Congratulations to the Gunners – Premier League champions!
At last, after 22 years, Mikel Arteta has led his all-conquering Gunners to the Premier League title with Manchester City failing to overcome Bournemouth in mid-week. Arteta along with his assistants, players and staff watched the City game at their training headquarters and celebrated together at the final whistle – they were Champions at last! […]
At last, after 22 years, Mikel Arteta has led his all-conquering Gunners to the Premier League title with Manchester City failing to overcome Bournemouth in mid-week.
Arteta along with his assistants, players and staff watched the City game at their training headquarters and celebrated together at the final whistle – they were Champions at last!
To show how delighted everyone at the club is, they partied all night and Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze arrived at the Emirate’s Stadium at 5am in the morning and joined in with supporters still having a great time. Arsenal’s famous celebrity supporters all celebrated: actors Tom Holland, Colin Firth, Idris Elba, Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightly and singers Jay-Z, Mick Jagger, Dua Lipa and Stormzy and from the world of sport Thierry Henry, Lewis Hamilton and Mo Farah plus the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer who sent out a message of congratulations.
Streets across North London turned red with scarves, songs, and fireworks. Arsenal’s victory
reflects back to the days of Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” and brings an emotional return to the very pinnacle of the Premier League. Well done and congratulations Arsenal – it has been a long hard season but you got the job done in the end.
Alonso can make Chelsea great again
The challenge facing newly installed Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso became very obvious during their cup final defeat to Manchester City.
Alonso will be a great manager for Chelsea in my opinion…he understands the game, has played at the top level and has managed some of the world’s best players. He has already achieved considerable success at Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen where his team went almost unbeaten for the whole season in 2023/4 and he won the Champions League twice as a player.
Alonso, I can reveal, was very impressive in his interview and because of that he will be given considerable influence within the club as the manager, not as head coach. He will be involved in setting out strategies for his team selections and managing his players but also within the inner workings of the club. Owners Blueco and Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital led by Behdad Eghbali have recognised that many of Chelsea’s problems this season are of their own making and not fully understanding the Premier League. Alonso having been part of a very successful Liverpool team knows how it all works and will use his knowledge, emotion and experience to better the club and its players.
Pep the master walks away…
I revealed last December that Pep Guardiola would probably leave Manchester City this summer. What no one expected was that news of his impending departure would be leaked during the vital game between Arsenal and Burnley. I understand that City were unhappy that the news broke on Monday evening and Pep also was not pleased. He met with the City hierarchy last week and his departure was finally agreed but no one outside the City boardroom was supposed to know except Pep’s family…even his assistants were not going to be told until later this past week.
After ten years in charge, 20 trophies and the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this year, City are undoubtedly losing one of the finest coaches of the modern era. Pep is a man who eats, breathes and lives football. Even on a Sunday, back home with his family after a Saturday match, he does not relax and prefers to watch reruns of the previous day’s games and he always studies film and data of City’s next opponents. On Monday morning he would be the first to arrive at the training ground.
Pep’s former No2 and ex-Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is likely to be confirmed as Pep’s replacement with the only other serious candidate Vincent Kompany happy at Bayern Munich. Since leaving Chelsea he has spent his time in London monitoring the Premier League and also took his family on holiday to the Maldives.
Alonso v Arteta – boyhood friends will face each other
I am already excited about next season when Xabi Alonso goes head to head with his old friend Mikel Arteta. The two have been close for many years and also fierce competitors. Next season will be more important than ever.
They were both born in Northern Spain and grew up together in the neighbourhood of San Sebastian. Together they would compete against each other on La Concha beach trying to beat the other with ball tricks, skateboarding and surfing. They played youth football together at Antiguoko KE and envisaged a career which would move them to the Premier League. Fast forward to northern England and Merseyside where Arteta joined Everton and Alonso walked through the gates of Liverpool FC. Rivals once more. Now they are about to become two very powerful and influential managers who will have complete charge of their teams. When they meet next season alongside each other in their technical areas, once more their lifelong friendship rivalry will be an added value extra attraction when Chelsea play Arsenal.
Coleman deserved a better send-off
It was sad that after 17 years at Everton as captain and long-time servant, the Irish international didn’t receive a standing ovation from the fans as a salute to this remarkable player. Instead after suffering a 3-1 home defeat to Sunderland most of the fans had left the stadium when Seamus went on a goodbye lap to thank them for their years of support.
He is one of the most likeable players I have ever had the fortune to meet and his presence in the dressing room as an inspirational captain is legend at the club. Many players credit him with improving their skills, focus and general quality, not only as player but as individuals. Many of those players and his teammates awarded him a guard of honour at the end of the Sunderland game to celebrate his long service to the Toffees.
West Ham have let down their supporters
West Ham is a club that has been in trouble all season. They play in a stadium the fans do not like as it was originally the Olympic Stadium and not built for football supporters. When the club moved the board lost the respect of many people in football and certainly on the terraces. Long-time director and a powerhouse behind the scenes at the Hammers, Karen Brady resigned a few months ago having given up exhausted, I am led to believe.
