AND SO THE most memorable set piece of all from the 2025/26 Premier League season was delivered by Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal can make do with being champions, the players savouring a defining moment in their careers and manager Mikel Arteta relishing in glorious vindication of methods scorned by so many.
In the end, he has delivered success craved by those that mattered most.
Perhaps Guardiola’s goodbye message was a nod to his former protégé, helped by those creatives in the Manchester City media department who produced that carefully curated farewell after 10 years at the club.
Guardiola’s set piece to camera was poignantly narrated, a heartfelt soliloquy played over various images and clips of a trophy-laden decade.
Of all the numbers – six Premier League titles, four of them in a row, one Treble, 100 points – the one that overshadows his departure and could have the most lasting impact of all is the one they dare not mention: 115.
That is the number of charges that continue to hang over the club relating to financial breaches between 2009 and 2018. Guardiola was in the job two seasons towards the latter stages, and a further 15 charges have also been added by the Premier League for what they state is the club’s failure to sufficiently cooperate with the investigation.
City denies the charges and no definite date for a decision has been set.
The only certainty for now is that Guardiola leaves – a new stand named in his honour and a statue commissioned – with City the second-best team in England.
City prepared for his arrival by laying the early foundations that would allow Guardiola settle immediately, eventually forming the club to his exact specifications.
With Barcelona’s former sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, in situ along with their vice-president for economic affairs, Ferran Soriano, as chief executive, there was never going to be any danger of that rough debut season derailing the grand plan.
The success Guardiola soon delivered on the pitch provided him with even more control. The innovation he brought to the game can be seen throughout the world, even if they have slid from the summit in England over the last two years.
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Guardiola said he no longer had the energy for another title race, but depending on the outcome of that Premier League investigation who knows what division it would have been in?
His goodbye message landed on the last Friday of the season, just as Thomas Tuchel was naming England’s World Cup squad. Phil Foden, another symbol of Guardiola’s City, was excluded.
He was PFA Players’ Player of the Year when City were champions in 2024, but his influence has been sporadic ever since.
And given this is a City that waits for no man, Guardiola was quickly able to turn to talents elsewhere to fill the void.
Now City must try and do the same. Guardiola was bigger than the club because the club had effectively bent
Soon, his successor, reported elsewhere to be former Leicester City and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, will have to find his place.
For the first time in 10 years City are no longer insulated from the kind of uncertainty that can take hold at so many other clubs. The stability and sense of authority that Guardiola brought is no more, even if the last two seasons suggest his presence no longer guarantees the greatest success.
Even a statement like that illustrates how City’s expectations have been taken to a new level considering they lifted the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season.
A domestic treble seemed to be within their grasp after they beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad on 19 April.
Instead, the Gunners triumphed. They didn’t wilt when the expectation was that City’s superior pedigree would get them over the line.
“I think the club needs a new manager, new energy with these incredible players that we have right now and you start to write another chapter,” Guardiola said ahead of his final game against Aston Villa on Sunday.
“I feel I will not have the energy that requires, (matches) every three days, the expectations to fight for the titles, with being in front of the players.”
The great irony here is that for so long Guardiola is the one who wore so many rivals out. Jürgen Klopp was able to produce brilliant success for Liverpool but, eventually, he had nothing left to give.
And for all the jibs about Arsenal’s style of play, the fact Arteta had the persistence to come back again to find a way to triumph is testament to an endurance that is required to succeed in the Premier League.
City will come again under Maresca while Michael Carrick’s confirmation as permanent Manchester United boss on a two-year contract came just minutes before Guardiola’s announcement.
He got the job after bringing United to third in the table but reinforcements – midfield is the priority – of considerable quality will be required if they’re to pose any threat to improving on that.
Xabi Alonso begins work as Chelsea manager on 1 July, although he will need to spend time during this summer’s World Cup to assess the vast squad at his disposal.
Will Arne Slot remain in charge at Liverpool? How many more social media posts from disgruntled players will it take for Anfield’s decision makers to act? Or will they retain faith in a man who delivered a league title in his debut season?
These are the questions that bring us into next season, but for Arsenal fans they will not want to let go of this one just yet.
The celebrations on Tuesday night around the Emirates Stadium will go down in lore, a joyfulness that reinforced that sense of distortion between online and reality.
Those fans who go to games every week will have 1,000 unseen moments from this season that form their perspective. They probably haven’t been captured by Sky or TNT or clipped instantly for social media content to be regurgitated for a relentless doomscroll.
These Arsenal fans have lived moments amongst each other and experienced the season differently from so many others.
You cannot tell them this was a season to forget, or somehow less worthy of celebration with sneers of Set Piece FC or VARsenal.
They are embracing a feeling of raw emotion that they will always seek to replicate in their lives, a moment in time that provides meaning even if the fear now is that the manner of this title win is a brutal indication that the Premier League has entered a grim era of creative repression.
Guardiola is gone, so Arteta’s strength now might just extend to bending the rest of the Premier League to his will.
