Pep Guardiola is only telling half the story as Liverpool and Premier League reality clear

Pep Guardiola has flatly refused the suggestion that Manchester City winning the Premier League again is 'boring' for English soccer. If the Etihad side beats Spurs later today, it will be one win away from a fourth consecutive league title victory.

"It’s not boring," Guardiola told the media ahead of his team's visit to Tottenham. "It’s difficult. Before it was the money. For that reason, Manchester United should have won all the titles, Chelsea — all the titles, Arsenal — all the titles.

"They spend as much money in the last five years as us. They should be there. They are not there. For that reason, Girona shouldn’t be in the Champions League [next season] and Leicester shouldn't win the Premier League."

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That is all true, of course. It is one thing to have money and quite another to spend it wisely, and there is no better example of that than Chelsea. But there is more to the tale than Guardiola would like you to believe.

While this could be Manchester City's fourth league title in succession, without Liverpool's runaway victory in the season that was delayed because of the Covid pandemic outbreak, Guardiola's men would be on the verge of a seventh title in a row. While clearly not for Liverpool fans, even that was boring to some degree given the Reds finished 18 points clear.

If Manchester City wins the title again this season, it will perhaps not be a boring outcome for the neutral but at the very least will be a predictable one. Few would be that fussed if Guardiola's men triumph again: the real story emerges if Arsenal somehow does.

That was the same when Liverpool chased down Manchester City previously, but not because of the teams involved. If any side had won the league as many times as Manchester City had, the novelty wears off.

It is for that reason that most Liverpool fans would prefer Guardiola's men to win the title again. If Arsenal wins, the Gunners will be another challenger like the Reds. If Manchester City wins, it is business as usual. That will be brushed over fairly quickly.

Guardiola is right that his side deserves praise for spending money well but that doesn't tell the whole story. There is a reason that there is more chatter about whether Arsenal can catch Manchester City at the moment than there is about Guardiola potentially putting together an even longer streak.

Without Liverpool's win — an anomaly, looking at the extremely short list of names who have won the title since Leicester City's freak year — the reality is that would become even more obvious.