Farewell Terry and hopefully Wenger too
WITH Chelsea and Spurs confirmed as Premier League Champions and runners-up respectively, and Hull, Middleborough and Sunderland all relegated last week, the final day of the season was all about who would claim the final two Champions League spots.
Manchester City strolled to an easy 5-0 victory against Watford and claimed third place while Liverpool’s 3-0 victory against Middleborough meant they finished one point ahead of Arsenal to claim the final spot.
In a nervy first half, Liverpool’s Dejan Lovren was lucky not to have conceded a penalty and given a straight red card. Liverpool’s first goal in first half injury time was just the tonic they needed to run out comfortable winners.
Despite Arsenal’s storming end to the season, they will miss out on Champion’s League action for the first time in 20 years. With neither the Arsenal board nor Arsene Wenger confirming his status for next season, it’s an anxious wait for all Gunners fans.
Wenger has been a great servant to the club and orchestrated some wonderful memories but it is time for him to move on. Who knows, maybe a victory in next week’s FA Cup could be a fitting farewell.
AFTER playing the most attractive football over the last two seasons and pushing the eventual champions up to the penultimate week of the season, Spurs must go on and win a trophy next season.
Their ability to retain their key players (Harry Kane, Dele Alli, etc) and adapt to their new temporary home at Wembley will be key to how they perform next season. Having attended a Spurs match at White Hart Lane (against Manchester United) and also watching them at Wembley Stadium, I think it will be a difficult task for them to challenge next year.
Wembley does not have that compact, intimidating atmosphere as the pitch is further away from the fans. While they could potentially have double the number of spectators, they are unlikely to have the “12th man” effect.
ON TO individual honours... Spur’s Kane won the Golden Boot for the highest league scorer with an incredible seven goals in his last two games to win the award with 29 goals in total. This achievement was even more spectacular considering that he missed nearly a quarter of the season due to injury. Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets during the season (16 in total).
A VICTORY for Manchester United against Ajax Amsterdam in Wednesday's Europa League final could also catapult them into the Champions League. For any soccer fan, big teams like United and big characters like Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba deserve to be playing on the biggest stage.
THE rest of the major European Leagues also crowned their champions. There were no big surprises with Real Madrid, Juventus and Bayern Munich winning Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga respectively.
AT THE end of every season, we say a sad farewell to our legends. This year, Chelsea's leader of leaders, John Terry, made an emotional exit from Stamford Bridge.
Terry made 717 appearances for Chelsea, during which he has won 15 major trophies including five league titles. I had the privilege of meeting him in London in 2007 just before a Champions League match, and while he was one of the best central defenders of his generation and an inspiration at Chelsea, he did endure a few off-field controversial moments.
IN AN incredible French MotoGP, sentimental favourite Valentino Rossi held the lead going into the last lap.
In what appeared to be a routine defensive last lap with only a few corners to go, the Italian inexplicably ran wide, allowing teammate Maverick Vinales to overtake him. In attempting to regain the lead, Rossi crashed out to the surprise of the over 100 000 spectators. To make matters worse, Rossi also dropped from 1st to 3rd on the points standing.
WHILE the league is now over, we have two big cup finals this week. My preferred winners will be the other lesser known Reds, namely, United and Arsenal.