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And that is us. Thanks all for your company and comments – stick with us for what is guaranteed to be a ridiculous end to another ridiculous season. Peace.
Good news from elsewhere…
De Bruyne tells Sky how hard it is to keep going, mentally as much as physically, and also notes how many others sacrifice for them. “This is my home,” he says of City, thanking the fans for their support, and Geoff Shreeves is desperate to force him into hyperbole but he’s having no such thing.
The WSL title is almost Chelsea’s but Man United are keeping them honest, leading City 1-0.
Also going on:
The best post match interview of all time? 🤣🤣
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 21, 2023
Erling Haaland breaks off mid interview to have a dance 🕺 pic.twitter.com/8LOw7BCU2Y
Here’s David Hytner’s match report.
“Surreal,” says Stones, who never thought he’d win five titles; who knows how many he’ll finish with. Asked if he’s in the form of his life, he says he doesn’t like to talk about himself, but when he was out of the team, he was always trying to find consistency and now thinks he has. On his new position, he says a natural and experienced centre-mid knows what’s behind them but he’s learning that, is enjoying it. And he’s got a new appreciation of playing centre-back and when to pass a midfielder the ball – Guardiola has taught him a lot about body-shape, simplifying what’s required. The aim now is to win the other two pots.
“Unreal,” is Haaland’s summation. “Listen to this song and enjoy,” he says as the crowd serenade him and he lopes off to milk the adulation. He returns, though, saying he’ll remember this for the rest of his life, noting that things could’ve gone better, but 36 goals isn’t a bad start.
Grealish feels more a part of it, “back to my normal self.” He enjoyed it last term because it was his first but this time he’s given it his best and he feels so much fitter and more confident now. He’s showing why City bought him but still has lots more to give, he reckons.
He can’t put his finger on what changed, but since the international break they’ve taken it up a level and reckons the month of April is the best any City side has ever produced. Asked about his relationship with Haaland, he says they live in the same building so come to training together a fair bit, and their friendship off the pitch manifests on it. Ah, and here is Haaland; “I fucking love you!” Grealish tells him and of course Sky apologise; feel free to form your own lists of things they think are fine.
The players begin their lap of honour, Hey Jude on the PA. Haaland rushes an end behind the goal, lifting the trophy and receiving cheers.
Ilkay Gundogan lifts the Premier League trophy!
Manchester City are champions again!
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Ah, the players all have “CHAMPIONS 23” on the backs of their shirts. Clever clever.
One by one the players collect their medals and ascend the dais. What a player Bernardo Silva is – and yet, a player who’d be nowhere near as good playing for any other manager.
“If you ever drank in the Con in 90s Camden,” returns John, “I probably served you. I had no problem serving (drinks) to pupils in uniform from Camden School for Girls. No chauvinism in our pub.”
Ha! We tended to go to Quinns – three Aventinus then back to school was a challenge, I can tell you.
Guardiola takes his medal and now has 11 titles in 14 years of management. Biggup Mourinho, Conte and Klopp, the only men who’ve bested him over a season.
Now here come the players. Jack Grealish looks the happiest, and well in the mood for an evening.
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Here comes Pep Guardiola, kit over top and high-fiving the line of staff. He is remarkably, uncannily brilliant at extracting the most from elite talents while pushing the game on.
Here comes the trophy, and here comes Alex Williams – Panini veterans will remember him – who for just a little longer works for City in the community.
“I’m Camden Town born and bred, says David Johnson. “Everything south of the water is Surrey, Hampshire or, what’s that other one? Sussex? They only attach London to the description to push up house prices. It’s like when estate agents call Archway ‘South Highgate’ or Acton ‘West Kensington’.”
I went to school in Camden, and in the 90s it felt like the absolute epicentre of London. Where else could you get a lunchtime pint, in school uniform (me, not the pint).
In the studio, they’re talking about where City rank among the best sides we’ve ever seen. Given any conversation of that sort has to start with who won what, I’d say they’re up there in terms of the league, a treble and they’re up there with the best english sides overall. That said, until very recently, I’d always thought these were less good than the Silva/Aguero/Kompany side, but I’d rank both miles above Arsenal 04, who I also think were less good than Mourinho’s Chelsea.
The subs didn’t make enough impact, says Allardyce; he’s less loquacious about the caretaker manager.
