When Manchester City’s manager claimed he would have been sacked by Barcelona or Bayern by now, it was hard to know whether he was bragging, complaining or merely being disingenuous“It’s not done, but we are nearly there,” Pep Guardiola said after Manchester City’s last home win of the season. “It’s in our hands to finish third. We are going to play Watford and win the game. [Even if we lose] Arsenal will have to score five or six against Everton to get past us.”Most of the season’s issues have been settled as the final weekend approaches, there will be no last day relegation escapes and the top and runners-up spots have been known for a while. There is mild interest...
Chelsea and Spurs face challenges of a differing kind despite their success, Paul Clement justified his appointment and Marco Silva is likely to leave HullThe Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Related: Rainbows and tears on Tottenham's last day at White Hart Lane | David Hytner Related: The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League photos Continue reading...
José Mourinho has little to show from big away days, Vincent Kompany talks up the Pep Guardiola revolution, and Tony Pulis points to the bottom lineManchester United’s run of 25 unbeaten league games came to an end at Arsenal where José Mourinho once again set up his team with the focus on nullifying the opposition. Asking Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata to follow Arsenal’s wingbacks wherever they went meant sacrificing two of his most creative talents in an attempt to deny the Gunners control. This of course is the Mourinho way, to be reactive, to never make the first mistake, but against their direct rivals away from home it simply hasn’t worked: United have failed to score in 360 Premier...
Gabriel and Arsenal falter under pressure, Crystal Palace have a problem with fan behaviour, Sunderland must keep Didier Ndong while Hull’s Harry Maguire continues his excellent formSean Dyche laughed off the fact James Tarkowski had been struck by a plastic cigarette lighter as Burnley’s players celebrated their first goal but Crystal Palace will find the incident far from amusing. This was the third time a visiting player has been struck by an object thrown from that corner of the Holmesdale stand since the club returned to the Premier League in 2013. Wayne Rooney and more recently Fabricio Coloccini were the others hit and the Metropolitan police appealed for witnesses over the coin flung at the Newcastle defender. The Football Association...
Latest derby was a stark reminder that the big beasts of the north-west are currently fighting over scraps while the London clubs watch from aboveAll those complaining that Thursday’s Manchester derby was not a patch on the previous week’s el clásico completely miss the point. In terms of quality the Manchester derby is currently no better than the Merseyside version and it is rapidly becoming as irrelevant. If the Premier League does have a derby to stand comparison with the best Spain can offer, at the moment it would have to be the London rivalry between Chelsea and Spurs, whose FA Cup semi-final was both an entertaining game and, as Antonio Conte said, a great advert for English football. Related:...