Arsenal
If Özil had found the back of the net at Goodison I’d still be crowing about the optimistic mood in N5. But, as it is – despite avoiding the usual November nightmares – avid Arsenal watchers will know we’ve flattered to deceive lately. That said, don’t write us off too soon. We’ve seen some sublime football when we’re firing on all cylinders, and if you judge a team by the strength in depth on the bench, then we’re better equipped than we’ve been in years. Until we discover a more consistent blend of resilience and artistry, though, chances are we’ll be left counting on the inadequacies of our competitors. 7/10
Stars and flops Mustafi looks like he’s spent his whole career in tandem with Koscielny. And, while Alexis and Özil are responsible for most of the golden moments, the unstinting graft of the less-lauded Coquelin, Bellerín, Monreal and Koscielny deserves equal credit. As for letdowns: with Xhaka’s price tag and disciplinary record I was expecting an imposing powerhouse rather than a naive liability. The jury is still out. And Lucas Pérez is industrious but lacking in game-changing natural attributes.
Happy with the manager? Arsène’s success can be measured in terms of how quiet he has kept the Wenger Out Brigade. But with his stubborn refusal to be flexible the WOB may be throwing their toys out of the pram again before long. 7/10.
2016 has been a grim year. But which football moment made you smile? BFS waiting a lifetime to land the England job, then lasting one solitary game.
– Bernard Azulay goonersdiary.co.uk, @GoonerN5
Bournemouth
A very reasonable start. Away wins have been elusive – just one so far, at Stoke – but home form has been good, and the win against Everton was probably the best performance to date. The league table is still very tight, though: December will be a big month, and I’m just hoping there are no more injuries. Talk of Callum Wilson being a target for several teams is also a distraction we could do without. 7/10
Stars and flops Artur Boruc has shown a huge improvement on his form of last season, and Jack Wilshere has given the side more positivity in midfield. Adam Smith has been excellent at right‑back, too. But Lewis Grabban has fallen off the radar and Jordon Ibe still has much to prove.
Happy with the manager? Eddie Howe is first-rate. He’s been slow to bring Nathan Aké into the side and perhaps given too much game time to Ibe, but the style of football is still great to watch. Fans should be happy with mid-table. He has some important work to do in January, though: we could do with some attacking reinforcements, particularly a striker who performs like Liverpool’s Divock Origi, with energy and the ability to read and get on the end of moves. 9/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? “Now we go straight away to try to win the title. We are in the Champions League, dilly ding, dilly dong – come on. We are in the Champions League, it is fantastic, terrific. Well done to everybody!” Quote of the year from Claudio Ranieri.
– Peter Bell afcbchimes.blogspot.co.uk, @CherryChimes
Burnley
We’ve been more than solid. To have this many points is better than we dared hope for in the summer; the start we’ve made since promotion has been excellent. 7/10
Stars and flops As always it’s very much a team effort: this isn’t a side full of stand-out stars or flops. It has to be said, though, that keeper Tom Heaton has put in some really brilliant performances, none more so than at Old Trafford when he played a major part in our 0-0 draw. Of the new signings, Steven Defour has very definitely added some class while both Jeff Hendrick and Johann Berg Gudmundsson have shown enough to suggest they’ll prove to be very valuable additions.
Happy with the manager? I wouldn’t swap Sean Dyche with anyone, but on the basis that no one is perfect I’ll give him 9/10. To have come into a club like this one and win two promotions in the way we have tells me we’ve got ourselves a terrific leader. He’s got the respect of the entire squad and the fanbase generally. He can stay with us just as long as he likes.
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? I’ve got two: 1) The day we won promotion in May against QPR – with Sam Vokes, who missed most of our last Premier League season with injury, scoring the clincher; and 2) Seeing José Mourinho sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle last month. His tantrums are so entertaining.
