EPL UPDATE
Arsenal level with City after win
Arsenal cruised past Hull City as Alexis Sanchez's double earned a 3-1 victory at the KC Stadium and drew the Gunners level on points with Manchester City in the battle for second.
Alexis Sanchez: Scored twice as Arsenal beat Hull
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 10 games and, still with a game in hand, they have equalled City’s 70 points, albeit with an inferior goal difference.
The win also secured Arsene Wenger's side a place in the Champions League for the 18th successive season.
Hull remain level on points and goal difference with Leicester in the battle for Premier League survival, but have dropped beneath them having scored fewer goals.
Sanchez, who has now scored in all three meetings with Hull this season, pick-pocketed Tom Huddlestone in midfield after 28 minutes to instigate the opener. Jake Livermore brought him down to prevent an ominous dribble towards goal, but Sanchez’s 25-yard free-kick sailed past a helpless Steve Harper, via a fortuitous deflection off Michael Dawson.
Five minutes later, Santi Cazorla pinged a missile of a pass with his left foot from the half-way line, picking out the onrushing Ramsey perfectly. The Welshman, who had seemed certain to be substituted earlier after an ankle injury, controlled it and beat Harper with another deflection benefitting the visitors.
While Hull had their moments in the first half – Sone Aluko sent a feeble header off target from a few yards out after Robbie Brady’s left-wing cross – Arsenal put the game beyond them before the interval.
Sanchez had been denied by Harper after Cazorla sent him scurrying through on goal but, presented with an identical chance seconds later, he wouldn’t miss again. Ramsey played in Sanchez, who rounded the goalkeeper for his side’s third.
Quinn, who had threatened with a first-half header, gave Hull hope by converting a similar chance on 56 minutes. Huddlestone centred the ball and the Irishman scored his first Premier League goal in eight years.
Although Hull rallied admirably following their goal, Arsenal continued to illuminate the match with some stunning interchange in the final third. One such move was highlighted by a quite remarkable back-heeled volley by Mesut Ozil which set up a dangerous Sanchez move down the left.
Jack Wilshere’s return as a 68th minute substitute in place of Ramsey was another major positive for Arsene Wenger ahead of the final three games of the season. His first involvement was a trademark burst out of midfield to win a free-kick but although the manner of his acceleration evoked memories of old, his fall was worrying until he immediately climbed to his feet.
Wilshere nearly crowned his return with a goal when Hector Bellerin’s initial shot was kept out by Harper and his close-range rebound was kept out by James Chester. As Wilshere appealed for handball, Sanchez bundled the loose ball wide.
The England midfielder continued his impressive cameo with a quick dash down the right wing that may have resulted in a penalty after he fell under Chester’s challenge. A fellow England international returning from a serious injury, Theo Walcott, only got four minutes but a side-footed effort drifted wide before Sanchez's hopes for a hat-trick evaporated when he shot wide as Arsenal counter-attacked in stoppage time.
Arsenal have now won 18 of their past 21 games, and host Swansea next as they aim to take advantage of their extra match over City.
Manchester City
Trail Chelsea by 13 points
If Manuel Pellegrini is to be dismissed by Manchester City at the end of the season, then it will not simply be because of their failure in Europe, or to win a trophy, or to retain the Premier League title, but the nature of all three. Their season has been limp in the extreme, a half-hearted title defence being the primary concern, and the possibility that they will still finish second should not mask the very real problems that exist in their squad.
Even previously reliable players such as Yaya Touré and Pablo Zabaleta have at various points disappeared this season, Vincent Kompany continues to regress and their three significant signings since last season, Eliaquim Mangala, Fernando and Wilfried Bony, have been failures of varying degrees. At some points it has seemed as if Joe Hart and Sergio Agüero have been winning games on their own, which is just one explanation for their current position.
The problem is that this is a City squad ageing together, with only three players involved against Tottenham on Sunday younger than Agüero’s 26 years (Mangala, Bony and Dedryck Boyata), so if City are to challenge for the title again there is an argument to tear the squad apart and start again.
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Manchester City fans will hope for more from big-money signings Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony next season. Photograph: Darren Staples/REUTERS
However, things don’t usually work like that at the best of times, particularly not with the assorted other complications of financial fair play, so a more gradual rebuilding process will have to be undertaken. Additions will have to be made in the summer, such as some strength in defence, someone such as Paul Pogba (ideally Pogba himself, although that may be a pipe dream) in midfield, particularly if Touré departs, and some pace combined with a little more guile than Jesús Navas offers in attack.
