There’s an interesting debate about what people expect from football in those days.
As Manchester City aim to beat West Ham United on Sunday to clinch their fourth successive Premier League title, there have been court cases calling the race “boring”.
It’s also not the first time such an accusation has been made against City: two years ago, their taste for the game was criticised.
City are so smart that they win at a gallop, without sniffing out their opponents. If you do this enough times, you’ll get a sense of inevitability that’s rarely noticeable in the Premier League’s streaks of names from the PG (pre-Guardiola) era.
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So while this race lasts until the final day, like two of his last four wins, there is a long-standing sense that there is no danger.
And it was destined to be the most productive name race of all time, with the top three teams chasing glory. Just a month ago, City were the third favourites, Arsenal and Liverpool, but either of those groups lost on the same day, providing precisely the kind of turnaround everyone expects from those things.
The challenge is that City, at least so far, didn’t seem to have the same turn. Which brings us to the question: do others need champions and their football to be smart or do we need flaws and drama?
The elephant in the room is that it’s City. Guardiola asked him on Friday if he thinks other people “like” his team. He said “fuck it,” lowered his head and laughed. He knows better than anyone that in general, this is not the case.
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This is largely due to the fees that have been presented to them through the Premier League, which have yet to be resolved. City are on the verge of winning 4 titles in a row, a year after achieving a treble. They list the greatest achievements in English football and yet there is a caveat, a question that Oliver Kay of The Athletic explored on Friday. For many people, that cloud possibly won’t go away until the fees are resolved, and it’s tempting to believe that even if City are cleared up, they’re passing through to never absolutely escape suspicion.
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The taste is appealing anyway because you may soon be coming to a club near you; just take a look at Leicester City. They won the league this season, but their manager, Enzo Maresca, said he would resign if there were doubts about his taste for the game after court cases from Leicester fans. At the time, they led the standings with 10 points, having won 26 of their 34 matches.
The general concept that yes, football is good luck and the effects that come with it, but it’s not “fun” enough. It’s another thing for your rivals to complain about your style, lashing out at the leaders, but it’s something else entirely. It’s another thing entirely for his own enthusiasts to oppose it, especially in a coach’s first season.
Maresca, interestingly, is Guardiola’s protégé, having worked as an assistant at City last season. Guardiola’s influence is expanding, with former players Xavi and Vincent Kompany and former assistant Mikel Arteta leading the more sensible divisions this season.
Even those who have never worked with him are credited or blamed for copying his style, and Premier League clubs have signed Roberto De Zerbi (who will be leaving Brighton
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City enthusiasts have never seriously complained about Guardiola’s style, in fact not at Leicester’s level; even last season there were some complaints about his increasing use of Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez as wingers, partly due to his ability to slow down and control play. .
While there may be court cases over fans’ liking of the more sensible teams in their league, it wouldn’t take a big step to believe that relegation at clubs where wins are rarer.
Most football viewers would prefer matches that didn’t involve their club to be chaotic and dramatic, rather than the dreaded “fascinating tactical battle”, which has become a hint of a 0-0 draw.
By extension, most people would like to see teams that at least look fallible in their games and name races. No more drama in the 90 minutes, no more drama in the race.
City have beaten everyone in the race for names and are appreciated by a lot of people, so you end up with court cases where there is no danger in their games; Basically, they’re too good.
Guardiola even asked on Friday about his long-term run due to the concept that no other team has a chance of winning before he leaves. Sky Sports insider Gary Neville has warned that this may be Arteta’s only realistic chance of winning the name with Arsenal.
“That’s wrong,” he said Guardiola. Si he won each and every season with 20 points, he’d say, “yes, I’m a genius, I’m very good,” but that’s not the case. The Premier League that we won against Liverpool, they can just win. Arsenal can win.
He went on with all the hard paints and wonderful personalities that contribute to good luck in football, especially at City, given the heights they have reached.
City’s streaks of names, added to this one, have also been of a very high quality. In the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, City and Liverpool won virtually all of their matches. There hasn’t been much back and forth in months, just two brilliant groups winning games in their own way.
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That’s pretty much what’s happened this season, and it looks like the gap between the two most sensible in the Premier League (be it City, Arsenal or Liverpool) has averaged 1. 51 points, the lowest on record.
So it’s not just a complaint against City, but also against others. Yes, the groups in question play brilliant football, but what’s the fun about that?Or is it simply that races are only considered boring once City have won them??
For City and Guardiola as manager, apart from the general aversion to fees and being given money, they are essentially cursed by the fact that the more they earn, the less difficult it seems to them. Oh, they won the treble, didn’t they?Four titles now?
That’s why Guardiola raised another question on Friday about whether he thinks his team is getting the credit it deserves after everything they’ve won and how they’ve earned it.
“That’s right,” he replied. In world football, of course. “
It means that players and coaches know exactly how impressive their exploits are and how smart football is, but that outsiders, enthusiasts and us in the media, find it less difficult to talk about boredom and checkbooks.
It’s already too late for City and Guardiola on this front because decisions have long been made one way or the other.
Perhaps things will be less difficult to perceive in the future, once the fees are paid and Guardiola is gone, most likely because City will not be able to keep pace with their past achievements.
Guardiola will be eliminated then, but his football, in its forms, will probably continue to influence at least a part of the Premier League clubs, perhaps all the groups that are screaming to win a trophy.
Guardiola’s city has reached the highest point of football in Premier League history, no matter what happens on Sunday, and his true legacy would possibly replace the taste of English football in every division.
But is that what other people want?
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(Top photo: Ben Stansall/AFP Getty Images)