Is there any way whatsoever that this time next season, City aren’t celebrating four in a row? What’s unusual about them is that they’re still improving – the other teams to do three straight, Man United 99-01 and 07-09, were on the way down at this point. They still got close, but the challengers were likely better than those City will face next term, so it’s pretty hard to see a different outcome.
“Since when have Arsenal and Spurs defined the geography of London!” wonders Richard Hirst. “South London rules; remember, Balham is the gateway to the South.”
I’m just saying it seems strange if Arsenal v AFC Wimbledon is a derby but Arsenal v Watford is not.
Sky are showing a City highlights package, and I’m wondering if their 3-3 draw at Newcastle is the best game I’ve seen this season.
The pitch has been largely cleared now, or at least those left on it are behind the line of stewarts stewards, so the trophy should soon be with us.
The Premier League title is decided, but the WSL pot remains in the balance, just. And what a match we’ve got for you now…
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“I imagine how United and Inter beat City would be very much getting a stomp on from the get go,” reckons Bill Preston. “Nick a lead, then thrilling defensive heroics. Three points make a triangle and everything comes from there.”
Thing is, City just start games so well – Madrid weren’t allowed so much as a breath in the first 20 minutes.
Walker also praises the quality, camaraderie and mentality in the squad, while Phillips is hoping to play in the remaining games but if not he’s there to “support the lads” and is “praying to God” that Leeds stay up.
Back to Phillips, he says that City can win the Champions League theuy’ll be cemented as one of the greatest temas ever, and he’s right.
Walker says the “lads did tremendous today”, praising their ability to stay focus. In particular, he’s happy with how Phillips did, and Phillips is happy to have won the league and to have played. Confidence-wise, he’s had the lowest moments of his career this season, and leaders like Walker have kept him going.
Walker then says that Phillips is “a gem, one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in football”, and that it’s hard playing for “the manager” so a bit of time to settle is to be expected. He then references the win over Liverpool just after the World Cup as when he thought they could win the title again, they beat Leeds in the next game, and now they want to win the lot.
“This season of football ended on the day when bright minds in Bavaria gave Nagelsmann the boot,” reckons Yash Gupta. “As good as City have been and they would still be favourites as Pep has a better team than Bayern, that match could’ve been a blockbuster. Nagelsmann looked like he learnt from his mistakes this season. Needless to say I enjoyed Bayern demolition.”
I’m not sure about that – Nagelsmann’s Bayern looked a mess to me.
Kyle Walker takes a seat on the City bench; he’s earned it.
Full time: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
City finish their home programme with a win – they lead Arsenal by seven with two games left to their one – there’s a pitch invasion, some blue flares, and the players are escorted off the pitch.
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90+2 min Of course, it’s not as simple as that – under pressure, perhaps City don’t keep winning – except we’ve seen them do it before.
90+1 min There’s a buzz in the crowd as throats are warmed for the final whistle. I should say that if Arsenal had beaten Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton, City would still be a point above them.
90 min There’ll be three added minutes.
90 min Chukwuemeka wins the ball in midfield and finds Mudryk, whose shot definitely doesn’t go in because I can see the score remains 1-0, but I’m not sure what happened to it as my SkyGo crashed.
88 min Gary Neville gives player of the match to Foden; I’d’ve gone Alvarez, but it’s been nice to see the former screeching through the middle and prompting on the half-turn. It’ll be fascinating to see if he wins his first-XI spot back next season. Oh, and Chelsea brought on Pulisic for Havertz.
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86 min I don’t feel we’ve settled the how do United and Inter beat City question.
86 min There’s not loads going on on the pitch, City sweeping forward and Alvarez curling over the top from 20 yards.
85 min “It’s 11 miles from Selhurst Park to Arsenal’s ground, and 14 miles from Vicarage Road to Arsenal’s ground,” tweets Kieran Toms, and fair play, I didn’t check because I was so certain it was nearer it didn’t seem necessary. That’s what traffic does to you.
84 min “I am old so I understand the preference for Billy Bragg v rap protest music,” writes Mary Waltz. “But I would remind some of my older citizens that the ‘he isn’t singing he is croaking’ was the exact arguments made against Bob Dylan when he went electric. If the rap style turns you off try reading the lyrics first and think of it as musical spoken poetry. I am not saying I am a hip-hop aficionado but an open mind will occasionally expose oneself to some gems.”
