Was your Premier League team's season a success or a disappointment?

For the second season in a row, Arsenal finished second in the Premier League. While winning the league would be nice, and is something the Gunners have done before, it’s been a few years. Right now, finishing in the silver-medal position remains a significant success for Arsenal. Plus, this season Arsenal was barely pipped for the title, and finished tied for the top goal differential at plus-62.

In 1982, Aston Villa actually won the European Cup, now called the Champions League. That means it qualified for the European Cup during the 1982-83 season, where it made the quarterfinals. This marked the last time Villa played in the event, but that’s about to change. Aston Villa finished fourth in the Premier League, which means qualification for the Champions League. The boys from Birmingham are back in European soccer’s biggest club competition!

Last year, Bournemouth finished 15th on 39 points. That came after two seasons in the Championship, so that was a success in and of itself. This season, the Cherries finished on 48 points and ended up in 12th. There was no relegation scare. Dominic Solanke had one of the best seasons in the Premier League. This kind of season is what clubs with the recent history of Bournemouth hope for.

Since being promoted to the Premier League, Brentford has been a darling club to many. Lauded for its analytical approach to team building, the Bees have earned a “second-favorite club” status for the data-minded. Brentford finished 13th in its first season up (2021-22, after 74 years!), and got all the way up to ninth last year. This season, though, all the analytical ideas in the world couldn’t keep the club on track. When your finances are at the level of Brentford’s, that’s bound to happen. The Bees fell all the way to 16th and was one of five teams not to hit the 40-point mark. They will need to bounce back in a big way next year.

After over 30 years playing below the top level of English football, Brighton was promoted to the Premier League for the first time at the end of the 2016-17 season. It has been there ever since. For a few seasons, Brighton was just trying to avoid relegation, but then it finished ninth in 2021-22, and a whopping sixth in 2022-23. This year, the Seagulls took a step back, finishing smack in the middle of the table at 11th. Roberto De Zerbi and the club parted ways, with the expectation that the manager is on to a bigger club somewhere. That means Brighton has to find yet another manager, this time having taken a step back for the first time in half a decade. There are new expectations in Brighton, and this year, the club didn’t quite hit them.

One season ago, Burnley was a formidable force in the Championship. It comfortably finished atop the league, and former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany was going to return to the Premier League, this time as a manager. The problem was that, at the Championship level, Kompany’s club won by playing City-style football. When Burnley tried that at the Premier League level, it got run off the pitch. The club was relegated weeks before the season came to a close. If Burnley is promoted again soon, it may have to move on from Kompany to find a manager better suited to avoid relegation.

Well, Chelsea made strides this season. The Blues rose from 12th to sixth, and from 44 points to 63. However, this is Chelsea we’re talking about. It didn’t qualify for the Champions League once again, and was the fourth-best team in London. That’s even though Todd Boehly and company have thrown A TON of money at this club. To spend this much on wages and transfer fees and miss out on the Champions League? That won’t cut it.

Things got a little scary there for Palace. They were down in the relegation battle, and manager Roy Hodgson stepped down in February. Usually, Hodgson is the guy a club brings in to avoid relegation. However, Palace seems to have made a shrewd hiring in Oliver Glasner. It took some time to get things turned around, but the club ended the season on a 6-1-0 run and ended up finishing all the way in 10th.

Last season, Everton finished 17th, one spot above the relegation zone, and this year it finished 15th. That’s still a bit disappointing for a club like Everton, who not all that long ago was regularly in the top half of the table. The path to finishing 15th for the Toffees was a strain the both the club and the fans, though. Everton was handed a 10-point deduction for financial sanctions, the biggest penalty in Premier League history. Suddenly, the Toffees were in the thick of the relegation battle. That penalty was reduced to six points, giving slight relief, but then Everton was docked two more points for another violation. Without the deductions, Everton would have finished 12th and never felt the threat of relegation.

Look, it’s Fulham. Not having to worry about relegation for the bulk of the campaign is all that really matters for the club. That’s a realistic goal for the team and the fans. Fulham finished 10th with 52 points last season, and this season it finished 13th with 47 points. That kept the club far away from relegation, but it was also a step down. So…success? Disappointment? Fulham’s season just kind of, you know, happened.

