Welcome to the Briefing, where every Monday this season, The Athletic will talk about three of the biggest questions to come up in weekend football.
At the weekend we close the veil on another long and eventful Premier League campaign. Manchester City were crowned champions, Arsenal failed and Liverpool said goodbye to Jurgen Klopp.
Here, we’re going to ask ourselves if we expect City’s record-breaking dominance to continue, if Arsenal can benefit from completing the moment again and if we’ve all paid more attention to Jean-Philippe Mateta.
It’s that old Gary Lineker quote, right? Premier League football is an undeniable game. Twenty-two men chased a football in more than 380 matches, and in the end, Manchester City won the title.
It’s not just six titles in seven seasons for City, but now 4 consecutive titles, a point of dominance unprecedented in the history of English football, let alone in the post-1992 era. Jack Grealish cutting off his sky-blue headband during a lovely interview with Sky Sports arrives now as Christmas.
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“This is our moment,” Pep Guardiola said in reaction to his team’s history. No one can argue with that and what worries City’s rivals most is the feeling that they can make this era of dominance bigger without a hitch. times in a row, what chance five?
It doesn’t have to be this way. The city faces bumps in the road in a race for the name and even when they finally triumph, there are moments of sliding doors that their closest rivals can look back on and curse.
This season has been no different in that sense. A six-way win between November and December, after back-to-back defeats in the fall, leaves room for doubt. Throughout the season, City’s performances have only matched those of last year. Triple Run.
And yet, after this winter oscillation, Guardiola’s team took 57 of the 63 imaginable points. Once again they overcame a momentary mid-season incident to nevertheless regain their position at the top. And each time they do, it becomes a little less surprising.
City have established this pedigree over the course of more than a decade. This is the sixth genuine Premier League run for a name involving them, following 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022 and 2023. City have triumphed over time.
The fact that Guardiola’s side have been combined for more than three years in a row is the most powerful argument against the idea that a league that was once seen as the world’s top competition has a procession. The twists and turns observed this season change to point out that this is not yet the case.
But despite this, the end result is predictable. Since that first triumph under Guardiola in 2017-18, his imperious 100-point crusade, the top would have picked City as favourites before every season next season and, five times out of six, they would have been right.
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With Guardiola signed for at least one season, only minor business is needed in the summer transfer window and with no deadline for a resolution on the 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s monetary regulations (which everyone denies), who would bet against a still-celebratory interview with Grealish this time next year?
There is no right way to lose a championship title, nor is there an easy way, but some strategies are better than others. Not that the Arsenal players wanted to hear that once the final whistle blew at the Etihad and the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta’s players took their fate very seriously, understandably. Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined many in the stands and shed a tear after missing.
His tally of 89 numbers equals the record for a finalist in the pre-Guardiola era – the same total as Manchester United in 2011-12. Only Liverpool have conceded more and are still second, with 97 numbers in 2018-19.
But like Liverpool that year, Arsenal can take solace in the fact that they took City harder to the most critical point of the campaign. As many expected, Arteta’s team had to be the best in the series. They came close to winning 15 of their last 17 games and losing just five points.
The sadness of last season has another character: a lost advantage, then a slow death that resulted in two wins in 8 games and 15 draws lost in the decisive phase. The feeling of unhappiness gradually set in.
This time, the wisdom that they would not be champions came abruptly and suddenly upon hearing of City’s victory. This will do more damage in the moment.
But until the end, there is hope. And with the more productive end to this season, there would arguably be more reason to be optimistic. This is the third-youngest team in the league, built on a core of emerging talent, led through a brilliant coach who has learned from the master.
While it’s hard to argue against Guardiola, even the City manager himself said this week that he was confident Arsenal would be his closest rival for the foreseeable future. It’s hard to disagree after watching Arteta’s team take the champions all the way.
Did you know that Jean-Philippe Mateta has been the Premier League’s top scorer since the beginning of the year?
The only players to equal the Crystal Palace striker’s 14 goals since the start of 2024 are Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, named Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year, respectively, on the final flight of the weekend.
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Now, no one is suggesting that Foden’s passing be placed on Mateta’s mantelpiece, yet the 26-year-old’s belated blossoming is the sort of thing that can go unnoticed in the long run, trapped in memory as it happens after the polls have been handed out, awards have been handed out, and the story of a season has already been written.
This is especially the case on the final day, where, with so much going on at the same time, it’s easy for chances like Mateta’s hat-trick against Aston Villa and the climb up the scoreboard to happen.
There were two goals in Sunday’s games worthy of being the most productive of the season, with Moises Caicedo scoring from the halfway line against Chelsea and Mohammed Kudus’ acrobatic throw-in against City.
In preparation for the goal, there is an argument to be made that Kudus’ goal was even greater than Alejandro Garnacho’s against Everton in November.
At least the official Premier League Goal of the Season award is normally only awarded once all is said and done, giving Kudus the chance to overtake Garnacho in the award. As for Mateta, he would possibly have to settle for the 2024-25 Golden. Boot.
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