There is still enough quality in the City squad, particularly if they build around Agüero and David Silva; players such as Mangala and Bony have the talent to improve, and if Samir Nasri pulls his finger out he can still be key. But there are enough holes to suggest that, even with the required additions, they will struggle again next term. NM
Arsenal
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Trail Chelsea by 16 points with two games in hand
Arsenal fans, essentially, want one thing at the beginning of each season: their team to be better than last time out. By any measure, Arsenal have done that. Since the turn of the year, in particular, they have been excellent, finding the perennially elusive balance between attack and defence and gearing up to finish with a bang.
That means achieving Champions League qualification with some comfort – unlike the normal nerve-shredding, down-to-the-wire, scramble for fourth place. Moreover, it is likely that Arsène Wenger and his players will do better than fourth which, happily, would negate the need for the traditional play-off next August. The club have always passed this test but it has frequently sapped them in the early season.
Throw in the possibility of a successful FA Cup defence – Arsenal will start the final against Aston Villa on 30 May as the favourites – and there is an unusually relaxed vibe around the club. Arsenal are past masters of jumping in and out of crisis but the Wenger Out brigade, for example, have not been saying much of late.
The problem for Wenger is that even second place is not enough. It would be extremely worthy and represent much-craved progress but Wenger’s curse, having achieved so much over the first half of his reign, is that real success means winning either the title or the Champions League.
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Will Arsenal continue the bold transfer policy that has seen Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil brought to the Emirates in the past two summers? Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
The frustration this season has come in the lack of a title challenge. Wenger blamed a World Cup hangover for several of his key players and the latest dreadful run with injuries but the club paid a heavy price for their erratic form over the early months. Their improvement – which has featured breakthough results, most notably the win at Manchester City – has come away from the prickly heat of a championship battle.
Wenger believes that the pieces are in place to topple Chelsea and José Mourinho, whom he has not beaten in 13 attempts. Arsenal have scouted goalkeepers and defensive midfielders but the form of David Ospina and, especially, Francis Coquelin has prompted “massive changes” in how Wenger has come to assess his squad. “We are not in need of absolute change,” Wenger has said.
Chelsea and the rest, however, will strengthen and it would be remiss of Wenger to believe that his squad can evolve into champions without any external assistance. His decision to enter the first half of the season with only five senior defenders was a disaster. Boldness has to be the watchword for the summer transfer window. Arsenal are on the right track. The trouble is that they have to be perfect for the whole of next season. DH
Manchester United
Trail Chelsea by 18 points
It’s difficult to know quite what to make of Manchester United. Are they the team that cruised past Manchester City and Liverpool, or the one that couldn’t break down West Brom? If the former, then perhaps only tweaks to Louis van Gaal’s squad are required in the summer, but anything below that and even more major surgery will be in order.
Their most pressing need is for some pace in attack, with the Radamel Falcao experiment having failed and Robin van Persie fading, but they will also be in the market for a specialist full-back, a deep-lying midfielder so their best option there isn’t still, even after all these years, Michael Carrick, and some help in central defence would be handy too. And that’s not even considering whether they will need to replace David de Gea, sure to be pursued by Real Madrid. If all of these requirements are met, then United could quite easily launch a significant title challenge, but perhaps more than that is the need for them to become a little less predictable.
The past three games have seen them stymied with a worrying degree of ease, with Chelsea, Everton and West Bromwich Albion recognising that United don’t have the wit or pace in the final third to break down a team of any significant organisation. Van Gaal said on Saturday that his team had to “improve to disorganise their organisation”, which was a curious way of saying that they need to be more penetrative, but displays that the Dutchman recognises that they need to be a little less predictable.
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Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie could use a pacy attacking partner if Manchester United are to break down teams more successfully next season. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
Some of the solutions may well be internal; there is no guarantee that Ángel Di María will even be at Old Trafford next season, and Van Gaal has been extremely reluctant to use Adnan Januzaj, but if those two can get close to their best then they have the imagination, guile and speed to make United a much more dynamic attacking force.
United certainly have the potential to challenge for and even win the title next season, but it will require Van Gaal to get a large number of decisions right over the summer. NM
Liverpool
Trail Chelsea by 22 points
Next season Liverpool will benefit from a period of painful but necessary development for their young team, from venturing into the transfer market this summer to repair their eroded goal threat and will challenge for the Premier League title in the manner of 2013-14. Well, that is what Brendan Rodgers is on record as predicting anyway. Many will struggle to share such an optimistic outlook.
The areas in need of improvement are clear and yet the immediate future is surrounded by uncertainty, not least the name of the European competition they are likely to be in next season with Manchester United presenting them with an outside chance of Champions League qualification. A place in the Europa League, the stronger possibility, may impact on the Premier League prospects for a team that underwhelmed in both European tournaments this season.
