2022-23 Premier League Recap
The 2022/23 Premier League season gave us yet another thrilling and exciting year of English football. With tight races for both the title and European qualification, fans were treated to nail-biting finishes each week. The introduction of several young talents into the top-flight injected a new energy into the league, and upsets became a common occurrence as the new teams such as Brighton, Brentford, and Aston Villa establishing themselves among the best in the league. We also witnessed an intense title race between Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the youngest squad in the Premier League, and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the most talented and well coached squad in the world. The fight for survival at the bottom of the table was also intense, with several teams involved in a tight relegation battle until the final day. The 2022/23 Premier League season showcased the depth and competitiveness of English football and reminded us why it's considered one of the best leagues in the world.
Let’s take a journey to recap yet another glorious and entertaining season of Premier League football, a season of crushed hopes and dreams but also of astonishing achievements and miracles.
Standout players: best shot stoppers, defenders, creative players, and goalscorers
Shot Stoppers
It was a remarkable season for goalkeepers across the league. For the relegated Leicester City, Leeds United, and Southampton, some blame poor goalkeeping for their performances, while it was goalkeeping that allowed teams like Aston Villa, Brentford and Fulham to have unexpectedly fantastic seasons.
To analyze the quality of a keeper's season, I’ll be using PsxG +/-, or post-shot expected goals plus minus, which essentially calculates how many goals a keeper prevented by evaluating the difficulty and measure of the saves they have made over the course of the season.
Right off the bat, it is clear there are many surprises on the board. Bernd Leno was excellent for the aforementioned Fulham, leading them to a 10th place finish in their inaugural season after promotion. He had the second most saves (152) and save percentage (77.1%), as well as an impressive tally of nine goals prevented. Undoubtedly, Leno deserves serious consideration as one of the best keepers this season.
Chelsea may have had a nightmare of a season, but it would have been worse without Kepa Arrizabalga who prevented five goals on the season. Chelsea’s problem was ultimately scoring goals, managing just 38 goals through the whole season. On the other hand, Kepa allowed just 33 goals, one of the lowest totals in the league. Despite this positive contribution, Chelsea’s management under Todd Boehly are actively searching for a replacement at goalkeeper, another questionable decision in what has truly been an embarrassing season.
David Raya has also been equally brilliant, preventing five goals on the season and leading Brentford to a ninth place finish. Raya had the most saves (154) and save percentage (77.7%) in the entire Premier League. Moreover, his impressive contribution is evident in preventing five goals overall as indicated by the PSxG +/- metric.
And then there’s Liverpool’s Alisson. Alisson posted an astonishing 10.1 goals prevented, and while his saves and save percentage numbers are not as strong (ranking 5th in total saves and 8th in save percentage), keep in mind that he plays behind Liverpool’s defense, a circus of blunders and structural mishaps from their midfielders, fullbacks, and center-backs. Alisson is not to blame for a poor defensive season from Liverpool, and if anything, he prevented the season from collapsing even further.
Defense
Speaking of defense, here are some of the best defensive players from a ball winning standpoint.
This graph doesn’t necessarily show the best defensive players, as I didn’t account for positioning or aerial duels, but this gives us a sense of players who won the ball consistently for their team.
Joao Palinha is, of course, the standout, as one of Fulham’s best players alongside Bernd Leno. He was the best tackler and ball winning midfielder in the league, with 193 tackles and interceptions. Palinha’s prowess and propensity to wreak havoc in the midfield has been so vital to Fulham.
Creativity and Progression
Moving on, let’s take a look at some of the best players at creating chances this past season.
A progressive pass is defined as a pass of ten or more yards towards the opposing goal.
It’s no surprise to see Kevin De Bruyne himself atop this list, one of the best creative attacking midfielders in this generation. His league leading 16 assists proved how deadly of a pairing he and striker Erling Haaland are. De Bruyne is the best creator and passer in the league, with vision and accuracy second to none.
Martin Odegaard, however, has proven to be a challenger to De Bruyne as a very special creative midfielder for Arsenal, playing a key role in their title race. He is incredibly technically gifted and has displayed his agile and creative nature. He has found ways to thread passes through tight spaces and has displayed fantastic vision. Many of his best passes were wasted chances by Arsenal’s attackers, showing how deadly and clinical Odegaard is and how he may become even better if Arsenal’s finishing up front were to improve.