Absolutely. As I’m constantly reminding my niece, nephew and daughter, be open not closed.
82 min Trevor off Eastenders Paul Dickov is at the game in a City kit. He’s 50.
81 min I keep forgetting who’s in this Chelsea squad, and on comes Koulibaly – today, it’s him – for Hall, with Chukwuemeka replacing Loftus-Cheek – and also him.
80 min “I’m not a Chelsea supporter,” brags Alexandra Ashton, “but from what I’ve seen of Fernandez during the World Cup and in these recent months, he seems like a skilled young player with potential, not a generational talent with the world at his fingertips. Benfica signed him for €10M from River and I think his value, although having increased, is most certainly not close to €120M. €50M would be my value as of after the World Cup, maybe 60. Maybe in five years Chelsea will have won the league three times with him as a central figure and we’ll be saying he was worth the price, but I doubt it.”
What I like about him is that he’s good at defeating the press with a good range of passing, but as you say, for the money you’d expect more.
79 min He giveth and he taketh away.
@DanielHarris pic.twitter.com/LFnoHbhBDY
— eoforic (@Eoforic) May 21, 2023
78 min Two more changes for City, the big guns sent on to enjoy the final-whistle celebrations. De Bruyne and Rodri on, Gomez and Laporte off.
76 min “Ah come on now,” says Pedro Da Feu. “While I spent a large portion of my life very annoyed at my commute having to get a train from central London to Croydon for work every day, and passing their stadium, I can at least acknowledge that Crystal Palace is a London club, while Watford definitely is not.”
I was messing, but Watford is a lot nearer Arsenal and Spurs than Palace and Charlton are.
74 min Alvarez carries forward before slipping a ball in behind to meet Haaland’s diagonal run. But taking possession down the left of the box, he can only skew an attempted shot wide of the far post.
74 min Change for city, Haaland for Mahrez.
NO GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
I’m not sure how Mahrez avoids a booking for that, because it was so obviously snide and deliberate, but he does.
VAR wants a look...
…Mahrez crouched to try and hide it, but he definitely used an arm to nudge the ball away and into his path as Hall slipped. This’ll be disallowed.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Chelsea (Álvarez 71)
Here they come again, Mahrez getting away from Hall, who slips, crossing low, and Alvarez – what a signing he’s been! – tapping in.
70 min “For all your, I’m sure justified, dissing of Chelsea,” says Richard Hirst, “they’ve had four shots on target to City’s one. Funny game, football.”
Yup. I guess part of playing well is taking chances, though, and Chelsea have a real lack of conviction in everything they do.
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69 min Double change for Chelsea: Mudryk and Madueke for Gallagher and Sterling.
69 min A ball over the top sees Alvarez worrying Fofana, and a quick shove sends him over – more easily than you’d like. So Alvarez squares, Mahrez taps home, and the flag goes up for the foul.
67 min On Fernandez, how do we think he’s doing? I wasn’t that impressed during the World Cup – he played fairly well, but nothing that made me think he was worth whatever the price was. I’m sure processing his achievement while emigrating to a country with different language and culture was tricky, all the more so given the mess he walked into. But I’m still not seeing a generational talent, though those who’ve watched him loads, much more than I have, think to the contrary.
66 min Fernandez kicks the ball away and is booked.
65 min Fernandez clips over the top for Sterling, loitering in the middle, and have a look! You do not see that often, and by “that” I mean Walker diddled. But diddled he is, Sterling going inside then out, shooting low, and though Ortega gets a touch, the ball trickles golawards … except Stones humps off the line, just before the flag goes up anyway.
63 min “Your reference to the Romanian national team players bleaching their hair brings back some vivid memories not from USA ‘94 but France ‘98,” chides Fifi Bartels.
This what happens when you get old, all the years merge into one.
61 min “I suspect you’re right about Foden,” emails Josh Wilson, “however he may have to move into the centre to take Bernardo’s minutes next season. In that case, we’d be looking for a winger to play both sides and a left-back. As for replacing Dias - haven’t you watched him this season? Best centre-back in the league by a mile.”
Yeah, when things weren’t going so well for City, I was shocked to see a Guardiola side with Mahrez and Grealish out wide as neither has much pace. Now, though, not so much, and though I think Dias is a good player, I don’t think he’s as good as Martínez, Saliba or Varane off the top of my head. His leadership and bloody-mindedness make a massive difference to this side though because those are qualities it’s lacked in the past.