Transfer targets will consider their options should Europa League football again be in store at Anfield, and Liverpool’s magnetism was not exactly overpowering last summer with Champions League football and evidence of striking domestic progress on display. That said, the club has been quick to approach Memphis Depay with the forward certain to leave PSV Eindhoven after scoring 21 goals in their title-winning campaign.
Sturridge
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Brendan Rodgers will hope Daniel Sturridge can overcome long-term injury problems to feature more regularly for Liverpool next season. Photograph: Richard Sellers/PA
The Belgium international Divock Origi will arrive from his loan season at Lille and Danny Ings remains a possibility for a manager who is adamant Liverpool must sign a proven goalscorer able to perform “at the top level every week”. But, as Liverpool once again showed with last summer’s £117m outlay on nine players, solutions are not always found in the transfer market.
Rodgers hopes this injury-blighted season for Daniel Sturridge is a one-off, despite evidence to the contrary. It has certainly compounded the loss of Luis Suárez and brought unforeseen problems to a team that scored 101 goals when going so close to the title last May, but has only 49 in 35 league games this time out.
The manager’s position has been under scrutiny, more from the impending availability of Jürgen Klopp than signs of wavering at Fenway Sports Group over its long-term project, it has to be said, and the departure this summer of Steven Gerrard will resonate throughout a dressing room that has still to prove it has the winning mentality required at Liverpool.
CHELSEA
Chelsea: This Ending Always Justifies The Means
Chelsea have been crowned Premier League champions for the fourth time, and the third under Jose Mourinho. What legacy have they created, and what does it matter?
With Vincent Kompany lapsed, Yaya Toure unsettled and David Silva turning 30, that leaves one man to build the team around If they are to compete with the likes of Chelsea next season. Luckily he's sodding brilliant...
Too Late To Stop The Rot At Newcastle
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You would struggle to recall a more shameful performance than Newcastle's spineless surrender at Leicester. How bad does it have to get?
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"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," is a quote mistakenly attributed to American football coach Vince Lombardi, but it could so easily be Jose Mourinho's universal law: Winning shall be the whole of the truth. Chelsea are champions for the fourth time in 11 seasons, and the third time under Mourinho. Jose has his eighth league title in 13 seasons.
There is no doubt that Chelsea are deserving champions - on that point nobody disagrees. Mourinho's side are the second-highest goalscorers, and they have conceded the fewest. They have won more points per game at home than any other team, and have done exactly the same away from home. They have played 3,150 league minutes, and been behind for just 152. Even if Arsenal beat Hull on Monday, Chelsea's lead of 13 points would constitute a larger winning margin than in 28 of the last 29 seasons.
Chelsea's achievements are not limited to the team as a whole. Diego Costa has the second-best minutes-to-goal ratio of any striker (Papiss Cisse's is better). Cesc Fabregas has the most assists of any player in a season for a decade, has made the most passes in the league and has had the most touches of the ball. Eden Hazard has created more chances than anyone else, completed more dribbles and been fouled more times. Nemanja Matic has won more tackles than any other player. By almost every measure, Chelsea have been the dominant force.
Yet there is no doubt Chelsea's title victory has been besmirched. In last weekend's 16 Conclusions I mentioned the "Boring, boring, Chelsea" chants of Arsenal supporters which, in hindsight, was a mistake. I was merely using those accusations to segue into a wider point on football aesthetics, but fans in the Emirates were hardly likely to warmly applaud Chelsea's success. Those chants simply reflected a more widespread feeling of bitterness towards Chelsea.
The accusation is that, in the big games, Chelsea have reverted to negative football. Four shots on target in two matches against Manchester City, six shots on target in two matches against Arsenal, six too against Manchester United home and away. In those six matches against the rest of the top four, Chelsea have scored six goals and conceded just three. All have been televised; an audience felt short-changed.
For some, the accusation of 'boring' is purely a synonym for 'effective'. There was a long period during Alex Ferguson's Manchester United tenure when their home fixtures became a procession. Between April 2004 and October 2011, United lost eight home league games - eight home defeats in seven-and-a-half years. The majority of those matches contained entertaining football and plenty of goals, but the formulaic nature of results reduced excitement. Certainly for the neutral, anyway.
Just as a film becomes less interesting when you know the ending, so too football loses its appeal. "If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavour," Eleanor Roosevelt famously said (although admittedly not about the Premier League title race). There has been an inevitability to Chelsea's title march since January.
There is also a strong element of inevitable jealousy to the criticism of Chelsea, alluded to by Kurt Zouma in midweek. "Other fans are jealous because their team is not top of the league and they want to be top of the league like everyone wants to; that's normal," he told Sky Sports. "Everyone wants to beat you, so for us we have to be concentrated and be focused." No side that defends badly ever gets called boring.