But one standout player on this chart that deserves a mention is Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest’s source of energy and creativity on the wing. Gibbs-White has been an incredible transfer for Nottingham Forest despite many doubting the price tag that came with it. He has shown his propensity to play in dangerous and progressive passes (including a ridiculous back-heel assist against Southampton and an outside the foot long ball against Crystal Palace) as well as electrifying speed on the wing. Him and Brennan Johnson, Nottingham Forests’ other winger, will prove to be a deadly duo moving forward should they continue playing together.
Now let’s look at the best dribblers in the league this season. Speaking of Brennan Johnson, it’s unsurprising to see him atop this list alongside Wolves’ Adama Traore. The two are among the fastest players in the league, with their pace on the wing undoubtedly contributing to their impressive percentage of progressive dribble carries. Additionally, two other standout players are Kaoru Mitoma, midfielder/winger for Brighton, and Bukayo Saka, winger for Arsenal.
Mitoma has emerged as an unlikely star for a surprisingly successful Brighton squad. He showcased his fancy footwork and speed, both of which are evident in his high ranking as a progressive ball carrier. He has become such an exciting player to watch at all times, and it is undeniably a daunting sight for defenders.
Bukayo Saka has proved to the world this season that he is one of the most talented young players. His ability to dribble past any defender has allowed him to create so many chances, as defenders tend to back off him as he dribbles at them. Later in this discussion, we’ll delve further into Saka’s progressive dribbling, which has emerged as an important development for both Saka himself and for Arsenal as a whole.
Here’s a look at a mashup of both metrics. One player we didn’t talk about in regards to their creativity is Harry Kane. Naturally, Kane is known for his goal-scoring prowess (which we’ll get into soon), but an underrated aspect of his game is his hold up and passing skills. While he isn’t as much of a frequent passer as some of these other midfielders on the scatterplot, he is very efficient when it comes to forward passing, up there with Kevin De Bruyne as one of the most progressive.
But when it comes to progressive passing, it would be unfair to leave fullbacks out of consideration.
Here, I looked at expected assists (xA) per 100 touches of the ball to evaluate how often a fullback is playing passes that lead to high percentage scoring chances. In a generation of football where attacking is more prevalent than ever, fullbacks have found themselves pushed up in attack, acting as a focal point for crosses into the box.
Kieran Trippier sits atop this list unsurprisingly and by a landslide. Trippier accumulated 7 assists on 11.8 xA, meaning that the chances he created were not always converted. He played an instrumental role as a creator for a Newcastle team that qualified for next year’s Champions League for the first time in 20 years. Trippier can easily be considered as one of the best players of the season and will continue to be a menacing threat in the attack.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, second on the list, racked up yet another solid season for Liverpool. He is clearly defensive incompetent at times, but his prowess as a long ball passer and excellent crosser has served Liverpool well.
But the biggest surprise on the chart is Alex Moreno, left back for Aston Villa. Moreno was a mid-season signing by new manager Unai Emery, despite already having Lucas Digne, who is also on this chart, at left back. Moreno fit right into Emery’s new system, proving to be highly capable on the ball and placing intricate and accurate passes into dangerous scoring spaces. Here are some of his best passes from Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Newcastle in April.
Finally, I’ll wrap it up by analyzing players who created chances effectively through shot-creating actions per 90. Shot creating actions are defined as live ball passes, dribbles, set piece passes from corners or free kicks, fouls, and defensive actions that lead to a shot.
There really aren’t any surprises here. Lots of Man City players, Kevin De Bruyne on top again, and Trippier and Odegaard included as well.
But two names that deserve a mention are Bruno Fernandes and James Maddison. Fernandes, Man United’s captain and focal point of attacking creativity, has been crucial to United’s success under new manager Erik Ten Hag this season, and is arguably their player of the season alongside winger Marcus Rashford.
James Maddison, on the other hand, was a crucial player for Leicester City. Unfortunately, despite his significant contributions, it wasn’t enough, as their disappointing relegation could not be prevented. Maddison emerged as a leader for this chaotic Leicester squad, supplying the most chances for his team, as seen above. It is truly shocking to see a team with players as talented as Maddison along with teammates Youri Tielemans (who has already left Leicester for Aston Villa), Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes, Wildred Ndidi, and Kelechi Iheanacho, all of whom are far too talented for a team that will be playing in the EFL Championship next season.
Goalscorers
The 2022/23 season was witness to the greatest scoring season of all time from Erling Haaland. A 36 goal season shattered all Premier League single season records, the previous record standing at 32.
