Premier League Grades So Far

The World Cup has come and gone, new champions have been crowned and tears have been shed, but I think it’s important that we take a look at where you’re favourite football teams are near the midway point of the competition with some team of course doing better than others.

Arsenal A+

Yeah no Shock at all here, the Goonies have been absolutely superb perhaps even beating all expectations we all had of them entering the season and Mikel Arteta has once again shown why you trust in the project giving a young manager time and support in order to show results (I hope we are taking notes Manchester United). The have shown that they are capable of going against any team, they have a defense that which doesn't seem as stable as a sandcastle in a tornado and they have potent attack - if you look passed the goal contributions from their main striker - they are truly a terrifying prospect of a team to go up against with only one loss this season as well.

Aston Villa D

I'll day this now, if you had to force your manager out of the club this season you will automatically be allocated a grade of a D baring some miraculous turnaround brought about the new manager/head coach. That being said Aston Villa beating Man Utd in the first match of the reign of Unai Emery is not enough to see them go out of the rating of D for me cause he is still relatively new and the damage done by Steven Gerrard is still fresh in the minds of myself and all of the football fans. Currently sitting just 12th in the League and playing uninspired football with not much to show for the talent they have assembled and the money spent for that talent with players Like Coutinho not contributing much, Ings and Watkins are as threatening up front as a constipated goldfish and we have to remember that they did lose start CB signing Diego Carlos to an ACL at the start of the season which has unfortunately meant Villa fans have had to see more of Tyrone Mings than they would have wanted to but still you got to hope for better.

Bournemouth D

Now here we have a situation In which we have another team that had to give their manager the boot but if the season had cut off around match week 10 then I probably would have given them a C- maybe even a C cause they reacted very well but then they went on to lose 4 matches in a row and despite the fact they humbled Everton before the break, it wasn't enough to change the feeling I had about this team, they were very very good undoubtedly but they didn't really win that many matches even when they went on a little 5 game unbeaten streak and when I say they were very very good I mean that in the context of a team that equalled the record for most goals conceded in a single match, it'd not great but it's a start and to be honest it's Bournemouth so I don't have much experience in watching them play this season so I'll have to leave it there with the score.

Brighton and Hove Albions A-

Brighton have been a really good story this season, they've started the season with a win at Old Trafford then they had their Manager stolen from them and after that they beat the team that took their manager and that is a great use of the football middle finger if I've ever seen it. I would probably have given them a better grade given they are level with former manager Graham Potter's Chelsea and a point behind Liverpool, but the fact that they at times seem simply incapable of scoring a goal has not left the best of impressions on me so I'll have to dock them for that but still what a great ride they are having.

Brentford A

I won't lie, I thought this team would be relegated this season and yes the season is still young however they aren't giving off the feel that they would be relegated given how good they have been this season. They put Manchester United to the sword by humbling them 4-0 at the start of the season while also then securing a win against the mighty Manchester City at the Etihad on the last game before the league would be paused, fair to say England should have GAMBLED to take Ivan Toney to Qatar [winky face]. And even though it can be argued that they didn't have the best run of matches before they beat Man City, you can't argue with the fact that they are 10th with a record of 4 wins 4 losses and 6 draws 3 points off Liverpool and 6 away from 18th and given my expectations they have certainly overachieved.

Chelsea D-

I considered giving the blues an F but they haven't been all that awful to be fair, they have at least kept a decent record following the appointment of Graham Potter's but they did finish the League campaign with pre break with 3 losses in a row and they looked anything but impressive throwing in a loss to Man City in the League Cup as well. Their signings have looked like a far cry from they could potentially be and it's made far worse when you consider the spectacular form they have shown for their Nations in Qatar the likes of Koulibaly, Pulisic, Ziyach who reached the semi-finals and to a lesser extent Havertz as well (I'm not sure how Mason Mount continues to player football at the highest level but big ups to him continuing to fool a Nation). When playing for Chelsea they all seem either incompetent or unbothered and it certainly showed towards the end of the first half of the League and also at the start as they have a long ways to go before they cam consider themselves contenders for anything again but for now, 8th place with that team deserves a demerit.

Crystal Palace B+

Palace are an interesting team, they could certainly be seen as being in something of a rebuild as you can see they up and coming nature of their squad as they have acquired young talented players with looks and hopes to leave the stagnant safe football incorporated by Roy Hodgson and go into a more adventurous, free flowing mode of attacking football, which we have seen at times over the course of the season but only really In flashes but they have showed plenty of heart in their games and their fight has seen them into an 11th place position as we broke for the World Cup so it's not the worst of positions to be in as they have plenty of room to grow and hopefully becoming another exciting team to watch over the course of the season.

