I can't really agree with a team that plays football at "The Emirates" and paid £100 million for England's fifth choice midfielder accusing other teams of buying success with oil money, apparently City are seventh on the
net spend table over the last five years behind Chelsea, Arsenal, United, Newcastle, Spurs and even Villa. Did they spend their way to success? Absolutely. But have they spent more money than other clubs attempting exactly the same thing? Not according to the data.
Pep is not only a much more experienced and better manager, but so are his players - would any Arsenal players make City's starting XI?
And let's not forget that, just like last season, Arsenal's actual league position was flattering due to having played more games than City for most of the season. I raised an eyebrow every time a headline claimed Arsenal were "top of the table", how about next season Spurs play more games than everyone else so we can pretend to be top of the league for a few months!? I saw quite a few Arsenal fans say things like "points on the board are better than games in hand" - not when you're up against City.
Arsenal were very worthy of second place again, but I still think there's a gulf (pun intended) between them and City.
As for Spurs, fifth is probably about right. We were top of the league in November, then had a terrible run of injuries/suspensions that we never really recovered from. Maddison went from being bargain of the summer to very average, hopefully he can sharpen up again for next season. I'm pleased we're in the Europa League, no point being embarrassed in the CL when you're not ready for it (Newcastle / United.)
And I REALLY hope the cheating from corners thing is addressed in time for next season. Getting away with it doesn't mean it's right, surely even the most die-hard Arsenal fan can admit trying to undo the goalkeepers gloves or distract them in any other way is quite simply poor sportsmanship, if nothing else. Cheating on the pitch is no better than cheating financially.