Karren Brady: Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne have lit up the Premier League… but my West Ham cannot wait for it to end
FROM my point of view I will be pleased when this season is finally over.
It has not been one West Ham expected or wanted and it has had more downs than ups but it is one we will learn from.
And we will be playing in the Premier League next season.
But on the whole it has been a glorious season for football in England.
If you enjoy a grumble, there is ammunition. Most of us, though, will only look back with pleasure at the improving quality of football, at Mo’s and Harry’s stream of goals, at generally better crowd behaviour.
Although the deaths of Cyrille Regis and Ray Wilkins were horridly premature and Sir Alex Ferguson’s sudden collapse sent a shudder throughout the world, the game they illuminated continued to give pleasure to billions.
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Its governance certainly is not what it should be.
I suspect most gambling dens are more scrupulously run than world football and we still have to live through Russian posturing at the World Cup.
Maybe the threat of state-organised hooliganism is exaggerated but terrace racism certainly isn’t.
Still, this season has provided plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
At times Manchester City have played football fit for the gods.
Their trophies — the Premier League and the League Cup — do not do full justice to their superiority.
This may be regarded as giving the others a chance.
At least it would if Liverpool had not shown that even the highest standards can be matched by a combination of disrupting the opposition and adventurous attacking.
They beat City three times out of four but overall lacked consistency except in their thrilling dash for the Champions League.
A friend of mine reckons Player of the Year Mo Salah is the most exciting footballer he has seen in English football since George Best. Perhaps. Personally, I think Eden Hazard is a match.
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What is true is that there hasn’t been a goals magician like him in the Premier League this century.
He has scored 43 so far and not since Omar Sharif has there been such a captivating Egyptian.
There is a wide physical contrast between the curly haired, slightly comical Liverpool player operating and City’s upright, unsmiling Kevin De Bruyne, a passing master across the whole pitch.
Even in a league bristling with talent, this pair stand high above the rest.
Although in scoring terms Harry Kane continues as a precision killer while Spurs are a revving power, eyeing a new stadium and a trophy or two.
No longer is televised football regarded as a shrinker of attendances. Football and cookery are the Mr and Mrs of our TV schedules and grounds are full.
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I’d pay tribute to Sky for their part in raising standards and other channels have followed.
Our stadiums are vastly better and more comfortable than they were and this may have something to do with the sensible behaviour of all but a tiny number of supporters.
We have some problems at the London Stadium caused to a degree by the terms of our lease, which we are tackling, but also by malcontents and keyboard warriors.
A satisfying year then. It comes with the growing popularity of women’s football.
The icing on the cake would be England winning the World Cup.