Manchester United threat casts cloud over Premier League finales

A bomb threat caused Manchester United's season finale to be postponed.

Author:
Peter Berlin
Publish date:
May 15, 2016

The postponement of Manchester United’s final match of the season against Bournemouth after a “suspect package”–one deemed to be "incredibly lifelike but not viable"–was found in the stands before kick off will have little impact on important Premier League matters, but it was a reminder that soccer is acutely aware that it is an attractive target for terrorists.

The match on Sunday would have been played before a crowd of more than 75,000. The sight of the stadium being evacuated was a reminder that soccer has been a terrorist target in recent months.

Police later confirmed the package was a fake bomb left following a training exercise. The resulting paranoia and fear, however, is a product of all that has preceded Sunday in recent days and months.

On Friday, ISIS gunmen attacked a Real Madrid fan club in Iraq, killing 16. More significantly for the Euros, three suicide bombers attempted to enter the Stade de France, where 79,000 spectators were watching national team play Germany, during the terrorist attacks around Paris on November 13. The choice of the date might well have been soccer related. It was France’s only home soccer game at its national stadium between early June 2015 and the end of March this year.

In the last few weeks, security experts have gone public with their fears for the Euros this summer.

Frédéric Péchenard, a senior French police officer turned politician, said the fan zone at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris would “offer terrorists a chance for a massacre.”

Speaking to French radio at the end of April, he went on: “100,000 people under the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, the symbol that terrorists want to try to hit Paris. It’s madness."

Last week, Rob Wainwright, a Briton who is the head of Europol, the European Union's law enforcement agency, told Die Welt, a German newspaper, he was “extremely concerned” that the Euros, and the fans who will come to watch matches and see the French sights, offered an “attractive target” to terrorists.

He said: "It is shockingly easy to attack soft targets like cafes, restaurants or a concert hall.”

Old Trafford on Sunday offered a reminder that soccer fears it is under attack.

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The game there, which was supposed to be part of the final round of matches, will be rescheduled, but not for Monday. Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Swansea means United would need to win and make up a goal-differential deficit of 18 to take fourth place and a Champions League spot, and United is really playing for fifth, needing a point to outlast Southampton and net a place in the Europa League at the very least.

As for what transpired on the field in the Premier League's season finales, there were a distinct set of winners and losers:

Spurs find a way to finish behind Arsenal

The final day’s biggest loser, in every sense, was Tottenham. Spurs looked like a team feeling sorry for itself as it was humiliated, 5-1, at relegated Newcastle. Tottenham seemed to have been tossed an undeserved lifeline when Aleksandar Mitrovic was sent off for a psychotic tackle on Kyle Walker after 67 minutes. Yet the 10 Magpies then scored three more goals.

Arsenal leapfrogs Tottenham, finishes second in Premier League

In practical terms, the defeat means little. If United keeps a clean sheet against Bournemouth, Tottenham will not end the season with the league’s best defense. Tottenham’s drop from second to third will cost it $1.87 million in merit money, peanuts in modern soccer. The club still qualifies for the group stage of the Champions League, for the first time. Its probable seeding, in the third tier of the draw, will not change.

Yet once again it has subjected its fans to the prospect of a summer of trolling by Arsenal supporters. Arsenal’s 4-0 victory over Villa meant it overtook Tottenham to finish above its rival for the 21st consecutive season.

With some ungrateful and bored Arsenal fans clamoring for Arsene Wenger’s removal, a finish below Tottenham might have increased the sense of failure. Instead, after Arsenal was eliminated from the title race it started winning.

For Tottenham, the desperate effort to keep up with Leicester seems to have blown the engine. Dele Alli and Mousa Dembélé lost their cools in consecutive matches to draw season-ending suspensions. Tottenham failed to win any of its last four games, surrendering 10 points, any one of which would have ensured it finished above Arsenal.

Spurs have managed the difficult trick of greatly exceeding their fans’ expectations and still handing them a crushing disappointment.

Pep Guardiola can breathe easier

Manchester City gained the point it needed to all but ensure fourth place and a spot in the qualifying round of the Champions League next season. For Pep Guardiola, fears that he would have to build from the Europa League up at the Etihad are allayed, as he takes over after guiding Bayern Munich to its fourth straight Bundesliga title.