60 min Sterling is trying his best and he roadrunners through the middle, finding Hall outside him, but the resultant shot is pushed away by Ortega easily enough.
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58 min Mahrez swerves in flat and fast, Phillips is up … and he nods against the near post! He’s putting himself about here.
58 min On which point, how crazy is it that Stones is suddenly fulfilling his potential now that he’s not longer playing in position? Anyway, free-kick City out on the left, Mahrez to take…
57 min Change for City: Akanji off, Stones on.
55 min On which point, you wonder what kind of lift they’ll need to get them going again next season. I guess the most obvious comparator is Man United, who were appalling under Ralf Rangnick at the end of last season – though not this appalling, which seems a mad thing to say having lived through that period because how could anything be worse? But Chelsea are, and unlike United have a bunch of players who are new together rather than a squad that’d finished second twice. On the other hand, I daresay Mauricio Pochettino will quite like the squad he’s been bequeathed, and he definitely has the personality and smarts to inspire them to better.
54 min Chelsea knock the ball about without intention or intensity.
52 min “Your opening thoughts about the financial backing for City can’t be ignored, reckons Mary Waltz. “It reminds me of the Faustian bargain we make. My love of sport borders on the juvenile occasionally and ignoring my conscious to continue my passion for it is sometimes required. Sometimes we as a collective say Enough!, as the fans in the UK did with the craven attempt of the owners to set up the super league. Nine years ago the NFL went too far and I abandoned 40 yeas of fandom and boycotted them but I substituted the PL and I am faced with similar compromises with a different accent.”
Yup – sport’s problem is that it’s just too good: too good to avoid people whose interest is in using it for their own selfish ends. As supporters, we shouldn’t have to debate whether we can enjoy or continue watching our team because we also care about human rights, but the avarice and myopia of authorities and governments means we are where we are.
51 min Sterling carries forward and finds Hall to his left; Hall takes a decent first touch that carries him inside, across the face of the box, before shooting low, hard and too close to Ortega.
50 min Alvarez into Lewis into Foden, who shoots from edge … but Thaigo Silva blocks at source.
49 min Loftus-Cheek carries forward and finds Gallagher, who passes behind Havertz. It’s a serious effort for players this talented to be this dreadful – in some ways, it’s admirable.
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47 min “Further to Richard Hirst’s message,” says Liam Curson, “with us playing Forest at home next week, there’s a glorious opportunity for Palace to finish above Chelsea too. Hell, I wouldn’t even put it past Chelsea to concede another four here, lose to Newcastle, and West Ham to overtake them on the final day … when were Chelsea last bottom of the PL London clubs?”
Good question. Even the last time they went down, 1987-88, Watford were below them, and if Palace count as a London club, they surely do too? I’m not sure whether or not I’m joking there.
46 min “There is only one Bard of Barking, Daniel,” tweets @Grog_Eisenbein, '“and he’s the singing kind.”
Why do we need to choose when we can have both? Seriously, check out that record and come back to me.
46 min We go again…
Back come the teams…
Elsewhere, Brighton guaranteed themselves European football with a 3-1 win over Southampton; they need one more point to make it Europa, not conference. What an absurd impact Robert Di Zerbi has had, and what great work by Tony Bloom and chums in appointing him.
“Your comment at 45 mins about Chelsea having the ‘how to play football’ bit of their brains removed,” says Simon Mazoer. “A Lampotomy?”
Arf! Sadly, though the malaise predates him; a toddsplant, maybe?
Half-time email: “Phil Foden receiving five winners medals before the average person passes their driving test is cause for a celebration of achievement,” says William Preston. “He’s phenomenally gifted and also managed to absolutely rock a peroxide blonde barnet which when I tried it ended up looking like a 1970s pub ceiling. Actually, yeah, five medals at the age of 22?! Stop this bus, and hold them in trust for a few years for ‘the good of the nation’.”
Nothing will ever beat Romania at USA ’94, but I’ve not seen anyone wear the do less well than Alejandro Garnacho.
Half-time entertainment: Potter Payper’s new album is the realest talk I’ve heard in a long, long time. Rap storytelling at its finest, but be prepared for it to finish you.
Half-time: Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea
City are good, Chelsea are not. Stick with us for further insights.
