As Pep Guardiola lifted his and Manchester City’s fourth Premier League title in a row, and sixth in seven years, just over 35 miles away we witnessed Anfield bidding farewell to one of the greats as Jurgen Klopp took charge of his final Liverpool game.
And yes, Klopp is a Premier League great, despite, as Piers Morgan pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, winning just one title in eight years.
One title in eight years might not sound impressive without the important context that it prevented a likely seven title wins in a row for this super-dominant Man City side, who have simply set new standards of greatness themselves, meaning even coming close to challenging them is a feat in itself.
Twice Klopp’s Liverpool finished just a point behind this team managed by possibly the greatest coach of all time, backed by resources, infrastructure and some of the best brains in the business the likes of which even most of Europe’s elite clubs could only dream of.
The rich irony in all this is that Morgan is, of course, an Arsenal fan, and Liverpool’s struggles to win more than just one title in eight years may well offer us a glimpse into the future of what the Gunners can expect in years to come as they now look the most likely challenger to this footballing colossus.
Mikel Arteta arguably took on a harder job than Klopp initially found himself in at Liverpool, but he’s five years in now and has only the FA Cup and Community Shield to his name. Without the same guarantee of having to deal with City in Europe, Klopp was at least able to get some reprieve in the Champions League, reaching three finals in total, and, actually, beating City 5-1 on aggregate on the way to one of those.
If City is now the only measure of greatness, and Klopp doesn’t qualify, then what hope can Morgan’s beloved Arsenal have? They were by most measures the best team in the Premier League this season, out-shining City in almost every department except one crucial one, finishing with two points fewer than their rivals. In any other era, this would be regarded as a team better than many of Sir Alex Ferguson’s best sides, with more points than most of his many champions, more wins than the famous Arsenal Invincibles, the best defence in the league – and still, Liverpool fans would justifiably argue, not as good as those Klopp teams that finished on 97 points, 99 points and 92 points but with just one title to show for it.
We’ve had some other top teams in the Premier League in the last decade or so – Chelsea won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel, Tottenham reached a final and put in some strong title challenges under Mauricio Pochettino, but until Arsenal in the last two years, no one has caused Pep as much of a headache as Klopp’s Liverpool.
It might not feel like our old definition of greatness, but in the modern era, it might be about as much as we can hope for.