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Below City, Southampton crushed Crystal Palace, 4-1, to overtake West Ham and grab a provisional spot in the Europa League group stage, depending on Manchester United's outcome against Bournemouth. United needs a point to reclaim fifth and have, at the very least, a guaranteed place in Europe next season.

Ranieri has the last laugh

José Mourinho used to taunt Claudio Ranieri as “a loser.” Who’s laughing now?

In part that is a rhetorical question. When he is managing, Mourinho may tell jokes but he rarely laughs. Ranieri seems able to laugh, even in the bad times and, as Mourinho’s jibe suggests, there have been plenty of them.

Yet Ranieri could be forgiven some private gloating. He might have smiled in December when Chelsea fired his nemesis after Leicester toppled the Blues, and he closed Leicester's incredible season walking through a guard of honor at Stamford Bridge, while owner Roman Abramovich was forced to applaud the man he said would never win the title.

(As an aside, Mourinho might have appeared a loser, but his final compensation from Chelsea might total anywhere between $14 million and $57 million, depending on which British tabloid has the most reliable sources. Mourinho’s reputation as a winner does not seem to be tarnished, if Manchester United really is seriously contemplating making him its next manager.)

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri finally gets his due after winning title

What a long strange trip it’s been for Ranieri, whose managerial career has stretched just short of 30 years and has included 16 appointments in five countries. Perhaps Ranieri grew and learned on that journey so that, finally, this season he was prepared to take his chance. On the other hand, despite spells at some of Europe’s biggest clubs, he hasn’t, in truth, been in a position to win a league title very often.

Some of Ranieri’s appointments have been unambiguous disasters, notably at Atlético, Inter Milan and with the Greek national team. Elsewhere his “failures” are more ambiguous. Ranieri is good at promotions from the second division. The 2010 Roma season is the only time a Ranieri team has ever been close enough in the late stages of a top-flight title race to let it slip away. Roma led Serie A until a late season loss to Mourinho’s Inter Milan, it then lost to Inter again in the Italian Cup final.

But Ranieri revived Fiorentina, Roma, Monaco, Chelsea and Valencia. None of the clubs fell away after he left and Valencia and Chelsea went on to periods of sustained success.

At Stamford Bridge, Ranieri took over a sixth-placed team and, in his final season, led it to second–its best finish in 49 years–and the Champions League semis only to be replaced by Mourinho who then won the league with, essentially, Ranieri’s squad. Ranieri steered Valencia to its first trophy, the Copa Del Rey, in 20 years. The season after he left, Héctor Cúper took the team to the Champions League final.

Ranieri builds well. The question has been whether he is too nice a guy to go the final inch. Even after he broke his league title drought this season, that doubt still seems to remain.

Leicester City's unsung heroes: Beyond the Foxes' star trio

Martin Samuel, one of the heavyweight English tabloid soccer writers, criticized Ranieri for allowing his players to squirt Champagne over him in front of the media after Leicester collected its league trophy and beat Everton on May 7. “Put it like this.” Samuel wrote. “They wouldn’t have done it to Sir Alex Ferguson or Fabio Capello.” Ranieri kept smiling but, wrote Samuel, he had allowed his players to show a lack of respect.

Really? Did the New York Giants players who gave Bill Parcells Gatorade showers after each of their 17 victories in the 1986 season, lack respect for their coach? Did the Patriots players who gave Bill Belichick multiple dousings at the end of 2015 Super Bowl, fear their coach any the less?

If Leicester fails to repeat next season, the way the players wasted their Champagne won’t be the reason.

“He keeps everything nice and relaxed,” Leicester striker Jamie Vardy said of the way Ranieri ran Leicester. “Made it a nice place to go in to work and get on with your job.”

As Ranieri and Leicester finally won their long-awaited title this year, they challenged a lot of ideas about modern soccer: how a team is built, how it passes the ball, how it trains and even how to mow the grass. Ranieri provides a particularly heartening correction to ideas about coaches. This season has shown nice guys can finish first and that the Mourinhos can fail.

