The final months of Erik ten Hag at Manchester United could be seen coming from a mile off but Mo Salah and Mikel Arteta’s 2024s were less predictable.
The full predictions for the year are worth a look. Here is how they panned out.
10) Mauricio Pochettino ends his English trophy drought x
“To win the FA Cup or the League Cup – it will be fantastic for the fans but it is not going to move the club to a different level,” Pochettino once suggested to howls of derision and mockery. He had a point when speaking as the manager of a Spurs side at their peak of challenging for the Premier and Champions League, but how the Argentinean would have snapped any number of hands off for even the most tinpot pieces of silverware at typical trophy hoarders Chelsea.
He came close. It feels like an age since the “blue billion-pound bottlejobs” reached a nadir in a Carabao final against Liverpool, and that overshadowed the absurd nature of their defeat when they visited Wembley again in an FA Cup semi-final two months later.
Pochettino was even foolish enough to get pie-faced before the eyes-closed stroll to a Conference League trophy. Not sure a CONCACAF Nations League title will really scratch the itch.
9) Aston Villa or West Ham will qualify for the Champions League ✓
Ignore that weird West Ham bit. Shut up. It was a different time. They were sixth and had just won three in a row all with clean sheets, including away at Arsenal. David Moyes had done it again. Everyone was saying they were destined for a pint(?) of Gazprom.
The Hammers tailed off, winning four games from January to the end of the season. Aston Villa maintained a strong enough pace to reach the Champions League holy grail and with it the thrill of having to work out new format permutations while figuring out whether it was worth celebrating beating Bayern Munich.
8) Liverpool sell Mo Salah x
Not quite. It is unknown whether there was a repeat of the £150m September 2023 bid which Liverpool felt compelled to reject but it has long been apparent that the only way Salah’s historic reign will end is upon the expiration of his current or next contract; the Reds have zero intention to ever sell.
How fortunate that the Egyptian is providing updates on that situation as frequently as he is scoring goals. You could offer Liverpool a record fee now for a player they stand to lose for nothing in six months and the answer would be the same. To be fair, it’s difficult to put a price on the Quadruple that Last Stand Salah seems determined to deliver.
7) Brentford get relegated x
Nope. They were sliding at one point and winless in nine games but pulled through in the end, sold their underperforming marquee striker and only improved because nothing Brentford do actually makes sense.
6) The three promoted Championship teams will make history x
Leicester and Southampton held up their end of the bargain when it came to the three relegated clubs bouncing straight back into the Premier League together at the first time of asking. Guess who had to go and f**k it all up?
‘Leeds have a proud and famously flawless record in the play-offs so will complete the set.’
There it is.
5) Eddie Howe to leave Newcastle x
‘…in a far better place at the end of 2024 in comparison to where they started it.’ There. Perfect.
From the outside it seemed to be touch and go at times, particularly when losing four in a row through the winter, dropping four points to Luton, systematically weakening the squad in the summer and winning two of 11 games at the start of this season. But there Howe remains, in as strong a position as ever and perennially fulfilling Jason Tindall’s wish that this isn’t his last Christmas.
4) (Sir) Gareth Southgate wastes his last chance with England ✓
Frustratingly close to absolute perfection here with: ‘Slovenia, Denmark and Serbia will be handled adequately enough – two wins and a draw with handbrake and clamour discourse littered in between – before England’s eventual avoidable stumble.’
A win and two draws, definite handbrake and clamour discourse, while the eventual avoidable stumble came much later than it should have done or was anticipated.
England looked in no way even vaguely competent at any point through the entire summer. Southgate lost the final by following the precise same blueprint of defeat established across all his last games of a tournament.
3) Erik ten Hag to remain Manchester United manager ✓
The caveat was that Ten Hag would ‘cling like it’s an Eredivisie signing’ to his precarious position through the infamous impending summer job review. What no-one knew was how farcical that entire process would turn out to be in coming to completely the wrong conclusion in the worst possible way.
‘With so much upheaval already unavoidably necessary, the manager sacking solution can be kept in the back pocket for future use,’ it was added. It turned out ‘future use’ only covered a few more months before the most poisoned of all chalices was handed over to the next victim.
2) Manchester City to win the Premier League ✓
They started 2024 in third, five points off the summit and behind both Liverpool and Aston Villa, but there remained a sense of inevitability over their recovery.
‘It will require a lower champion points total than usual,’ we wrote, ‘but Manchester City will nevertheless make it an unprecedented four in a row before reverting back to self-destructive type in Europe, defending one crown but not another.’ Tick, tick and tick.
They will enter 2025 in sixth with no sign whatsoever of a meaningful resurgence. Cue Pep Guardiola booking Rodri in for an appointment with Dr Cugat to help secure title number five in a row.
1) Mikel Arteta to leave Arsenal x
It seemed very much on at one stage in January when reports emerged suggesting Arteta planned to quit at the end of the season and replace Xavi at Barcelona. That speculation calmed long before a three-year contract extension in September killed it for good.
All cards on the table: at the time this was a straight pick between one of Arteta, Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp leaving their posts at some stage in 2024. We were that close to greatness and made the worst possible choice.