Criticising the victors also allows the defeated to avoid a degree of introspection. Claiming your own team as a bastion of football 'morality' in comparison with Chelsea permits the gap in quality and performance to be excused. It's a classic method of self-preservation, but something rejected by Gary Neville.
"I don't get it at all," Neville said after Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Arsenal last weekend. "If we're criticising anybody it should be the pathetic attempt at chasing them this season and putting up a fight. The last team that we should be criticising are Chelsea. They are the ones that have gone on and done the job."
The dislike of Chelsea as a club also plays a prominent part in such discussions. If Manchester United were the most hated club in the country during the 1990s, Chelsea have taken over that mantle since their first title in 2005. They are the nouveau riche braggards, Roman Abramovich's billions reserving guest-list entry and a VIP spot at European football's top table. Nobody likes seeing someone skip the queue.
There may be nothing legally wrong with Chelsea's approach, but that fails to remove the lingering sour taste their success leaves for many. Chelsea have come to personify the negative elements of commercialised football: Money as the most vital ingredient of success, 'plastic' supporters, stockpiling young players and a tendency to publicly eat their sour grapes. Some, or even all, of those accusations may be unfair, but I'm merely reflecting the mood. If Arsenal or Manchester City ground out results in the biggest matches in a similar manner to Chelsea, they would be praised for their resilience. See Arsenal's result at the Etihad in January as evidence of that.
At the centre of Chelsea's negative reputation is Mourinho, the leader of the tribe. He stands alongside John Terry as the poster boys of a modern club, a double act that you could imagine standing on stage serenading each other: "No-one likes us, we don't care." Made in Chelsea.
"I don't know why Manchester City are so popular when we weren't," Mourinho said in February. "I don't know why." It is to the Portuguese's credit that he kept a straight face throughout, for he knows exactly why.
Mourinho is a wonderful football manager, revelling in the siege mentality he creates. Every word he utters to the media is a calculated attempt to better his own situation, every jibe an attempt to unsettle his opponents. It's not difficult to gauge why that may not endear him to opposition supporters. He is the most polarising manager in the modern era, antagonising beyond a point others would dare to tread.
Finally come the demands for style, as the 'football is entertainment' cliché is wheeled out. Supporters get hung up over the demand for attacking football, stemmed from our preconceived ideas over how football should be played. Growing up as children we dreamt of scoring goals, not saving them. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard are the stars who will adorn posters in bedrooms. Javier Mascherano, Dani Carvajal and Cesar Azpilicueta represent the functional, not the fancy. Attack beats defence every time.
Herein lies the crucial disconnect: Football may be entertainment to those watching, but not those playing and managing. To them it is business, with winning the only goal. Your ticket price guarantees the product, but not the style. As the demand for instant gratification via success increases, only the result is king whilst the means pales into insignificance. If defending is an element of football success, it's time to accept that it's an inevitable part of football.
Last April, Manuel Pellegrini talked about the importance of winning the league title with style. "We have a style of play," said the Manchester City maanger. "We are an attractive team, we score many goals and we are always thinking to score more goals. That to me has the same importance as winning the title." That's a bizarre assessment.
"We will try to do it in the right way," was Brendan Rodgers' insistence at a similar time. Suggesting a "right way" indicates that there is a wrong way, but Mourinho would remark that the winning way is the right way. Perhaps that partly explains why neither Pellegrini nor Rodgers have managed to maintain their form of last season. Both are good coaches, but are either true winners?
Above all, Mourinho is a winner. Since joining Porto in 2002, he has won 22 trophies in 705 matches, an average of one every 32 games. It's a record bettered only Pep Guardiola in the modern era. The Spaniard's sample size is approximately half as large, and spans two of the greatest club sides in the last 30 years.
Mourinho is angered by the criticism of Chelsea's style because he doesn't understand it. It fails to register with any part of his psyche that he could be criticised for doing what he is employed to do. Why would the world place any importance on style when the end goal of victory has not been achieved? Why would possession, shots on target or touches in the final third matter when football is judged only by the number of goals? Why would football teams be measured by aesthetics, as if there is some moral compass to define the success of teams? Why would the 'right way' and the winning way ever be mutually exclusive?
"First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective," said Greek philosopher Aristotle. "Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end." Typical Panathinaikos fan nonsense. "Boring, boring philosophers."
The best style is the one that is the most effective. There is no right way or wrong way when the method is nothing and the result is everything. You can choose to dislike Mourinho's style, and many will, but something so successful cannot be demeaned. He sets up his team in the way he knows how to win. That only becomes an issue if you don't like it. That's your problem, not his.
Mourinho may have erred slightly when he described Chelsea as "the team that everyone else wants to be", for he cannot speak for others. Instead, Chelsea are the team Jose Mourinho wants them to be. When they are winning titles, that's all that matters.
