TheDrowningMan

It’s true that no-one has done a league double over Klopp’s Liverpool, but the figures below him are nonsense. Mourinho’s Chelsea, for instance, didn’t lose a home league game in his entire first spell. He’d left the year before, but I think our win at Stamford Bridge in 2008 ended that 4+ year unbeaten league run at home for them.

Chelsea are looking dangerous - without Klopp, we’re going to need to get it exactly right with proper investment this summer if we’re to stay ahead of sides like that. No classic FSG skimping.

I’m sure West Ham will provide City with robust opposition on Sunday.

A draw would be the worst result for Spurs though - eliminates them from the CL and almost certainly wins Arsenal the league. I’d think such a result would probably make Postecoglou’s position untenable and guarantee a pre-Christmas change of manager, because there’s no chance he would ever get the support back on board after that.

I fear the truly awful prospect of an Arsenal title will come to pass unless we lose tomorrow. Spurs are just the sort of team to get a result against City again if they have anything to play for.

It’s fucking hilarious to see fans of other clubs crying about potentially missing out on what is, in the current era, a pretty weak number of points, given how amusing the lot of them found us falling short on unprecedented totals for 2nd place. I hope Man Utd spawn a result to end their hopes tomorrow.

Almost as if he simply didn’t want to give it…

Wonder if there’ll be a suspiciously small amount of added time.

Son scores, 3-2.

Looks like a penalty for Spurs.

3-1. Diabolical goalkeeping from Raya.

This is bound to be the one season that City draw a game in the run-in.

3-0.

It’s looking extremely likely. They’ve three absolutely guaranteed wins after this (Bournemouth, Man Utd and Everton).

2-0, all over.

1-1.

Arsenal ahead.

If Arsenal do us a favour and beat Spurs tomorrow, we’re essentially guaranteed top four even if we lose the last three, barring an unprecedented turn around in goal difference. Shame Chelsea didn’t beat Villa this evening, as the same would apply to top three. As it is, we need a point from the final three to guarantee finishing above Villa - not the sure thing that it should be given the fixtures and our current form, but it’s all moot if they drop any more points.

Teams never really seem to win leagues after a manager’s departure has been announced far in advance, so the drop-off was likely regardless of whether or not Edwards came in. I’d be interested to know exactly why Klopp’s departure was announced when it was, because I can’t for a second believe that anyone at the club thought it would be a good idea unless their hands were forced. I’m sure the players genuinely wanted to win everything for Klopp (and their performances immediately after his announcement suggested that), but it added a significant amount of pressure to a squad that was already over-performing by being at the top of the league. I don’t think they checked out, which can also happen when a side knows it won’t be under the same leadership the following season.

I think he’s fine as a last 15 minute wildcard off of the bench, but he probably wouldn’t be a regular starter up front at any other top 8 club, and shouldn’t at ours.

He needs to be on the shortlist of players to get rid of in the summer. Good, but too frequently injured. Hopefully he has a fantastic Euros.

That’s a fairly realistic assessment, although Spurs and Villa spend a lot more than us, so consistently challenging them in the longer term might be unrealistic. With a manager who is inevitably going to be Klopp’s lesser, we can’t necessarily expect to compete with any well managed club that significantly outspends us, so for me it’s all on FSG to make sure that investment on the field sees a pretty dramatic increase.

It does, and it needs Arsenal money spent going forward. Otherwise, top 7 is the realistic expectation in future.

From what I’ve read he seems like he could be a good manager, but short of, perhaps, Alonso, I’m struggling to imagine anyone being able to keep us challenging on our budget. Expectations with have to be adjusted unless FSG are planning to spend at the very least Tottenham-level money. If things stay as they are, we’ll have found another miracle worker if Slot has us hovering around 4th place most seasons.

Game well and truly over - it’s essentially impossible for Arsenal to drop any more points this season. Spurs will roll over at the weekend.