This year’s Premier League was one of the most surprising ones in the history of the competition. A team destined for relegation won the title, the defending champions faltered badly and players we had never heard much of before proved to be the best on the field. Rated as one of the most enjoyable seasons in recent history, many individual magnificent performances were also noted.
There are players who come into the Premier League and blend in easily while others take their own time to settle in. Some of these players suffer from injuries, dips in form and are often called failures by the fans. But some of them battle it out, adapt themselves to the playing style of the league and put in a lot of effort to match up to the manager’s expectations to become a vital part of the team. Here are 5 such players who improved considerably this season in the Premier League.
1) Jamie Vardy – Leicester City
Leicester City is undoubtedly the most improved team of this season making it from 14th position to title winners in the span of one season and a major part of the achievement should be credited to this man. With a goal tally of 24 in the Premier League, Vardy was the second highest goal scorer tied with Sergio Aguero.
Sporting an overall rating increase of 0.71 ( 6.80 to 7.51), Vardy showed remarkable composure with respect to his finishing this season. Though strong in terms of pace and energy, Vardy’s finishing was inconsistent last season.
Working in sync with Riyad Mahrez, he coordinated Leicester City’s counter attack to perfection. With the England EURO 2016 squad already declared, it is widely expected that he would be a starter in France for Roy Hodgson.
2) Eric Dier – Tottenham Hotspur
Eric Dier was often seen as the utility player and was part of the starting XI for Tottenham last season. This season however, he displayed remarkable presence of mind and skill on the pitch and has solidified his position in the starting XI.
Though his preferred position was that of a right back, he had mostly played as a central defender before for Spurs. This season, Mauricio Pochettino, did a fabulous job by converting Dier into a holding midfielder wielding impressive results as he displayed stunning positional discipline and defensive work rate.
With an overall rating increase of 0.06 (7.00 to 7.06), he had an average of 2.1 tackles per game and 1.8 key interceptions per game this season, which is a huge improvement compared to the last season’s statistics. He had appeared in 37 games this season with 3 goals and 2 assists to his name. He also made it to England’s EURO 2016 squad as well.
3) Romelu Lukaku – Everton
Romelu Lukaku came as a disappointment to Everton fans after the record sum the club paid to rope him in last summer. The Belgian had a disappointing campaign like many of his team mates and made sure that he proved his worth this time around.
With an overall rating increase of 0.40 (6.77 to 7.17), he displayed a very efficient performance this season. He had 18 goals this season in the Premier League, which is a considerable increase from last season’s tally of 10 goals.
With the number shots, key passes and dribbles all up, the 23-year-old was in top form this season making it clear that his £28 million transfer was a bargain. The striker was also selected to the Belgian EURO 2016 squad. Considering his performance improvement, Everton fans will only hope they can hold on to him this summer.
4) Fernandinho – Manchester City
Fernandinho was always considered as a supporting midfielder to Yaya Toure. But this season, with Toure in poor form, the Brazilian had been the main man connecting the defence and the attack for the squad.
An active midfielder, Fernandinho also stepped up to score some vital goals for City, his goal against PSG away from home being one of them. He is one player who has never got the credit that he deserved for his consistently improving performances at City.
With an overall rating increase of 0.05 (7.19 to 7.24), he had an average of 3.2 tackles, 1.7 interceptions and 1.9 successful dribbles per game in the current season which is considerably higher than last season. With Pep Guardiola coming to the blue half of Manchester in the summer, it would be interesting to see what role Fernandinho plays for City next season.
5) Danny Drinkwater – Leicester City
Basking in the glory of their title win, this Leicester City player was one of the key reasons behind the club’s strong midfield. Though he was not one of the favourites at Leicester last season, he became an essential part of Claudio Ranieri’s side owing to his tenacity at tackling and his exceptional passing abilities.
Win an overall rating increase of 0.6 (6.70 to 7.30), he made 35 appearances for the club scoring 2 goals and 7 assists. Though his pass success rate was only 77.6 percent, he was willing to take risks on the pitch with an average of 3.9 long balls per game.
His impressive performance with an average of 3 tackles per game and 1.6 key interceptions per game earned him a spot in England's EURO 2016 squad.