Everton D-

Everton feel like that meme, our expectations for you were low but what the heck? Honestly a D- is probably very generous, if anything they deserve am F for still having Frank Lampard in charging of the first team, it's reached a point I wouldn't leave him in charge of packing primary schoolers lunch let alone professional footballers. They have been abysmal this season finding themselves 17th and finishing before the break by conceding 7 goals in a week to Bournemouth. They are team that looks incapable of going on a coherent run of form other than a losing streak and they continue to struggle in front of goal signing Neal Maupay to score goals is akin to hiring Adam Johnson to babysit your children, and it has reached a point where their best midfielder is a converted winger who also happens to be an Arsenal flop (that really doesn't add or subtract to the conversation I just find it funny) and all In all a team like Everton should not be in a position In which they look like they are going to be in another relegation battle but that sadly looks like where we are heading with them.

Fulham A

So now we can look at Fulham and then perhaps say they might be deserving of a grade around the ball park of A+ because they sit 9th in the table leading a trio of teams on 19 points and they have been playing an excellent attacking brand of front foot football which saw them close to getting at least a point at the Emirates as well as a point against both Manchester clubs as well as actually getting a point against Liverpool and all their loses have been to teams in and around the top 6 amd far superior to them, baring the exception of West Ham United, but that aside they still only get an A because even thought they are exceeding expectations for a team a honestly believed would be relegated this season, they still struggled to beat teams which are in and around them such as Everton, Bournemouth and Wolves but at this point I do feel like I am nitpicking and they probably do deserve am A+ rating cause really they have been great. Let's say they get a grade of A(+).

Leeds United C-

I am in the firm belief that the Yank in charge of the White Roses of Yorshire will get this team relegated. I'm not the biggest fans of teams that are inconsistent, on one hand Leeds are a team that beat Chelsea 3-0 at home and also beat Liverpool at Anfield, on the other hand they sit 2 points away from the drop in 15th with a period of the season where they went 7 matches without a win losing in 5 of those matches with a stretch of 4 Ls in a row at the end of that run and it's not like they were facing the creme de la creme of the League, they lost to the likes of Fulham, Leicester and Crystal Palace not forgetting a 5-2 loss to Brentford, they haven't been good this season and I don't see them improving to the degre that will see them safe from the drop anytime soon unless they make a change at the top. They get a C- for those impressive wins though.

Leicester City B-

The Harvy Dent of the Premier League this season has surely been Leicester cause they started the season in a manner that had the fan base calling for the head of Brendan Rodgers and now he has seemingly turned the entire situation around they had 1 point in their opening 7 matches and then 16 points from their last 8 before the World Cup break. The players look like they regained the memory of how to play football and are now attacking coherently but more importantly they are defending does not resemble an obese man trying to keep up with the movement of parkour masters Michael Scott, Andy Bernard and Dwight Schrute. The team is on the up and if there was ever a squad you could argue did not need thus break, it would be Leicester as they were clearly on a roll and climbing up the table, hopefully for them it won't prove to be too dampening as they try to continue to climb up the table and possible challenge for one of the European spots towards the end of the season.

Liverpool F

Now hear me out right, you might think this is some form of bias towards my hatred of Liverpool and you might be a little bit correct but to be honest, they've been abysmal this season, consistently inconsistent and this grade is purely based on the fact that this team took Manchester City to the wire last season and this season, their best achievement will probably be top four. This team is too good and too talented to say that the selling of Sadio Mane has meant they have gone from second to 6th, a team which can beat Man City one week and then turn around to lose to Nottingham Forest two weeks later and then following that with a loss to Leeds at home, it's not good and I'll admit that perhaps I'm being very harsh with giving them an F they have had some good performances like putting 9 passed Bournemouth and effectively getting their manager sacked, beating the defending champions and taking 3 points at Spurs, perhaps a D- would be sufficient because despite their misfortunes and short comings, they are still only 7 points off 4th with a game in hand and 4 off of Man Utd who have a grade far better than this, but this has been a real disappointment and they should be better and they probably will be to be fair to them, but until then I feel an F is just about as good.

Manchester City A-

With Liverpool there is this problem that a team may be judged harshly by the expectations we have for that team, Manchester City are a team that falls into that category because it would be so easy to give them a poor grade, anywhere from B downwards for a team which has basically become the Jimmy Neutron perennial A+ scorer in the League but this season they find themselves behind Arsenal and they just lost at home to Brentford which for them should be as insulting as a bowl of salad given to Sam Allerdyce. But that aside, they haven't been bad at all this season, they've actually been pretty damn good and that's really a testament to how great Arsenal have been and the only points dropped by Man City came against defeats to Liverpool and Brentford (the latter being a joke really) and draws against Newcastle as well as a Steven Gerrard led Aston Villa (which is deserving of a knock in the grade itself) and even though their attack has looked like their plan has been "Erling go score" they still have a great squad as well as a great manager who have been putting away opponents and they are still the best team in the land just 5 points off the top and ready for their push to their third title in a row.

