Adrian Kajumba, Alex Keble, Adrian Clarke and Ben Bloom review their best moments from the 2023/24 Premier League season.
Adrian Kajumba
Best player
Cole Palmer almost single-handedly ensured Chelsea salvaged European football, with 22 Premier League goals and 11 assists in an outstanding breakout campaign.
Best goal
Alejandro Garnacho’s overhead kick for Manchester United at Everton was one of those moments that was genuinely jaw-dropping. Incredible execution.
Favourite moment
Being at an emotional Kenilworth Road for Luton Town's match against Brighton & Hove Albion in January and seeing captain Tom Lockyer return to the ground for the first time since he collapsed on the pitch at AFC Bournemouth.
Standout achievement
Unai Emery continuing his Aston Villa transformation by leading them into the UEFA Champions League, having taken over in October 2022 when they were 16th and three points above the relegation zone.
Alex Keble
Best player
Phil Foden. That narrative-seizing strike after 78 seconds on the final day punctuated a coming-of-age season for Foden, who has graduated from Kevin De Bruyne’s understudy to bona fide superstar.
Best Goal
No matter how many times you watch Garnacho’s sublime goal against Everton, it still beggars belief. The lightning-quick adjustment of the feet, the power to send it back the other way, the flat trajectory; it’s the best overhead kick the Premier League has ever seen.
Favourite Moment
Gazing slack-jawed at Tottenham Hotspur's madcap high line in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea, when Ange Postecoglou instructed his nine men to sit on the halfway line. In a bonkers match of five disallowed goals and two red cards, that surreal 20-minute spell topped the lot.
Standout achievement
Emery getting Villa into the Champions League despite a year-long injury crisis and a Thursday-Sunday schedule that ran all the way through to May. Outsiders have squeezed into the top four before, but never with so many obstacles in the way.
Adrian Clarke
Best player
Martin Odegaard was sensational for Arsenal. He always led by example with his incessant work-rate, and was simply brilliant on the ball. No one created more chances in open play than the Gunners' skipper.
Best goal
Oscar Bobb's winner at St James' Park was a huge moment. The goal itself was magnificent. De Bruyne's inch-perfect chip pass was perfect, and then the way Bobb controlled the ball before skipping around the 'keeper was sublime.
It was a beauty that turned out to be vitally important, too.
Favourite moment
I'll never ever forget that crazy Spurs v Chelsea contest which featured five goals, five more disallowed and two red cards. Postecoglou's high line approach with nine men was fascinating to watch, in what was a completely bonkers match.
I loved it.
Standout achievement
Emery guiding Villa to a top-four finish was a remarkable achievement and a triumph for his coaching and tactical approach. To finish above so many other big clubs was a phenomenal effort from all involved.
Ben Bloom
Best player
Foden and Rodri were exceptional, but that is to be expected. No one would ever have predicted Palmer’s transformation from squad player to UEFA Euro 2024 certainty, so he is the biggest standout.
Best goal
With a nod to the De Bruyne-assisted Bobb beauty that secured a crucial win at the death against Newcastle United, it has to be Garnacho’s bicycle kick at Goodison Park.
Outrageous audacity to even attempt it and impeccable technique to stick it in the top corner.
Favourite moment
Six weeks after he suffered an on-pitch cardiac arrest, Luton captain Lockyer returned to Kenilworth Road for the warmest standing ovation from every person in the ground. One of those "greater perspective" moments that stays with you.
Standout achievement
It is not only that Emery guided Villa to fourth; it is that he did so while having to negotiate European football on Thursday nights with a paper-thin, injury-hit squad, beating Manchester City and Arsenal (twice). Oh, and the club were 16th when he took charge 18 months ago.
