2017/2018 Season: 105 Goa(l)diola The Best EPL Manager ???

The English Premiership features neighboring rivals including Manchester United and Manchester City, but the pep of this season is the transference to England of the near-decade rivalry between their managers. This is changing the game in the country and once again, turning global attention to the country hitherto known for long shots style of play.

José Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, two of the most famous and highest paid sports managers in the world, have shared rivalry since 2010 at the Spanish La Liga. They have also brought glamour to the round leather game everywhere they go.

These two talented football coaches became best enemies in the Spanish Championship when in 2010, Mourinho who was basking in the euphoria of the transformation at Chelsea in England, was signed by Real Madrid to end the reign of Pep Guardiola’s FC Barcelona.

Years on, La Liga became a centre of attraction and importance in the football world, having become the convener of the best legs the game can boast of courtesy of the two very strategic lording managers. They changed the face of the game and get people glued to the tube as a result of the intense clashes between their teams. In 2012 however, Guardiola left Barcelona for Manchester City and in 2013 Mourinho left Real Madrid. They both berthed in England.

In 2016, it was all a renewed rivalry in the English Premiership as Manchester City signed Guardiola to a three-year contract to replace Manuel Pellegrini and Mourinho joined Manchester United to substitute Louis Van Gaal. The both coaches have reached recognized level of success with their different styles and thus mounting on the minds of viewers the inquisitiveness on who’s pattern levels out as the better.With the just concluded Premiership League, the accomplishment by Manchester City has again put Guardiola on the spot and also again brought to the fore, the argument of who is better between Pep and Mourinho.

ManCity boasted this record in the 2017/2018 season:

Most consecutive wins ———————————-— 18
Most goals scored in a single season ———————105
Most passes completed in a single EPL game —-———-904
Most wins in a single season —————————— ————-32
Most away wins ———————————————— ——————16
Most points — ————————————————————————-100
Biggest points gap— ———————————————————————-19
Biggest goal difference ———————————————————————-79

Not only are Guardiola’s Manchester City the best Premier League team of 2017/18 they have blazed a trail to set marks unmatched in the 26 seasons of the competition.

Earliest title win
City claimed the title with five matches to go. This feat equals the record of Manchester United in 2000/01.

Biggest winning margin
City finished 19 points clear of Man Utd, whose record they have broken. United ended 18 points clear at the top in 1999/00.

Most consecutive PL victories
The 18-match winning run that City enjoyed between victory at AFC Bournemouth on 26 August and the 1-0 win at Newcastle United on 27 December broke two records: the record of 13 consecutive wins in the same campaign, held jointly by Arsenal (2001/02) and Chelsea (2016/17); and Arsenal’s overall record of 14 consecutive league victories, achieved between February and August 2002.

Most consecutive away wins
The victory at Newcastle was also City’s 11th away win in a row, a sequence that started on 21 May last season. That matched the record set by Chelsea between 6 April 2008 and 7 December 2008.

Biggest share of away possession
City had 82.13 per cent of possession at Everton on 31 March, the highest by an away team in a PL match since these records began.

Most opponents beaten
City have beaten all the other 19 PL teams this season, becoming only the third side to do so after Man Utd, in 2010/11, and Chelsea, in 2005/06.

Fewest minutes trailed
City were behind in matches for a total of only 153 minutes, the fewest by a side in a single campaign.

Most successive Manager of the Month awards
Guardiola was named Barclays Manager of the Month four times in a row between September and December, a first.

Quickest to a centurIon
With their four goals against West Ham United, City recorded 102 goals in 35 matches, the quickest a Premier League side has reached a century of goals in a single campaign. It is the fourth time 100 goals has been scored in a PL season, following Chelsea in 2009/10 and Man City and Liverpool in 2013/14.

Most points
City are the only team in English top-flight history to reach 100 points in a single season. They reached that century with a stoppage-time winner at Southampton, which came after they beat Brighton & Hove Albion in their previous match to break Chelsea’s record of 95 points set from 2004/05.

Most away points
With the final-day win over Southampton, City also surpassed Chelsea’s 48 away points picked up in 2004/05. Pep Guardiola’s side finished on 50 points on their travels.

Most total wins
That victory over Saints was City’s 32nd of the campaign, moving them further ahead of the mark of 30 recorded by Chelsea last season. Man City are the first team to win 32 matches in a single English top-flight season.

Most away wins
Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea of 2004/05 won 15 matches away from home, another feat that City surpassed on the final day with their 16th away victory.

Most goals
City scored 106 goals, beating that of Chelsea’s 103 scored in the 2009/10 campaign.

Best goal difference
City’s goal difference of +79 is eight better than the previous best set by the Chelsea team of 2009/10 who finished with +71.

With this new Premier League record, brows are tilting in the way of Guardiola as the best manager of all times in Premier League. The only contender for this slot remains Klopp who has taken Liverpool from the lower rung of the Premiership table to a strong contender on the Top four position. By 26th of May, the game and its entire fan will know whether Klopp can ruffle the feather when he lead Liverpool to contend the European Most Prized slot from the grip of Real Madrid.