welcome to The briefingwhere every Monday during this season, The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions coming out of this weekend's football.
It was the weekend when we closed the lid on another long and eventful Premier League campaign. Manchester City were crowned champions, Arsenal fell short and Liverpool said goodbye to Jurgen Klopp.
Here, we'll ask ourselves whether we should expect City's record dominance to continue, whether Arsenal can take some consolation by finishing second once again, and whether we should all have paid more attention to Jean-Philippe Mateta.
What chances do Manchester City have of achieving a fifth consecutive title?
It's basically that old Gary Lineker quote, right? Premier League football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a soccer ball for more than 380 games and, in the end, Manchester City wins the title.
It's not just six titles in seven seasons for City, but now four in a row, a level of dominance unprecedented in the history of English football, let alone in the post-1992 era. Jack Grealish removing his sky blue hair during an interview Sky Sports' joke is now repeated as regularly as Christmas.
“This is our time,” declared Pep Guardiola in response to his team making history. No one can argue with that and most worrying of all for City's rivals is the feeling that they could easily extend this era of dominance even further. After four in a row, what are the chances of five?
This is not a foregone conclusion. City always experience bumps in the road in a title race and even when they finally triumph, there are sliding-door moments for their closest rivals to look back and curse.
This season was no different in that regard. One victory in six between November and December, after two consecutive defeats in the autumn, left room for doubts. Throughout the season, City's performances have only occasionally matched the level of those in the run-up to last year's treble.
City celebrate their fourth consecutive Premier League title (Oli Scarf/AFP via Getty Images)
And yet, after that wobble in the winter, Guardiola's team took 57 of a possible 63 points. They once again overcame a momentary mid-season slump to finally regain their place at the top. And every time they do it, it becomes a little less surprising.
The city has established this pedigree for more than a decade. This is the sixth genuine Premier League title race they have entered, following 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023. City have triumphed each and every time.
That Guardiola's team has come close in the last three consecutive years is the strongest argument against the idea that a league once considered the most competitive in the world has become a procession. The changes in fortunes observed this season show that this is not yet the case.
But still, the end result was predictable. Since that first win under Guardiola in 2017-18, their imperious record-breaking 100-point campaign, most would have picked City as title favorites ahead of each following season and, five out of six times, they would have been right.
With Guardiola committed for at least one more season, only minor business needed in the summer market and no deadline for a decision on the 115 alleged breaches of Premier League financial regulations (all of which they deny), who would bet on against another festive Grealish interview? this time next year?
What was harder for Arsenal: collapsing or falling short?
There is no good way to lose a league title, nor is there an easy way to do it, but there are some ways that are better than others. Not that Arsenal's players wanted to hear that once the final whistles sounded at the Etihad and Emirates.
Mikel Arteta's players took their fate very seriously, and understandably so. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined many in the stands and shed a tear for falling short.
Their total of 89 points equals the record of a runners-up in the pre-Guardiola era, the same total as Manchester United in 2011-12. Only Liverpool have achieved more and are still second, with a remarkable 97 points in 2018-19.
But like Liverpool this year, Arsenal can take solace in the fact that they put more pressure on City at the most critical stage of the campaign. As many expected, Arteta's team needed to be perfect down the stretch. They almost did it, winning 15 of their last 17 games and losing only five points.
Can Arsenal bounce back to finally win the league next season? (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Last season's disappointment was of a completely different character: a lost lead, then a slow death measured in two wins in eight games and 15 points lost in the decisive stage. The feeling of doom sets in gradually.
This time, the knowledge that they would not be champions came abruptly and suddenly upon learning of City's victory. That will always hurt more in the moment.
But until the last moment there was hope. And with the stronger finish to this season, there may be greater reasons for optimism. This is the third youngest team in the league, founded on a core of developing talent, led by a brilliant coach who has learned at the hands of the master.
As difficult as it is to back Guardiola, even City's own manager said this week that he is convinced that Arsenal will be his closest rivals for the foreseeable future. It's hard to disagree after watching Arteta's team take the champions all the way.
Is Mateta's magnificence in danger of being hidden in memory?
Did you know that Jean-Philippe Mateta is the top scorer in the Premier League since the beginning of the year?
The only players to match the Crystal Palace striker's 14 goals since the start of 2024 are Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, named top-flight player of the year and young player of the year respectively this weekend.
Now, no one is suggesting that Foden's gong should be on Mateta's mantelpiece, but the 26-year-old's late blooming is the sort of thing that can easily go unnoticed in the long term, and stay on the back burner. memory because they happen after the votes. The awards have been handed out, the prizes have been distributed, and the narrative of a season has already been written.
No player has scored more goals in the Premier League this year than Mateta (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
That's especially the case on the final day when, with so much going on at once, it's easy for events like Mateta's hat-trick against Aston Villa and climbing the scoring charts to go unnoticed.
There were two goals in Sunday's matches worthy of being considered the best of the season, with Moisés Caicedo scoring from the halfway line against Chelsea and Mohammed Kudus' acrobatic header against City.
In preparing for the goal, there is an argument to say that Kudus' goal was even better than Alejandro Garnacho's against Everton in November.
At least the official Premier League goal of the season award is usually only awarded once all is said and done, which should give Kudus a chance to take Garnacho to the award. As for Mateta, he may have to settle for the 2024-25 Golden Boot.
Going up
- On Tuesday, Gareth Southgate will announce his England squad for this summer's Euros. For now it's just a provisional squad, but we'll know which players on the sidelines are hoping for a spot on the plane and which ones will be watching from their couch this summer.
- Of course, the most important issue on Tuesday will be the athletic one end of season awards, celebrating the best of the best in the Premier League, Women's Super League, EFL and European football. Mateta may or may not be a winner
- Wednesday sees the Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin between Atalanta and treble-chasing Bayer Leverkusen, and Xabi Alonso's side have just completed an unbeaten Bundesliga campaign this weekend.
- Once the small matter of the FA Cup final in the Manchester derby on Saturday is resolved, we can move on to what everyone is looking forward to in the coming weeks: rampant and relentless speculation about Erik ten Hag's future.
- Defending champion Barcelona hopes to win its third Women's Champions League title against Lyon on Saturday.
- And Sunday will be what we are legally obliged to call the most lucrative game in football: the Championship play-off final between Leeds and Southampton.
