Club World Cup Beckons for Manchester City and Chelsea

The United States will be the scene for a revamped Club World Cup which will begin this weekend and culminate with a title match on July 13th. The group play format resembles past international World Cups (before planned 2026 changes) and that of the Champions League before this latter competition changed to an abominable “table” format this past year.

Thirty-two clubs, including Manchester City and Chelsea from the Premier League, will be competing in this summer’s tournament. Unlike more typical summer friendlies played in the US, the stakes here are high in financial terms. The winner of the Club World Cup could rake in as much as $125 million. The stakes are such that contenders are fielding their best lineups despite the competition coming on the heels of grueling domestic league and cup campaigns.

There will be some powerful clubs battling in this summer’s heat. Champions League winner PSG heads a field which will compete first in eight groups of four, the top two advancing to the knockout rounds. Real Madrid is also one of the favorites and will have recently departed Liverpool man Trent Alexander-Arnold available for duty. German giant Bayern Munich will be there along with Borussia Dortmund from the Bundesliga.

While the Premier League will be represented by two of its top four finishers from this past season, one might rightly ask, “ What happened to Liverpool?” The Premier League champion, despite the loss of Alexander-Arnold, has strengthened in recent weeks with the addition of Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Jeremie Frimpong and more recently coming to terms for his teammate Florian Wirtz, though only Frimpong would have been eligible for the Club World Cup. Liverpool, however, is not invited to this summer’s get together. A largely opaque selection process supposedly considers performance over the past four years but has resulted in several head scratching omissions. In addition to Premier League champion Liverpool, the cockamamie selection process has also excluded Barcelona and Napoli, the champions of La Liga and Serie A, respectively. Meanwhile, Barcelona legend Lionel Messi will be competing for Inter Miami, a team dubiously selected most likely for its star player’s appeal to the ticket purchasing public.

The tournament has not generated the ticket sales initially expected, which is worrying to soccer authorities as the World Cup will be played in the US next summer. Premier League sides Manchester City and Chelsea will do nothing but help those attendance figures. Both sides, particularly Manchester City, have large fan bases in the United States and, unlike summer friendlies, the stars should be out and playing significant minutes in these matches. The Citizens are third favorite, behind PSG and Real Madrid, in the betting odds to take the title this summer.

In the run up to this tournament, a special transfer window was opened for clubs to secure some new weapons for the competition and Manchester City wasted no time in stocking up. Defender Ryan Ait-Nouri was signed away from Wolverhampton. Rayan Cherki (Lyon) and Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan) were added to a Manchester City midfield which has said goodbye to Kevin De Bruyne. Jack Grealish, meanwhile, is a notable omission from the Club World Cup roster and may be on his way out of the club. Chelsea supporters, meanwhile, will get their first look at new striker Liam Delap in a blue shirt. The 22-year-old was acquired after scoring 12 goals for Ipswich Town in the Premier league last season. The brazen young striker has elected to wear the Number 9 shirt for the Blues. Midfielder Dario Essugo, meanwhile, has joined from Portuguese side Sporting. That has resulted in some unfortunate news for another Portuguese midfielder on the Chelsea payroll. Essugo will strip the number 14 jersey from Joao Felix who was on loan at AC Milan for the latter half of last season and is now in limbo. Chelsea’s defense, meanwhile, will be bolstered by the addition of Mamadou Sarr from French side Strasbourg. Manchester City and Chelsea should both advance easily enough as one of the two top teams in their individual groups. Manchester City will be wary of Juventus, the historic Italian side which defeated the Citizens in Champions League play in December. There is a steep fall in quality then, however, to the other group members, Wydad AC (Morocco) and Al Ain (United Arab Emirates). Chelsea will have traditional Brazilian power Flamengo in its group but should feel little threat from Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis and MLS’s LAFC. The Los Angeles team has former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Hugo Loris performing their swan songs in the US league.

While tournament matches begin on Saturday, the Premier League sides first take to the pitch when Chelsea faces LAFC in Atlanta on Monday followed by Manchester City’s opener on Wednesday in Philadelphia versus Wydad AC.

Goodbye Ange…

Ange Postecoglou

Tottenham Hotspur Chairman Daniel Levy finally answered the question. A trophy won over a weak Europa League field was not enough to compensate for the club’s embarrassing Premier League season. Spurs Manager Ange Postecoglou has been sacked after two years in charge. Many Spurs supporters were ecstatic after their club’s first trophy in 17 years. Others, however, realized what a shallow victory it was and one which was gained at the expense of making the team a Premier League laughingstock.

