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Football

22nd May 2017

Premier League let-down XI of 2016/17 is pretty terrible

They promised a lot, but didn't deliver

Robert Redmond

Another Premier League season is over, and for some of these players, the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough.

We’ve compiled an XI of the players who proved to be the biggest let downs this season, some might even call them flops.

It’s not that these are particularly bad players.. It’s just that they promised a lot for their respective teams at the beginning of the season, and failed to deliver on expectations.

The goalkeeper wasn’t a difficult choice. Claudio Bravo resembled a hologram at points last season, and seemed incapable of making even the most basic save.

The former Barcelona ‘keeper will be remembered as a serious error of judgement by Pep Guardiola. It could be argued replacing Joe Hart was a good call, as he was prone to the occasional mistake, but Bravo was not the answer.

Defence

John Stones is one of those players who is aesthetically pleasing. He’s tall, elegant, comfortable on the ball and starts attacks from the back.

However, looks can be deceiving and the Manchester City defender is prone to the occasional brain fart – like this goal conceded against Everton earlier this year:

Stones is clearly talented, but a year after his £47.5m move, is anyone convinced that he will be a top defender?

If Vincent Kompany stays fit next year, Stones will benefit from playing alongside a more solid defensive partner and should improve. But he remains unconvincing.

Chris Smalling starts alongside Stones, which is a bit harsh on the Manchester United defender. He had spells out injured last season, but it feels as though Smalling’s progress under Louis van Gaal was lost this year and it wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave this summer.

Papy Djilobodji completes the backline. The Sunderland defender played one minute for Chelsea, yet they somehow managed to convince the Black Cats to pay £8m for him.

David Moyes was sold a turkey and Djilobodji showed why he only got a minute of first team football for his last team.

Midfield

Moussa Sissoko – Two words that will send a shiver down the spine of Spurs’ fans, and have Newcastle fans laughing all the way back to the Premier League.

Mike Ashley showed his business acumen when he somehow convinced Daniel Levy, Spurs’ chairman, to spend £30m on Sissoko. It was an incredible piece of business.

Sissoko hadn’t impressed for Newcastle when they were relegated last season. But, after going on a few mazy dribbles for France at Euro 2016, somehow found himself moving to an excellent team as the club’s record signing.

This sums up his approach to football. Lazy, but he’ll briefly turn it on for the cameras.

Sissoko funded Newcastle’s promotion from the Championship, and was dreadful for Spurs. He captains this team.

Granit Xhaka fully deserves his place alongside Sissoko. This alone merits his inclusion.

Xhaka is an accident waiting to happen. The Arsenal midfielder is a neat passer, but any positives are outweighed by his recklessness and propensity to get booked and sent off.

He cost more than N’Golo Kante, but charges around like Lee Cattermole on steroids.

We’ve also opted for Riyad Mahrez and Nolito.

Mahrez went from player of the year to a complete non-entity with Leicester, before finding his form again when Claudio Ranieri was sacked. Nolito started well for Manchester City, but was barely seen after Christmas.

Forwards

Wilfried Bony starts for this team, which is more than what occurs for Stoke. Remember Bony? He scored a lot of goals for Swansea a few years ago, went to Man City, didn’t play and went out on loan to Stoke, remember?

It seems like Mark Hughes has forgot about him, because Bony has rarely played for Stoke.

Simone Zaza starts alongside him.

He played six games for West Ham on loan from Juventus, and left for Valencia in January after failing to score a goal.

Who could have guessed that signing wasn’t going to work out?

Wayne Rooney is the final player in this XI.

We have surely witnessed the end of Rooney’s time at Manchester United. He was a great player, but he’s in clear decline and can have no qualms about his place in this team.

Here’s the full XI: