Man City fans are ‘patsies’ celebrating Lance Armstrong victories

Are these Man City title wins hollow? Have we all forgotten the sportswashing? Plus, can Arsenal go again? And farewell Jurgen Klopp.

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Hollow victories

Manchester City winning four titles in a row and six under Pep will be remembered as one of the greatest sporting achievements in the same breath as Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France victories.

Eoin (Man City fans haven’t been this happy since they were Chelsea fans) Ireland

…I am sure you are going to get a lot of mails about Man City’s 115 charges and the financial doping they put in place to build the platform they sit on today. And then I am sure you will get a few City fans mail back saying something else like innocent until proven guilty, Pep is a genius etc etc.

Can we just park that for one minute take a step back, zoom out a bit and remember that this Man City team exist purely as a sport washing enterprise of the UAE. Nobody seems to mention this any more. The UAE, the fellas who hosted a global climate conference and spent their time lobbying to sell their oil.

All those City fans whose club has been taken over get a hold of yourself; you are patsies. Shame on the Premier League for allowing the game to become oligarch vs petrostate. Why do we accept this?

Football should be the fun bit of life. How have we let the utterly crushing reality of the real world in here? It’s appalling.

Jimbo

…City winning the League again and the 3 promoted clubs getting relegated.

Greatest league in the World? – you are having a laugh. Mate.

Paul

MORE ON THE PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON FROM F365:

👉 Premier League 23/24 season winners: Foden, Palmer, Emery, Arsenal, Klopp and Dyche all brilliant

👉 Premier League 23/24 season losers: Kompany, Ten Hag, Sheffield United and Newcastle failed

👉 Arsenal miss out on Premier League prize money record with Crystal Palace the biggest final-day earners

Are there ABCs?

I can almost hear the laughter as I write this, but given the mind-numbing dominance of City these days (and how poor and unthreatening Manchester United are), will there be some neutrals supporting the red side of Manchester next Saturday? Just a few, maybe? Anyone…? [Taps mic]

Dan, (a Manchester United fan, fully prepared to place a small wager on a large City handicap next weekend) Worthing

📣TO THE COMMENTS! Are Man City now more hates than Man Utd? Join the debate here

Two things from a Gunner

1) Congratulations to City. No excuses. Phenomenal team, and what a run by both teams.

2) Please don’t f***ing print Stewie with the absolute spunk that he/she/they come out with. If you don’t see this as progress, then you are a f***ing tw*t.

Time for a few beers. Oh and well done Leverkusen, feels good eh?

Adam (please let City sign Kane this summer) Gooner in France

Can Arsenal go again?

As a Liverpool fan, I know well the frustration of going toe to toe with City to the last day and the disappointment it brings. I think there’s an interesting comparison to make between this Arsenal side and the quadruple chasing Liverpool of 2022.

Whilst the Liverpool side that missed out in ’19 then went on to win the Champions League, instantly dismissing any negativity going into the next season (which worked out well), losing both the league and European Cup in ’22 seemingly crippled the team for the next season. This double disappointment is probably not a million miles from that felt by the Arsenal team with their own double disappointment of running City close twice now with nothing to show for it.

Getting that team up and running for a third year and avoiding a season off ala Liverpool last season will be, in my opinion, one of if not the defining challenges of Arteta’s career.

Dan

It’s cyclical

It’s easy to dismiss City’s inevitable victories. But whether they are financially doped or not, they are the best team of our time.

Aidan, LFC (fortunately times change)

Thanks Jurgen

How to sum up Klopp?

The football was often mental, but rarely if ever boring. He was a massive arse when Liverpool lost, which some people take exception to, as though Wenger and Ferguson and the like were never massive arses.

A league win, a champion’s league (corner taken quickly) and a couple of other pots.

He built the best Liverpool side I’ve ever seen as long as I’ve been watching them and seems to pull brilliant youngsters out of the bag at will.

Mostly though, he made you believe. No matter what 11 took to the pitch, you never thought Liverpool were completely out of it. Throw on Origi, job done.

Thanks Jürgen.

Alan

…Thank you Jurgen – you will be missed – I remember watching your first press conference in October 2015 and thought, wow. And over the last 8 ¾ years, by hook or by crook I have watched 99.8% of games live.