Arsenal level with City after win
Arsenal cruised past Hull City as Alexis Sanchez's double earned a 3-1 victory at the KC Stadium and drew the Gunners level on points with Manchester City in the battle for second.
Alexis Sanchez: Scored twice as Arsenal beat Hull
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 10 games and, still with a game in hand, they have equalled City’s 70 points, albeit with an inferior goal difference.
The win also secured Arsene Wenger's side a place in the Champions League for the 18th successive season.
Hull remain level on points and goal difference with Leicester in the battle for Premier League survival, but have dropped beneath them having scored fewer goals.
Sanchez, who has now scored in all three meetings with Hull this season, pick-pocketed Tom Huddlestone in midfield after 28 minutes to instigate the opener. Jake Livermore brought him down to prevent an ominous dribble towards goal, but Sanchez’s 25-yard free-kick sailed past a helpless Steve Harper, via a fortuitous deflection off Michael Dawson.
Five minutes later, Santi Cazorla pinged a missile of a pass with his left foot from the half-way line, picking out the onrushing Ramsey perfectly. The Welshman, who had seemed certain to be substituted earlier after an ankle injury, controlled it and beat Harper with another deflection benefitting the visitors.
While Hull had their moments in the first half – Sone Aluko sent a feeble header off target from a few yards out after Robbie Brady’s left-wing cross – Arsenal put the game beyond them before the interval.
Sanchez had been denied by Harper after Cazorla sent him scurrying through on goal but, presented with an identical chance seconds later, he wouldn’t miss again. Ramsey played in Sanchez, who rounded the goalkeeper for his side’s third.
Quinn, who had threatened with a first-half header, gave Hull hope by converting a similar chance on 56 minutes. Huddlestone centred the ball and the Irishman scored his first Premier League goal in eight years.
Although Hull rallied admirably following their goal, Arsenal continued to illuminate the match with some stunning interchange in the final third. One such move was highlighted by a quite remarkable back-heeled volley by Mesut Ozil which set up a dangerous Sanchez move down the left.
Jack Wilshere’s return as a 68th minute substitute in place of Ramsey was another major positive for Arsene Wenger ahead of the final three games of the season. His first involvement was a trademark burst out of midfield to win a free-kick but although the manner of his acceleration evoked memories of old, his fall was worrying until he immediately climbed to his feet.
Wilshere nearly crowned his return with a goal when Hector Bellerin’s initial shot was kept out by Harper and his close-range rebound was kept out by James Chester. As Wilshere appealed for handball, Sanchez bundled the loose ball wide.
The England midfielder continued his impressive cameo with a quick dash down the right wing that may have resulted in a penalty after he fell under Chester’s challenge. A fellow England international returning from a serious injury, Theo Walcott, only got four minutes but a side-footed effort drifted wide before Sanchez's hopes for a hat-trick evaporated when he shot wide as Arsenal counter-attacked in stoppage time.
Arsenal have now won 18 of their past 21 games, and host Swansea next as they aim to take advantage of their extra match over City.
Manchester City
Trail Chelsea by 13 points
If Manuel Pellegrini is to be dismissed by Manchester City at the end of the season, then it will not simply be because of their failure in Europe, or to win a trophy, or to retain the Premier League title, but the nature of all three. Their season has been limp in the extreme, a half-hearted title defence being the primary concern, and the possibility that they will still finish second should not mask the very real problems that exist in their squad.
Even previously reliable players such as Yaya Touré and Pablo Zabaleta have at various points disappeared this season, Vincent Kompany continues to regress and their three significant signings since last season, Eliaquim Mangala, Fernando and Wilfried Bony, have been failures of varying degrees. At some points it has seemed as if Joe Hart and Sergio Agüero have been winning games on their own, which is just one explanation for their current position.
The problem is that this is a City squad ageing together, with only three players involved against Tottenham on Sunday younger than Agüero’s 26 years (Mangala, Bony and Dedryck Boyata), so if City are to challenge for the title again there is an argument to tear the squad apart and start again.
City
Manchester City fans will hope for more from big-money signings Eliaquim Mangala and Wilfried Bony next season. Photograph: Darren Staples/REUTERS
However, things don’t usually work like that at the best of times, particularly not with the assorted other complications of financial fair play, so a more gradual rebuilding process will have to be undertaken. Additions will have to be made in the summer, such as some strength in defence, someone such as Paul Pogba (ideally Pogba himself, although that may be a pipe dream) in midfield, particularly if Touré departs, and some pace combined with a little more guile than Jesús Navas offers in attack.
