2017 awards: Failures and flops from an eventful year in football

As 2017 draws to a close, we reflect on the worst from a fascinating year in world football, highlighted by shocking World Cup qualifying failures, daft transfer policies, and bizarre managerial decisions.

The Diego Maradona Award for Calamitous International Management: Gian Piero Ventura

If Diego Maradona's spell managing Argentina was a lesson in inadequate coaching, Gian Piero Ventura's tenure as Italy boss was a four-year honours degree in misery.

Faced with a two-legged clash against Sweden, Ventura saw the electric, attack-minded state of Italian players bossing Serie A and opted instead for painfully slow build-up play and inexplicable squad selection. Napoli firecracker Lorenzo Insigne, glued to a pitch-side cooler, did his best Marcelo Bielsa impression, while Daniele De Rossi pantomimed an exasperated orchestra conductor with his impassioned pleas to put the diminutive attacker on. Even Jorginho, who was by some margin the Azzurri's most creative playmaker, wasn't given a chance until Marco Verratti's suspension left Ventura with few options. For the first time since 1958, Italy will not be at the World Cup, and it's all thanks to a middling manager with archaic ideas.

The Italian National Team Award for Shocking Displays in World Cup Qualifying: The United States

Ventura's Azzurri weren't the only perennial World Cup competitors to miss out on the quadrennial contest, as the United States was bounced from contention thanks to a laughable 2-1 loss against Trinidad & Tobago's B team.

Bruce Arena and Co. mocked T&T's soggy conditions, but the worst thing on the pitch was the performance from the Stars and Stripes. Honduras and Panama did their parts as well, with both sides winning CONCACAF Hex finales to oust the Yanks. It's the first World Cup berth for the latter, whose population is roughly the size of Kentucky's.

The Roman Abramovich Award for Burning Money like Firewood: AC Milan

Whoever said money can't buy happiness hasn't followed Chelsea's emergence as a European footballing power, but that's not to say it's a faultless plan of attack.

Just ask any Milanista who thought a summer of splashing the cash would amount in a Scudetto charge. Spoiler alert: it hasn't, and after investing more than €200 million in players, AC Milan is nine points worse off than it was a year ago. Vincenzo Montella got the sack, Gennaro Gattuso is on the verge of performing touchline Seppuku, and newcomers Nikola Kalinic, Leonardo Bonucci, and Hakan Calhanoglu are playing like moles sent to burn the San Siro to the ground. Oy, Curva Sud, stop making one of your only decent players cry.

The Fernando Torres Award for a Player Lacking Confidence: Renato Sanches

With Liverpool, Fernando Torres was a clinical finisher and two-time member of the PFA Team of the Year. With Chelsea, the Spaniard was a shadow of his former goal-scoring self, and with a £50-million price tag forever associated with the boyish forward, he whimpered under the weight of expectations.

Such is the plight of the player whose form is tethered to his confidence, something Renato Sanches has become all too familiar with. An emerging star at Benfica who merited a big-money move to Bayern Munich, Sanches was loaned to Swansea City and former Carlo Ancelotti assistant Paul Clement. In 12 Premier League matches, he has been Franny Jeffers-level bad, and now the Bavarians won't offer him a lifeline in January.

The Gian Piero Ventura Award for 'Let's get a Second Look at that CV': Ronald Koeman

Boosted by Farhad Moshiri's deep pockets and the intrigue of European competition, Everton went out and spent £140 million in the summer on three No. 10s and some FIFA 18 create-a-players.

Lofty hopes quickly became relegation fears, and after the Toffees board clued into the fact that Ronald Koeman had banished the only players with pace in attack (Kevin Mirallas, Oumar Niasse), the Dutchman got the sack. In stepped not-so-big-anymore Sam Allardyce, and suddenly, Everton started to field its best starting XI and almost immediately escaped the relegation neighbourhood. Imagine that.

The Ronald Koeman Award for Dire Dutch Managers: Frank de Boer

Had Arthur Miller been born 70 years later and penned "Death of a Salesman" as a contemporary footballing piece, tragic protagonist Willy Loman could have been swapped for manager Frank de Boer.

Down on his luck and self-deluded after a scant three months at Inter, De Boer takes his road show to Selhurst Park to succeed Sam Allardyce at Crystal Palace, and with visions of grandeur dancing through his head, opts for a quick-passing, attacking brand of football. After years of defensive-minded football, and a squad shaped in that image, De Boer's alterations prove incredibly daft, and he lasts just five matches before he's handed his P45 papers.

The Eric Cantona Award for a Frenchman Kicking a Fan: Patrice Evra

In one fell swoop, Patrice Evra ended his erratic Marseille tenure after the Frenchman decided to channel his inner Eric Cantona and kick a fan prior to, errr, kick-off.

Evra was shown a red for his efforts and sent down the tunnel as Marseille lined up against Vitoria Sport Clube in Europa League play with just 10 men. The full-back was subsequently released by OM and banned from UEFA competition until June 2018. Quel idiot.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)