Although it pains him every single time he mentions it, José Mourinho has been reasonably quick to point out that Manchester City have won the Premier League title on merit. They have been the best team and have produced the best, and most attractive to watch, performances.
By definition, and something you won’t hear the Portuguese admitting, they also have the best manager.
So what does he intend to do about it next season? Can United really raise their game to be more of a challenge to Guardiola’s team? If they want to win the title the simple fact of the matter is that they have to.
The danger, of course, is that by concentrating on catching one team, he may be passed by another. His desire to be the best may result in him dropping to third best!
Ask any motor racing driver and they will tell you that the most likely time to be overtaken is when you yourself are trying to overtake the one in front of you.
Liverpool have been praised for their performances this season, a fact which doesn’t go down well with Mourinho when his team are above them and four points ahead of them in the league. His team have been criticised for lacklustre showings, particularly those against the likes of Sevilla and West Brom.
Liverpool are also the only English club remaining in the Champion’s League, a sorry fact when considering that a record FIVE started the competition!
So Jürgen Klopp has a lot to be happy about. He has seen off the challenge of Antonio Conte at Chelsea who managed to prove that he can’t cope with being in Europe and challenging for the Premier League in the same season. In fact he couldn’t cope with one of the two, never mind both!
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Mauricio Pochettino, at present, has also fallen short of the standard required to finish ahead of the Merseysiders although Tottenham are still only two points behind Liverpool whilst, at The Emirates, Stubborn Old Man was never even considered to be a challenger for anything at all and has finally decided do the right thing and leave.
Klopp’s team also has, collectively, the three best goalscorers in the division. They may rely on Mo Salah to get the majority of the goals but Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino certainly chip in with their fair share. At the time of writing, Salah has 40, Firmino 24 and Mané 17, a total of 81 between the three of them!
Where would Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur be without the goals of Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane?
It is also fairly evident that yet another shedload of money needs to be spent at Old Trafford. Despite Mourinho’s purchases of Pogba, (who may be sold this summer), Matić, Bailly, Lindelof and Lukaku United were a long way off the pace in the Champion’s League and, in this competition, Liverpool proved to be superior to both Manchester clubs.
So there is a lot to be done to get Manchester United back to where the genuine supporters believe they belong. They have to buy wisely and for the right positions. The old theory about having two world class players for every position is nice but impractical. It would be virtually impossible to keep 22 world class players happy bearing in mind that 11 of them are going to be left out of every game.
The problem is that United don’t have many positions occupied by ONE world class player, never mind two! This is what needs addressing and is something the fans think should have been addressed long before now given the amount of money spent by the last three managers.
This coming transfer window has to be one of the absolute best for United. They have to outwit their neighbours in the transfer market by bringing in players who are going to improve United more so than those brought in by Guardiola are going to improve City.
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If he can do this then United have a chance of finishing a lot closer to City next season and maybe even ahead of them.
He just has to be wary that, in his pursuit of Pep Guardiola, he doesn’t take his eyes off the car in third place, which is not too far off his rear bumper.
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 