Sacking David Moyes was a mistake as he had provided a squad built for counter attacking football and the squad was organised but fans were not completely on his side because they thought his football was too cautious despite winning them the UEFA Europa Conference League title. The fans and board wanted a more aggressive, expansive team and hired Julen Lopetegui but the squad players could not reproduce his possession-heavy football and defensive weaknesses were exposed right from the beginning of his reign.
The recruitment has been poor bringing in Niclas Fullkrug who sustained many injury problems, Max Kilman who has been accused of being one of those responsible for the leaky defence and other signings were not suited to current coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactical strategies.
When Graham Potter arrived he tried to improve the defence but failed. He was also responsible for blunting the attack with players such as Jarrod Bowen becoming frustrated. Individual mistakes, sloppy unfocused play, conceding too many early goals, losing shape, struggling when pressured, lacking pace .. the list goes on.
West Ham lost £100million by missing out on European football this season and there is no money to rebuild the squad during the summer. They are likely to lose their best players Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville.
Who is in and out at Anfield?
Liverpool have now started negotiations with Dominik Szoboszlai for a new improved contract much to the relief of their supporters. Arne Slot’s first season was marked by challenges and difficulties in persuading Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander to renew their contracts. As we know, Trent did not stay and went to Real Madrid. After Sunday’s game against Brentford both Mo Salah and Andy Robertson will walk through the exit doors of Anfield and won’t return. World class goalkeeper Alisson Becker has extended his contract for another 12 months but Juventus still want to sign him. Ibrahima Konate is out of contract in two months and his situation has not yet been sorted out. As yet Alexis Mac Allister has not agreed a deal to stay but Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha have all signed extended contracts.
Tottenham vs Everton
The pressure on Spurs to win this match is huge…most of the players will walk onto the pitch with nerves tingling and their stomachs rumbling because they have to win and Everton are no push over. Tottenham need a win or at least a draw because fortunately they have a superior goal difference over West Ham.
Tottenham have struggled badly in front of their own fans at the White Hart Stadium and the thought of playing in a £1billion stadium in the Championship league next season is unthinkable.
Tottenham have the players if they perform. Conor Gallagher is ever energetic, ever moving forward and central striker Richarlison, who will be facing his old team, is on hand to make the most of the service from midfield behind him and especially now that Maddison is back to add that extra creativity. He can control games and will need every ounce of his superior quality this Sunday.
Spur’s defence is the most worrying part of their game with Micky van de Ven and Kevin Danso playing together but failing to hold off attackers in many of their recent games.
Everton are hard to break down under David Moyes’ 4-2-3-1 formation and with Jordan Pickford in goal and the tough aggressive James Tarkowski and Michael Keane holding their positions at the centre of defence it will be tough for the Tottenham attackers.
Everton are physically strong and dangerous in transitional movements. Beto will provide the main goal threat and James Garner in midfield has had an excellent season.
Everton will be calmer with their mid-table position because there is far less pressure on them. Tottenham will have to come out of the blocks fighting from the start because if Everton are allowed to settle and play their strong physical game this could be a tough afternoon for relegation threatened Tottenham.
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
Arsenal will crowned champions at Palace on Sunday afternoon. It could turn into a title celebration with thousands of Gunners’ fans obtaining tickets. Palace face an Arsenal team, in which Mikel Arteta will give many of the squad a chance to play. Palace will be somewhat distracted because they have their UEFA Conference League final only days later on May 27th against Rayo Vallecano.
In his last game in charge of Palace, Oliver Glasner could rotate his team to keep them as fresh as possible for that final. Arsenal are renown for winning tight games by the odd goal and Palace have been inconsistent all season reaching the heights of the table but also the lows and finishing more or less in the middle.
Arsenal tend to dominate the ball for long periods with Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard totally able to control the middle of the pitch. They are aggressive and counter-pressing, usually moving forward down the wings with Bukayo Saka in particular able to beat players, move inside and make an assist or score a spectacular goal. Mikel Arteta is also a set-piece specialist so expect to see free kicks, throw-ins and corners to worry Palace. He sometimes alters his original formation pattern to make a 3-2-5 possession based attack.
Palace usually employ a 3-4-2-1 formation out of possession but like Arsenal they can also revert to 3-2-5 when attacking. Glasner’s masterplan, which they worked on this week in training, is to regain possession, attack and hit passes behind the full-backs which isolates the centre-backs in open space. The big problem for Palace is the triangle created by Odegaard passing out to Saka and then moving forward after which Saka passes the ball back which creates space to move towards goal.
The one hope Palace have is to bypass Rice and isolate Saliba and Gabriel thus creating space and enabling them to attack directly.
Despite already winning the Premier League title, Arsenal will want to end their campaign with a win and I think they could shade this by the odd goal but Palace would settle for a draw.