So London lost more than it won. This is OK. It is the natural order of things and the way they should be.
Chelsea won the Europa League but the fact that the final was contested by two teams from the Big Onion meant that the trophy was always going to end up there. More importantly Arsenal lost a big final, Spurs lost a big final and even Anthony Joshua managed to lose to an unknown Mexican in New York!
Previously, Chelsea had lost in the Carabao Cup final and Watford, (yes, some people claim Watford is in London, so it must be), had managed to lose the FA Cup final by a record score.
What does all this prove? Quite simply that, for a London team to win a trophy, they need to get two teams to the final, then they have a decent chance!
The downside to all this of course is that the two teams emerging triumphant from this season have been Manchester City and Liverpool. As a Mancunian publication we don’t really mind too much that City are successful, (they would always be our second choice after United), but Liverpool is a different story. Again, we prefer the trophies staying in the North West but it still takes a lot of swallowing when Liverpool win one.
Will anything change next season? Well it is highly unlikely that “England” will provide all four finalists in the European competitions again.
For one thing them big nasty European clubs don’t like it.
Real Madrid wanted to win the trophy for the fourth year running but were knocked out by Ajax which was unexpected, particularly by Madrid.
Barcelona managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when taking a 3-0 lead to Anfield only to lose the game 4-0!
Ajax themselves, who must have fancied their chances having beaten Madrid and Juventus finally buckled against good old Tottenham. Now there’s a surprise, they obviously took them too lightly, particularly after winning the away leg!
The rest, as they say, is history. Tottenham reverted to type in the final and became the serial losers we all know and love. Liverpool had an easy victory because, well, because they were playing Tottenham and all the good teams had been knocked out by then.
So expect a different line up at the semi-final stage next season.
And finally the boring internationals are back…..
International football returns this week and we are all looking forward to it. Why? Because there’s nothing else to watch and even a Mickey Mouse competition which Sky Sports have elevated to the same level as the World Cup, (until the Netherlands beat England, then it will be insignificant), is bound to grab our attention under these circumstances.
The first semi-final is on Wednesday and features Portugal and Switzerland in a game too close to call.
The second semi-final is easier because England will, like Tottenham before them, revert to type and show how average they really are, a little as they did at the World Cup but nobody could see it or was prepared to admit it.
The tournament will then be won by one of the other three and we just about make Portugal the favourite. That’s the country which is smaller than England and has a lower population but it does have much better footballers and wins more trophies. Mind you, they only needed to win one trophy in the last 53 years to win more than the arrogant English.
So that’s it with the real football until August when the purgatory begins all over again, particularly for Manchester United supporters. Enjoy your summer while it lasts!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 