Last night, I was sat in a beer garden drinking an old fashion with the sun on my face, thinking through the highlights. Yes Barca, Yes the CL win and Yes the Prem title. But my personal favourite was watching the fans at Wembley in this year’s League Cup final, knowing the young kids needed picking up and they responded with a deafening rendition of “Oli Oli Oli” that rang around the stadium. It sent chills.

People may say he should have won more – to those I say “F%^& off” and point out that he lost out on four trophies to Man City and Real Madrid, two teams of financial wholesomeness and transparency.

So Jurgen. Thanks for the memories and thank you for that period that crossed the back of the 20189/19 season and most of the 2019/20 season when we won 36 of 37 games – drawing one. I think that was the best football I have ever seen.

You will be missed.

Ian H (Did over 60% of Sky viewers really watch Klopp’s presentation, over City lift the title?)

Summed up by a Newcastle fan

I’ll charitably ignore City’s 115 back-room charges and state categorically that on the pitch, they were the best team in the league and earned their trophy. I was low-key hoping that Pep would call it quits with City, then maybe come to Newcastle after a year or two off. Ah, well.

That said, if my club had made a challenge like Arsenal’s, I’d feel pretty daggone good about it. Personally, I hope Mikel Arteta wrestles with feelings of inadequacy that rob him of his hair and sex drive, but he deserves my grudging credit for the squad he built. Kai Havertz, whose facial resemblance to a slapped arse remained even when he seemed to grieve scoring rather than celebrate, also deserves real credit for his efforts in the run-in.

Klopp’s send-off was a pleasure to watch even for a supporter with deep grudges against Liverpool. Whatever you say about his tactical acumen – for my part, I think he changed the way football is played in the Premiership, forcing Pep to evolve; the rest are playing catch up to them – he rejuvenated Liverpool. And how good is Klopp at engaging supporters? He’s frequently a total knob, but I can’t bring myself to detest him. Evidently, he just rolled an 18 CHA at birth.

Oliver Glasner is obviously a genius, and at this point I’m a little awestruck. Palace will compete for Europe next year. Villa had nothing to play for, but seemed to do themselves little credit. Not that they’ll remember *that about this remarkable season.

Ange and Poch both ended the season with credit in my bank. Neither club should seek a change. Ten Hag is a another story, though. He’s surely not the worst coach in the league, and with a strong DoF like Dan Ashworth (show me the money!) holding the reins, he could provide a stable platform for a season or two. But if I were a [gakkgh] Manchester United supporter, I’d want him gone. And I’m not sure what De Zerbi’s story is: he obviously left Brighton because he didn’t feel it could support his ambitions, so I have to wonder if he already has a destination.

I thought Newcastle had a wildly uneven match at Brentford. The team lists published on at least two websites left Anthony Gordon out of the squad, but did not identify him as unavailable. Instead, Jacob Murphy was listed both as a starter and as on the bench. I briefly feared that the coaching staff had made a terrible mistake with the team list they’d submitted, but when Gordon did not appear in the tunnel, it seemed clear that Amrabat’s non-penalty was to blame. We missed him throughout, though a reasonable game plan and some real moments of quality made the Mags look good. Murphy, Isak and Guimaraes all had enough goal contributions to win MOTM in most matches, and and Joelinton’s missed sitter just made me feel like he was really back.

During his goal celebration, I didn’t think Bruno looked like a player on his way out the door. I don’t think a bid for Isak is likely to be high enough to tempt the club, either, given the 70 million Euro he cost and the 25 goals he scored in all competitions. I’ve said it before: 130 million is a starting bid for Newcastle’s first 20-goal scorer since Alan Shearer. I just hope nobody destroys those pipe-cleaner legs.

Still, it’s tough to know what next year’s squad will look like at SJP. Will somebody come calling with real money for Callum Wilson? Surely we can cadge a Saudi offer for Miggy Almiron (bless him)? And surely not many players will be added, though we have needs at forward and center back. I do like our situation at fullback right now: Livramento and Hall both looked better and better as the season progressed. Trippier has at least another useful year in him, and will surely stay. If Joe Willock doesn’t draw interest, a lot of clubs clubs aren’t doing their jobs.

Chris C, Toon Army DC (still shocked at Gordon’s YPOTY snub)