Hello my good football people… wow, who could have imagined that?
From a commanding eight-point lead in January to losing the race with three games still to play! It’s not inconceivable that Arsenal will end up close to 10 points off the champions!
Incredible stuff, don’t say I didn’t f*****g tell you.
Massive congratulations to Pep Guadiola and his City side. They didn’t look themselves at times this season, but if ever there was an illustration of peaking at the right time, this has to be it.
In full machine mode heading for the treble with Mikel Arteta scratching his unibrow not quite knowing what hit him.
However, the eventuality was predicted by many. As good a job as the Spaniard has done, being an assistant to Pep at Man City (with an incredible squad) hadn’t equipped him well enough to be able to guide a young squad through the marathon that is a full season in the Premier League. The Gunners were good, but peaked before New Year.
A turning moment happened on January 27 when they lost to City in the FA Cup. This had followed a period of relentless Arsenal domination barring a fringe team loss in the Carabao Cup to Brighton.
Goodnight! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/T37ansa5BR
— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 21, 2023
It seemed to knock the confidence. They then lost to Everton, drew with Brentford and got undone (in the league this time) at home to City.
To his credit, Arteta managed to regroup the side and picked it up again until that fateful day at Anfield…
Cruising at 2-0 up, leaving with what was in the end a lucky point. From that moment it was all heading in one direction. Sh!t it must be terrible being a ‘Gooner’ right now. Ordinarily it could be considered a good season, but to fold like this?
Not even Gabriel Jesus could save them.
I tried speaking to an Arsenal mate of mine about the choke, but it didn’t go down very well. Get it? But seriously, those days of referring to bottling it as ‘Spursy’ have surely come to an end. Has to be ‘Arsenaly’ now…
The collapse was epic. Of course, City winning the league is fine for the rest of us. No one really cares. It’s super plastic, driven by crooked money and (alleged) crooked dealings and they’re by far the best side we’ve ever seen in England, what else should we expect?
It’s not like when Roman Abramovich entered the theatre in 2003. Chelsea were hated before he arrived, every piece of silverware the Blues won was (and still is) resented. Staying at the top end and Liverpool are still in with a glimmer of hope for a Champions League place.
You have to admire the way Jurgen Klopp has stopped the rot. It looked like it was all going down the tube, but the last part of this season will reignite hope for a strong campaign next term. And what about Brighton securing European football for the first time in their history! Wow, what an incredible achievement.
A story amplified in its importance against the backdrop of the obscene money being spent by the traditional top six… brilliantly run club.
Despite the crowning of the champions, there’s still plenty to play for. At the bottom it’s touch and go for Everton, Leicester and Leeds, plenty drama in store there.
The Derby 🤩
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 23, 2023
It'll be an all-Manchester Final for the pinnacle of the 2022/23 #EmiratesFACup 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bgMobg4Qd8
And City play United in the FA Cup final in 12 days, a week before the Champions League final! In-between it all, the most pathetic Chelsea I’ve ever seen go to Old Trafford on Thursday and Cape Town converges on Greenpoint for what has to be the biggest and most anticipated sporting occasion since the World Cup in 2010 as the Stormers attempt to become back-to-back URC champions.
4️⃣ DAYS TO GO!
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) May 23, 2023
It’s Champions vs Challenger 🏆![CDATA[]]>👀
It’s @TheStormers vs @MunsterRugby ⚡️🦌
Who do you think will RISE to victory? 🏉![CDATA[]]>🔥#EventsInCapeTown | Presented by @CityofCT#UnitedWeRise pic.twitter.com/jHAu3nYSxY
If only we could get our local football to be a 10th as exciting. Chat next week, Bye byeeeee.