Changes to the Champions League had a ripple down effect which resulted in a less competitive Europa League this season. The senior competition was expanded to more clubs and adopted an odd “league” format which no longer had an opening round of group play where third place group finishers would then drop into the lesser Europa League competition. The result was a watered-down Europa League field which culminated in 16th and 17th place Premier League finishers meeting in a European final.

Seventeenth place Tottenham Hotspur defeated 17th place Manchester United 1-0 in a match more grueling for spectators than the players. Brennan Johnson scored in the 42nd minute with Tottenham Hotspur’s only shot on target. Postecoglou’s trademark high line and aggressive attack were out the window as his club sat back and easily countered the meager offensives of the worst Manchester United side in history.

Still, silverware for the long-suffering Spurs faithful should not be completely minimized. The Premier League, however, is a proud institution in England and supporters hang on each week’s league match with a great deal of emotion. Postecoglou cared little for the league schedule as he realized by January that the league table would be problematic for him and his injury ravaged squad. He prioritized Europa League, preserving his stars for midweek European matches. With little exception, Tottenham Hotspur became an embarrassment on Premier League match days.

The 17th place finish, the worst since the 1977 relegation season, could have been even more horrifying but for the poor quality of the three promoted sides this year, all of them suffering relegation back to whence they came. Twenty-two league losses tied the Tottenham Hotspur club record and were the most defeats ever by a Premier League side not suffering relegation for its sins. The worst of the three relegated sides, bottom of the table Southampton, was the only Premier League team which Postecoglou defeated in the last 12 matches of Spurs’ season. The glorious trophy raising and self-congratulation after the Europa win in Bilbao over another struggling Premier League also-ran, therefore seemed just a tad fraudulent. Even loyal Spurs supporters must have cringed when Postecoglou described the Spurs’ season as “outstanding “ after yet another league defeat, 4-1 to Brighton, in the Premier League season finale just days after defeating Manchester United in Spain. With respect to the poor league performance, Postecoglou would, of course, point to the effect of injuries. The thing is, however, that the Australian’s playing style pushes players to the limit and perhaps beyond in a congested fixture schedule. The injuries may not have been just bad luck but also reflected naïve management.

In any event, Spurs proved to be a club which could not manage multiple competitions, a prerequisite for a top English side. Postecoglou’s style was also criticized for its simplistic tactics which other managers could exploit by taking advantage of the wide-open spaces left behind when Spurs’ aggressive fullbacks went forward. There needed to be serious doubt as to whether Postecoglou and his merry men could return to league respectability while also competing effectively with elite clubs in the Champions League next season. Levy lost faith and Ange is gone, two full seasons after joining the club from Celtic. There was understandable worry from the beginning that Postecoglou may find things difficult at a far higher level of competition than he had ever managed at before.

Things started well, however, as Postecoglou treated supporters to an unexpected 10 match unbeaten run to open the 2023/24 Premier League season. Cold water descended on the euphoria and optimism with Ange’s 11th match in 2023, a 4-1 loss to Chelsea. The means of defeating Postecoglou’s simplistic style became clear. In the remaining 66 matches of Postecoglous’ tenure, Spurs would capture only 78 points. While he may have won a trophy for the silver starved north London side, he also lost more Premier League matches (34) than he won (31) in his time at Spurs.

After a fool’s gold start in England, Postecoglou time was marked by rising stress and disenchantment as the relationship with fans deteriorated. The joyous trophy celebrations seemed to have assuaged that. Levy, however, put emotion aside and made a calculated decision he believed necessary to ensure the club’s competitiveness next season. Goodbye Ange. Brentford’s Thomas Frank is the rumored frontrunner to replace the Australian. Betting lines have fellow Premier League Managers Marco Silva (Fulham) and Oliver Glasner (Crystal Palace) as next favorites.

Europe Positions Set After Final Match Results: Chelsea Returns To Champions League; Bitter End For Aston Villa; Newcastle Slips In Despite Loss; Seagulls Left Out of Europe; Sunderland Returns

Chelsea will be back in the Champions League next season for the first time since their controversial ownership change. The Blues won five of their last six matches, never conceding more than a goal in their victories as Manager Enzo Maresca wielded a choking defense to make up for a largely silent attacking force. A defender scored the winning goal in a second consecutive 1-0 victory as Levi Colwill was in the right place at the right time for Chelsea to capitalize on a Nottingham Forest mistake. A poorly headed clearance attempted by Nottingham Forest defender Neco Williams fell to Chelsea’s Pedro Neto who found Colwill for the easy tap in.

The Tricky Trees’ disappointing end to the season reflected a thin roster which lost steam as the finish line of the long season came into view. Sunday’s defeat marked a fourth defeat in a final eight match stretch where Nottingham Forest won but twice. A seventh-place finish and a berth in the Europa Conference League, however, is still a remarkable story for a club which risked relegation right up to the final match of last season.