On the one hand, Liverpool finished comfortably third. On the other hand, by that we mean they were comfortably ahead of the team in fourth, but also comfortably behind the team in second. The Reds won the Carabao Cup, but crashed out of the Europa League. If this was a run-of-the-mill season for Liverpool, this would be a success. However, this was Jurgen Klopp’s last season before he steps away to recharge. Sending Klopp off with just a Carabao Cup to add to his resume? That feels disappointing.

Yes, Luton Town was relegated. However, this is a club that was playing non-league football as recently as the 2013-14 season, and in League Two as recently as 2017-18. When the club won the playoff to earn the third and final promotion spot last season, it was cool, but expectations were low. Luton plays in a small stadium with, famously, an entrance that requires you to go through row houses. The wage bill for the club was unusually low for a Premier League squad. Basically everybody predicted Luton Town would be immediately relegated. Sure, it was, but implicit in those predictions was the idea the club would finish 20th, perhaps comfortably. Instead, Luton Town finished 18th and wasn’t (technically) officially relegated to the final day of the season.

Yawn. What is there left to say? On the one hand, City had to win the final day of the season to secure the Premier League title. It finished tied with Arsenal in terms of goal differential. City was also ousted from the Champions League relatively early. On the other hand, Manchester City is league champ. For the fourth season in a row. You win the title, you have a successful season. It’s not rocket science.

By the time you read this, Erik ten Hag may not be the manager of Manchester United any longer (though a 2-1 win over Manchester City to win the FA Cup on 25 May could bolster his case to stay on). This is Manchester United. The club of Sir Alex Ferguson. The most successful English football club, give or take a Liverpool. It finished eighth in the Premier League with a negative goal differential. Every rival the club has finished above it. This won’t cut it. You could argue Man U had the most disappointing season of any Premier League team.

Newcastle did end the season with a plus-24 goal differential, fourth-highest in the Premier League. However, the club finished with 60 points, and in seventh in the Premier League. That comes after it finished fourth last year. The influx of cash at Newcastle is still fresh. You can’t turn a club into a perennial title contender overnight. Finishing seventh wasn’t ideal, but it’s not a disappointment just yet. After one more offseason with a lot of cash to splash, though, it will.

Forest fell from 16th to 17th. Yes, that means Nottingham is the club that finished just outside the relegation zone, though because it won on the last match day and Luton lost, the club ended up with six points of leeway. Nottingham, though, is very much a “If it doesn’t get relegated, it’s a successful season” club. Plus, the club received a four-point penalty for financial sanctions. Of course, it still would have finished 17th with those points, but it would have been less stressful.

Yeesh. Add another team to the “Worst Premier League squad ever” argument. Sheffield United is yo-yoing back down to the Championship, but it is doing it with gusto. The Blades won three games all season. They finished with a mere 16 points. Sheffield’s minus-69 goal differential was 32 goals worse than any other team. Now, Derby County in 2007-08 is still the choice for worst Premier League campaign, but Sheffield is at least in the running for second.

Spurs finished fifth, so it will be headed to Europe. It improved by six points over the prior season. That being said, while Tottenham is not a club that needs to finish in the top four for the season to be a success, it is well within reach, and a not-unusual outcome. Plus, Spurs slipped down the stretch, ceding the fourth spot to Villa. Thus, we put a slight qualifier on success here.

Well, maybe this wasn’t a disappointment for some West Ham fans. The Hammers finished ninth. That is about as mid-table as it gets. For a London club with money behind it, that doesn’t quite cut it. West Ham probably needs to finish at least seventh these days to be considered a success, or make a cup run of some kind. On the other hand, David Moyes is, indeed, out as manager. That’s something many vocal fans have wanted for years. Thus, if all you wanted from the 2023-24 Premier League season was a new manager for West Ham, maybe you aren’t disappointed.

Wolves fell from 13th to 14th in the table, but its point total improved by five points, and its goal differential improved by 12. Gary O’Neil had to step in as manager on short notice before the season, and he looks like a keeper (for as long as the club can afford to keep him). And yet, it’s also hard to get too excited about finishing 14th in the Premier League. Wolves got by, and they didn’t have to sweat it. If you were to ask a Wolves fan if they were happy with how this season played out, there’s a good chance they’d shrug and say, “I guess so.” There you have it.