There is still enough quality in the City squad, particularly if they build around Agüero and David Silva; players such as Mangala and Bony have the talent to improve, and if Samir Nasri pulls his finger out he can still be key. But there are enough holes to suggest that, even with the required additions, they will struggle again next term. NM
Arsenal
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Trail Chelsea by 16 points with two games in hand
Arsenal fans, essentially, want one thing at the beginning of each season: their team to be better than last time out. By any measure, Arsenal have done that. Since the turn of the year, in particular, they have been excellent, finding the perennially elusive balance between attack and defence and gearing up to finish with a bang.
That means achieving Champions League qualification with some comfort – unlike the normal nerve-shredding, down-to-the-wire, scramble for fourth place. Moreover, it is likely that Arsène Wenger and his players will do better than fourth which, happily, would negate the need for the traditional play-off next August. The club have always passed this test but it has frequently sapped them in the early season.
Throw in the possibility of a successful FA Cup defence – Arsenal will start the final against Aston Villa on 30 May as the favourites – and there is an unusually relaxed vibe around the club. Arsenal are past masters of jumping in and out of crisis but the Wenger Out brigade, for example, have not been saying much of late.
The problem for Wenger is that even second place is not enough. It would be extremely worthy and represent much-craved progress but Wenger’s curse, having achieved so much over the first half of his reign, is that real success means winning either the title or the Champions League.
Arsenal
Will Arsenal continue the bold transfer policy that has seen Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil brought to the Emirates in the past two summers? Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
The frustration this season has come in the lack of a title challenge. Wenger blamed a World Cup hangover for several of his key players and the latest dreadful run with injuries but the club paid a heavy price for their erratic form over the early months. Their improvement – which has featured breakthough results, most notably the win at Manchester City – has come away from the prickly heat of a championship battle.
Wenger believes that the pieces are in place to topple Chelsea and José Mourinho, whom he has not beaten in 13 attempts. Arsenal have scouted goalkeepers and defensive midfielders but the form of David Ospina and, especially, Francis Coquelin has prompted “massive changes” in how Wenger has come to assess his squad. “We are not in need of absolute change,” Wenger has said.
Chelsea and the rest, however, will strengthen and it would be remiss of Wenger to believe that his squad can evolve into champions without any external assistance. His decision to enter the first half of the season with only five senior defenders was a disaster. Boldness has to be the watchword for the summer transfer window. Arsenal are on the right track. The trouble is that they have to be perfect for the whole of next season. DH
Manchester United
Trail Chelsea by 18 points
It’s difficult to know quite what to make of Manchester United. Are they the team that cruised past Manchester City and Liverpool, or the one that couldn’t break down West Brom? If the former, then perhaps only tweaks to Louis van Gaal’s squad are required in the summer, but anything below that and even more major surgery will be in order.
Their most pressing need is for some pace in attack, with the Radamel Falcao experiment having failed and Robin van Persie fading, but they will also be in the market for a specialist full-back, a deep-lying midfielder so their best option there isn’t still, even after all these years, Michael Carrick, and some help in central defence would be handy too. And that’s not even considering whether they will need to replace David de Gea, sure to be pursued by Real Madrid. If all of these requirements are met, then United could quite easily launch a significant title challenge, but perhaps more than that is the need for them to become a little less predictable.
The past three games have seen them stymied with a worrying degree of ease, with Chelsea, Everton and West Bromwich Albion recognising that United don’t have the wit or pace in the final third to break down a team of any significant organisation. Van Gaal said on Saturday that his team had to “improve to disorganise their organisation”, which was a curious way of saying that they need to be more penetrative, but displays that the Dutchman recognises that they need to be a little less predictable.
Man Utd
Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie could use a pacy attacking partner if Manchester United are to break down teams more successfully next season. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
Some of the solutions may well be internal; there is no guarantee that Ángel Di María will even be at Old Trafford next season, and Van Gaal has been extremely reluctant to use Adnan Januzaj, but if those two can get close to their best then they have the imagination, guile and speed to make United a much more dynamic attacking force.
United certainly have the potential to challenge for and even win the title next season, but it will require Van Gaal to get a large number of decisions right over the summer. NM
Liverpool
Trail Chelsea by 22 points
Next season Liverpool will benefit from a period of painful but necessary development for their young team, from venturing into the transfer market this summer to repair their eroded goal threat and will challenge for the Premier League title in the manner of 2013-14. Well, that is what Brendan Rodgers is on record as predicting anyway. Many will struggle to share such an optimistic outlook.
The areas in need of improvement are clear and yet the immediate future is surrounded by uncertainty, not least the name of the European competition they are likely to be in next season with Manchester United presenting them with an outside chance of Champions League qualification. A place in the Europa League, the stronger possibility, may impact on the Premier League prospects for a team that underwhelmed in both European tournaments this season.