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Guardiola exit and rise of Arteta comes as Premier League enters era of creative repression
AND SO THE most memorable set piece of all from the 2025/26 Premier League season was delivered by Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal can make do with being champions, the players savouring a defining moment in their careers and manager Mikel Arteta relishing in glorious vindication of methods scorned by so many.
In the end, he has delivered success craved by those that mattered most.
Perhaps Guardiola’s goodbye message was a nod to his former protégé, helped by those creatives in the Manchester City media department who produced that carefully curated farewell after 10 years at the club.
Guardiola’s set piece to camera was poignantly narrated, a heartfelt soliloquy played over various images and clips of a trophy-laden decade.
Of all the numbers – six Premier League titles, four of them in a row, one Treble, 100 points – the one that overshadows his departure and could have the most lasting impact of all is the one they dare not mention: 115.
That is the number of charges that continue to hang over the club relating to financial breaches between 2009 and 2018. Guardiola was in the job two seasons towards the latter stages, and a further 15 charges have also been added by the Premier League for what they state is the club’s failure to sufficiently cooperate with the investigation.
City denies the charges and no definite date for a decision has been set.
The only certainty for now is that Guardiola leaves – a new stand named in his honour and a statue commissioned – with City the second-best team in England.
City prepared for his arrival by laying the early foundations that would allow Guardiola settle immediately, eventually forming the club to his exact specifications.
With Barcelona’s former sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, in situ along with their vice-president for economic affairs, Ferran Soriano, as chief executive, there was never going to be any danger of that rough debut season derailing the grand plan.
The success Guardiola soon delivered on the pitch provided him with even more control. The innovation he brought to the game can be seen throughout the world, even if they have slid from the summit in England over the last two years.
Guardiola said he no longer had the energy for another title race, but depending on the outcome of that Premier League investigation who knows what division it would have been in?
His goodbye message landed on the last Friday of the season, just as Thomas Tuchel was naming England’s World Cup squad. Phil Foden, another symbol of Guardiola’s City, was excluded.
He was PFA Players’ Player of the Year when City were champions in 2024, but his influence has been sporadic ever since.
And given this is a City that waits for no man, Guardiola was quickly able to turn to talents elsewhere to fill the void.
Now City must try and do the same. Guardiola was bigger than the club because the club had effectively bent
Soon, his successor, reported elsewhere to be former Leicester City and Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca, will have to find his place.
For the first time in 10 years City are no longer insulated from the kind of uncertainty that can take hold at so many other clubs. The stability and sense of authority that Guardiola brought is no more, even if the last two seasons suggest his presence no longer guarantees the greatest success.
Even a statement like that illustrates how City’s expectations have been taken to a new level considering they lifted the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season.
A domestic treble seemed to be within their grasp after they beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad on 19 April.
Instead, the Gunners triumphed. They didn’t wilt when the expectation was that City’s superior pedigree would get them over the line.
“I think the club needs a new manager, new energy with these incredible players that we have right now and you start to write another chapter,” Guardiola said ahead of his final game against Aston Villa on Sunday.
“I feel I will not have the energy that requires, (matches) every three days, the expectations to fight for the titles, with being in front of the players.”
The great irony here is that for so long Guardiola is the one who wore so many rivals out. Jürgen Klopp was able to produce brilliant success for Liverpool but, eventually, he had nothing left to give.
And for all the jibs about Arsenal’s style of play, the fact Arteta had the persistence to come back again to find a way to triumph is testament to an endurance that is required to succeed in the Premier League.
City will come again under Maresca while Michael Carrick’s confirmation as permanent Manchester United boss on a two-year contract came just minutes before Guardiola’s announcement.
He got the job after bringing United to third in the table but reinforcements – midfield is the priority – of considerable quality will be required if they’re to pose any threat to improving on that.
Xabi Alonso begins work as Chelsea manager on 1 July, although he will need to spend time during this summer’s World Cup to assess the vast squad at his disposal.
Will Arne Slot remain in charge at Liverpool? How many more social media posts from disgruntled players will it take for Anfield’s decision makers to act? Or will they retain faith in a man who delivered a league title in his debut season?
These are the questions that bring us into next season, but for Arsenal fans they will not want to let go of this one just yet.
The celebrations on Tuesday night around the Emirates Stadium will go down in lore, a joyfulness that reinforced that sense of distortion between online and reality.
Those fans who go to games every week will have 1,000 unseen moments from this season that form their perspective. They probably haven’t been captured by Sky or TNT or clipped instantly for social media content to be regurgitated for a relentless doomscroll.
These Arsenal fans have lived moments amongst each other and experienced the season differently from so many others.
You cannot tell them this was a season to forget, or somehow less worthy of celebration with sneers of Set Piece FC or VARsenal.
They are embracing a feeling of raw emotion that they will always seek to replicate in their lives, a moment in time that provides meaning even if the fear now is that the manner of this title win is a brutal indication that the Premier League has entered a grim era of creative repression.
Guardiola is gone, so Arteta’s strength now might just extend to bending the rest of the Premier League to his will.
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