6) Mané’s resurgence turns him into an important bargaining chip
It had reached the stage, either side of the transfer deadline, when it seemed sensible enough for Southampton and Sadio Mané to plot a relatively amicable parting of ways. He had infuriated Ronald Koeman by arriving late to a team meeting at the turn of the year, consequently sitting out a defeat at Norwich that was wholly in keeping with the Saints’ winter form, and links with Manchester United never really went away. His performances back then gave little reason to baulk at a suitable fee but Mané has been in stunning form during the final two months of the season – scoring eight goals in as many games and showing marked improvement in much of his build up play – and looks very much the kind of player an upwardly mobile team needs to stick around. Speaking after the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace, Koeman defended Mané’s overall contribution during the season and pointed out that the player, still just 24, had completed only his second Premier League season after joining from Red Bull Salzburg. A couple of minutes earlier Koeman had also said that Southampton “need to be prepared that we lose some players”, but unless a deal is already done the hope must be that Mané’s future is an important bargaining chip when Koeman meets the Southampton hierarchy for talks over his own contractual situation later this week.
7) No place for Henderson in Europa League final
“I haven’t made a decision yet about the lineup for Wednesday but it’s nice to have the option,” said Jürgen Klopp after watching Jordan Henderson come through nearly half an hour of action at the Hawthorns unscathed. And of course it was heartening to see Henderson (and Danny Ings) return, but the captain should not start the Europa League final no matter how he fit he is. Emre Can and James Milner bring more to Liverpool’s central midfield. So does Joe Allen, which means Henderson should not even be first option off the bench.
8) Swansea’s final league position hides a multitude of sins
Full credit to Swansea. They finished 12th in the Premier League, 10 points clear of the relegation zone, and in a season when they looked almost doomed at one stage (anyone who witnessed the 4-2 defeat at home against Sunderland in January could have been forgiven for fearing the worst). So it is quite an achievement to stay up. Yet perhaps that final league position hides a multitude of sins. It has been a chaotic season, featuring three different managers, and it would be naive to think that everything is fine now that Swansea have secured a sixth successive season in the Premier League. In that context it was a little alarming to hear Francesco Guidolin say that he did not think many changes were needed to his playing squad. An alternative view would be that the squad requires major surgery, including bringing in two strikers for starters. André Ayew and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored 23 of Swansea’s 42 goals and neither player is a centre forward. The next highest league scorer is Bafétimbi Gomis with six. After that there are four players on two goals. Away from the lack of firepower up front, the right-back position has to be addressed, Swansea need another centre-half to provide competition for Ashley Williams and Federico Fernández, and it is hard to see how Wayne Routledge and the returning Nathan Dyer represent the future on the flanks. There are, in other words, plenty of question to answer. Maybe the biggest of them all is whether Guidolin is the right man for the job.
9) Sunderland looking stronger for their home-grown talent
If there’s anything more likely to send a supporter skipping into summer with a spring in their step than a glorious late-season surge to survival at the expense of their most hated local rivals, it’s rounding that off by witnessing the debuts of a couple of promising local youngsters in a lively away performance. Sunderland’s much-changed team at Watford was full of local promise: Jordan Pickford, a 22-year-old goalkeeper from Washington (Tyne and Wear, not DC), appeared in the Cup against Arsenal and the league against Tottenham in January, playing well despite conceding seven goals, and was impressive again, handling everything that came at him with assurance and releasing Duncan Watmore for a counter-attack with a fine, quick kick from his hands. Tom Robson, from Stanley, had a decent game at left-back – though Watford’s wing play is not the most threatening – and Winlaton-born Rees Greenwood, one of the stars of the side that finished second in the Under-21 Premier League, was full of running in front of him.
George Honeyman, from Prudhoe and at 21, a year older than Robson and Greenwood, replaced the latter in the second half without having a great impact. “The onus was on the players who had not played as much to come in, take up the challenge and show what they had got for next season – and for the young lads to come in and show that they would love to have this opportunity to play on a regular basis,” said Sam Allardyce. “All of those players today have performed very, very well indeed. We know what Pickford can do, but I think that of Rees and George, Rees was probably the better of the two. Tommy saw through the whole game and looked very, very comfortable at left-back.” As for Watford, for the first time since the purchase of the club by Gino Pozzo in 2012 – and, indeed, at least two decades before that – they went through an entire league season without an academy product making an appearance. The closest they got was Connor Smith’s 59 minutes in the Capital One Cup against Preston in August;Watford lost, and Smith was released in January before joining AFC Wimbledon. The defender Tommie Hoban was given a four-year contract last summer but has spent the vast majority of the season recovering from groin and hip injuries.
10) An afternoon of hellos and goodbyes
Tim Howard was rightly centre of attention as he embarked on one last lap of Goodison Park following the defeat of Norwich City, the veteran goalkeeper ending a decade of distinguished service at Everton with a move to Colorado Rapids this summer. After a few run-ins that marred his final weeks as the club’s No1 goalkeeper earlier in the season, it was a nice touch that Howard reserved his bows – and a few tears – for the supporters in the Gwladys Street. It felt like a changing of the guard in many respects at Goodison, with the 37-year-old on his way out and teenagers Tom Davies, Kieran Dowell and Jonjoe Kenny all impressing, but the overhaul at Everton this summer extends beyond goalkeeper and manager. Trailing behind Howard, and deserving of their own acclaim should this season prove to be their last with the club, were Leon Osman and Tony Hibbert, invaluable Everton servants in their own right. Steven Pienaar was also present and is also out of contract this summer, as is Darron Gibson, while it remains to be seen whether John Stones and Romelu Lukaku were saying a lasting farewell on the lap of ‘appreciation’. Roberto Martínez’s replacement has rebuilding work ahead, but plenty of young talent willing and able to assist.
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