This time last year, the Premier League was gearing up for its biggest season yet. Sure, there was the obvious influx of talented players to England's shores, as there is every year. So what made it so special then
Put simply, the greatest number of world-class managers in the one league that football has ever seen.
Guardiola and Conte ventured into unknown territory after successful careers in Spain, Italy and Germany; Mourinho returned to the competition that he has dominated three times before – but this time in the unusual colour of red; and Wenger, Klopp and Pochettino were preparing for another crack at glory.
But now that the embers of the 2016/17 season have turned to dust and all eyes are focused on the 17/18 campaign, how did the top-six managers fare? What did they do wrong? What did they do right? And what can they do to make sure they're champions next May?
Here are all those answers, team by team, in Tribalfootball's Tactical Review.
2016/17 summary
Beginning with inverted full-backs in August and ending with two shuttling false-eights in central midfield, Pep Guardiola experimented wildly last campaign, ultimately falling short thanks to some serious defensive problems and the Catalan's over-emphasis on the details.
His use of a back three was invariably a disaster, while Claudio Bravo and John Stones endured difficult campaigns that weren't helped by a total absence of resilience at full-back or in defensive midfield.
In 2016/17, City dropped points against Middlesbrough, Leicester, Everton (twice) and Southampton by using unnecessary and untested formations as Guardiola played up to his caricature in England as an eccentric manager whose ideas are too romantic for this division.
However, he already has the best squad in the country and has begun spending wisely in June.
How to improve
Alexis Sanchez would be the perfect final signing of the summer up top, with Guardiola rightly frustrated by Sergio Aguero's inability to come short and link the play.
Sanchez, in a false nine role, would closely emulate what Leo Messi did for Guardiola's Barcelona.
The capture of Bernardo Silva makes City's the most talented attack in the division, and in the final few months of the season Guardiola finally got Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva to click together (by alternating as false-eights in a V-shaped midfield), meaning most of the hard work left to do is at the back.
Currently City's tactics are too wide and expansive, with enormous gaps between the lines of defence and attack causing them to be considerably leakier than their title rivals.
Vincent Kompany's return has partially solved this issue, although they still need a world-class centre-back and two full-backs to improve things further. Dani Alves isn't a bad shout, although it is concerning that Guardiola is not prioritising a more defensively resilient player in this area.
Expect another £100 million to be spent over the next month, putting City in prime position to win the title.