Premier League debate: Who’s been the most underwhelming team this season?

National World - LocalTV

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.

Transcript

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.

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