The outgoing transfer window has FINALLY closed; meaning that we now know how teams stand personnel-wise for the season ahead.
So, time for my-usual season predictions piece.
First of all…
…last season’s prediction posting and the results of (in those links).
And now…
…for this season’s,
starting with how I think the Premier League table
will look at around 5pm on Sunday 17th May 2020.
1st Manchester City
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2nd Liverpool
3rd Arsenal
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5th Leicester City
6th Manyoo
7th Chelsea
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8th Everton
9th West Ham United
11th Watford
12th Burnley
13th AFC Bournemouth
14th Aston Villa
15th Southampton
17th Norwich City
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18th Newcastle United
19th Crystal Palace
20th Sheffield United
Notable points about that predicted, final table of 2019/20…starting with us:
Well, I have to say that I was wavering as-to-whether to put us top or second and I’ll go on to give you the reasons for that in the “Any concerns” section soon. It wouldn’t have necessarily have been a bad thing, however; the last time I predicted City to finish 2nd in the league we went on to win it.
The positives I see for us in addition to having a treble /
quadruple-winning squad with the best manager in
the land and all the world are, for me…
- Keepers: We have the
mighty Ederson in net and, in
addition, a Claudio Bravo who looked a completely transformed player in pre-season. Additionally,
we have the very experienced Scott Carson as 3rd-choice. There should be no worries
there!
- Right of
defence: We’ve added the class of Joao Cancelo and, so, with him and Kyle Walker, we’ve got that area well & truly covered!
- With the
addition of class-signing Rodri, we’ve got the defensive midfield slot final sorted; with the Spaniard,
Fernandinho plus
others in the squad who “can play” in the role for short periods if required.
- And despite
the almost-season-long injury to Leroy Sane, the list of wingers / midfielders should leave
anyone who knows their players drooling, which includes a David Silva who continues
to do an impression of Benjamin Button; Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, who was absent for most of last season don’t forget,
Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, who recently
extended his contract, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling. Wow…
Any Concerns then? Yes…and this
is why I almost wobbled in my league table prediction.
- Have we sorted
the left-wing back slot out? Huffff…well, sort
of. I like Oleksandr Zinchenko, I really do…and I’m even more impressed with how Pep has molded him from an
attacking midfielder / left-winger to a left-wing back. But he’s still learning
for me and when he is up against a REAL, right-sided, attacking quality player;
I think he struggles a bit with the juggling of the defensive side of that duel
role.
That being the case, we have a recovering Benjamin Mendy who could, of course, break down for a 3rd
time and a recently returned Angelino, who looked ‘well flaky’ with his
defensive duties in pre-season…although Guardiola
must see something in the youngster if he sanctioned his summer return. Apparently Cancelo
“can play” at left-wing back if required.
- Now for an…”Obvious
alert”! The central defence. Yes, something most, if not ALL, Blues are
talking about at the moment; even more-so than during the summer transfer
window after Vinny left our
club.
It’s a severe-looking injury to Aymeric Laporte, following his
rather silly, in my opinion, challenge, which was not dissimilar to the
one Benjamin Mendy made shortly after signing for us; an injury that saw him…well, you know the rest. Following “successful surgery”, initial rumors
are that the earliest we can expect the Frenchman back is January 2020; meaning
he-basically misses over half this season’s fixtures in all competitions,
including 8 fixtures between 3rd December and 1st
January.
It leaves us, therefore, with just 2-senior,
recognised central defenders in Nicholas Otamendi, a player who had one eye on the exit door during the
summer, and John 'sicknote' Stones. City fans should
be excused for thinking…“Oh dear”.
Any positives we can take out of the situation?
Well, as it appeared more likely that we weren’t going to bring in an
additional central defender in the summer, a decision I raised an eyebrow
over at the time; we were informed that the coaching team were working with
Fernandinho to put in some extra practice converting the Brazilian, defensive
midfielder into a part-time central defender. Very wise – Fern is a very experienced,
defensive-minded player, although, there could be some pace issues from
time to time against whippet-type
forwards. Apparently Rodri “can play” as a central defender if required too.
 |
| Eric Garcia |
Other than that, we have a youngster with some
first team experience, in Eric Garcia. Another option I’ve thought of should it get REALLY desperate with injuries / suspension / exhaustion, is Kyle
Walker. Whenever we have changed to a ‘back 3’ during the odd game, the England
man has played on the right-side of that trio and with Joao Cancelo added to
the ranks; we could still maintain the ‘status quo’ in the right-wing back
department should Kyle have to ‘slot inside’.
- Then there’s
the strikers. This is something I know many City fans have talked about for the
last 2 seasons at least, which is the fact that we run our long, 4-season
campaign with just 2, recognised strikers. Yes, Raheem Stirling can play there
and, to be fair, he’s starting to show much more whenever asked to play more
centrally in front of goal. And, yes too; should it be needed, I’ve no doubt
some of those afore-mentioned midfielders / wingers could also wreak havoc with
opposition defenses as a makeshift striker.
But we’ve already seen, this season, just how
important Sergio Aguero is to us – that’s…31-year old Sergio Aguero who has already found
himself to be the only, recognised striker for the last 2 of our first 4 games; with Gabriel Jesus already out
injured. That does give me the wobbles a little
bit, if I’m being completely honest.
Having said THAT, we do score a hell of a lot
from other departments and why wouldn’t we; with the vast amount of creativity
we have in our squad?! Pep too is sort-of-famous for deploying an attacking,
4-6-0 formation when he feels it right to do so.
As for some notable points about some of the rest:
·
Liverpool will be very strong again and it will be a very
close finish, I'm sure, regardless of who has the crown come May. They will fall foul of VAR, as we seem to be doing a lot at
the moment, and I still think our squad is stronger than theirs overall, therefore,
we’ll see how they cope with absences throughout the long season ahead.
·
Although both can be flakey at the back at times;
Arsenal & Spurs should be ‘up there’ considering both teams have potent,
attacking players at their disposal.
·
I think we’ll see Leicester have a good season – Brendan Rogers is a decent
organiser of teams and he has some considerable talent in his squad.
·
Manyoo have talent too. However, I can see them struggling
to string a run of games / form together and should be pleased with a 6th-place
finish, as they attempt to re-build / find their feet once again. Will that be good enough for most concerned? Will they have the same Manager come the end of the season? Mmmm…
·
I’m sure Frank Lampard will be given a full season, though, but I think
they’ll struggle a little by their standards; with their 1-year transfer ban in place and as Frank attempts to
put ‘his stamp’ on the squad.
·
At the other end, all I’ll say about Newcastle United
is…Steve Bruce. Crystal Palace currently sit 4th after 4
games but they do so having only scored just 3 and conceding 2. I think we'll see
‘em drop and drop over time as they struggle to find goals. And although I’d
like to see them survive and have-had a really good starting-return to the top
league; I can see ‘fighting spirit’ not-being enough to keep Sheffield United up.
I fear a lack of quality and squad size against most of the other 19 clubs will, eventually, see them
suffer. If The Canaries can keep Pukki fit, I can see Norwich just about surviving their return.
City and the cups.
Finally, here’s how I think we’ll do in the cups.
League Cup - Quarter finals.
F.A. Cup - Final again and, therefore,
possible winners again.
Champions League - Semi-finals.
I get the feeling that our manager will really make a push in the
Champions League this year and although I think we’ll do well – and have-added real
quality in the form of Cancelo & Rodri – I honestly believe that by the
time we face the real ‘big guns’ in the latter stages of this
competition; the thin central defensive line and possible toll on our front 2
could leave us falling a little short of reaching the final.
And with our emphasis possibly on Europe, I don’t think we’ll see such strong
team selections being pitched into our League Cup campaign this season…but I could be wrong.
I’ve got a feeling we’ll make the F.A. Cup final again though, for some
reason.
All-in-all, if I'm right, winning the league for a third, consecutive season and at least one final wouldn’t be a bad achievement,
especially having amassed so many trophies in recent years!
It should be another close and exciting season - I just hope VAR...
...and the “new handball rule” keep their noses out of our business, in the best possible way, for the most part.
...and the “new handball rule” keep their noses out of our business, in the best possible way, for the most part.
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