Records are meant to be broken, but what Manchester City did during the Premier League 17 18 campaign wasn't just record-breaking. It was a demolition job. Most people look back at that year and see a runaway title race, which, honestly, it was. But if you dig into the tactical shifts and the sheer panic Pep Guardiola induced in the rest of the "Big Six," you realize this was the year English football changed forever.
City hit 100 points. Centurions.
Before that August, nobody thought 100 points was a realistic possibility in the modern era. The league was too competitive, right? You had Conte’s Chelsea coming off a title, Mourinho’s United spending big, and Klopp’s Liverpool starting to find their "heavy metal" rhythm. Yet, by the time Gabriel Jesus lobbed the keeper in the 94th minute against Southampton on the final day, the ceiling of what we thought was "elite" had been smashed through.
The Tactics That Broke the League
Pep Guardiola’s first season in England (2016-17) was actually a bit of a mess. People were calling him a "fraud" because he wouldn't teach tackling. He looked genuinely stressed. Then, summer 2017 happened. He spent a fortune on full-backs—Kyle Walker, Benjamin Mendy, and Danilo—and brought in Ederson to replace the struggling Claudio Bravo.
Suddenly, the pitch looked twice as big.
City’s 4-3-3 wasn't just about possession; it was about "half-spaces." Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva operated in these weird pockets of air between the opposition's wingers and central midfielders. If you closed them down, Raheem Sterling or Leroy Sané would burn you on the wing. If you sat deep, De Bruyne would just ping a 40-yard ball onto someone's toe.
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It was relentless. They scored 106 goals.
The interesting thing is how the rest of the league reacted. We saw a massive spike in "low block" defending. Smaller teams basically stopped trying to play football against City. They’d park two buses, pray for a 0-0, and still lose 4-0. It changed the recruitment profile for every other club. If you didn't have a goalkeeper who could play like a playmaker or center-backs who could sprint 40 yards back to cover a counter, you were essentially dead meat.
Beyond the Centurions: The Race for Everything Else
While City were playing a different sport, the rest of the Premier League 17 18 season was actually a chaotic scramble. Manchester United finished second with 81 points. In almost any other era, Mourinho would have been praised for that. He famously called it one of his greatest achievements because the squad harmony was... let’s say, suboptimal.
This was the year of Peak Mohamed Salah.
He came from Roma with a reputation for being a "Chelsea reject" and ended up scoring 32 goals, breaking the record for a 38-game season at the time. It was the birth of the modern Liverpool front three. While they only finished fourth, that season was the blueprint for their Champions League run and their eventual title a few years later. They were the only team that seemed to have the "kryptonite" for City’s style—pure, unadulterated chaos and high-pressing.
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The Relegation Scrap and the End of an Era
Wenger.
It’s still weird to think about, but 2017-18 was Arsène Wenger’s final year at Arsenal. After 22 years, the "Wenger Out" banners finally got their wish. The atmosphere at the Emirates was toxic for most of the season, yet his departure felt like the death of an old version of the league. Arsenal finished 6th, their lowest under his tenure, signaling a massive power shift in North London as Tottenham finished above them again.
At the bottom, it was grim.
- Swansea City finally went down after years of flirting with the drop.
- Stoke City, the team everyone hated playing on a Tuesday night, lost their identity and their Premier League status.
- West Brom tried a late-season surge under Darren Moore, but it was too little, too late.
The gap between the top and bottom had never felt wider. The "middle class" of the league—teams like Everton and Leicester—were stuck in a weird limbo where they couldn't catch the top six but were too good to go down.
Why 2017-18 Still Matters in 2026
If you want to understand why the league looks the way it does now, you have to look at this specific window. This was the season where "Expected Goals" (xG) went mainstream. Fans started talking about passing networks and transition moments. The sophistication of the coaching reached a level that made the "old school" managers look like they were playing checkers while Pep was playing 4D chess.
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It also highlighted the financial disparity. The amount of money City spent on their defense alone that summer was more than the GDP of some small nations. It triggered an arms race. Shortly after, Liverpool dropped £75 million on Virgil van Dijk in the January window of that same season. That move changed everything for them. It proved that in the post-Centurion world, you couldn't just be "good"—you had to be perfect and expensive.
Common Misconceptions About This Season
A lot of people think City walked it easily because the league was weak. That’s actually not true. The point totals for the top six were actually quite high compared to the early 2010s. The league wasn't weak; City were just historically efficient.
Another myth: Manchester United were boring. While Mourinho’s style wasn't exactly "Joga Bonito," they had some incredible comeback wins, like the 3-2 victory at the Etihad that delayed City's title celebrations. They were a gritty, functional side that simply ran into a buzzsaw.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Students
To truly appreciate what happened in the Premier League 17 18 season, don't just look at the table. Look at the tape.
- Analyze the "Inverted Full-back": Watch how Fabian Delph, a natural midfielder, played left-back for City. He would tuck into the midfield when they had the ball. This is now standard practice for almost every top team in the world, from Arsenal to Real Madrid.
- Study Salah’s Movement: In 17/18, he wasn't just a winger. He was a "wide poacher." His ability to run diagonally between the left-back and the left-center-back is a masterclass in timing.
- The Importance of the "6": This was the season Fernandinho proved he was the most important player in the league. Without his ability to stop counter-attacks single-handedly, City’s ultra-attacking style would have collapsed.
The 100-point mark remains the gold standard. Every time a team starts a season well now, we compare them to the 17/18 Centurions. They didn't just win a trophy; they redefined the boundaries of the sport. To understand the modern tactical landscape, you have to start with the year Pep Guardiola finally figured out how to make his brand of football work in the rain.
Next Steps for Deep Learning:
- Review the Manchester City vs. Liverpool games from this season (both the 5-0 and the 4-3). They represent the two poles of modern tactical theory.
- Check the January 2018 transfer window records to see how the "Big Six" panicked and shifted their recruitment strategies to cope with the new point-ceiling.
- Compare the average defensive line height of 2017-18 teams to those in 2024-2026; you’ll see the direct evolution of the "high press" era.