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45+2 min Chelsea win a free-kick just outside the box, right of centre, and Havertz curls into the wall, a header sending the ball behind it, and Lewis does really well to cover, taking away from Gallagher.
45+1 min Funny thing really, not long ago it looked like everything would be up for grabs on the final day, now it looks like we’ll have Leeds needing a miracle to stay up and nothing else.
45 min We’ll have one added minute.
45 min Chelsea look like they’ve had the how to play football bit of their brains removed.
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43 min Laporte punches down the left to Alvarez but, with little on, he plays backwards and Lewis moves the ball on one more for Phillips to swipe a vicious shot just wide. He’s playing pretty well here.
41 min So how do City improve this summer? A replacement for Gundogan, maybe? A specialist left-back, perhaps? There’s not much work needing doing, so they could sell Phillips and sign the next Rodri; at a push, a better centre-back than Dias or Akanji. But both have had great seasons, so I doubt replacing either is a priority.
39 min …and he picks out the leg of the first man.
39 min City win a freo0kick down the left which Foden will take…
38 min “Beating City,” begins Rich Harris. “Ten Hag has already beaten City this season I seem to recall, and Marcus Rashford was the difference. Hard to see United stopping the City juggernaut but plenty of underdogs have won FA Cup Finals, and City losing to Wigan in 2013 is a case in point. I’d say it is a free hit for United as nobody expects them to win.”
It’s an Fa Cup final, a derby, and with the treble on the line; I can’t say I’m impartial here, but that’s never a free hit. And whole United did beat City at Old Trafford, City have improved loads since whereas United have looked, for quite some weeks, like a side that’s already played its best football this season.
36 min Chelsea are coming! Hall moseys down the left, crosses well, and when Gallagher heads goalwards, Ortega scurries across, the ball hits the near post, flicks his thigh, ands runs to relative safety.
34 min Fernandez slides a pass in behind for Sterling, and is he in? Er, sort of; Gomez gets back at him well and perhaps the worst finisher to have scored shedloads of goals – see also Lukaku, R – can only slide across Ortega and into his studs.
33 min Ederson has died his hair blue; Laporte appears to have blue highlights.
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31 min Fernandez paints a nice ball over the top for Sterling, down the left side of the box, but his attempted square-pass for Havertz is easily intercepted by Akanji.
30 min Later today, Foden will receive his fifth title-winner’s medal. He’s 22.
29 min Phillips launches a gorgeous diag towards Foden, now on the right, which he kills with a leaping touch, before trying an outswinging lob that sails over Kepa and wide – just.
29 min Apparently Chelsea are also playing. We’re investigating.
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28 min “As a Chelsea fan,” tweets Brendan Large, “I am concerned that the plan may be to get Haaland on in the last 30 mins to improve his goal tally.”
If he comes on, my guess is it’ll be to keep him moving and in rhythm, rather than to score a few more – though of course if he’s on the pitch, that’s not unlikely.
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27 min Mahrez teases Hall became he can, tempting him in, swaying, and laying off. Meantime, in the stands, the Poznan.
25 min I’m certain Inzaghi will look to beat City in a different way, packing midfield and defending deep. That can work, but will require some serious focus and patience, along with some brilliance from Barella, Martinez or, er, Darmian or Mkhitaryan.
24 min And here the come again, Foden streaking forward, playing a one-two with Lewis and finding Palmer – he’s made a fine start to the game. Another low cross follows, but this one is kicked away by Chalobah when it’s deflected towards the goalline.
23 min Back on the pitch, City are knocking the ball around with embarrassing ease.
22 min I doubt Ten Hag does either of those things, though. My guess is he’ll look to win the game on the counter and on the counter-press, problem being without Lisandro Martínez, he lacks a defender able to get the ball moving in timely fashion.
21 min So, about beating City. If I was Ten Hag, I’d play Shaw not Lindelof at centre-back because much as the latter has done well lately, him getting ragdolled by Haaland looks a strong possibility. Then, up front, I’d be thinking hard about using Garnacho on the left to attack the space outside Walker – there’s no point bringing him on after 70 if it’s 4-0 – though Martial’s ability to hold the ball up would be helpful.
19 min Alvarez boots Fofana’s studs as they contest a loose ball, and that looks a right sair yin. But he’ll be fine.
