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What went well
An end-of-season upturn in form and results has provided a surprisingly positive end to what has been a hell of a season. Chelsea have been through the wringer, but are emerging on the other side and are, miraculously, finally taking some kind of shape under Mauricio Pochettino.
For much of the season qualifying for Europe had appeared out of reach until they started finding results and consistency in the league – and they likely sealed Europa League football on the final day (or the Europa Conference League if Manchester United win the FA Cup).
Add to that reaching the League Cup final, only losing to Liverpool in extra time, and the last four of the FA Cup.
You don’t want to go overboard with praise, but, on reflection, there is a gloss to the season that had not been visible for most of it.
What went badly
Almost everything else. They have had an extraordinary injury list. But so have other teams, so it cannot be blamed for everything.
League form was so bad in the first two-thirds of the season that they had appeared destined for a mid-table finish. Amid that backdrop, fans were at war with the ownership, accusing Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital of turning them into a laughing stock. The owners were mocked up as clowns in stickers that appeared around Stamford Bridge.
There were complaints that the club were not communicating well enough with supporters. Boehly’s big bet on signing young players from across Europe on long-term contracts looked no closer to coming to fruition after two seasons.
And at one stage, in a game at Stamford Bridge, the home support turned on Raheem Sterling, booing him until he was substituted.
Pochettino had been sliding towards the sack, with reports that he had to qualify for Europe or he would be relieved of his duties in the summer, when he will have one year remaining on his contract.
There will be a review after the season concludes where the manager’s performance will be analysed. More recently, though, Pochettino has got on the front foot himself and said that maybe he and his close-knit team of staff will walk away if they are not happy.
The players have been coming out in defence of Pochettino recently, saying in interviews that they would like him to stay.
It has all been a bit of a mess. But, in truth, Chelsea could probably do with some consistency and Pochettino will likely stay, for another year at least.
Player of the season
A stunning campaign. If Cole Palmer felt he had a point to prove after Pep Guardiola and Manchester City decided to sell, he could not have proved it more.
Last summer, nobody was sure if City had made a terrible mistake letting their academy player go or if Chelsea had wasted £42.5m on yet another unproven footballer who had not had a proper season in the Premier League.
Thirty-three Premier League goals and assists later, in what has been a difficult season all-round for Chelsea, Palmer has been a beacon of light and hope. If he can maintain this form and standard, the 22-year-old is a future England star.
Breakthrough player
You could easily include Palmer in this category, too. But Malo Gusto, at only 20 years old, has really surprised many this season. He had seemed defensively vulnerable in his initial games and it’s fair to say if Reece James had been fit Gusto would have been given more time to develop and would likely have played little this season.
Instead, if he continues progressing at this rate he will be pushing for a claim to be one of the best full-backs in the league. And looks like a bargain at £31m.
How he fits into the team when James is fit remains to be seen.
Best team performance
In terms of a complete performance, the best team performance is arguably when they blew Everton away 6-0. Sure, Everton have struggled at the wrong end of the table this season, but Sean Dyche has tightened them up and it was their only defeat in eight games — winning five of them.
Nobody really knew which Chelsea were going to turn up. They were on a decent unbeaten run, but in the last game the fans had turned again after conceding in stoppage time to draw with bottom place Sheffield United, and in the game before they had beaten Manchester United, but only via two stoppage-time goals of their own.
Against Everton, Palmer scored a hat-trick within 30 minutes and ended the game with four and it showed everything good about this Chelsea team and what it can become.
The Score is Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up here to receive the newsletter every Monday morning next season