– Tony Scholes uptheclarets.com, @utcdotcom
Chelsea
Sitting pretty at the top of the pile for Christmas – who wouldn’t be happy with that? It’s an unbelievable turnaround. Teams have started to try and stop us rather than play us, but we still seem to be doing the business. Long may it continue. Why have I lopped half a point off the mark? It sounds petty, but those losses to Liverpool and Arsenal really hurt. 9/10
Stars and flops Costa and Hazard have been immense this season, simply unplayable. Costa has proved that he can control his aggression and still be a menace. As for Hazard, he’s back to his mesmerising best – my only fear is that the knocking from those Spanish clubs will just get louder – what if we are offered £100m? To compete with the best we have to hang on to the best players. As for flops, with our current position I can’t really single anyone out for criticism.
Happy with the manager? Happy? Delirious. He’s passionate, humble, dedicated, but you can see there is an edge of steel. 9/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? It has to be Chelsea old boy Claudio Ranieri lifting the Premier League with Leicester – a real fairytale in a tarnished game. It gave renewed hope to every team in every league.
– Trizia Fiorellino chelseasupportersgroup.net
Crystal Palace
The first half of 2016, FA Cup run aside, was a disaster, but after some strong summer spending – Benteke, Tomkins, Townsend, Mandanda and Rémy – hopes were high. We were told this was a team in transition, but the dire form has just continued. We’re now relegation contenders with the dubious honour of the lowest points average across the whole 92 clubs in 2016. It’s all the more frustrating given that this is arguably one of the strongest teams we’ve ever had. 4/10
Stars and flops Benteke has delivered what was expected for a Palace record fee: good hold-up play and goals. Wilfried Zaha has excelled all campaign – it’s astonishing he’s not in the England squad. And James McArthur has also been consistently strong. On the flip side, Andros Townsend’s form has plummeted faster than the pound post-Brexit, Cabaye has been patchy, and Scott Dann has struggled since returning from injury, contributing to our defensive omnishambles.
Happy with the manager? We’ve been awful for a year – even the Cup final showed up Pardew’s flaws: we lost after taking a late lead and facing 10 men in extra time. Shocking in-game management week after week, with no lessons learned, has turned fans against him. 3/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? Iceland’s success in the Euros last summer. Plucky underdogs sticking it to the big boys (and England) – it just shows what can happen if you open up these competitions to the so-called lesser nations.
– Chris Waters palacetrust.org.uk, @Clapham_Grand
Everton
The new Koeman era couldn’t have started much better: we were second after five games with four wins and a draw. But we’ve seriously slowed down since then. After losing to Bournemouth on 24 September we only won one of the next nine games, at home to West Ham, before beating Arsenal last week. It’s not all bad though – we’re still in seventh position approaching Christmas and despite the bad run we are unbeaten at Goodison. A win in the derby tomorrow would be the best Christmas present and would set us up nicely for the second half of the season. 6/10
Stars and flops The star so far has been midfielder Idrissa Gueye: he’s been outstanding and even at this stage looks like being our player of the season. Lukaku has done well on the scoring front, too. At the other end of the scale, while they’re not exactly flops, Barkley and Jagielka need to improve their form.
Happy with the manager? Yes – but Koeman has a big job to do. He must be given enough time to bring in the players he needs to reshape the team. His no-nonsense approach is just what we need, though. 7/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? It came last week: the last minute of our win over Arsenal. Petr Cech came up into our area to try to snatch an equaliser, miscued his header and ended up hanging out in the back of our net while we went on the attack. Pure comic cuts.
– Steve Jones @bluekippercom
Hull
The squad clearly isn’t good enough to compete but they’ve been hung out to dry by the way the club has been run. Discontent with the ownership saw off Steve Bruce and has created record-low attendances for us in the top flight. But Mike Phelan and the players have worked hard in these seriously trying circumstances, and that is much appreciated. 6/10
Stars and flops Robert Snodgrass has been key to the success we’ve had. He’s dangerous in open play and his set pieces are important. On the other hand Ryan Mason cost £13m from Tottenham and hasn’t delivered. Few of our signings have.
Happy with the manager? Phelan’s a great guy, but still doesn’t look a Premier League manager. His best decisions seem to be the ones he’s forced into making. It’s harsh to judge him, though, when he’s had such pathetic “support” from above. 6/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? Local side North Ferriby United making it into the National League. A great achievement for a club based in a tiny village near Hull.
– Rick Skelton boothferrytowembley.blogspot.com, @HullCityLive
Leicester
It’s been tough. Obviously we’re still dining out on last season’s heroics and a successful foray into Europe, but it feels like we’re blowing a big opportunity to become the established top-eight club our owners want us to be. We have played some outstanding football, but much more often we’ve played even worse than the season we nearly got relegated. 6/10
Stars and flops It’s hard to pick out stars given that nearly every one of our players is playing worse than last season. Shinji Okazaki has managed to add more of a goal threat and his grin is a reassuring beacon in testing times. But Ahmed Musa has failed to set the league alight. All of our signings bar Islam Slimani have been incredibly underwhelming. The biggest flop has to be Jeffrey Schlupp. His biggest assets are pace and strength, yet he never uses either.
Happy with the manager? I’ll love Claudio Ranieri until my dying day but he’s been the reason we have struggled. Alongside poor recruitment, his gamble on diversifying the way we play has left players questioning their ability – when we play the high-tempo game of last season, we’ve been excellent but it’s not happened often enough. Similarly, his reluctance to change the 4-4-2 system away from home has been to our detriment. Without N’Golo Kanté covering the ground of two men, we’re simply unable to compete in midfield on the road. 5/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? Oh, come on! As if you really need to ask!
– Chris Whiting thechriswhitingshow.wordpress.com, @ChrisRWhiting
Liverpool
We’re happy. Look where we are compared with last December – and we’ve done it by playing ace football. We’re exciting to watch, we have no fear and even when we don’t play to the level we can, it feels like a blip, not a meltdown. I know it’s where we are in May that counts, but near the top at Christmas? Got to be worth an 8/10.
Stars and flops Our attacking players have been consistently good. Coutinho, Firmino, Origi, Lallana and Mané have all weighed in with goals and assists, interchanging positions at will. It’s true that we’ve been a bit shaky at the back on occasion, but I wouldn’t say any player has been a flop this season. Yet.
Happy with the manager? Of course. It’s incredible how far we’ve come on in just over a year since Klopp arrived. He gets full marks from me because, right now, we wouldn’t want anyone else, he’s got us playing great football, he’s given us confidence and we couldn’t really have asked for a much better start to the season. And because it’s Christmas. 10/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? I’ve got two. It’s either: a) Dejan Lovren’s header hitting the back of Borussia Dortmund’s net in injury time to make it 4-3, taking us through to the Europa League semis. Not so much a moment that made me smile as a moment that made me scream – but a huge grin arrived soon afterwards. Or b) Just before kick-off on the first day of the season back in August, with it all still to come.
– Steph Jones Observer reader
Manchester City
It’s been a mixed bag, with that late-September 3-3 draw at Celtic pivotal. The season started so well: 10 successive wins and an intensity we hadn’t seen in a long time. But since Celtic we’ve struggled for consistency – even though dismantling Barcelona at the Etihad was arguably the best performance in the club’s history. 7/10
Stars and flops Three have stood out. Fernandinho has become the fulcrum of this Guardiola side; Sterling has been a man reborn, and was at his electric best against Watford last week; and De Bruyne continues to create a ridiculous amount of chances. Even when he’s having a quiet game, he still has that ability to conjure a match-changing moment from nothing. As for flops: a few candidates, but Nicolás Otamendi has been an absolute mess at times. He’s capable of great performances, but all too often he is an undisciplined disaster. Guardiola’s system means defenders must be clever – something the Argentinian is not.
Happy with the manager? Yes, absolutely. It’d be easy to go all knee-jerk after the recent downturn in form, but he’s a man with a plan, there is a clear process, and it’s going to take time. Admittedly, he could be more pragmatic at times, but he has his philosophy and once the players get it and he’s added a few new players to the squad, I think we’ll see Guardiola’s vision for City come to fruition. 7/10
Which 2016 football moment made you smile? Five-year-old Bradley Lowery scoring that goal at the Stadium of Light the other night. That was great.
– Lloyd Scragg mcfcwatch.com, @lloyd_scragg
