“I ADMIRE THEM BOTH…BUT ERAS COME TO AN END.”

These were the words of the Dutch football manager, Erik Ten Hag when he got appointed as the manager for the great, or should I say 'once great' English team, Manchester United. When asked about the managers he met in the Premier League-the likes of Manchester City's Josep Pep Guardiola and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, he said and I quote,"I admire them both, Man City and Liverpool.They play fantastic football. But eras come to an end." Many called him mad, some optimistic, but this writer prefers to call him a prophet. I agree that his prophecy or enthusiasm didn't work out perfectly well for him seeing as his team ended the just concluded football season in eighth position, with a total of 60 points and a-1 goal difference. However, his prophecy did come to pass in a different league, the German Bundesliga.

For the last eleven Bundesliga football seasons, Bayern Munich FC have incredibly won all the titles in a row, seeing them move onto 32 titles in total.This team dominated the Bundesliga to the extent that the league was being referred to as 'The Farmer's League' as the last time a different team won the Bundesliga title was way back in 2012 and that was Borussia Dortmund.

Things did not turn out well for the Thomas Tuchel coached team this season as Spanish manager,Xabi Alonso took the whole world of football by surprise when he replaced Gerardo Soane on the 6th of October 2022 as the coach of the Bayer Leverkusen team. He took over with the team in the 18th position and everything turned around for the team. Even though it was his first time in a senior managerial job, Xabi managed to pull his strings perfectly to what turned out to be an unbeaten season.You could say his experience as a player helped, or his choice of players to sign, field and substitute but all round, he has demonstrated nothing but excellence by winning the Bundesliga title with a team that could have possibly been battling relegation.

His brilliant tactics put an end to Bayern Munchen's reign of glory which leads to another series of questions; Is it Tuchel's fault? Has the team finally lost their touch? Or is it the Harry Kane Curse? Like many people would think, this writer thinks the last question needs to be answered

the most. Harry Kane, in what seems to be a quest to lay his hands on a trophy left Tottenham Hotspurs where he had a total of 280 goals in 435 matches to join Bayern Munchen Football Club, where he currently has 44 goals in 45 matches. One would think that with a team like Bayern, his quest would finally come to an end but alas, it continues. With the DFB Pokal and Champions League trophies out of their sight, he would have to wait till next season before putting up hopes for a

trophy.

What does the next season hold? Quite uncertain. With Xabi Alonso deciding to stay at Leverkusen for one more season, one can only ask;

Will he be able to do it again? Will Bayern Munich bounce back? Will Harry Kane finally break

his curse?

These, and many more shall be answered next season.

SHITTU,Opeyemi Habeeb.