The Spurs' meltdown was thoroughly enjoyable. Chelsea supporters seemed primed for the affair and were well supplied with taunting signs and chants. The 84th minute equalizer by Hazard was magnificent. Best of all was the EPL season record nine yellow cards for a Spurs side that completely lost their cool for the occasion. They'll need to gather themselves together and win one of their next two to assure second place. In the not-terribly-unlikely event that Arsenal beats City and Villa, Spurs will need three points to avoid another St Totteringham's Day. Now wouldn't that be perfect?
I'll get to Leicester in a moment. But first I want to praise Tottenham. Their goal differential of +39 is 9 better than the next best (Leicester and Man City), powered mainly by their excellent defensive record (only 28 scored on them all season) but also by their 67 goals, only one fewer than top-scoring City. They're the youngest team in the league and have some of England's brightest stars. It's easy to see Delli Alli, Harry Kane, and Eric Dier as permanent fixtures in the national team. Once, it was Walcott, Wilshere, and the Ox who looked like England's future; that ship has sailed--and sunk. Were I Hodgson, I doubt I'd bring any Arsenal players to Europe. Pochettino is an excellent manager, just the sort of man Arsenal would be advised to look for after Wenger plays out his contract next year. I expect him to be with Spurs for a long time. The temptation will be strong to sell a couple of players now, when their value might be at a peak. They have their new stadium to finance, and they've been a selling club for a while now (Berbatov, Modric, Bale). But they may break precedent and try to lock this group down for the next few years. They'll be in the mix for top four next season, and it ought to be quite a scramble. Both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, and (arguably) Chelsea and West Ham should be hopeful of at least a top four position.
But not, I think, Leicester. I admit I was dead wrong about them winning the league. But I think I was right when I said that if Vardy and Mahrez were injured or out of form, they'd be Stoke. They won because their players did not get hurt, and they stayed in form. At the 35th game, the commentators noted that Ranieri had made just 20 changes all year, a phenomenally low number, just one fourth of the previous EPL low of 80. Unless drug tests show rampant steroid use, we can thank the lack of European football, a good training staff, and luck for that. They don't have many internationals, which also helps. Remember how many times van Persie or Wilshere came back from a friendly with a season-ruining injury?
Speaking of training staffs, let's tip out hats to Shad Forsythe, who kept the Gunners healthier than they've been in a while (I haven't seen the stats on it, so maybe I'm wrong). You can't count Rosicky or Wilshere; they'd get injured walking to the mailbox. Cazorla's was the really damaging injury, and he's at the age where something that serious doesn't heal quickly (he was left on the field too long after his injury too).
Our problem this year was pretty obviously down to our being the only club in Europe's top five leagues that did not buy an outfield player. It was inexplicable at the time and it still is. Top strikers are expensive, yes, but so is not having one. I love Olivier Giroud, but he was never in Aguero's class (for instance). Another dozen goals and Arsenal would have won the league.
Roma won yesterday too, so they will join champions Juve and runner-up Napoli in Champions' League, and Fiorentina will be in Europa League. (Like last year.) So Italy has made me happy. I will do a short tribute to Juventus in a future post; they had a truly remarkable season, coming within a couple minutes of eliminating Bayern from the Champions' League in addition to their domestic exploits.
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