Welcome to briefingevery Monday during this season, Competitor Three of the biggest questions arising from weekend football will be discussed.
It was a weekend at the end of another long and eventful Premier League campaign. Manchester City were crowned champions, Arsenal fell short and Liverpool bid farewell to Jurgen Klopp.
Here we ask whether we should expect Manchester City’s record-breaking dominance to continue, whether Arsenal can take some solace from finishing runners-up again, and whether we should pay more attention to Jean-Philippe Matata.
What are the chances of Manchester City winning five games in a row?
That’s basically that old Gary Lineker saying, isn’t it? The Premier League is a simple game. 22 men chased the football for about 380 games, with Manchester City winning the title.
Not only have Manchester City won six titles in seven seasons, but they have now won four in a row, a level of dominance unprecedented in the history of English football, let alone the post-1992 era. Jack Grealish flicked sky-blue ticker tape out of his hair in a humorous Sky Sports interview that now appears as often as Christmas.
“This is our time,” Guardiola said in response to his team making history. No one can deny that, and the most worrying thing for City’s rivals is how easily they could extend this era of dominance even further. After four in a row, what are the chances of five?
This is not a foregone conclusion yet. City are always going to have their share of ups and downs in the title race, and even if they do emerge victorious, there will be moments that make their closest challengers look back and curse.
This season is no different in that regard. One win in six games between November and December, following two consecutive defeats in the autumn, left room for doubt. trio.
Manchester City celebrate a fourth consecutive Premier League title (Oli Scarfe/AFP via Getty Images)
However, after a winter of inconsistency, Guardiola’s side scored 57 of 63 points. They once again overcame a brief mid-season blip to eventually regain top spot. Every time they do, things become less surprising.
City have built this pedigree over more than a decade. This is their sixth appearance in a genuine Premier League title race after 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been held close for the past three years in a row, the strongest argument for the idea that what was once widely regarded as the most competitive league in the world has become a team. This season’s fluctuating fortunes prove otherwise.
But even so, the end result is predictable. Since Guardiola’s first victory in 2017-18 (their arrogant, record-breaking 100-point season), most have considered City as favorites ahead of every subsequent season, and they have done so six times. Five times they were right.
With Guardiola committed to playing at least one more season, just a little business to do in the summer transfer market, and with no timetable for a decision on 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial regulations (which they all deny), who’s betting? There won’t be another celebratory Grilish interview this time next year?
Which would be more difficult for Arsenal – collapse or defeat?
There is no good way, no easy way to lose the league title, but there are some ways that are better than others. Not that Arsenal’s players particularly wanted to hear the sound after the final whistle at the Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta’s men are understandably having a tough time with their fate. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Oleksandr Zinchenko, like many in the stands, were reduced to tears by the poor performance.
Their points tally of 89 equals the record for runners-up before the Guardiola era and is the same as Manchester United’s points tally in the 2011-12 season. Only Liverpool have achieved more but remain in second place with 97 points in 2018-19.
But like Liverpool back then, Arsenal can take solace in the fact that they exerted maximum pressure on Manchester City at the most crucial stage of the season. As many expected, Arteta’s side needed to be perfect down the stretch. That’s pretty much it, winning 15 of their final 17 games and conceding just five points.
Can Arsenal return to form and finally win the league next season? (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Last season’s disappointment was a completely different story – first blowing away a lead, then two wins in eight games, and finally a slow death by conceding 15 points in the final stages. A sense of doom gradually came over me.
This time, after learning that Manchester City had won, they suddenly realized that they would not become champions. That moment is always going to be more painful.
But until the very end, there was hope. With a strong finish to the season, there is even more reason to be optimistic. This is the third youngest team in the league, built around talent development and led by a great coach who learned at the knees of the masters.
As difficult as it is to oppose Guardiola, even the Manchester City boss himself said this week that he believes Arsenal will be his closest challenger for the foreseeable future. After watching Arteta’s side take the title down to the wire, it’s hard to disagree.
Is the glory of the Matetta in danger of being eclipsed in memory?
Did you know that Jean-Philippe Mateta is the joint top scorer in the Premier League since the start of the year?
Only Phil Foden and Cole Palmer have equaled the Crystal Palace striker’s 14 goals since the start of 2024, and they were named Top League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year respectively this weekend. players.
Now, no one is suggesting that Foden’s gong should be on Matt Tower’s mantelpiece, but the 26-year-old’s late blooming is something that’s easy to overlook in the long run because it happened after the vote. It’s been handed in, the awards have been handed out, and the story of a season has been written.
No player has scored more Premier League goals this year than Mateta (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Getty Images Offside)
This was especially true on the final day, as so much was happening at once that events like Mateta’s hat-trick against Aston Villa and soaring up the scoresheet could easily have been overlooked.
There were two goals in Sunday’s game that deserve to be regarded as the best of the season, Moises Caicedo’s strike from the halfway line against Chelsea and Mohamed Kudus’ strike against Manchester City into an acrobatic overhead kick.
By setting himself up for the goal, some thought Kudus’ goal was even better than Alejandro Garnacho’s strike against Everton in November.
At least the Premier League’s official Goal of the Season award is usually handed out only after the dust has settled, which should give Kudus a chance to beat Garnacho for the award. As for Mateta, he may have to settle for the Golden Boot in 2024-25.
Next
- Gareth Southgate will announce his England squad for this summer’s European Championships on Tuesday.It’s just a makeshift squad at the moment, but we’ll find out which fringe players are expected to get a spot on the plane and which players will be watching from the couch this summer
- Of course, the bigger deal on Tuesday will be Athletic team The end-of-season awards recognize the best players in the Premier League, Women’s Super League, EFL and European football.Matta may or may not be the winner
- Xavi Alonso’s side completed their unbeaten run in the Bundesliga this weekend with the Europa League final taking place at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Wednesday against Atalanta and treble winners Bayer Leverkusen.
- Once the hiccups of Saturday’s Manchester derby FA Cup final are over, we can get down to what everyone is looking forward to in the coming weeks – the wild, relentless speculation over Erik ten Hag’s future
- Defending champions Barcelona hope to win a third Women’s Champions League title against Lyon on Saturday
- On Sunday, that’s what we’re legally obliged to call the most lucrative game in football – the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton
