Transfer window now closed, it’s time to try ‘n’ predict how this season is gonna go.
As usual, I’d never do this piece until the transfer window closes due to the obvious fact that teams can either strengthen or get weakened by incoming & outgoing players. However, I am aware that this one does feel a litter later than usual.
Another further-delaying factor has been the more-recent managerial changes to both Chelsea & Brighton, which has given me even MORE ‘food for thought’; as I’ve slowly developed this piece over the last few weeks. What a headache it’s been… 🙄
Firstly, the league…
1st Manchester City
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2nd Liverpool
3rd Tottenham Hotspur
4th Arsenal
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5th Manyoo
6th Chelsea
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7th Newcastle United
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8th Brighton & Hove Albion
9th West Ham United
10th Crystal Palace
11th Leeds United
12th Southampton
13th Fulham
14th Brentford
15th Aston Villa
16th Everton
17th Wolverhampton Wanderers
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18th Leicester City
19th Nottingham Forest
20th AFC Bournemouth
Notable points about that predicted, final table for the 2022/23 season with regards to us, first of all:
I think one of the key aspects for us will be whether Pep is savvy enough in the use of this ‘inverted 2-7-1 formation’; picking & choosing the right games and against the right opposition to deploy it. He’s said that he has experience of using it at previous clubs, so… 🤞
We’re fine in the goalkeeping department, I would say, and I’d say that we’ve slightly strengthened our defensive options too; even though our new left-sided lad, Sergio Gomez, is only 22 and is another “defender” who has been converted from an attacking player. I think Manuel Akanji was a very important, late signing; even if it’s only to compensate for the fact that most of our current central defenders do seem to pick up various injuries quite a few times each season. The fact that we might not have a settled ‘back-central-2’ could cause issues and see us concede more than we should really but time will tell on that, of course.
We’re still strong in the midfield / wing department, although I have continuing question marks against Riyad Mahrez and more-serious doubts about Jack Grealish. I do think we’re slightly weaker on the flanks than we’ve been in recent seasons and I’d like to see Julian Alvarez being given more chances on the right; even if Erling Haaland is also in the starting 11 ‘up top’.
We most-certainly carry more threat in front of goal than we have done in recent seasons.
As for some notable points about some of the others:
Don’t right off Liverpool. Yes, they’ve not started great both domestically as well as in Europe, but they still have some excellent players and once they get over THEIR various injuries and gain some traction also; they’ll be flaying again, for sure. I still see them as our biggest threat amongst other threatening sides this season.
As I saw Spurs building in the summer, I found myself agreeing with those pundits who were giving them a shot of the title. They could still-yet-be our closest rivals this season but, like us, they do seem to have occasional wobbles and less-convincing moments in-between really good games. That could just be their new collection of players settling into their new club / system. They do have a deep squad of talented players and cover for most, if not all, departments.
Arsenal have looked very good this season and I am told that even in their defeat to Manyoo they were by far the better side for 60+ minutes. But I still sense that they’ll be flakey at times if they have a couple of dodgy performances & results; they can sometimes take a while to shake themselves down and find the right gear once again. I think they’ll improve on last season’s 5th by one place…but I’m guessing, should that be the case, that some Gooners would be a little disappointed with that after winning their first five games of the season.
Improvement too for Manyoo, in my prediction, from 6th place to 5th. However, I am a bit unsure how they’ll fair this season following a massive change in personnel; with 25 departing, including loans, and a whopping £214.22M being spent on just 4 players; plus one freebie and a loan coming in also. With a manager at the helm who has only ever managed in Holland apart from a 2-season stint as Bayern Munich Reserve Team Coach, it could go horribly wrong or he / they could be a surprise package.
