The football season is never *really* over, especially in a World Cup year. Even so, as the Premier League begins its three-month hiatus, it’s a chance to look back at a record-breaking campaign.
There was little to play for on the final day, though Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat to Newcastle confirmed that Antonio Conte’s side – who are we kidding, he won’t be there – will drop into the Europa League, while Swansea were unable to pull off the near-impossible and were relegated to the Championship.
On a more positive note, Manchester City reached 100 points to become one of the greatest title-winning seasons of all time and Sean Dyche will be touring the continent with Burnley next season. Roy Hodgson, Chris Hughton, and David Wagner all kept their sides up against the odds, while Mauricio Pochettino helped Tottenham to a third-successive top-three finish having played 38 games away from home.
The Sportsman takes a look at the biggest winners from 2017/18:
Roberto Firmino
It goes without saying that there’s another man in Liverpool’s attack who has done rather well this season. It took a while for Firmino to step out of Mo Salah’s shadow and be given the recognition he deserves for his 26 goals in all competitions, with the Champions League final still to play. The Brazilian must be a dream for Jurgen Klopp’s style of play given his work rate and willingness to track back. There was even a stat doing the rounds that he had made more tackles than Shkodran Mustafi, which just about sums up their respective seasons.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
The central-midfielder took a gamble by going out on loan, yet now he is hailed as an example to other youngsters at Chelsea. Whoever takes over at Stamford Bridge must surely consider giving him a more prolonged opportunity at the club. In November, he was named Man of the Match on his England debut and he has frankly made a mockery of his parent club’s recruitment in his position.
Will Stay positive after a good week #ENG
Glenn Murray
Aside from his off-field difficulties, the Brighton striker has been seriously talked about as a shock inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad. The 34-year-old scored 12 goals to help keep the Seagulls up, all the while serving as an advocate for the traditional English centre-forward.
Fabian Delph
There are elements of Pep Guardiola’s job which are relatively easy, which is why he will never get full credit in some quarters for what he has achieved with City’s centurions. However, there are numerous players in the squad who have been transformed and the utilisation of Delph at left-back following Benjamin Mendy’s season-shattering injury has been quite something. Wingers quickly learned they could not target the former Aston Villa midfielder as an easy option and his versatility has to be in Southgate’s mind when he picks his squad.
Raheem Sterling
Another of Guardiola’s well-publicised achievements is his nurturing of Sterling. It’s easy to forget the England international is only 23 and he has already had to contend with unfounded levels of ill-will so early in his career. The only criticism is that he still needs to be more clinical, but this was always going to be a huge season for him and he has finished it with 18 league goals and 11 assists.
Nick Pope
Seven months ago, the Burnley goalkeeper was yet to play a minute of top-flight football. Where misfortune struck Tom Heaton’s shoulder, Pope stepped up and has kept 11 clean sheets, with the Clarets conceding just 39 league goals on their extraordinary journey to European football. Dyche has a very difficult decision to make going forward.
Jan Vertonghen
The Belgian’s centre-back partner Davinson Sanchez has done very well since his arrival, but it is Spurs’ Player of the Season who has been their most consistent rock at the back. This was arguably his best campaign at the club so far, only accentuated by the uncertainty surrounding Toby Alderweireld. Vertonghen has been influential in Sanchez’s development and he missed just two league games, playing a total of 3205 minutes.
Honourable mentions: Heung-Min Son, Wilfried Zaha, Jamie Vardy, Andy Robertson, Jonjo Shelvey