Transfer targets will consider their options should Europa League football again be in store at Anfield, and Liverpool’s magnetism was not exactly overpowering last summer with Champions League football and evidence of striking domestic progress on display. That said, the club has been quick to approach Memphis Depay with the forward certain to leave PSV Eindhoven after scoring 21 goals in their title-winning campaign.
Sturridge
Brendan Rodgers will hope Daniel Sturridge can overcome long-term injury problems to feature more regularly for Liverpool next season. Photograph: Richard Sellers/PA
The Belgium international Divock Origi will arrive from his loan season at Lille and Danny Ings remains a possibility for a manager who is adamant Liverpool must sign a proven goalscorer able to perform “at the top level every week”. But, as Liverpool once again showed with last summer’s £117m outlay on nine players, solutions are not always found in the transfer market.
Rodgers hopes this injury-blighted season for Daniel Sturridge is a one-off, despite evidence to the contrary. It has certainly compounded the loss of Luis Suárez and brought unforeseen problems to a team that scored 101 goals when going so close to the title last May, but has only 49 in 35 league games this time out.
The manager’s position has been under scrutiny, more from the impending availability of Jürgen Klopp than signs of wavering at Fenway Sports Group over its long-term project, it has to be said, and the departure this summer of Steven Gerrard will resonate throughout a dressing room that has still to prove it has the winning mentality required at Liverpool.
CHELSEA
Chelsea: This Ending Always Justifies The Means
Chelsea have been crowned Premier League champions for the fourth time, and the third under Jose Mourinho. What legacy have they created, and what does it matter?
With Vincent Kompany lapsed, Yaya Toure unsettled and David Silva turning 30, that leaves one man to build the team around If they are to compete with the likes of Chelsea next season. Luckily he's sodding brilliant...
Too Late To Stop The Rot At Newcastle
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You would struggle to recall a more shameful performance than Newcastle's spineless surrender at Leicester. How bad does it have to get?
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"Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," is a quote mistakenly attributed to American football coach Vince Lombardi, but it could so easily be Jose Mourinho's universal law: Winning shall be the whole of the truth. Chelsea are champions for the fourth time in 11 seasons, and the third time under Mourinho. Jose has his eighth league title in 13 seasons.
There is no doubt that Chelsea are deserving champions - on that point nobody disagrees. Mourinho's side are the second-highest goalscorers, and they have conceded the fewest. They have won more points per game at home than any other team, and have done exactly the same away from home. They have played 3,150 league minutes, and been behind for just 152. Even if Arsenal beat Hull on Monday, Chelsea's lead of 13 points would constitute a larger winning margin than in 28 of the last 29 seasons.
Chelsea's achievements are not limited to the team as a whole. Diego Costa has the second-best minutes-to-goal ratio of any striker (Papiss Cisse's is better). Cesc Fabregas has the most assists of any player in a season for a decade, has made the most passes in the league and has had the most touches of the ball. Eden Hazard has created more chances than anyone else, completed more dribbles and been fouled more times. Nemanja Matic has won more tackles than any other player. By almost every measure, Chelsea have been the dominant force.
Yet there is no doubt Chelsea's title victory has been besmirched. In last weekend's 16 Conclusions I mentioned the "Boring, boring, Chelsea" chants of Arsenal supporters which, in hindsight, was a mistake. I was merely using those accusations to segue into a wider point on football aesthetics, but fans in the Emirates were hardly likely to warmly applaud Chelsea's success. Those chants simply reflected a more widespread feeling of bitterness towards Chelsea.
The accusation is that, in the big games, Chelsea have reverted to negative football. Four shots on target in two matches against Manchester City, six shots on target in two matches against Arsenal, six too against Manchester United home and away. In those six matches against the rest of the top four, Chelsea have scored six goals and conceded just three. All have been televised; an audience felt short-changed.
For some, the accusation of 'boring' is purely a synonym for 'effective'. There was a long period during Alex Ferguson's Manchester United tenure when their home fixtures became a procession. Between April 2004 and October 2011, United lost eight home league games - eight home defeats in seven-and-a-half years. The majority of those matches contained entertaining football and plenty of goals, but the formulaic nature of results reduced excitement. Certainly for the neutral, anyway.
Just as a film becomes less interesting when you know the ending, so too football loses its appeal. "If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavour," Eleanor Roosevelt famously said (although admittedly not about the Premier League title race). There has been an inevitability to Chelsea's title march since January.
There is also a strong element of inevitable jealousy to the criticism of Chelsea, alluded to by Kurt Zouma in midweek. "Other fans are jealous because their team is not top of the league and they want to be top of the league like everyone wants to; that's normal," he told Sky Sports. "Everyone wants to beat you, so for us we have to be concentrated and be focused." No side that defends badly ever gets called boring.
