5 clubs who choked this season
The end of the season is almost upon us and while it’s been a wildly successful one for certain clubs – Juventus, Chelsea, and Real Madrid come to mind – it’s not been as plain sailing for some others. Whether it be a failure in their domestic leagues or total capitulation in European competitions, some clubs have suffered more than others this year, particularly when you take into account things like their size and the amount of money they spent in the transfer windows of the past year.
You may well disagree with a couple of my picks, but here’s my list of clubs who choked big time in 2016/17.
#1 Leicester City
Maybe I’m being harsh here but bear with me. Fairytale was the word most used for Leicester’s Premier League title triumph last year, but obviously their goal this season was to prove that the victory wasn’t a fluke. Unfortunately, they’ve basically done the exact opposite, despite a strong run in the Champions League that may well have been to the detriment of their domestic season.
The stats don’t lie. Fans called Chelsea’s title defence last season abysmal and the Blues ended up finishing in 10th position – the lowest position of any reigning champion, even lower than Blackburn Rovers in 1995/96. Leicester currently sit in 11th, though, and given their next game is against high-flying Tottenham, it’s hard to imagine them climbing up the table any further, meaning they’ll take that horrible record from Chelsea.
More evidence can be seen from their record against the top six this season – that being Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal. They’ve picked up two wins (against Manchester City and Liverpool) but have suffered a staggering seven defeats. Last season, on the other hand, saw them lose just three times in the league.
With the vultures already circling around Leicester’s top stars such as Kasper Schmeichel, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, it’s hard to ever see the Foxes get back into title contention anytime soon. After retaining all of their players outside of N’Golo Kante last summer, a top four spot should’ve been the minimum goal and they’ve missed that by a country mile. It’s hard to argue that they haven’t choked, really.