Worst Premier League Team of the Season: Mudryk and Antony are the flops of the year

Tom Weber

• Updated: 26 May 2023 19:31 BST
• 7 min read

Most consider the Premier League to be the best football competition in the world, yet every season there are many players that don't quite live up to the league's lofty standards.

This year has been no different, so we decided to build a Premier League team of the season made up of the worst players to grace an English football pitch in 2022/23. We decided to go with a 4-2-2-2 formation to avoid focusing too heavily on just one position like centre-forward for example.

Plenty of new signings have made our team, which proves - as if anyone needed any further proof - that splashing the cash isn't always the best way to build a team (we're looking at you, Chelsea). Moreover, instead of simply picking players that have been - or will be - relegated, we decided to mostly look at high-profile names and big clubs as expectations for these players are naturally higher.

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Danny Ward - Leicester City

All of the above being said, starting us off is actually Danny Ward - not the biggest name, we know. While someone like David de Gea has made his fair share of mistakes this season, it felt unfair to include the goalkeeper with by far the most Premier League clean sheets in the league this season, so we instead went for the former Liverpool man, who has looked out of his depth a few times this term.

Marc Cucurella - Chelsea

At left-back, we have Marc Cucurella - the first of several Chelsea players. The Spaniard joined the Blues in a deal worth €65.3 million but has not lived up to his price tag at all.

Not even his former Brighton coach Graham Potter could get the best out of him at Stamford Bridge. It is telling that 18-year-old academy graduate Lewis Hall has looked the better player in recent times, while the Spaniard is out nursing an injury.

Virgil van Dijk - Liverpool

This is one of those cases where reputation leads to high expectations - perhaps too high. Virgil van Dijk is undoubtedly one of the best central defenders the Premier League has ever seen, but this season has been a real off-year for the Dutch giant.

Age may be catching up with the 31-year-old and not only has he seemingly lost a step but even his positioning has been questionable this term.

Kalidou Koulibaly - Chelsea

Partnering Van Dijk is Kalidou Koulibaly - again, not a bad player by any means, yet someone who couldn't live up to the lofty standards he himself set in previous years.

The 31-year-old arrived in a debatable deal that saw Chelsea part with €38m, epitomising the mismanagement that we have seen at Stamford Bridge. Once one of the best defenders in the world, Koulibaly found winning a regular starting spot in a dire Chelsea side tough and that says a lot.

Rob Holding - Arsenal

We're cheating a bit here because Rob Holding has played at centre-back for Arsenal this season, but he has featured at right-back before, so we decided to put him there as he has - though perhaps unfairly - become the face of the Gunners' failed title challenge.

Forced into the team due to William Saliba's back injury, Holding's introduction coincided with Arsenal 'bottling it,' failing to beat the likes of West Ham and Southampton and ultimately seeing their considerable advantage over Manchester City melt away.

Arthur - Liverpool

Zero Premier League minutes. Of course, injury played its part in the Juventus loanee not finding his feet at Anfield, and yet, you have to say that this may very well go down as one of worst the loan deals in Premier League history.

Meant to be a midfield reinforcement, Arthur couldn't get on the pitch even after recovering from his lengthy spell on the sidelines, and it is unsurprising that Jurgen Klopp and company won't make his move permanent.

Kalvin Phillips - Manchester City

Kalvin Phillips won the Premier League this season, but his story may well serve as a cautionary tale for players thinking about making a move to the likes of Manchester City. Once the shining light of Leeds United, Phillips has been reduced to a peripheral figure in the Premier League.

City paid €49m for him last summer, but he has only featured in 200 league minutes, though he did also have a spell on the sidelines with injury.

Mykhailo Mudryk - Chelsea

Even worse than Phillips' transfer has been that of Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea. The 22-year-old arrived with the baggage of a sizeable financial package of up to €100m and he has not remotely lived up to his price tag.

The last week has summed his time at Chelsea up quite well: first he was annihilated on TikTok by a fitness influencer for taking an unflattering video of a gym member and then he missed a sitter against Manchester United that could have changed a game that ultimately ended up becoming an embarrassing 4-1 loss for his side.

Antony - Manchester United

On the other flank, we have Antony, for whom Manchester United paid €95m. The 23-year-old has not been as bad as Mudryk - he has scored some goals at least - but he has mostly flattered to deceive at Old Trafford and not been anywhere as impactful as a player with his price tag should have been, serving as a nice illustration of the fact that some of the money being spent on these players is utterly mind-boggling.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Chelsea

The first of our two players leading the line is another new Chelsea signing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Signed for €13m despite being well into his thirties, the Gabonese striker has had a torrid time since arriving last summer.

A Tuchel signing, he had to watch as his coach was sacked almost immediately after the season started only to be replaced by a guy who didn't favour him at all. He will likely be already on his way out again this summer.

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Georginio Rutter - Leeds United

The last player in our team is 21-year-old Georginio Rutter, whom Leeds from Hoffenheim in January for €28m. Though naturally gifted, it was already clear during his time in the Bundesliga that the Frenchman often flatters to deceive and exactly this has happened at Leeds.

He was meant to be the saviour of the relegation-threatened side but he is nowhere near ready to carry this burden and it has shown. 234 minutes played, zero goals and zero assists are statistics that speak for themselves.