Haaland blew every other goalscorer out of the water. His non-penalty xG was an astonishing 23.1, and he scored 29 non-penalty goals. His goal scoring prowess certainly comes with the benefit of having Kevin De Bruyne as a creative midfielder and Pep Guardiola as a manager, but Haaland’s season is absolutely incredible nonetheless. He is quite simply a robot, a non-human with physical attributes through the roof, a fantastic sense of attacking positioning, and excellent finishing abilities. If this is what Erling Haaland does in one season under Pep Guardiola, one of if not the best tactical managers ever, just imagine what he can do as he continues to develop. Manchester City is just so unfair.
But let’s not forget about the usual fantastic Harry Kane season. An astonishing 30 goal season was somehow not enough to bring the lowly Tottenham Hotspurs into a spot for European competition next season. Not only did Kane score at a great pace, but he exceeded his non penalty xG of 15.8 by 7.2 with 23 non penalty goals, a sign of a great finisher who scores in unlikely situations.
And just as I mentioned earlier, Kane’s build-up and passing abilities are massively underrated as well. We shall see if Kane signs or is transferred to a new team this or next summer, because he certainly deserves better, and Spurs certainly need a rebuild; they cannot continue to rely on him for everything all the time. Aston Villa’s selling of Jack Grealish two years ago brought in $100 million, which they were able to spread over various players to assemble a team that has just had a spectacular season. However, there are definitely concerns regarding Spurs’ ability to replicate this strategy with Kane, especially given the lackluster performances of their recent signings. Selling Kane is certainly an idea, a theoretical concept that could play to Spurs advantage, but I highly doubt they will be able to execute it correctly.
Anyway, moving back to these goalscorers, it might come as a surprise to some to see Mohamed Salah as one of the best scorers this season because of how poor Liverpool performed throughout the beginning and middle stages of the season. Yet, a late season resurgence saw them claw from the depths of the table, to a position to compete for a Champions League spot. Salah was a big part of that, bringing his season goal total up to 19. It was a rough start for Salah though, scoring a measly 6 goals through 17 matches in the early phases of the season. But then came the 7-0 mauling of Man United, in which Salah scored twice, and then an 11-match unbeaten streak to close out the season propelled Salah’s goal tally to its final figure by the end of the season.
And how about Marcus Rashford, who has previously failed to live up to his potential, finding his stride in an excellent breakout season, bagging 17 goals. From January through March it seemed as though Rashford was right up there competing for the Player of the Year award with Haaland, scoring goals left and right. He also created an iconic celebration that has swept the world with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Joshua Kimmich from Bayern Munich, and even Usain Bolt imitating the point to the head.
Finally, we have to give some love to Callum Wilson, who has flown under the radar with a spectacular scoring season for Newcastle. Wilson earned a call-up to the England senior squad for the World Cup, and returned to Premier League action on fire, scoring 11 goals in April, finishing with a tally of 18 goals. Wilson was instrumental in the final stretch for Newcastle, helping lead them to a Champions League spot.
Biggest Surprise of the Season:
Arsenal
Even though they bottled it at the end, what a season for Arsenal it was. The Gunners were projected by many to have a 4th-6th place finish, which made it a surprise for many when they came out firing early on and seemed to be unstoppable. Arsenal stood at the top of the table for a total of 248 days, the most by any team to not have won the league in Premier League history. Yes, it is a historic bottle job, but they were going against Man City, a team with seemingly unlimited resources, incredible players, and the best coach in the world while holding the youngest team in the league under a young manager — the odds seemed stacked against them even at their highest point.
Almost every player established themselves early: Martinelli, Saka, and newly signed Gabriel Jesus as goalscorers and excellent creators, Odegaard as a pivotal creative midfielder, Thomas Partey as an injury prone, but reliable defensive midfielder, Gabriel and William Saliba as defensive rocks, and Aaron Ramsdale as a solid keeper.
Arsenal had some incredible results, a 4-2 thrashing of Brighton, winning both North London Derbies, beating Man United 3-2 in the last minute, an intense 4-2 thriller against Aston Villa and, of course, Reiss Nelson’s winner in their 3-2 victory against Bournemouth.
What hurt them the most was the loss of Saliba late in the season, which saw their defense collapse, with critical matches ending in disappointing results, such as a 3-3 draw with 20th place Southampton, a 4-1 loss to Man City, and a 3-0 loss to Brighton.
Anyways, let’s dive into one of if not their most important players, Martin Odegaard. As I mentioned already, Odegaard has been a standout player for Arsenal, arguably their player of the season.