18 min Havertz slides in on Phillips and is so late it’s almost last season. He’s booked, and I wonder what’s going to become of him. I really thought he was special when I saw him at Leverkusen, and assumed at some point, things would just click. But three seasons later, he doesn’t seem any better than he was then, and I bet Boehly would take a decent offer for him.
17 min So how do you go about beating City. If I was Erik ten Hag or Simone Inzaghi, I’d be going out round about now, and not coming back until I had a plan. more of that in a sec…
16 min In co-comms, Gary Nev notes that Azpilicueta reminds him of himself when he was finished, knackered after 10 minutes, and also that Lampard looks like a player who really doesn’t like his players.
15 min Here come City again – if they keep this up, Chelsea are in all sorts – Palmer weaving down the left and clipping back, for both Lewis and Alavarez to try backheels before Mahrez thrashes over from a narrow angle.
14 min On which point, what a signing Alvarez has been an all-purpose forward able to play across the front and with the speed, movement and aggression to be an immediate threat against anyone.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Chelsea (Alvarez 12)
This is so, so easy and so, so competent. Fofana picks out Phillips who sets Palmer away through the middle, he then punches to Alvarez outside him, and a fine first touch at inside-right, dragging ball into stride, allows him to slide across Kepa and into the far corner.
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12 min Ah, I meant to say, Joao Felix pulled out of the game pre-match, so is replaced on the Chelsea bench by Ethan Wady, their third-choice keeper.
11 min Palmer controls a long pass nicely and again skates by Azpilicueta on the outside, but this time, the defenders gets back at him like the wily old sod he is.
10 min Fernandez is down after Walker slides in to win a loose ball then lifts his foot in the follow-through, catching yerman in the shin. He’ll be fine.
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9 min “Most Important reason that City stay focused?” asks Richard Hirst of himself. “Because anything except a Chelsea win means they will finish below Fulham!”
That is remarkable, it really is – what a season Fulham have had. What a season Chelsea have had!
8 min Again, the corner is cleared to the edge, where Foden takes down and pulls a shot wide of the near post.
8 min City win a corner down the right, Mahrez to take…
7 min On which point, though I’m sure he’s in a pretty good mood, it must be rankling with Foden that he’s starting games like this one. He’ll have been the best player in every team at every level, but suddenly he’s on the bench in this one. Partly, it’s because Grealish is in better form than he is, but it’s also the case that Grealish’s ball-holding abilities offer more control to a side that now has a proper centre-forward, not a midfielder mooching about anywhere and everywhere. Which is to say regaining a spot isn’t just about playing better, it’s probably about being different as well.
5 min I thought Foden would play on the left, but he’s off Alvarez through the middle.
4 min Azpilicueta nashes down the right and crosses low, but City clear.
4 min The corner is also cleared to the edge, where Gomez slices across a shot that flies just high and just wide.
3 min Nice from Palmer, doing Azpilicueta for pace by skirting around the outside, then clipping back, and the ball falls for Phillips, whose shot is deflected behind.
1 min It’s a lovely day in Manchester – not words anyone supposed to type, and as I type them, I can feel my Grandma glowering at me from the grave. “It makes me so vexed,” she’d say, whenever anyone challenged the weather in her famously tropical city.
1 min Away we go!
“Walker ...should never have left Spurs,” joshes Daniel B.
I’m certain he laments the day on a regular.
City, players holding kids, enter. They look pretty satisfied at a job well done – at least I think that’s what’s going on, because how would I know?
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Lacking the comedy value of this one.
Here come Chelsea to form the guard of honour. Penny for em, Raheem?
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Which is before we discuss this new tweak of a defender in midfield. Against some opponents, that gap at left-back might be targeted, but most are just trying to stay in the game, and going forward it allows them swarm with men all over the place.
And that’s the thing with Guardiola’s football: it’s so damn hard to beat, harder than any style that’s ever existed. You get 35% possession if you’re doing well, a chunk of that is deep inside your own half, and out of what’s left you generally have to somehow score at least twice to get a draw. Yeah, enjoy!
I mentioned below that City’s brilliance is underpinned by money of particular provenance; it’d be dishonest and immoral of me not to. However, it’s also the case that only Guardiola could have these players playing like this. How many of City’s first XI are among the best in the world in their position? I’d go Walker, De Bruyne, Rodri, Haaland, which is to say it takes a genius to deploy in such a way that seem unbeatable.
