Premier League Crucible: The Losers

The Crucible will come to an end officially today when Liverpool host Arsenal to wrap up Matchweek 21. Along this 45 day odyssey that began on November 22, we crammed in ten league fixtures. Not content with that schedule, some sides layered on Carabao Cup and UEFA competition ties as well. Gluttons.

Much like a soccer match, the Crucible as a whole will have winners, losers and those who are neither (the term ‘draw’ is exactly accurate in this context). Below we have our losers, and provide our reasoning behind the label. They are listed in order of rottenness.

Burnley

In our halfway report card we wrote: “The only redemption they have is that Wolves have done worse all season long.” Even that’s not true anymore. They have the worst goal differential, the fewest goals scored (tied with Sunderland), and the lowest PPM. 

West Ham United

When I wrote West Ham’s mid-crucible report card these apocryphal words appeared: “It’s not quite as bad as the stats make it out to be for the Hammers.” I have never been more wrong. They would go on to lose four of their remaining five fixtures and become one of two teams that failed to record a win. Beleaguered manager Nuno Espírito Santo appears to have aged a decade since late November, and his tenure could be measured in days now, not weeks.

Bournemouth

We already heaped shame and misery upon Bournemouth in our mid-term report card. And to be fair, their form didn’t improve all that much in Crucible’s second half either. Their sole win came Wednesday against Tottenham, courtesy of a wonder strike from Antoine Semenyo in the game’s dying minutes. Of course, the next time Vitality Stadium will see Semenyo, he’ll be wearing Manchester City blue. In a parallel universe, Bournemouth would have aced the Crucible and Semenyo possibly might have stayed. Alas.

Tottenham Hotspur

With 1W, 2D, 2L in their last five games, form has not been great for Spurs. That last minute suckerpunch by Bournemouth yesterday merely put a capper on a poor Crucible campaign for the North London side. Tottenham truly have a consistency problem, and their single three-pointer was a 1 – 0 victory over Crystal Palace in what could arguably be called one of the dullest PL fixtures of the season so far.

Crystal Palace

You could make a case that Palace should be “worse” than Tottenham, and you’d probably be right. Their second half Crucible form was simply awful: 2D and 5L. They had the largest standings drop: sliding down eight places.

The Eagles simply had too tough a schedule, and despite best efforts couldn’t manage it. To his credit, manager Oliver Glasner never resorted to excuses, and neither will I. The Crucible was not kind to Crystal Palace.

Chelsea

Why is Chelsea here? Two reasons. One, no wins in the second half of the Crucible. They only managed three draws and two losses. Two, a major drop in standings. In late November they were breathing down Arsenal’s neck in 2nd place. Now they languish in 8th. 

Chelsea had the second toughest Crucible schedule, and started strong with 4W 2D 2L, but the wheels have definitely come off the bus. Oh, and they also fired their manager.

Nottingham Forest

It’s funny now the Crucible can impact a team. In our mid-term report card we gave Sean Dyche’s men a solid A. They were on a winning streak, and looking tip-top. But they hit the skids in the next five matches, losing four and barely salvaging a win against a hapless West Ham on Tuesday. This sudden about-face topples them straight into the loser category, despite better statistics than most.