Welcome to our weekly Monday briefing this season The Athletic So, here are the three biggest questions that will likely arise from this weekend's football.
This was the weekend that saw Sheffield United's well-deserved relegation confirmed, Manchester City doggedly chasing Premier League leaders Arsenal, Chelsea fuming at VAR and Everton securing their place.
Here's whether Jurgen Klopp's tenure as manager is coming to a slightly undignified end, whether Erik ten Hag's optimistic view of things will backfire, and whether Bukayo Saka will return. …if he left…
Will this be a sad and messy end to Jurgen Klopp's time at Liverpool?
Watching the celebrations after Liverpool won the Carabao Cup in February, it was hard not to get caught up in the emotions of not just that day, but the final days of the Jurgen Klopp era. I was able to hold it.
They still qualify for the FA Cup and Europa League, and have a chance of winning the quadruple title by reaching the top of the Premier League. The odds of winning all four trophies were always slim, but it looked as if Klopp would walk away with glory.
All of that has come crashing down in recent weeks, and it would take a miracle for them to end up with anything better than the Carabao Cup. Winning one trophy in his final season isn't a disaster, and no one will be looking down on Klopp for years to come. He will always be the man who brought us the first league title in 30 years, the man who won his sixth Champions League, the man who made fans feel what they had forgotten.
This will be Klopp's final season in charge of Liverpool (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)
But it's all been a bit of a mess, as evidenced by the spat between Klopp and Mohamed Salah in the 2-2 draw with West Ham at the weekend.
Salah was the defining signing of Klopp's era, a 210-goal scorer and one of Liverpool's all-time greats, along with Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard and Roger Hunt. Dew. Without him, Klopp's reign might have been very different.
Even with all that in mind, Salah deserves to be on the bench at the moment. He is not the only player at Liverpool who is having a bad run, but equally his previous brilliance does not guarantee him playing in every game. If an altercation between player and manager was to blame, I can understand his frustration from an emotional standpoint, but it still seems like he's resentful and perhaps looking forward to a fresh start with a new manager. It looked like a man.
But in the end, it all feels very sad. Klopp's era is about to end not only without the glory that seemed possible only a few weeks ago, but amidst bickering and unpleasantness. Their closest rivals would disagree, but the pairing of Klopp and Salah over the past seven years has provided plenty of excitement and fun, even on neutral ground. It's also simply because Liverpool were Manchester City's only real challenger for much of that period. I'll be sad if both of you are gone.
Premier League run-in
Is Erik ten Babaa asking to quit his job?
In a way, you can't blame him. When asked about Manchester United's form, prospects and style of play, Erik ten Hag hardly replies: “Yes, we are terrible, and the fact is, I don't want to continue working.” Dew.
But there is a middle ground between that defeatism and the kind of comments Ten Hag made after a recent United game that are disconnected from the reality of what we are experiencing.
For example, the game against United follows their 1-1 draw with Burnley at the weekend.
“We are one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in the league at the moment,” he told the BBC. “We are creating a lot of chances by playing good football. We didn't have to lose control. We corrected this at half-time and the second half was much better.”
In a sense he's right. United are one of the most entertaining teams in the league, but not really for the reasons he thinks. It's very chaotic and it's interesting because you never know what's going to happen. It's funny because they take the lead in the last 10 minutes against the second-bottom team in the table and yet never feel secure in the slightest. They are interesting because their goalkeeper can hit an opponent in the head at any time and give them a penalty.
United drew with Burnley on Saturday (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
He continued: “A great Manchester United team, we forget they are also a founded team. I don't think they played that great football in 2004-2005. They built It was in progress, but it took a while.”
Aside from the fact that in these quotes he was effectively admitting that his United team was bad, trying to compare his team to Sir Alex Ferguson's is a pretty bold move. It feels like. True, United could afford to be patient in 2004, but that was largely because they had won the Premier League the previous year and were still the club's greatest player, even if he left without achieving anything. This is because the person who was the director was acting as the director.
Furthermore, teams and managers are given patience when there is evidence of progress. United will probably finish at least three places and nine points worse than last season, and the football is often unpleasant to watch and disjointed.
Ten Hag will have to make a deal with his new employers, who are likely considering whether to keep him for a third season. When you look at it from that perspective, you can see why he's trying to assert himself. The problem is that he, who has a perspective that many others don't share, may actually be trying to get out of the job rather than in.
Is Saka getting back into shape at the perfect time?
The good thing about Arsenal is that they don't rely on one player. If you took out Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and William Saliba, they would be completely different, but the great thing about them this season is that so many players have stepped up.
This is why the early-season argument about the lack of a top-class traditional No. 9 was wrong. They didn't need a primary scorer. But they needed another scorer to start scoring again.
And they did just that. Kai Havertz has scored 12 goals in the league, Leandro Trossard has 10, Odegaard has eight and Ben White and Gabriel have scored eight from defence. A total of 15 players have scored goals in league matches this season. In this way, they will be top scorers in the league and, with Manchester City seven points ahead of them on goal difference, they will essentially get an extra point.
However, Arsenal remain one point behind City with a game in hand. Arsenal need to win their remaining three games and will hope City can turn things around at some point. To do that, the best attackers need to be in at least their best form, and ideally better.
Saka was impressed as Arsenal beat Tottenham on Sunday (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Bukayo Saka's goal and performance in the 3-2 win against Tottenham was welcomed. A few weeks ago he looked cooked, but the cumulative effect of all those matches and all the kicks to his shins was taking a toll. I thought Mikel Arteta should have managed his playing time more carefully.
Maybe that should have been the case, but it feels a little irrelevant now that Saka seems firmly back in business. Indeed, Ben Davies' unconventional approach of forcing Saka to step out with his left foot and refreshingly hit the ball home contributed to his goal (his 15th of the season). But he also took a corner kick from which Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored an own goal, and his approach play in the second half was excellent.
Looks like he's back. Is he really gone? Probably not, but in a title race when perfection is the bare minimum, Arsenal would be happy to see their top scorer in action.
very soon
- It's an important week at the top of the championship. Leicester have secured promotion and can clinch the title if they beat Preston North End on Monday night. Ipswich Town could take a big step towards joining them if they beat Coventry City on Tuesday. And it all comes down to the final day, with the match kicking off next Saturday at 12:30pm.
- And there are some big daddy games in the Champions League. In fact, the semi-finals will see Bayern Munich and Real Madrid meet for the first time since the 2018 semi-finals.
- And on Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund hosted Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the semi-final, a derby that saw them exchange “regret looks with Thomas Tuchel”.
- Another semi-final will be played on Thursday. In the Europa League it's Marseille vs. Atalanta and Roma vs. the still incredibly unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen. Aston Villa will then face Olympiakos in the Europa Conference League, while Fiorentina will face Club Brugge.
- There are also plenty of Premier League bonuses. Chelsea v Tottenham on Thursday, a repeat of that frenetic match from November. The good news is that both teams are still pretty confused, so who knows what's going to happen. And on Friday, Luton host Everton. What seemed like a nuisance a few weeks ago now only has real meaning for the home team.
- Finally, I'll go back to Wednesday for a moment because there are some very competitive matches being played in the WSL. In fact, one of his Chelsea matches will take place on the way to Liverpool.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
