World Soccer - UK (2022-07)

COACH OF

THESEASON

Workingwiththe

lowestwagebill in the

league,ThomasFrank

deserveshugecredit

forguidingBrentford

to 13 thintheirfirst-

everPremierLeague

season.TheBees

rarelylookedin

trouble,particularly

after thearrivalof

Frank’s fellowDane

ChristianEriksen.

NEWCOMER

OFTHESEASON

TheJanuarysigning

ofelectricwingerLuis

DiazallowedLiverpool

managerJurgenKlopp

toregularlyrotate his

frontline,ensuringthat

theRedscollected 44

pointsoutofthelast

48 available,with the

Colombiancontributing

tosevenleaguegoals.

theirlast 1 8 matchestotakeitall the
waydownto thewire.Thetwo games
theydroppedpointsin includedthe
2-2drawagainst Citythatultimately
proveddecisive.
Itwas a thrillingencounterin
whichboth sidesdemonstratedtheir
world-classcredentials.Yet whilethe
scoresremainedlevel,City were –
justabout– thebetterside,largely
controllingproceedingsalongside
a coupleofdefensive slip-ups.
Thetwo clubsremainfaraheadof

therestof theleague– andindeed

mostof Europe,too– andlooksetto

lockhornsatthetopofthepileagain

nextyear. May’sfinal-daydramawas

simplythe latestchapterinthetaleof

a thrillingrivalrythatshouldcontinue

foras long thetwomanagersremain.

Thetitleracewas nottheonlyarea

ofexcitementonthe finaldaythough,

asonlytwomatcheshadnothing

ridingonthem.

Tottenham’s 5-0dispatchingofrock-

bottom Norwichmeantfourthplacewas

quicklywrappedup,whileWestHam’s

failure to beatBrightonensuredthat

Manchester Unitedwereletoff thehook

inthe raceforsixth,butthe relegation

battlehadonemoretwistas Leeds

pippedBurnley to safety.

Thefinancialimplicationsof

relegationforEverton,Leedsand

Burnley,thethreesidesscrapping

forsurvivalin thefinal weekofthe

campaign,meantthatthe stakes

wereparticularlyhigh.

Evertonhavean expensively-

assembledsquadanda newstadium

tocomplete,hencewhythe supporters

weresorelieved to securesafetyinthe

penultimategameofthe season,

whileLeeds’majorityshareholder

AndreaRadrizzaniisreportedlylooking

tosellupthissummer– aprocess

thatwouldhavebeensignificantly

complicatedbyrelegation.

Burnleywerethemselvesthe

subjects of a leveragedbuyout at the

endof 2020 , anda significantchunk

ofthe £ 65 millionloanthatwasused

topurchasethe clubwillnowneed

tobepaidback,whichwillaccount

forthemajorityofnextseason’s

parachute payments.

TheClaretshavenineplayersout

ofcontract,including two-capEngland

centre-backJamesTarkowski,while

oftheirothermostsaleableassets,

MaxwelCornethasa

£17.5mreleaseclause,

goalkeeperNickPope

isoutofcontractnext

summerandhas

WorldCupambitionstoconsider, as

doesDutchstrikerWoutWeghorst.

Perhapsonlywith thesaleofDwight

McNeilcanthe Claretsbothmanage

theirdebtsandrebuildtheirsquad.

Theperilousfinancesofclubsnear

thebottom is a starkreminderthatwhile

thebillionsthathavebeenpouredin at

thetopmight have produceda thrilling

titlerace,thereis a definitecostfurther

downasthe rest trytokeepup.

WORLDSOCCER 39

Supersub...

Ilkay Gundogan’s

bracesecured

thetitlefor City

Top job...

Brentford boss

ThomasFrank

Midfieldmaestro...KevinDeBruyneholds the
PremierLeaguetrophywhilesalutingthe fans

ENGLAND:PREMIERLEAGUE

EUROSEASONREVIEW

Thetwoclubsremainfaraheadoftherestof

theleague–andindeedmostofEurope,too