The bald genius speaks to Sky Sports
Normally, in all leagues, the last game [to win the title] is difficult. It is all about how you think. If your thoughts are positive, you will stay in the game in the bad moments. If your thoughts are negative, or you start thinking about what you are playing for, anything can happen.
This is the key point. The players have to try to be inside the game. What are my duties, individually and collectively? All the details, the transitions with Antonio. What do I have to do.
[On his team selection] It was a really gough decision because Kova has helped us play with rhythm. But I thought West Ham would [defend deep] and he has quality, especially one against one. That was the reason why.
It’s a privilege to be here. We all know how difficult it is to win the Premier League, especially with opponents like Liverpool and Arsenal. The reason we are here is [jabs his forehead] the mentality: not just the players but throughout the club.
Pep Guardiola has picked a more attacking side, which is mildly intriguing given West Ham’s aptitude on the break. Jeremy Doku replaces Mateo Kovacic, which probably means Bernardo Silva will move into the centre of midfield, and Stefan Ortega starts in goal.
There’s no Jarrod Bowen in the West Ham squad, which is very bad news for Arsenal. He has tonsillitis. Aaron Cresswell replaces him, with West Ham switching to a back five. Konstantinos Mavropanos is in for Angelo Ogbonna.
Man City (possible 4-1-2-3) Ortega; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiola; Rodri; De Bruyne, Bernardo; Foden, Haaland, Doku.
Substitutes: Carson, Stones, Ake, Kovacic, Grealish, Bobb, Alvarez, Nunes, Lewis.
West Ham (possible 5-2-2-1) Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Kudus, Paqueta; Antonio.
Substitutes: Fabianski, Johnson, Alvarez, Cornet, Ings, Earthy, Casey, Mubama, Ogbonna.
Referee John Brooks.
Alternative preamble (jeopardy is alive! Ish)
“Good afternoon, Rob,” says Justin Kavanagh. “There are several shades of the final day of the 1995 season blowing in the wind today: All that stands between Mancunian champions reclaiming their title is a West Ham team with little to play for but their pride; meanwhile, a Liverpudlian team threatens to spoil the party for the challengers. But it’s hard to see the Hammers getting the required draw or Erling Haaland playing the Andy Cole role of roving around the park with a five-stringed instrument in search of a bovine derriere to swing at and miss. And miss again. Also, there’s maybe more than a millennium’s worth of daylight between the Liverpool of Barnes, McManaman and Fowler and Sean Dyche’s Everton. But that’s the joy of football, I suppose. For the neutral (at least until City score the first goal today), it’s the hope that thrills you.”
Poor Andy Cole: legend has it that he missed 49 open goals that day rather than hit the post and draw two very good saves from Ludek Miklosko.
This is also the last game of David Moyes’ second spell as West Ham manager. In four full seasons he won the Europa Conference League, reached the Europa League semi-final and finished 6th, 7th, 14th and 9th in the table. He is one of the greatest managers in West Ham’s history, even if he hasn’t always been treated as such.
Manchester City are jeopardising jeopardy. Their aura is such that most neutrals have already anointed them as champions, even though they still need to win their final game against West Ham at the Etihad. There’s a simple reason for that: they’re dead, dead good at football.
City’s five titles under Pep Guardiola have all included runs of at least 12 consecutive wins, some under the pressure of knowing a draw could be fatal. The best City can manage this year is nine, but there has been the same feeling of inexorability. A pre-Christmas break in Saudi Arabia – during which they keep themselves occupied by becoming world champions – woke City up, and since their return their league record is P20 W17 D3 L0.
This is the fifth time in 13 seasons that City have gone into the final game needing a particular result to win the league. It’s a familiar job that comes with a bonus reward. City can become the first team in English football history to be champions in four successive seasons. Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United (twice) managed three in a row.
Sir Alex Ferguson and Guardiola are the only managers to have done so. Fergie came close to four in a row on two occasions, but he never got the cigar that Pep will be munching on should all go to plan this afternoon.
We can’t ignore those 115 charges lurking in the background, and in time we may view City’s imperial phase differently. For now, all we can say with certainty is that they are an extraordinary football team who are one win away from a unique feat. And that jeopardy ain’t what it used to be.
Kick off 4pm.