have not made the list include Marouane Fellaini (Manchester United fans may be upset he was even considered), Christian Benteke, Thomas Vermaelan, Moussa Dembele and Kevin Miralles. In addition to them, t here is one player in particularly  that some will be dismayed that ...