Breaking point: a title era is ending before our very eyes

Blame Antonio Conte, perhaps. The former Chelsea manager was not the pioneer but he was a trailblazer.

- RICHARD JOLLY

When the 2016-17 Premier League brought together one of the greatest collections of managerial talents to compete in a domestic division at the same time – Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and the defending champion Claudio Ranieri – Conte responded by raising the bar.

Chelsea’s path to the title involved a run of 13 straight wins and an eventual total of 93 points. They were trendsetters. The next seven Premier League titles were won with 100, 98, 99, 86, 93, 89 and 91 points respectively. As the more mathematically minded will note, only two of those numbers are below 90. Each came with an asterisk: Manchester City’s 86 in the strangeness of the 2020-21 Covid season and 89 in 2022-23, when they had 88 after 36 games, with the title secured, and relaxed to concentrate on the treble instead.

With his perfectionism, Guardiola has been the master of the 90-point season and his presence was a reason to believe this would be another. If anyone was to depose City, it seemed, they would have to be almost flawless. That certainly appeared Arsenal’s approach as Mikel Arteta seemed to seek the type of efficiency that took Mourinho’s Chelsea to 95 and 91 in successive campaigns between 2004 and 2006. Instead, Arsenal have been more slipshod, injuries, red cards and mistakes all factors as they have dropped 14 points already.

The greater surprise may be that City have dropped 10, losing back-to-back games. Perhaps the bar has been lowered again. The counterargument is that City are no strangers to autumn wobbles and can then go on extended winning runs in the new year to amass another huge tally. Likewise, Liverpool have claimed all but five possible points so far; at their current rate of progress, they are on course for 97.