The fact that a young Arsenal team was able to keep Pep Guardiola’s perennial champions honest for such a significant portion of the season is the one true surprise about Manchester City’s run to their fifth Premier League title in the past six seasons.
Even up until a few weeks ago, it was impossible to predict who would end up victorious in the championship battle, at least on paper.
The fact of the matter is, however, that once City engaged high gear — ironically about the same time that they were charged with over one hundred prior violations of Premier League financial regulations — the result has never really been in any real question.
Since the day in February when City’s detractors licked their lips at the thought of the team bankrolled by Sheikh Mansour’s receiving its comeuppance, City has not lost in any tournament. Sheikh Mansour is the club’s primary financial backer.
They have scored 39 goals while only allowing 10 to be scored against them in the Premier League, and they have defeated Arsenal with scores of 3-1 and 4-1 to earn 40 points out of the last 42 available.
They have also cruised into the FA Cup final and reached the final of the Champions League with devastating victory over Europe’s old rulers Bayern Munich and Real Madrid en way, and they are getting closer to achieving a repeat of the triple that Manchester United won in 1999.
Although they led the table for significant portions of the season and a first championship since 2004 appeared to be within reach, Arsenal finally caved in to the pressure that was applied by a City team that was unrelenting.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his club’s valiant effort to prevent Manchester City from winning three consecutive titles in a row. “Manchester City are a team that has had the capacity to win by 10 points but they haven’t done that this season because of what we have done,” Arteta said in reference to Arsenal’s efforts.
It’s possible that Arteta, like every other manager in the world, is green with envy at the riches that Guardiola has at his disposal.
The fact that City can blow most of its competitors out of the water when it comes to spending power is evident, and the argument about what some people refer to as “financial doping” will continue even as City’s attorneys do battle in the courtroom.
But as this season’s performance by Chelsea demonstrates, investing a lot of money does not necessarily translate into on-field success.
There is a strategy that can be used to locate and acquire the necessary components for a football machine that is geared up to perform equally well on dreary evenings in Yorkshire as it can under the bright lights of Europe’s largest venues.
It is also vital to have a skilled coach to man the controls, and in Guardiola, City possesses probably the industry’s finest football tactician. Guardiola is an ultra-perfectionist who strives for perfection.
Even now, it seems almost unjust that a side that won the title in 2021-22 without even having a dedicated striker was later able to add the unquenchable appetite for goals of a Norwegian wonder named Erling Haaland to an already potent combination of players.
In addition to that, they brought in Julian Alvarez, the striker for Argentina’s team that won the World Cup, so that he could serve as his deputy.
But City are towards the bottom of the list in terms of the amount of new players joining them this season, and Guardiola has employed just 23 players in the league, which is the fewest of any of the 20 teams competing in this campaign.
Jack Grealish, who took a long to learn the City method, has now moved ahead of England teammate Phil Foden, a player who would walk into most other first teams. This is not a surprise since Guardiola takes great satisfaction in improving his players, and it is not a surprise that Jack Grealish has now nudged ahead of Phil Foden.
Rodri’s fourth season at City has been probably his finest, John Stones has entrenched himself next to Ruben Dias in the heart of City’s defense, while Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva continue to be two of Guardiola’s important lieutenants. Rodri has been a holding midfielder for City for four seasons.
Even though Haaland has received more media attention, Kevin de Bruyne continues to serve as City’s creative department’s conductor and is now in the lead for goal assists in the league standings.
The fact that City will apply the same careful formula to their summer preparation and undoubtedly return even stronger the next year is one of the things that irritates the other teams that are working toward the goal of closing the gap and dethroning City in the upcoming season.