The image of Pep Guardiola with his head in his hands contemplating Manchester City’s Champions League exit from a seat in the Colin Bell stand is likely to be an enduring one. This, the unwritten caption will say, is what England can do to the world’s finest coaching talent. To be strictly accurate it was not English football’s fault that Guardiola lost it so completely at the end of the first half against Liverpool, it was more a combination of Martin Atkinson and the Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. There are only so many staggeringly incorrect decisions a man can take in important games at the end of the season after all, and presumably Guardiola will now have even more sympathy with how Guus Hiddink and the Chelsea players felt when Tom Henning Øvrebø’s comedy refereeing favored his Barcelona side in 2009. Guardiola said at the time he could understand Chelsea’s frustration, and it is not difficult now to recognize his own. With a modicum of competence from officials – and/or, it must be said, better finishing from Raheem Sterling – City might by now have the league trophy on the sideboard and the satisfaction of at least giving Liverpool a run for their money. City claimed the Premier League titled on Sunday after Manchester United’s shock defeat to West Brom, offering a major consolation for their European exit and string of three consecutive defeats that ended with a 3 – 1 victory over Spurs on Saturday. The Champions League exit however means that the quest for perfection is over. In all probability only Guardiola himself is worried about that; because he believes he is judged more harshly than other managers in England he set himself the task of proving all the critics wrong. While some of the criticism he is receiving is willfully disproportionate considering what City have achieved in the league, Guardiola is always likely to be haunted by the reflection that the season, and his own behavior, could have been better. If it is any consolation, he is far from alone in the Premier League in letting standards slip. In this relentless workplace 10 managers have been sacked, which would represent half the table had not West Brom been responsible for two of the dismissals. Of the managers still at the clubs where they started the season, José Mourinho is merely treading water at Manchester United, where many fans were thoroughly disillusioned by the club’s meek exit from Europe, and Antonio Conte has been picking fights with Chelsea throughout a disappointing title defense. Arsène Wenger is in a category of his own in this regard, flatlining as usual with progress in a cup as a side interest, but even allowing Arsenal the benefit of the doubt there are question marks against the names of managers at the above clubs plus Leicester, Everton, West Ham, Southampton, Stoke and West Brom. Again, that is almost half the league, and that is being generous to David Wagner and Roy Hodgson, whose teams have not yet pulled clear of relegation worries. The number of Premier League managers who have managed to enhance their reputations this season is small and comprises just Jürgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino, Sean Dyche and Rafael Benítez in the top half of the table. Below them Eddie Howe and Chris Hughton have proved capable, as has Javi Gracia since taking over at Watford, and, while Carlos Carvalhal deserves special mention for immediate impact and significant improvement, Swansea know perfectly well from recent experience it is best to judge a manager over the course of a full season. However bad Guardiola feels at the moment he has two trophies in the bag. His situation is a lot brighter than that of one of his City predecessors, Mark Hughes, who at the moment is struggling to escape responsibility for getting two teams relegated in the same season. Or Alan Pardew, who somehow managed to make a grim situation at West Brom even worse. Or even Sam Allardyce at Everton, whose famously thick skin appears to prevent him realizing how thin his bond with supporters is becoming. Looking at the table, there could easily be half a dozen fresh managerial appointments before the start of next season. For the most part, too, it is experienced coaches and leaders going through the churn. The Premier League is hard to hack. Last year’s champions are looking like missing out on the top four. United cannot be happy with second, Mourinho says so, and improved as Liverpool and Tottenham are they know they have to be pushing for leadership rather than merely settling for finishing above Chelsea and Arsenal. Even Guardiola has just admitted the Premier League is demanding. Previously he has claimed it is no better or worse than Spain or Germany, and he is in a position to know, though after the remarkable reversal of fortune on April 7, he said the unexpected derby result – “United did not have a single shot on target in the first half” – showed how tough the Premier League can be. That was the City manager being philosophical, accepting disappointment with grace, not seeking excuses in his side’s weak finishing or the referee’s performance. The pictures were not beamed around the world as avidly as the ones from pitchside against Liverpool, though the sentiment deserves to be remembered just the same. What should not be forgotten is how difficult it is to win the league, and how easy City have made it look. For all the drama of the past week every other team in England – yes, even Liverpool – would still swap places with them given the chance.The Guardian Sport