Man City make it four

Does it mean as much as it "should"?

Stats in this article are from FBRef unless stated otherwise.

So Manchester City did the thing.

When the history books are written, this really will count for something. Yes, City won the treble last season, but they weren’t alone in having pulled that off. The “unique” title achievements in England are now: Arsenal going a whole season unbeaten, City hitting 100 points, and City winning four in a row. The only realistic mountain left to climb would be winning the quadruple.

How impressed should we be?

As a single campaign, it probably feels a little bit underwhelming compared to achieving the treble last time. It’s hard to follow up on that kind of season. The mood inevitably deflates, as it did at Old Trafford following the 1999 treble. United won the 99-2000 Premier League title pretty comfortably, certainly easier than City have found it this year. But they came unstuck in Europe in a nasty Champions League knockout tie against, yes, Real Madrid. “We were the best team in England by a mile”, Gary Neville explained in his autobiography, Red, “with a psychological grip on every opponent, but that meant European defeats came as a nasty shock.

“Three days after Real took us apart, we went to Southampton, won 3-1 and clinched the title with four games to spare, but I can’t say I enjoyed the experience. There’s a photo at the Carrington training ground of everyone celebrating. I’m there jumping up and down but I was putting it on, pretending to be ecstatic. The truth was that I felt hollow. Three trophies in 1999 had become one a year later”. City will probably win the FA Cup and make it two trophies, but I’d have to think some of their players privately feel the same way Neville did 24 years ago.