Criticising the victors also allows the defeated to avoid a degree of introspection. Claiming your own team as a bastion of football 'morality' in comparison with Chelsea permits the gap in quality and performance to be excused. It's a classic method of self-preservation, but something rejected by Gary Neville.
"I don't get it at all," Neville said after Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Arsenal last weekend. "If we're criticising anybody it should be the pathetic attempt at chasing them this season and putting up a fight. The last team that we should be criticising are Chelsea. They are the ones that have gone on and done the job."
The dislike of Chelsea as a club also plays a prominent part in such discussions. If Manchester United were the most hated club in the country during the 1990s, Chelsea have taken over that mantle since their first title in 2005. They are the nouveau riche braggards, Roman Abramovich's billions reserving guest-list entry and a VIP spot at European football's top table. Nobody likes seeing someone skip the queue.
There may be nothing legally wrong with Chelsea's approach, but that fails to remove the lingering sour taste their success leaves for many. Chelsea have come to personify the negative elements of commercialised football: Money as the most vital ingredient of success, 'plastic' supporters, stockpiling young players and a tendency to publicly eat their sour grapes. Some, or even all, of those accusations may be unfair, but I'm merely reflecting the mood. If Arsenal or Manchester City ground out results in the biggest matches in a similar manner to Chelsea, they would be praised for their resilience. See Arsenal's result at the Etihad in January as evidence of that.
At the centre of Chelsea's negative reputation is Mourinho, the leader of the tribe. He stands alongside John Terry as the poster boys of a modern club, a double act that you could imagine standing on stage serenading each other: "No-one likes us, we don't care." Made in Chelsea.
"I don't know why Manchester City are so popular when we weren't," Mourinho said in February. "I don't know why." It is to the Portuguese's credit that he kept a straight face throughout, for he knows exactly why.
Mourinho is a wonderful football manager, revelling in the siege mentality he creates. Every word he utters to the media is a calculated attempt to better his own situation, every jibe an attempt to unsettle his opponents. It's not difficult to gauge why that may not endear him to opposition supporters. He is the most polarising manager in the modern era, antagonising beyond a point others would dare to tread.
Finally come the demands for style, as the 'football is entertainment' cliché is wheeled out. Supporters get hung up over the demand for attacking football, stemmed from our preconceived ideas over how football should be played. Growing up as children we dreamt of scoring goals, not saving them. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard are the stars who will adorn posters in bedrooms. Javier Mascherano, Dani Carvajal and Cesar Azpilicueta represent the functional, not the fancy. Attack beats defence every time.
Herein lies the crucial disconnect: Football may be entertainment to those watching, but not those playing and managing. To them it is business, with winning the only goal. Your ticket price guarantees the product, but not the style. As the demand for instant gratification via success increases, only the result is king whilst the means pales into insignificance. If defending is an element of football success, it's time to accept that it's an inevitable part of football.
Last April, Manuel Pellegrini talked about the importance of winning the league title with style. "We have a style of play," said the Manchester City maanger. "We are an attractive team, we score many goals and we are always thinking to score more goals. That to me has the same importance as winning the title." That's a bizarre assessment.
"We will try to do it in the right way," was Brendan Rodgers' insistence at a similar time. Suggesting a "right way" indicates that there is a wrong way, but Mourinho would remark that the winning way is the right way. Perhaps that partly explains why neither Pellegrini nor Rodgers have managed to maintain their form of last season. Both are good coaches, but are either true winners?
Above all, Mourinho is a winner. Since joining Porto in 2002, he has won 22 trophies in 705 matches, an average of one every 32 games. It's a record bettered only Pep Guardiola in the modern era. The Spaniard's sample size is approximately half as large, and spans two of the greatest club sides in the last 30 years.
Mourinho is angered by the criticism of Chelsea's style because he doesn't understand it. It fails to register with any part of his psyche that he could be criticised for doing what he is employed to do. Why would the world place any importance on style when the end goal of victory has not been achieved? Why would possession, shots on target or touches in the final third matter when football is judged only by the number of goals? Why would football teams be measured by aesthetics, as if there is some moral compass to define the success of teams? Why would the 'right way' and the winning way ever be mutually exclusive?
"First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective," said Greek philosopher Aristotle. "Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end." Typical Panathinaikos fan nonsense. "Boring, boring philosophers."
The best style is the one that is the most effective. There is no right way or wrong way when the method is nothing and the result is everything. You can choose to dislike Mourinho's style, and many will, but something so successful cannot be demeaned. He sets up his team in the way he knows how to win. That only becomes an issue if you don't like it. That's your problem, not his.
Mourinho may have erred slightly when he described Chelsea as "the team that everyone else wants to be", for he cannot speak for others. Instead, Chelsea are the team Jose Mourinho wants them to be. When they are winning titles, that's all that matters.
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