Every season teams get ridiculed for not "hitting the quota." All teams have targets that they try to hit each season with some targets being bigger than others.
With teams such as Real Madrid, may set their sights on a Champions League title each season, other lesser teams like Everton may look for a Europa League spot. No matter what target each team sets at the beginning of the season some accomplish them with flying colors while others flop miserably. Here we take a look at 3 teams that have underperformed and 3 teams that overperformed this season.
Underperformers
1. Barcelona
Everyone knows the legacy of Barcelona, with big names such as Johann Cruyff, Ronaldinho, and currently Lionel Messi who have played for the Catalan side. Barca is a team known to win trophies set the bar so high that a La Liga title considered as a given each season. Which makes it even more surprising that they gave up a 7 point lead after the league restart to lose the title to Real Madrid. Coupled with some poor decisions being made from the higher-ups the club as a whole is facing an identity crisis as they get ready to Napoli in the Champions League on August 8th.
2. Arsenal
A team that started off ok at the beginning of the season that completely imploded before the pandemic Arsenal were devoid of good leadership, little reinforcements from summer transfers, and a big enough wallet to fix either. Unai Emery, usually takes the full brunt of the blame following Arsenal's failures this season any Arsenal fan can tell you that the problems stemmed long before he got to the Emirates. Poorly negotiated contracts, weak signings, and a small budget seemed to cause major strain for Arsenal each season until Mikel Arteta was brought in. Since then Arsenal has seen a resurgence in form with wins against Liverpool and Manchester City last week to earn an FA Cup final berth against the latter. Unfortunately, they still sit in 10th position on the EPL table.
3. Manchester City
It's hard to call them failures with the track record they have but our article is based on the 2019-2020 season. If we look at their performance from then on you can see a major did in performance. You can argue that a dominant team may become complacent after winning for so long and it's normal and I would say to you that thankfully you're not the manager of Man City and Pep is. Pep wants nothing but perfection from his team and I can't blame him. Either way, being 18 points from Epl Champions Liverpool, and having lost against Arsenal in the FA Cup semis is not a good look.
Honorable Mentions: Napoli, Inter Milan, Tottenham
Overperformers
1. Villareal
All you have to do is look at the table from 2019 compared to now and see the resurgence of the Yellow Submarines. Having secured a spot in Europa League this season they are now in a position to strengthen their squad or their coffers how they see fit with multiple rumors of clubs looking to purchase the services of Villareal's breakout stars.
2. Wolves
Who knew the Wolves would be this strong for the second season in a row. Having finished 7th in the table last season they were able to secure a Europa League spot they're on track to secure another this season. What's even more impressive is the job Espirito Santo, has done to keep his core players. Although we doubt it was a hard decision for any; who wouldn't want to play for him?
3. Sheffield United
Started from the bottom now they're here, need we say more? They were known to no one until this season and now they're in front of teams the likes of Arsenal, Everton and Crystal Palace to name a few. With a group of well-traveled footballers with a balanced amount of experience and inexperience, it's easy to see how such a team that was in the Championship last season (England's second-tier) has been so successful in the top flight.
Those are our choices for the top 3 teams that we feel have underperformed and the top 3 that have underperformed. Do you agree with our list? Do you have any teams that you feel have done better or worse? Let us know by leaving a comment below.