From the two scouting reports above, it’s clear Odegaard has been on another level this season, displaying his nature as a “complete midfielder.” A 15 goal and 7 assist season saw him tied as Arsenal’s leading scorer and third leading player in assists. He has inched closer and closer to even being at Kevin De Bruyne’s level, though the latter is evidently more proven at this point. Odegaard’s biggest issues that he will need to clean up are his inconsistencies at times. There were stretches throughout individual games where Arsenal was lacking attacking creativity, and Odegaard was a big part of that. He also tends to lose the ball often whether it is the occasional misplaced pass or being dispossessed, which has led to dangerous counter-attacking scenarios down the other end.
Nonetheless, as I discussed earlier, Odegaard showed how shifty and agile he is with his footwork which has led to some impressive skills this season. As Arsenal’s quiet but composed captain, Odegaard has become a fan favorite and a very fun player to watch. He will lead this young core of players to the promise land, it will just be a matter of time.
Arsenal will be back. Star wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are just 21 years old, Odegaard is 24, and center back William Saliba is 22. These four will make up Arsenal’s core for years to come and have already established themselves as solid players. Add on potential transfer target Declan Rice and Arsenal will be bound for a title at some point in the near future. Squad depth was a major issue down the stretch for the Gunners, an area they will need to fix in the summer transfer window. Putting trust in manager Mikel Arteta will be vital this upcoming transfer window and the right moves will put Arsenal right back up at the top, competing for another title next season.
This was an amazing and exciting season for Arsenal. They showed us their potential and their resilience, but most of all, gave us some iconic moments that will never be forgotten. There is a bright future ahead for the Gunners.
Honorable mentions:
Erling Haaland
We all expected a great season, but none of us could have predicted this. Surely a Ballon D’Or winner this season.
Brighton qualifying for Europa League
I thought Brighton were done for after Graham Potter was stolen by Chelsea. But in came Roberto De Zerbi and a tactically, structurally, and skillfully brilliant squad that proved themselves as one of England’s elite.
Aston Villa
Manager Unai Emery came in at the exact right time for Aston Villa, taking over Steven Gerrard who had led Villa to a bottom half spot in the table. Villa had just 0.81 points per match under Gerrard and 1.96 points per match under Emery. A great turnaround and a great season for Aston Villa.
Biggest Disappointments
Chelsea
Who else but Chelsea? What a shocking, embarrassing, disgusting, awful, poor, substandard, any other word for bad, season for the Blues. Todd Boehly took over as owner, firing manager Thomas Tuchel early on in the season despite Tuchel having won the Champions League just two seasons prior and established himself as a capable manager. Boehly tried too hard to micromanage this team and it was chaotic. Graham Potter, who was excellent as Brighton’s manager, was brought on for Chelsea and in his first transfer window, Boehly spent over $600 million on players including Enzo Fernandez for $106.8 million and Mykaihlo Mudryk for $100 million. It was not enough. In fact, it hurt more than it helped, as Chelsea were now equipped with an overcrowded squad of players who all wanted equal playing time and training resources which Graham Potter understandably was not able to give. But Potter shouldn’t get away without blame either. And neither should interim manager Frank Lampard who took over after Potter was sacked. Chelsea scored just 38 goals, one of the lowest outputs in the league, with Kai Havertz, their leading goalscorer, scoring just 7 goals. Almost every single player that Boehly had bought during the transfer window were completely incompetent, including Mudryk, who didn’t score a single goal all season and registered just one assist. Fernandez was a different case though, acting as Chelsea’s best creative player, except they never scored anyway so his efforts didn’t matter in the slightest.
Perhaps Chelsea have an exciting future to look forward to still. New manager Mauricio Pochettino should hopefully instill a new style of play and cut down on Chelsea’s enormous roster size. And you know Todd Boehly isn’t going to stop spending cash relentlessly - they’ll just have to hope they make the right signings.
Moment of the Season:
Reiss Nelson last minute winner vs Bournemouth
This is definitely a biased pick as a Gunners supporter myself, but it was truly electric and I think any fan can understand that.
While it didn’t turn out to be fruitful as Arsenal bottled the league, it showed the resilience and strength that this young team has, coming back from down 2-0 and winning it with a stunning strike from Nelson. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Gunners, but a season that their players can look back on proudly as a key stepping stone in their development.
Goals of the Season:
1. Julio Enciso vs. Man City 5/24/23- A stunner from way outside the box with an xG of 0.02 and xGOT of 0.46. An absolute rocket.
2. Miguel Almiron vs. Fulham - A ridiculous volley with the outside of his foot, an xG of 0.07 and xGOT of 0.56.
3. Thomas Partey vs. Tottenham- What an incredible curling effort by Partey to give Arsenal the lead in the North London Derby, an xG of 0.04 and xGOT of 0.36.
