Welcome to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe. 🍻

On tap today:

Ready? I thought so. Let’s pour.

You know that one regular who's been propping up the same bar for years? Knows the staff by name, has his stool, basically runs the place without owning it? Then one day he finishes his pint, nods to the room, and walks out for good.

That's Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. After ten years, he's gone.

Pep's final game as City manager was yesterday, away at Aston Villa, on the last day of the Premier League season. No trophy parade. No title. Just one last shift, and then the keys go back on the bar.

“So who is this guy, and why does it matter?”

Quick primer for the newer crowd. A soccer manager is the head coach — the person who picks the team, sets the tactics, and takes the heat when things go sideways. In the Premier League, they get fired faster than a bartender who shorts the till.

Pep is the exception — or was. He's widely considered the best manager of his generation (some say of all time), and the numbers back it up: 20 major trophies in 10 years at City, including six Premier League titles and the Champions League.

His crowning moment came in 2023, when City won the "treble" — the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League (Europe's biggest club prize) all in a single season. Only a handful of clubs have ever done it. City did it and barely blinked.

Before Pep arrived in 2016, Manchester City had won 18 trophies in their entire 136-year history. Pep matched that number in a decade. That's not a dynasty — that's a full rewrite of the club's identity.

He also changed how City played. Pep's teams don't just run fast and kick hard — they play what he calls juego de posición (more on that in Quickfire). Every player in a specific zone. Every pass with a purpose. It's soccer as a chess match, and for a while, City were playing in a different dimension to everyone else.

Pep insists it was his choice. "I know it's my time," he said. "Nothing is eternal." City have had a difficult season — losing the Premier League title to Arsenal — but still won the FA Cup and League Cup, which means he's walking out with silverware, not shame.

He leaves behind a club that's unrecognizable from the one he joined. Enzo Maresca is expected to replace him as Man City manager, never has there been bigger boots to fill.

The Premier League won’t be the same without you, Pep 🫡.

Sunday's final day delivered everything. All ten games kicked off simultaneously — and every single one mattered (kind of).

Arsenal lifted the trophy at Selhurst Park, beating Crystal Palace 2-1. Twenty-two years of waiting, ended on the road. The Gunners didn't need to win — they were already champions — but they did it anyway. Fitting.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad — handing Pep Guardiola a defeat in his very last game in charge. Even on the way out, the league found a way to make it dramatic.

Manchester United rounded off their season with a thumping 3-0 win at Brighton, while Sunderland — back in the top flight for the first time in years — beat Chelsea 2-1 to grab European soccer. Their fans will be talking about that one for decades.

At the bottom, West Ham beat Leeds 3-0 but it wasn't enough. Tottenham's 1-0 win over Everton kept them safe, and the Hammers go down alongside already-relegated Wolves and Burnley.

Wednesday night, Leipzig, 8pm local time. Two clubs that nobody expected to be here, playing for a trophy neither has ever won.

Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano are both making their first-ever appearance in a major European final, in only their second seasons in continental competition. Palace, the FA Cup winners last year, are going for back-to-back silverware under manager Oliver Glasner. Rayo Vallecano are the working-class club from the suburbs of Madrid who've become the romance story of European soccer this season.

The winner gets Europa League soccer next season — and a permanent place in their club's history. Palace enter as slight favorites, but Rayo are comfortable soaking up pressure and hitting on the counter.

Sunday wasn't just the end of a season. For a handful of players, it was the end of an era.

At Anfield, Liverpool said farewell to two icons at once. Mohamed Salah — 440 appearances, 257 goals — took his final bow after nine years. Right beside him, Andy Robertson — 377 appearances, seven major trophies — did the same. Both joined in the summer of 2017. Both leave together.

At the Etihad, after nine and ten years respectively and a bucket full of tophies, Bernardo Silva and John Stones said goodbye to Manchester City — fittingly, on the same afternoon Pep Guardiola walked out the door. Three legends leaving one stadium on the same Sunday afternoon.

And then there's Seamus Coleman. Signed from Irish club Sligo Rovers for £60,000 ($81,000) in 2009, the Donegal man leaves Everton after 434 appearances and the club's all-time Premier League appearance record. He came off the bench for his final home game last week. The ground was half-empty. He deserved a full house.

This is the part of soccer that doesn't make the highlight reels. Clubs mark these moments with lap of honours, guard of honours — where the teams form a tunnel to applaud a departing legend.

Pep Guardiola has managed three clubs — Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. How many major trophies has he won across all three?

Answer at the bottom 👇

Today's the day. This afternoon in New York City, coach Mauricio Pochettino officially reveals the 26 men who'll represent the United States at a World Cup on home soil. It's been leaked already — the Guardian had the full list over the weekend — but the official announcement is the moment it becomes real.

Here's who made the cut:

Half the squad are first-timers. The other half know exactly what a World Cup feels like — and that they want more.

The talking points: Gio Reyna is in, and the takes are flying. The Borussia Mönchengladbach playmaker is one of the most gifted Americans in the game, but his injury record and a well-documented falling-out with the previous coaching staff at the 2022 World Cup make him a divisive pick. Pochettino is betting that the talent is worth it.

Out is Diego Luna — the Real Salt Lake midfielder who was arguably the USMNT's most consistent performer in the buildup — reportedly left off due to injury concerns.

The U.S. open against Paraguay on June 13. The World Cup starts in 17 days. Let's go.

Phrase: Juego de posición (hweh-go deh po-see-SYON)

Origin: Spanish for "positional game." Developed by Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff and turned into an art form by Pep Guardiola — first at Barcelona, then Bayern Munich, then Manchester City.

Definition: A style of play where every player occupies a specific zone on the pitch at all times, designed to create passing options and pull opponents out of position. It's not just about keeping the ball — it's about using where you stand to control the entire game.

Usage: "City don't just pass it around for fun — they play juego de posición. Every player is exactly where Pep needs them, before the ball even arrives

On May 25, 1967, Celtic FC defeated Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon to become the first British club — and the first team from outside Spain, Portugal, or Italy — to win the European Cup (now the Champions League). Every single player on the team was born within 30 miles of Glasgow. Their manager, Jock Stein, had told the press two days earlier: "We are going to attack as we have never attacked before."

They called them the Lisbon Lions. And for a first-generation Irish bartender running a pub in New York, it's basically a national holiday.

Sláinte, lads. Fifty-nine years on.

Sunderland AFC, who were playing in the Championship (second division) last year and League 1 (third division) a couple of years ago, qualified for the Europa League on Sunday after beating Chelsea 2-1. Watch below to see the heartwarming moment the team find out that they have qualified.

Barcelona: 14. Bayern Munich: 7. Manchester City: 20.

Not bad for a man who just called last orders.