Manchester United B- (With the news of the Glazers selling, A+)

The rebuild project is up and running at the Theater of Dreams (not the actual stadium, that place is still falling apart) and it has been I guess you could say stop start to be kind, but it has been filled with a lot of nonsensical drama centering around a club legend whom the club should have let go of in the Summer so thats on them, they have had some good performances such as against Liverpool and Spurs and the end of the Arsenal match making sure the Goonies don't go invincible this season, but then you have a situation where they get slapped by Man City and freaking Brentford and looked horrendous against Aston Villa when they were close to taking a top 4 spot. This team was not really tipped by anyone (baring yours truly) to be in the top 4 but they are right up there and they've done it really without a proper go to out and out inform ST as Martial has mostly been injured, Ronaldo was not firing and Rashford looked way better down the left, so it will be interesting to see what will happen when the League resumes because of the lack of options they have up front, that being said this team hasn't been all to great and again they have looked good especially the CB pairing of Varane and Martinez but they are still a long way off from where they could be. But the Glazers putting the team up for sale has definitely made us the winners of the first half of the season.

Newcastle United A

Bro this teams good, it's really freaking good man, and it's not just good it's good too soon. They are way ahead of schedule without even spending that much money on their team as they were expected to, this is a squad thay has Joelington as their star midfielder and has turned Miguel Almiron into a modern day Arjen Robben (I don't actually rate Robben but he did have a great cut into a finesse combo) and with all this they are sitting 3rd 2 points of their oil rich counterparts and 7 away from the top despite playing a game more amd so far they do look legit, they play without fear and with a full frontal attack, they also have a defence that is as strong as Newcastle fan's resolve during the Mike Ashley era and now they look like they can actually compete to disrupt the order of the top 4 without even having the decency of waiting until they bought half of the FIFA team of the year, what a terrifying prospect they are, did I mention they were good?

Nottingham Forest D-

This is essentially where you'd expect then to be despite the fact they tried to buy enough players to rival the roster of an American Football team they sadly are incapable of playing real football, so the issues I have for this team is the fact they can't defend for one their defence is as leaky as a Kardashian at an NBA game and their attack is as toothless as a 90 year old sweet taster, they are an appalling football team and I don't think it's the fault of their manager as he seems to actually know what he's doing but the players just don't seem to know how to put it onto the field except for that match against Liverpool but then again that's a lot of history on their side but witht he way that their season is going, I doubt that Forest will call themselves a Premier League club next season.

Southampton F

I don't think we need to focus much on this team, they automatically get a D and other than that, they are just bloody bad man, I mean I was a fan of the crying Klopp but after a point you could tell that they weren't going anywhere with him but that should have been seen after the first time he got hit got 9 but the fact he got demolished 9-0 twice amd stayed on as manager is inexcusable even Bournemouth had the presence of mind to bin Scott Parker after one 9-0 thrashing and at least that came against Liverpool away, The Saints got hit for 9 by Leicester City at home and he somehow stayed on. There should be a rule that states if you concede 9 in a match then you can sack the manager without giving him severance pay and the Saints could have had a chance to cash this in TWICE! But anyway this has nothing to do with the fact that this season they haven't looked threatening going forward and their defence has been as hard to pass as gas in Taco Bell, they are just not great at football and they are not going to get better at this rate.

West Ham United D (Starting Grade)

Well West Ham have been poor to be honest, maybe not that bad but not very good either this season as they definitely started the season looking like they were destined to finally fall apart under David Moyes as they did not look good and too be honest they still don’t look great especially for a team that was playing European Football as recently as last season, but perhaps the problem has come because we ourselves have put undue expectations on the Hammers even though they have never truly shown that they are worthy of the high expectations despite the fact they have been overachieving. In truth I never really expect much from West Ham season by season and even though they have the same amount of points as Everton, they have had a better time of late given that they couldn’t seem to buy a win at the start of the season, but this is not really a great excuse for the Hammers because truth be told they are not a good football team and my recency bias may have given them an unfair escape from what probably should be a F grade, so I will leave it at giving the Hammers a D- but a low one tilting on the edge of a flat-out F cause this team is more disappointing than Gohan.

Wolverhampton Wanderers F

Yeah this team is he worst in the League right now which will always be easy to say when the team is doing as poorly as they are doing being bottom of the League and even though it was consistently mentioned as to how harsh the sacking of Bruno Lage was as Wolves weren’t actually losing a lot of by great margins but the truth remains that they weren’t scoring goals and even though they hardly looked bad, they didn’t look good either, but my issue is the fact they sacked him without much of an alternative and they keep looking lost and incapable of drawing let alone winning matches and the fact that they are going to be bottom at Christmas is enough to easily give this team the F it thoroughly deserve.