GALLERY: Key moments from Leicester's title run

Leicester City's Top Moments of 2015-16

The first points; Aug. 8, 2015

In what turned out to be a sign of things to come, Jamie Vardy scored the club's first goal 11 minutes into the season and Riyad Mahrez scored two of his own to give Leicester a 3-0 lead 25 minutes into a 4-2 win over Sunderland at King Power Stadium.

Immediate response vs. Spurs; Aug. 22, 2015

2015-0822-Leicester-City-Riyad-Mahrez-Gokhan-Inler-Jeffrey-Schlupp.jpg — Marc Atkins/Mark Leech Sports Photography/Getty Images

Riyad Mahrez answered Dele Alli's 81st-minute goal a minute later, and even though Leicester suffered its first non-win of the campaign in the 1-1 home draw against Tottenham, it showed a promising resiliency against a club it would be fending off down the stretch.

Comeback vs. Villa; Sept. 13, 2015

Facing a 2-0 deficit at home to lowly Aston Villa, Leicester mounted a furious comeback, with Ritchie De Laet, Riyad Mahrez and Nathan Dyer scoring in the 72nd, 82nd and 89th minutes, respectively, to steal three points in dramatic fashion.

Another 2-0 comeback; Sept. 19, 2015

Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Again down 2-0, Leicester rescued another point from a losing position at Stoke City. The Potters raced out to their lead within 20 minutes, but Riyad Mahrez's penalty and Jamie Vardy's 69th-minute equalizer salvaged the point.

Vardy rescues a point; Oct. 17, 2015

Leicester found itself down 2-0 to Southampton (sensing a theme here?) but roared back late. Jamie Vardy scored twice, once in the 66th minute and the dramatic equalizer a minute into stoppage time, earning the Foxes another point from a losing position.

Clean-sheet pizza; Oct. 24, 2015

2015-1029-Leicester-City-Christian-Fuchs-Shinji-Okazaki-pizza.jpg — Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

It took 10 games and a promise of a pizza party from manager Claudio Ranieri for Leicester to keep a clean sheet, but the Foxes did just that in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. The pizza promise became an instant part of Leicester lore, and the club went on to keep 14 more clean sheets–including six in seven games down the stretch.

Vardy's scoring record; Nov. 28, 2015

Jamie Vardy set a Premier League record scoring in his 11th straight game in a 1-1 draw vs. Manchester United. Ruud van Nistelrooy previously held the mark.

Sweet revenge for Ranieri; Dec. 14, 2015

2015-1214-Leicester-City-Claudio-Ranieri-Jose-Mourinho.jpg — Michael Regan/Getty Images

With manager Claudio Ranieri facing Chelsea–the team that ushered him out in 2004–and squaring off against Jose Mourinho–the man who replaced him–Leicester wound up with the bragging rights and three points. Jamie Vardy scored off a perfect Riyad Mahrez pass, Mahrez added a gorgeous goal of his own, Leicester won 2-1 and Mourinho was promptly fired.

Schmeichel saves a point; Dec. 29, 2015

On the heels of a Boxing Day loss to Liverpool, Leicester proved its title chops by holding contender Manchester City to a 0-0 draw. Kasper Schmeichel made a pair of key first-half saves, and Leicester bounced back three days after the setback to secure a meaningful point.

Huth's header beats Spurs; Jan. 13, 2016

Defender Robert Huth's perfect 83rd-minute header from Christian Fuchs's corner–his first goal since last April–gave Leicester a 1-0 win over Tottenham at White Hart Lane, snapping a three-game winless run. Given how the title race would come down to the two clubs, the point swing has proven to be massive.

Vardy's wonder-volley vs. Liverpool; Feb. 2, 2016

Jamie Vardy scored twice in a February win over Liverpool, but it was his first goal that had the world talking. After running down a long ball from Riyad Mahrez, Vardy unleashed a 25-yard volley off the bounce to stun the Reds and help Leicester exact revenge for one of its three losses on the season.

Huth scores two at Man City; Feb. 6, 2016

A match at Manchester City was supposed to be the start of Leicester's downfall, but the Foxes were having none of that. Robert Huth scored in the third minute to shock the Etihad faithful, and he added another later to proclaim Leicester's intentions in a 3-1 win.