And what a response to his manager saying he couldn’t play the inverted role. No whining, just more ridiculous defending, and it’s hard to see him missing either of the two finals because his pace, strength and nous is helping Guardiola’s new 3-2-4-1 formation work.
Kyle Walker: the best right-back of the Premier League era, yes?
Guardiola says it’s not especially special doing three in a row, every title is special, but the achievement shows consistency. He then credits Arsenal and Liverpool for pushing his team to its limits, and today is the first day the who squad, staff and suits have been together.
Email! “It doesn’t matter how many changes Pep has made,” laments Neal Butler. “I have a feeling Chelsea are going to get murdered today. Then again, I’ve had that same feeling for every match since Lampard took over, and another change of formation isn’t helping.”
What I don’t get about this Lampard escapade is why he hasn’t tried to settle some players. The formation next season won’t be up to him, but given what was paid for Mudryk, for example, I don’t get why he’s not been given a run of games to settle. Instead, he’ll now have to do that next season with important points at stake, rather than now, for free.
Frank Lampard tells Sky that his team have to respect City’s achievement, and though they’ve made changes, his players need to focus on themselves. It’s a chance for them to show pride in Chelsea and themselves, he reckons. Good luck, lads.
As for Chelsea, Frank Lampard has yet another go at making something, anything out of Todd Boehly’s handiwork. Mendy, Badiashile, Kovacic, Madueke and Felix drop out; Kepa, Fofana, Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek and Havertz come in.
Title in the bag, Pep Guardiola makes changes. Ederson, Dias, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish, Bernardo and Haaland drop out. Ortega, Laporte, Gomez, Lewis, Phillips – making his first league start – Foden, Mahrez, Álvarez and Palmer come in. Or, put another way, Walker and Akanji are the only two who remain from midweek.
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So let’s have a closer look at those teams…
Big, big trouble for Leeds. They now trail West Ham 3-1, and relegation looks close.
Teams!
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ortega; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Gomez; Lewis, Phillips, Foden; Mahrez, Álvarez, Palmer. Subs: Ederson, Dias, Stones, Gundogan, Haaland, Grealish, Rodri, De Bruyne, B Silva.
Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Arrizabalaga; Fofana, T Silva, Chalobah; Azpilicueta, Fernandez, Loftus-Cheek, Hall; Gallagher; Sterling, Havertz. Subs: Mendy, Pulisic, Koulibaly, D Fofana, Mudryk, Joao Felix, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Ziyech.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Ashington)
Updated
Preamble
Well that de-escalated quickly. Not long ago, we had a title race, then Pep Guardiola moved John Stones into midfield, his team hit a rolling boil, and Arsenal faltered then kept faltering. The title – City’s seventh in 12, fifth in six and third in a row – is theirs, and the two outstanding legs of the treble feel less in prospect, more inevitable.
With good reason. There’s a particular kind of confidence that only comes with success, and all season City have cut about like they know they’ll do whatever it takes to get one point more than their nearest rivals. But in the last few weeks, things have changed: rather than use that knowhow and cunning to slide over the line, they kept it in reserve because form took over, their midweek dematerialisation of Real Madrid up there with the great performances.
That kind of thing – every player hitting a simultaneous peak within a structure that fits them perfectly – tends not to happen often, and they may never play quite as well again. Or, alternatively, we may be acclimatising to a new normal.
Yeah, about that. Pages such as this one exist mainly to celebrate this beautiful thing of ours, and make no mistake, City are elevating its on-pitch aspect in ridiculous style. Problem being we can’t ignore it provenance: a repressive regime using football as a nationalist tool to build power and influence. Nor can we sidestep the Uefa FFP charges thrown out by Cas partly because of an expired limitation period, or the many alleged Premier League FFP rule-breaches yet to be disproved. So, um, er, yeah, them. But what a team!
And then there’s Chelsea! It’s the way we tell ’em! The polar opposite of City’s wise largesse and, in a crowded field, the worst team in per pound spent in football history, they’ve lost six out of eight since the fascinatingly inept decision to appoint Frank Lampard as caretaker manager. Should the champions be in the mood, they could take an epochal beating this afternoon, and even if they don’t, will still endure the chastening experience of applauding them onto the pitch before watching as they accept the trophy … and unlike most of City’s rivals, they can’t even ascend the moral high ground to console themselves.
Kick-off: 4pm BST
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