I picked up the newspaper on Saturday morning and a couple of comments jumped out.
One was from former Arsenal defender Martin Keown who said he expected David Moyes would ask his players to pull together and construct a defensive wall to stop Manchester City.
The other came from City boss himself, Pep Guardiola, who predicted the final day Premier League title showdown would be nerve-shredding.
I laughed off both.
In fairness to Guardiola, his comments were specifically designed to make sure his players made life a lot easier for themselves (and their boss) than they did on the last day two years ago.
The other view was, I believe, expressed more out of hope than expectation.
Why would West Ham minds be focused, to that extent, on keeping out the champions when they had nothing to play for.
The Hammers at home was, to this Sbotop observer, the perfect fixture in this scenario.
So, could City officially be four-midable?
Yes, was the answer and, as if to prove my point, they never looked in any danger as they opened up a two-goal lead inside 18 minutes.
Whatever your views about the club since its 2008 takeover, self-evident maths show that the richest club in the richest league with the greatest manager and the greatest bolt-on backroom staff, all put together without jeopardy or personal interest or financial risk, will inevitably succeed
Against this backdrop though, their Premier League highlights cannot be disputed and they are one of the greatest sides English football has ever seen.
In North London, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta expected his players to block out any noise – including dispatches from Manchester – and put an opponent to the sword one last time, making sure they at least do their bit.
To their credit, they did – just.
Again, it was at home to opponents with nothing to play for, although to their credit, Everton offered more resistance than the Hammers and were only defeated courtesy of a late Kai Havertz goal.
Arsenal can take even more credit for this campaign than the last one and the progress made under Arteta is visible and tangible.
The fact remains, though, they do not quite possess – as yet at least – the full package to be England’s number one.
It was Arteta’s predecessor, Unai Emery, who played as much as role as anyone in undermining their title bid with a league double for his new employers Aston Villa.
With Villa’s mission accomplished – a return to Europe’s top tier for the first time in 40 years – it would not have been a shock to see a lethargic performance against Crystal Palace, who at least had the carrot of a top-half finish to play for and whose late season upsurge meant a few players – Marc Guéhi, Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton and Dean Henderson – were genuinely vying for a place at Euro 2024 with England.
That’s exactly what happened as the Eagles ran riot 5-0 at Selhurst Park.
With Spurs, Chelsea and Newcastle joining Villa and the top three in Europe, all other eyes were focused on the bottom.
In the end, though, it was all very straightforward.
After all, it would have taken a Luton Town win, a Nottingham Forest defeat and a 13-goal swing in Luton’s favour to inject a touch of jeopardy into the relegation battle on the final day.
The end of a campaign is usually a time for some farewells (some perhaps temporary, others permanent).
Rob Edwards deserves much credit, of course, for what he has achieved and Luton provided some old-school charm in the top flight.
Likewise, Vincent Kompany has undoubtedly made mistakes in his debut season as a Premier League manager but the Burnley board were steadfast in their support and he too deserves a chance to bounce back.
It is farewell too to Jurgen Klopp, arguably the greatest manager in Liverpool history for what he achieved both on and off the pitch at the Merseyside club – the team he walked into in in 2015 was certainly not as strong as those inherited by some of his high profile predecessors going back to the 1970s and 80s (think Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish).
Over a much shorter period, Roberto De Zerbi – someone Klopp was only able to defeat once in five attempts over the past two seasons – is a good manager who presumably wants to move to a club which isn’t constantly selling its best talent.
We also say ‘arrivederci’ to him, although if Premier League betting odds offered bets on the future of managers, I reckon we will see De Zerbi back in the top flight in the future.
As for next season, will we see VAR again?
The heart says no and the head says yes. Let the debate continue.
That was the Premier League 2023-24.
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