Ulloa beats Norwich late; Feb. 27, 2016

Both times Leicester lost to Arsenal it followed up with wins over Norwich City to right the ship. The second time was far more thrilling, with Leonardo Ulloa scoring an 89th-minute winner at King Power Stadium to put the title ship back on course.

Officially safe! March 1, 2016

Not that it was ever remotely in doubt, but Leicester ensured safety from relegation with a 2-2 home draw vs. West Brom. Given Claudio Ranieri's cautious approach to overstating goals, the preseason expectations and last season's heroic charge out of the drop zone, the achievement was still notable and allowed Leicester to officially look ahead to bigger things.

Kante returns, Mahrez scores vs. Watford; March 5, 2016

Vital midfielder N'Golo Kante returned from an injury and Riyad Mahrez scored a highlight-reel goal–again–as Leicester won at Watford 1-0 to keep pressure on Tottenham and Arsenal in the title chase. The club's record away from home (11-2-4) is a big driver of its overall success.

Okazaki's bicycle kick beats Newcastle; March 14, 2016

Shinji Okazaki's bicycle kick goal gave Leicester a nervy 1-0 win over Newcastle on a day which Leicester entered leading Tottenham by just two points in the Premier League table.

Captain Morgan helps Leicester extend lead; April 3, 2016

Plumb Images/Leicester City/Getty Images

With Tottenham dropping points to Liverpool the previous day, Leicester took full advantage. Defender and captain Wes Morgan scored his only goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Southampton that stretched the club's lead atop the table to seven points.

Leicester clinches Champions League place; April 10, 2016

It went overlooked given the club's title aspirations, but Leicester clinched an almost equally improbable place in next season's Champions League with a 2-0 win at Sunderland, cementing a top-four place. Jamie Vardy's two goals did the honors.

Ulloa's late equalizing PK vs. West Ham; April 17, 2016

Leonardo Ulloa calmly converted a penalty kick deep into second-half stoppage time to cap a game full of controversy and secure a vital point in a 2-2 draw with West Ham.

Ulloa scores two in Vardy's absence; April 24, 2016

With leading scorer Jamie Vardy suspended because of a referee altercation in the previous match vs. West Ham, Leonardo Ulloa stepped into the starting lineup and scored twice in a 4-0 rout of Swansea City. A Tottenham draw the following day put Leicester in position to clinch the title with three points from its final three games.

The Vardy Party; May 2, 2016

Leicester players gathered at Jamie Vardy's house to watch Chelsea take on Tottenham in the decisive match in the title race. It was the Vardy Party to top all Vardy Parties, as Leicester was crowned champion following the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Ranieri's Guard of Honor; May 14, 2016

Claudio Ranieri returns to Stamford Bridge, where he was jettisoned in 2004 for Jose Mourinho, and steps through Chelsea's guard of honor, which the outgoing champions provided for Leicester City.

Howard wins in Everton farewell

Tim Howard played his final and 414th match for Everton, earning his 133rd clean sheet in the process. While chants of "USA! USA!" rang out in the Goodison Park stands after the 3-0 win over relegated Norwich City, Howard addressed his fans, who, like Howard, have endured an otherwise tough season, finishing in 11th place and the bottom half of the table.

For Howard, though, the lasting memory is one he'll surely cherish:

Bookies win despite Leicester's success

The only people who consistently make money from sports betting are the bookmakers. One of their professional challenges is to keep convincing suckers to hand over the cash. In that respect, Leicester’s unexpected triumph should have the bookies smiling.

5,000-to-1? Second to none: Leicester City wins Premier League

Even as they pay out the winnings to the few hundred punters who bet on Leicester, the bookies will be mentally counting the extra money they are going to take in over the next few seasons in no-hope bets.

Some of those who bet on Leicester did so at odds of 5,000-to-1. The math will make any bettor salivate: $100 would have made you $500,000.

Of course those weren’t strictly speaking “odds,” since the bookies, foolishly given the 130-year history of the English league, thought there was zero chance of Leicester winning. They were a “price” designed to lure suckers into buying an unattractive product. “Pigs might fly,” one bookmaker wrote on a Leicester betting slip at the start of the season, according to the Financial Times.

