Cole Palmer superb, Man Utd poor, Phil Foden snubbed, Liverpool ace flop - Premier League awards

The curtain has come down on yet another Premier League season and what a season it was.

Manchester City were crowned champions for a fourth consecutive campaign but had to see off a valiant Arsenal on the final day. Ollie Watkins propelled Aston Villa into the Champions League places while Cole Palmer dragged Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea to sixth place.

Ange Postecoglou impressed with his style of play at Tottenham, Jurgen Klopp waved goodbye to Liverpool after nine years at Anfield and Erik ten Hag largely disappointed at Manchester United.

As you would expect, everyone has an opinion on what happened throughout the season, and who better to ask than football.london's writers. Below they have their say on how they viewed the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Sam Truelove (Content Editor)

Player of the season: Ollie Watkins

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Unai Emery

Signing of the season: Declan Rice

Flop of the season: Mason Mount

Unexpected star of the season: Anthony Gordon

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Chelsea 4-4 Man City

Ollie Watkins had a sensational season, scoring 19 goals in the Premier League and assisting 13 more. Cole Palmer was equally as impressive and has a very bright future ahead of him. Aston Villa qualifying for the Champions League just shows the good work Unai Emery is doing at Villa Park. If he gets a few more quality players through the door in the summer, there could be an unexpected title challenge on the cards next season. Mason Mount just did not have the impact expected at Manchester United, although he did struggle with injuries, while Anthony Gordon was one of Newcastle’s best players and could even be a starter for England at Euro 2024.

Lee Wilmot (Head of football)

Player of the season: Ollie Watkins

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Mikel Arteta

Signing of the season: Cole Palmer

Flop of the season: Marcus Rashford

Unexpected star of the season: Micky van de Ven

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Man City 0-0 Arsenal…I’m joking. Probably Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea and I’m a Spurs fan, but it had everything.

I find it difficult to believe that with 19 goals and 13 assists, Ollie Watkins was overlooked for player of the year because Phil Foden helped Man City win the title and Cole Palmer turned Chelsea into Cole Palmer FC. What a season he and Villa had. Unai Emery only misses out on being manager of the season for me because of what Mikel Arteta did at Arsenal. I may be a Spurs fan, but Arteta has done an extraordinary job there. Micky van de Ven has been a revelation for Spurs in his first season, so he takes my unexpected star of the season, only because I felt it might have taken him some time to settle into a new league. There were plenty of brilliant games this season too - Man City 3-3 Tottenham, Chelsea 4-4 Man City, Luton 3-4 Arsenal and many more, but even though Spurs lost it, the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea was just an extraordinary watch. Five goals, four goals disallowed, two red cards, VAR drama: it had everything.

Joe Doyle (Content Editor)

Player of the season: Martin Odegaard

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Kobbie Mainoo

Manager of the season: Unai Emery

Signing of the season: Cole Palmer

Flop of the season: Mason Mount

Unexpected star of the season: Jean-Philippe Mateta

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Wolves 3-4 Manchester United

Martin Odegaard has had a stunning season leading Arsenal to…nothing. I joke, but he's been outstanding most weeks for the Gunners. Cole Palmer could arguably be the Young Player of the Season, but I'd say as a £42million signing there were certain expectations of him - and he surpassed them massively - so he's signing of the season. Instead, I've gone for Kobbie Mainoo, who has threatened to break into the Manchester United team for a couple of years and really shown some promising signs.

Aston Villa have overachieved hugely, so it's no surprise that Unai Emery is my manager of the year. And the reverse is true for Man Utd, with Mason Mount barely making a dent on his £60million transfer - mainly thanks to injuries.

The game of the year for me was the thriller at Molineux with Mainoo papering over Man Utd's cracks with an incredible solo winner. Meanwhile, Jean-Philippe Mateta's late-season run of form under Oliver Glasner was one few could say they saw coming, with 13 goals in 13 games following the Austrian manager's arrival.

Tom Canton (Football Writer)

Player of the season: Martin Odegaard

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Pep Guardiola

Signing of the season: Josko Gvardiol

Flop of the season: Dominik Szoboszlai

Unexpected star of the season: Kai Havertz

Overachievers: Crystal Palace

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea

Martin Odegaard has given me the most joy of any player, despite my biases, and this season confirmed his world-class status as a footballer whilst dragging Arsenal through the title charge. Cole Palmer is the definition of throwing enough money at something and eventually it works and finally, Chelsea have a successful signing under Todd Boehly. Josko Gvardiol arrived at the part of the season that mattered for City and won them the league with his goals - so naturally he’s my current least favourite player. What a disappointment Dominik Szoboszlai was after all I had hoped for him. Kai Havertz, need I say more? Great job Oliver Glasner and now 4 England call-ups, brilliant. Manchester United are a gift. Tottenham and Chelsea gave me a game I have never laughed more throughout watching - brilliant footballing chaos.

Tom Coley (Central Audience Writer)

Player of the season: Declan Rice

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Michael Olise

Signing of the season: Cole Palmer

Flop of the season: Jack Grealish

Unexpected star of the season: Dominic Solanke

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United/Brighton

Game of the season: Chelsea 4-4 Manchester City, Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea, Manchester City 3-3 Tottenham, Chelsea 4-3 Manchester United. Really can't pick between them.

Rice might not have won the league but he has added an extra something (and plenty of it) to an Arsenal team close to going all the way. Palmer could easily have taken all of the (positive) individual awards himself himself, where would Chelsea have been without him? They feature heavily in the game of the season section as there were too many incredible matches to pick from but Chelsea, Tottenham, and the Manchester clubs certainly delivered enough to sink your teeth into. These will live long in the memory.

Manchester United and Brighton both failed to kick on under managers that promised so much last season, meanwhile Olise only had to play half a season to show why he'll be off to a top club in the summer. Aston Villa were sensational though and Emery has done terrific job. Between Watkins and Dominic Solanke England truly are blessed with some prolific forwards. Having watched the latter during his youth career at Chelsea it's nice to see him getting praise and career his talent warrants.

What a strange season. Let's do it all again in three months.

Rob Guest (Football Writer)

Player of the season: Ollie Watkins

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Sean Dyche

Signing of the season: Ross Barkley

Flop of the season: Kalvin Phillips

Unexpected star of the season: Dominic Solanke

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea

Ollie Watkins deserves to be crowned Player of the Season after his 19 goals and 13 assists helped Aston Villa secure Champions League football (which I tipped them for back in August). It's a straightforward decision for Young Player of the Season with Cole Palmer an outstanding signing for Chelsea.

Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery and Andoni Iraola all have a case for the Manager of the Year gong but Sean Dyche deserves it for what he achieved at Everton. Having to put up with so much behind the scenes and two separate points deductions, to have his team 14 points ahead of Luton Town in 18th was remarkable.

Speaking of Luton, Ross Barkley is the signing of the season after producing performances that should have seen him earn an England recall as he gave his team a fighting chance of survival. Not even a loan spell at West Ham could help Kalvin Phillips get back to his best and his move turned out to be a complete flop, while Dominic Solanke excelled for Bournemouth and should have been included in the England squad for the Euros.

Tottenham 4-1 home defeat was just complete madness and undoubtedly the best Premier League game of the season, with Wolves' 3-2 defeat to Coventry in the FA Cup my favourite game overall from 2023/24.

Jack Flintham (Central Audience Writer)

Player of the season: Phil Foden

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Sean Dyche

Signing of the season: Declan Rice

Flop of the season: Antony

Unexpected star of the season: Kai Havertz

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Newcastle United 2-3 Manchester City

The Premier League gets plenty wrong but naming Foden as the player of the season isn't one of them. If utilised to his potential, this summer could be very good for Gareth Southgate. Nobody expected his former Manchester City teammate Cole Palmer to impress as much as he has at Chelsea but he has blossomed with regular minutes. Sean Dyche's incredible feat of steadying the ship at Everton will be looked at enviously by Burnley. Meanwhile, at Manchester United, Antony's abysmal performances and antics on the pitch single him out as the flop of the campaign. While it was tempting to pick one of Sheffield United's hammerings as game of the season, City's victory at Newcastle was a joy to watch and ultimately was the turning point in the title race.

Josh Holland (Central Audience Writer)

Player of the season: Phil Foden

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Pep Guardiola

Signing of the season: Cole Palmer

Flop of the season: Ansu Fati

Unexpected star of the season: Micky van de Ven

Overachievers: Tottenham

Underachievers: Man United

Game of the season: Chelsea 4-3 Man United

It’s perhaps too easy to go for Phil Foden as the best player but his two goals on the final day of the season, especially the first one, cemented my thoughts on him. Cole Palmer picks up two of my awards because I really didn’t think he would hit the ground running like he has and he thoroughly deserves a place in the England squad. I was so excited to see Ansu Fati in the Premier League as a Football Manager enthusiast but he’s just flopped. My unexpected star is Tottenham’s Van de Ven. I love fast centre-backs and as someone who doesn’t watch much Bundesliga football, I was amazed by the technical and physical strengths of the centre back. Spurs have done superb to finish 5th after losing Harry Kane while Man United have been a difficult watch for obvious reasons. Their collapse at Chelsea was a thriller and perfectly summed up their problems.

Isaac Johnson (Central Audience Writer)

Player of the season: Phil Foden

Young player of the season (had to be 21 or under at start of season to qualify): Cole Palmer

Manager of the season: Unai Emery

Signing of the season: Declan Rice

Flop of the season: Kalvin Phillips

Unexpected star of the season: Douglas Luiz

Overachievers: Aston Villa

Underachievers: Manchester United

Game of the season: Tottenham 1-4 Chelsea

Analysts were calling on Phil Foden to step up and take responsibility ahead of the new season and he’s done exactly that. A return of 27 goals and 11 assists is amazing.

Cole Palmer has to get the young player award for his 22 goals and 11 assists, a campaign nobody was expecting. But for him, my vote would have gone for Jarrad Branthwaite.

Coach of the year has to go to Unai Emery for earning Aston Villa a Champions League spot for the first time since 1983, but Gary O'Neil and Andoni Iraola should get mentions too.

Declan Rice has been a game-changer for Arsenal and made them more mature while on the other end of the scale Kalvin Phillips looks half the player he was 18 months ago. No explanation is needed of Manchester United being underachievers and the 4-1 Chelsea win over Spurs in that chaotic game back in November is well worth re-watching.