Chelsea’s ownership, which took control in May 2022 after the forced divestment by former owner Roman Abramovich, can finally claim some validation for its strategy of exorbitant investment in often unproven young stars. Every player used by Chelsea this season was less than 28 years old, the first time that has happened in Premier League history. Twenty-three-year-old Moises Caicedo, who joined the club for the 2023/24 Premier League season for the highest ever transfer fee at the time after one breakout year at Brighton, was a prime example of that investment strategy. Caicedo was a central figure in the club’s success this season, becoming the first Chelsea midfielder since Frank Lampard a decade ago to start all 38 Premier League games. Meanwhile, often maligned goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, a teammate of Caicedo’s when both were at Brighton,  finished with the highest save percentage in the Premier League. Having secured fourth place in the Premier League, Chelsea can now grab some silverware should the Blues defeat Real Bettis in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.

Manchester City was the other one of the five remaining Champions League contenders entering the final weekend to prove their mettle with a win on Sunday. The Citizens ended what was a disappointing season by their standards by defeating Fulham 2-0 to secure third place in the league table and a Champions League berth for a 15th consecutive season. After Omar Marmoush’s missed penalty kick in the FA Cup final, Erling Haaland converted from the spot for Sunday’s second goal. Ilkay Gundogan scored the first goal and drew the foul leading to Haaland’s clincher, helping ensure teammate Kevin De Bruyne finished on a winning note in his final Premier League match for Manchester City.

In addition to Nottingham Forest, two other clubs competing for a Champions League invitation were losers on Sunday. The ramifications were different for those two clubs, however. Aston Villa was the big loser, falling to Manchester United 2-0, a loss which leaves Aston Villa sixth and consigned to a Europa League berth. A win or draw would have elevated Aston Villa to fifth position and Champions League because Newcastle also fumbled on the final day, 1-0 to Everton. The Magpies will enjoy the riches of Champions League competition, however, because of a better goal differential than Aston Villa with both clubs sitting on 66 points for the season.

While Aston Villa was victimized by poor officiating on Sunday, Manger Unai Emery’s side was also its own worst enemy. A ludicrous challenge by Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez in first half stoppage time reduced Aston Villa to 10 men. Still, the desperate club kept the match scoreless and then appeared to score midway through the second half when Morgan Rogers took a bobbled ball from Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and deposited it in the net. Referee Thomas Bramhall, however, incorrectly ruled the keeper had control. Since the referee also blew his whistle before the ball entered the net, it was not reviewable by VAR. Villa would file a complaint on Monday regarding the use of an inexperienced referee for a hugely important match. Amad Diallo scored just two minutes after the disallowed Rogers goal to put the Red Devils ahead. Christian Erickson would later add a penalty kick after Diallo was taken down in the box, a second referee decision which Emery disputed. Aston Villa’s Champions League hopes were thus dashed and Newcastle backed into Europe’s elite competition despite dropping their season finale, 1-0 at home to Everton. Newcastle fans were thus undeterred from celebrating an outstanding season which included a Carabao Cup trophy for the Magpies. Aston Villa supporters, meanwhile, were crushed. If there is any bright side, the Villans will be competing in the Europa League led by the competition’s most successful manager. Emery has won the Europa League four different times.

The Premier League trophy was lifted Sunday at Anfield by champions Liverpool following a meaningless 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace. Unfortunately, the succeeding day’s parade and celebration was marred by a motorist plowing into paradegoers, injuring 27 celebrants. Terrorism appeared to be ruled out, but it was a horrible incident for supporters who were deprived of proper celebrations after Liverpool’s last title in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

Another trophy was tarnished Sunday when Tottenham Hotspur returned to form in a 4-1 loss to Brighton. Spurs, Wednesday’s winners of this year’s shambolically poor Europa League, lost for the 22nd time in Premier League play this season. Unfortunately for victorious Brighton, however, eighth place was not good enough this season to earn a berth in Europe though supporters can still applaud an excellent debut by their 32-year-old manager Fabian Hurzeler as the Seagulls fell just one short of their club record Premier League point total.

With a wrap on this season, the Premier League now welcomes promoted sides Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland back to the league. Sunderland won a playoff versus Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley on Saturday and will return to the Premier League after for the first time since a 2017 relegation. The Black Cats have suffered some trying times, much of it documented on Netflix. Seven different managers came and went over seven years before the club found its way back to the top tier under Manager Regis Le Bris. The young Frenchman’s appointment last summer followed upon a largely unsuccessful run of ten successive English manager appointments by the Black Cats.