GALLERY: Best of Leicester's title celebrations

Leicester City's Premier League title celebrations

Leicester City players hold up the banner that says it all: The Foxes are Premier League champions.

Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge show their support for Leicester during the Blues' decisive 2-2 draw vs. Tottenham that clinched Leicester's title.

Leicester fans gather en masse around King Power Stadium to celebrate their Premier League title

This Leicester fan's scarf says it all: Champions

Fans celebrate as Chelsea's draw with Tottenham secures Leicester's Premier League title.

Plumb Images/Leicester City FC/Getty Images

Fans celebrate Leicester's title outside of King Power Stadium the night the trophy was clinched.

More Leicester fans express their joy after winning the title.

Leicester fans stand outside of King Power Stadium with a trophy of their own–a placeholder until captain Wes Morgan is presented with the actual trophy.

A statue of King Richard III, whose tale and reburial is part of the Leicester title lore, is graced with a Leicester City championship flag.

The day after Leicester won the title, fans continued to celebrate by King Power Stadium.

Jamie Vardy is escorted through a crowd of fans as he joins a team lunch in Leicester the day after becoming a Premier League champion.

Which one is Jamie Vardy? The Leicester forward and his lookalike Lee Chapman celebrate on the team bus.

Leicester fans gather to catch a glimpse of Jamie Vardy and the rest of their title-winning heroes.

Riyad Mahrez makes his way to a car leaving a team lunch in Leicester, as a mob of fans and media try to catch a glimpse.

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri makes his way through the masses.

Even the dogs are behind the Foxes amid Leicester's title run.

Leicester City fans Sarah and James Robinson have named their daughter Olivia-June Claudia Robinson–with the middle name in honor of Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.

Claudio Ranieri toasts over Champagne at his first press conference after Leicester clinched the Premier League title.

Leicester's Christian Fuchs poses with the UFC title belt as part of Leicester's title celebrations.

The Premier League trophy arrives at King Power Stadium, where it now belongs.

Famed tenor Andrea Bocelli appears on stage with Claudio Ranieri to sing ahead of Leicester's match vs. Everton as part of the title celebrations.

Everton provides a guard of honor for Leicester City ahead of their match.

Jamie Vardy wastes no time in marking his return to Leicester's lineup after a two-game ban, scoring five minutes in to keep the celebration going on the field.

Andy King, the last holdover from Leicester's third-tier, League One club in 2008, celebrates his goal vs. Everton in the pouring rain.

Leicester captain Wes Morgan lifts the Premier League trophy at a capacity King Power Stadium.

Leicester City lifts the trophy: The 2015-16 Premier League champions.

A team photo for the ages: Leicester City with its Premier League championship trophy.

Leicester City enjoys a parade through a packed downtown, gathering with fans for one massive celebration for its title season.

Leicester fans pack the streets to catch a glimpse of their title-winning heroes at the victory parade.

Flanked by his star players, Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri shows off the Premier League trophy.

Thousands upon thousands pack Victoria Park in Leicester to celebrate Leicester City's Premier League title.

The FT reported at the end of April that British bookies said they would lose £50 million ($73 million) if Leicester won the title. The article quoted a spokesman for one on-line bookie as saying it would also have lost money if Chelsea or Manchester City had won the title, but made a profit on Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal. Those are the three clubs with the biggest and, perhaps, most delusional, supporter bases. Bookies can offer prices far below the sane odds on those clubs’ chances and still attract bets.

Even so, one should be skeptical about bookies claiming they would have lost money on the favorites AND on the rank outsiders.

It was almost possible to see the drool forming as bookies told the FT that Leicester’s success “will change the way we offer odds” and that bets on outsiders “will go through the roof.”

Whereas Leicester was quoted at 5,000-1, the best odds on this season’s great escapers, Sunderland, winning the league next season are 750-1. Yet the fans will be lining up to bet their hopes that their clubs can emulate Leicester and they will be joined by many fans of Bournemouth, Watford, West Brom, Crystal Palace and so on who would not have dreamed of making such a bet before this season.

After this most improbable of seasons, the bookies will be crying all the way to the bank.