By Daily Sports on May 14, 2019

What a season we have had in the English Premier league. Two teams, Manchester City and Liverpool showed us the best of the best of a relentless pursuit of greatness. A pursuit that hearkens back to the neck and neck title races between Manchester United and Arsenal in the early part of the last decade and,even if we didn't see that now increasingly looking and increasingly threatened imortal Unbeaten run of the Arsenal team of 2003/4 season repeated this season by only a whiskers, produced such exhilaration of football excellence that titilated like a long-winding unputdownable novel or film that kept one glued on for hours.

In the end,Pep Guardiola and his City lads breasted the tape in impressive fashion, having clawed their way back midseason from a Liverpool lead that was seemingly unassailable.

The talk of the season was the football that both City and Liverpool produced to blow other teams away. Super Raheem Sterling the City winger, when not waging a just war against racism this season, busied himself with a string of intimidating performances, racing like the fastest of sports cars and scoring beautifully match after match. 

Of course there was Kun Aguero the striker. Great forward player who dusted off the competition from Gabriel Jesus for the starting shirt as a lone striker since last season and continued this season to engrave his name as a Manchester City great with great goals this season,many at very crucial moments.

Then the leader of men,Vincent Company. When you may have thought at the start of the season that his legs would surely have waned, he led by example from the back, defending with a combination of ruggedness and super intelligence and then producing a candidate for goal of the decade by scoring a scorcher from yards out of the 18 to hand City the title last week against a stubborn Leicester City side in what was a very tight game.

The City side, made in the steely and never-say-die image of Guardiola were relentless in the display of their quality and it speaks so much to their credit that despite losing a couple of games they were still able to overhaul a great Liverpool side that lost only one game throughout the season.

Those with a soul, whether a supporter of Liverpool or not, will not fail to feel for Jurgen Klopp and his lads though. With 97 points this was the Scouser's largest haul in any league season and on another season, well except last when Man City were imperious in ganering 100 points, this return would have surely clinched them the title.

City though were the better side by one point and congrats to them.

What does next season promise at the moment? More direct rivalry between both clubs. It is not likely that any of the other clubs in the big 6 of the English league can break in to stop the duopoly of City and Liverpool.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has acknowledged,and rightly so, that it would take a miracle for his team to challenge next season for the title. The Red Devils endured a terrible season that started with the oft-constipated looking former manager Jose Mourinho nagging about the lack of squad quality and depth he had to manage. Then there was a period of resurgence as Solskjaer came in as temporary manager, with the club eliminating PSG in the second round of Champions League. But as soon as Solskjaer was named permanent manager, it was a dreadful downward slide for United. Losing their final two games to already relegated Huddersfield and Cardiff told the story of the season that United have had.

Its unlikely, with the scale of rebuilding they have on their hands, that United can really challenge next season. Building a title winning or seriously challenging team is as much a matter of creating the right structures off the pitch as it is about splurging out on players. On that score United still have their work cut out.

Then there's Chelsea. Despite the cry about the problems associated with Sarriball , manager Maurizio Sarri was still able to steer the club into the top 4.  This may have saved his job. But with Eden Hazard,the club's talisman and icon over the years set to leave for Real Madrid and with the transfer ban they are facing, it would be a huge surprise if they can seriously break into the top two of English football.

Arsenal would be Arsenal. Whether they win the Europa league to get into the Champions League or not, they still won't spend the needed big bucks to truly challenge.

Tottenham are going through the debt-repayment phase for their new stadium and can't spend to truly threaten Liverpool and City.

So it is likely to be more of the same direct fight between Klopp and Guardiola next season. The trilogy. 2017/18 wasn't close but this past season was. Would Liverpool beat City at last to win their first ever premier league title? We will know by this time next year. For now though City fans are not thinking that far as they celebrate this important present triumph.

•Photo shows Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with the Premier League trophy 

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 14, 2019

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