The 2016-17 season still had its drama – moments of brilliance and booming narrative arcs to be resolved – but it was less title race than well-ordered title jogFarewell, then, to the year that almost was. This was a Premier League season that sparked with a controlled excitement, never quite caught fire but still dished up another digestible slice of high-end product.Things kept on almost happening. Leicester City almost completed the most dramatic title-plus-relegation act of all time. But then it was all sort of OK. Marco Silva almost pulled off a minor managerial miracle – but somehow not quite. To great fanfare Tottenham Hotspur pulled to within one victory of being quite close to creeping up on Chelsea’s shoulder at...
John Terry will say goodbye to Chelsea with the title, José Mourinho will pick his weakest team yet and Manchester City should tread carefully at WatfordThe best team in the league face the worst team in the league in a match that will be played in a carefree atmosphere by everyone except John Terry, whose 717th and final Chelsea appearance will end with him – together with Gary Cahill – lifting the Premier League trophy, followed by a teary-eyed farewell speech to the fans. Sunday is the end of an era for Terry, his club and their opponents Sunderland, relegated at last after 10 successive top-flight seasons. Terry’s beer-glass-emptying, disabled-bay-filling, rival-abusing, full-kit-wearing past means he gets little love from rival...
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...
Positioned in a different role, the Brazilian was again outstanding in the win at West Ham and showed why they cannot contemplate selling him this summerAs Philippe Coutinho departed from the pitch on a warm afternoon in east London, his 89th‑minute substitution met by raucous applause by those who filled the away end, he was embraced by Jürgen Klopp. Nothing surprising there given the frequency with which the Liverpool manger hugs his players but this one felt a little different: tighter, longer, stronger. A thank you in physical form and, perhaps even, the warmest of pleas to the Brazilian to stay exactly where he is.In the past week Coutinho has yet again been linked with a move to Barcelona, despite...
Manuel Lanzini’s winner means that for the second season running Tottenham’s title dreams have crumbled at the home of a local rivalWhen a man is tired of London, well, there’s probably a fair chance he is a Tottenham fan in early May. On a chilly, noisy night inside the London Stadium Spurs entered this derby game hoping to apply pressure to Chelsea’s shoulder but knowing they could forfeit the league title, too, by losing the game.And so it came to pass: another boisterous night in May, another wild, fingernail-gnawing London derby defeat. Almost exactly a year ago a wild draw at Chelsea had seen Spurs give up the ghost on last season’s title challenge. Here the only goal of a...