Lets get out of the way the dreary announcement that the answer to Sned’s final question in his Macmillan Nurses Prediction Quiz 2023 is MANCHESTER CITY. Now commonly referred to as ‘the best side on the planet’ by pundits and commentators living in their bubble of media hyperbole. Of course they do have the advantage of being owned by the City Football Group, the holding company set up by the Abu Dhabi United Group, and blessed with apparently limitless resources. Plus they are coached by Pep Guardiola who since 2008 has won every available trophy with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now City. Guardiola teams have always been interesting. From the ‘tiki taka’ style of Messi, Iniesta and Xabi era Barcelona to recent innovations of Ederson, the playmaker goalkeeper, and inverted fullbacks. Where Guardiola has led, other European coaches have followed him to the riches and promise of the Premier League. And brought with them innovative, attacking styles of play. Watching teams coached by Klopp, De Zerbi, Emery, Arteta, Postecoglu etc promises goals and excitement. For the neutral that is fun and a reminder of the joy the game can provide.
But not everything in the Premier League garden is sweet smelling. The leading clubs are increasingly owned by rich absentee owners with no connection to the fans. They are unashamedly looking to take vast sums of money out of their club or use the on field success to deflect from scrutiny of their national abuses. Sportswashing grows apace and the uncontested award to Saudi Arabia of the 2034 World Cup is the latest example. Indeed for a simple football fan any mention of FIFA seems to herald embarrassing disaster. Since its roll out following the 2018 World Cup, VAR has been a part of the Premier League ‘experience’. Increasingly it is proving to be a bad experience for the fans. Not a weekend goes by without some howler being made by the referee or VAR officials miles away in a caravan on an industrial estate.
Three predictions for season 2023-4. 1) Manchester City will be top whenever Sned decides to put the date for Q44. 2) There will even more than the current 12 foreign coaches in the Premier League and 3) the prospect of a new elite European ‘breakaway’ competition will be floated – probably by Chelsea – and involving matches to be played outside Europe
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