1. Pep Guardiola made history one more time
Prior to this season, Manchester City had not won a cup competition since 2023. They did not lift a single trophy in 2024-25. After Saturday’s FA Cup victory, Pep Guardiola’s side is guaranteed two trophies and could still end up with a domestic treble. Guardiola is also now the only manager to pull off England’s domestic cup double twice. Even if it doesn’t end with a Premier League title, the season was nowhere near as disastrous as 2024-25 and is ending on a positive note.
Trophies matter, and Guardiola had quietly stopped collecting them with the regularity he used to. His potential departure frames the way this season is viewed. While City are still not the juggernaut they have been in the past, two trophies and a title race that goes the distance is not a bad way to go out. If Guardiola’s goal was to get City back on track and then say goodbye, he has given himself that opportunity.
2. Hearts should get some sort of explanation
The last manager to win the Scottish Premiership at a club other than Celtic or Rangers was Sir Alex Ferguson. The year was 1985. That is the magnitude of what Hearts had the opportunity to accomplish in the final week of the season. They were three minutes plus stoppage time from pulling it off. Unfortunately, the story is not the magical season Hearts had or Celtic’s inspired rally to win the title. It was VAR.
The final three matchdays each included a VAR decision that shaped the title race. One was officially deemed an incorrect decision that denied Hearts a penalty kick. Celtic got a penalty kick against the same opponent in the same stadium on Wednesday. There seemed to be little clear or obvious about it, but the call was changed anyway. When the teams met Saturday, the decisive goal came on an overturned offside. Any one of the decisions going the other way likely would have made Hearts champions. For the first two in particular, it is hard to comprehend why VAR felt the need to intervene. Anyone wanting to do away with it doesn’t have to look any further than Hearts for a strong argument why.
3. Xabi Alonso is going from one extreme to the other
Xabi Alonso’s remarkable success at Bayer Leverkusen was at least in part because he was able to implement a clear tactical vision for the team. There were no superstar players with massive egos or club executives telling him how to operate. Alonso was more or less left alone to coach and teach. The results speak for themselves. That was not the case during Alonso’s time at Real Madrid, and it won’t be the case at Chelsea either.
At Real Madrid, the problem was that the players had no interest in doing what Alonso asked or changing their style of play. At Chelsea, head coaches have been forced to work within a model where winning is not the priority and they have limited influence. Alonso’s appointment could be a recognition by ownership that a new approach is required. Time will tell whether that’s actually the case. If it is, this could wind up being an excellent hire.
4. Zavier Gozo is becoming hard to ignore
Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo turned 19 on March 22. He has started all 13 of RSL’s games, contributing six goals and four assists in 1,147 minutes. In the month of May, Gozo has four goals in four games from 1.93 expected goals. RSL sits in third place in a loaded Western Conference even though Diego Luna has battled injuries. Gozo is headed to Europe. It’s just a question of when and for how much.
He scores great goals, and he creates something out of nothing. The U.S. men’s national team doesn’t have players who do either, let alone both. It’s why Gio Reyna remains in contention for a World Cup spot no matter how bad his club situation is. Gozo provides an intriguing alternative. Every team wants a player on the bench like him. Mauricio Pochettino has proven true to his word about giving everyone an opportunity, which suggests there is a real chance Gozo is named to a World Cup squad before making an appearance for the national team.
5. Southampton are making themselves incredibly hard to like
At the heart of every “spygate” scandal like the one Southampton are currently in the middle of is a simple question: If the information isn’t helpful, why do it? Marcelo Bielsa’s extraordinary presentation back in 2019 was designed to answer that very question. The evidence against Southampton is publicly available. Someone was spying on Middlesbrough. The best the Saints can do is distance themselves from it and hope that mitigates the punishment.
With that controversy as the backdrop for Tuesday’s second leg, Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis allegedly made a discriminatory remark to Luke Ayling about his stammer while wearing the captain’s armband. Ayling’s reaction to whatever was said appeared genuine. Southampton triumphed in extra time and now wait to see whether they will be allowed to participate in the promotion playoff final against Hull City. If they are, it’s hard to imagine many neutral observers will be cheering them on.