Chelsea? Huh…who could possibly predict what an earth is going to happen to a club who, on the one hand, spent more than any other Premier League club on players in the summer but-who-then sacked their manager after just six domestic games and one European match; bringing in a fella who has won no major trophies as a manager. I like Graham Potter and, not to the detriment of us, of course, I sort of hope he does [quite] well. The problem is for him, doing just “quite well” is nowhere good enough for a club of the likes of Chelsea; no matter who owns them. Just ask a plethora of already-departed managers…
For Brighton, read Chelsea. A crackin’ start to the season for them that took me by surprise after they lost 2-key, defensive players…ironically one expensive departure to Chelsea (or was that a plan being formulated in the background at Stamford Bridge?). As I prep this, The Seagulls sit just 1 point behind us after 6 games and a lot now depends on who they bring in to replace Graham Potter; plus how the team adjusts to a new management style. Again…it’s a real unknown that could go one of two ways. They could ‘hold their own’ and maintain a good start to the season or suffer the change badly and plummet down the table. If it’s the former, I can see their fine start resulting in them finishing close to a Europa Conference League position and slightly above last season’s finish of 9th. If it’s the latter, I wouldn’t be too concerned as a Brighton fan about dropping as far as the relegation zone, as they’ve given themselves a firm-points-start to their season; way better than many strugglers below them.
The ‘middling clubs’ are there for you all to see where I think they’ll finish, so it’s onto the bottom.
Sorry Cherries fans but despite sitting 13th as I prep this, with no permanent manager at the helm and a poor summer transfer window; it’s straight back down and as the bottom side too.
Sorry Forest fans but despite a HUGE number of new faces coming in and a decent coach in charge; if you’re getting beat at home to Bournemouth and have only scored 4 goals in 6 leagues games, then it’s “Hello” & “Goodbye” from me.
Leicester City – huff…here’s another tricky one. They look like a completely different side to the one we saw lifting trophies not so long ago but in a strange way they’re not…and that’s the problem. They’ve stagnated in terms of not too many new faces coming in and while the entrance door has been hardly used; the exit one has, which has left their deflated manager feeling the need to come out with concerning / realistic words in recent days. Fortunes could change for the better, of course, but equally they could end up losing their boss and finding themselves in even deeper trouble. They still have decent players but they look like a club already doomed to the drop. They’ll give it good go, I’m sure, and they might just survive but I’m sending them down in this September, prediction piece.
If they do scrap it out to the end, I think that could be with Wolves. Now…last season I read them all wrong and had Wanderers down for 18th and they ended up finishing 10th. In fact, if they hadn’t had such a poor end to their season, they could have been looking at a Europa Conference place! But they’ve had a poor transfer window and I don’t see a 7-place drop [from last season] being unrealistic. And that’s despite the post-window, free transfer of Diego Costa; a player who might see more games from the stands than from the grass.
I think it’ll be quite a scary time for both Everton & Aston Villa fans, at times, but I can see them both just about surviving. Whether either or both of their managers will, only time will tell…
City and the cups?
Finally, here’s how I think we’ll do in the other three competitions.
League Cup - Final and, therefore, possible winners.
F.A. Cup - Quarter final.
Champions League - Final and, therefore, possible winners.
I’ve just got a feeling that Pep will field a very much changed squad for the League Cup this season but with that including a lot of “reserve” talent in the form of Stefan Ortega, Sergio Gomez, Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Kalvin Phillips, Cole Palmer, Ben Knight & Julian Alvarez; unless we come up against really strong, first-team opposition; I can see that lot going all the way, can you?
The F.A. Cup could suffer if we feel that we have to pool from the afore mentioned and mixed it with first team players, should everything get congested with important Premier League & Champions League fixtures around the quarter final stage.
Fingers crosses for this season’s Champions League campaign – we’ve been ‘there or there abouts’ so many times now...
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| Champions League Final venue: Atatürk Olympic Stadium |
To ‘sign off’ and ‘other factors’…
Of course, the clubs with the biggest squads – and especially those with quality in depth – often have a better chance of doing well / winning trophies in an already cram-packed season. But…wow, this is going to be even more “interesting” in terms of scheduling.
We’ve got this sad, unfortunate break in fixtures right now; then there’s a fortnight’s break for two international friendly matches and THEN, of course, there’s a 6-½ week break for the World Cup! I can see some clubs in some weeks and at SOME point, having to play 3 games in just 7 or 8 days, which isn’t too far off what they’re being asked to do now but…jeeeze!
We could find ourselves in a situation, this season, where a club, or clubs, who aren’t
involved in a European competition and who might, therefore, have fewer injuries & less fatigue, fare
better and find themselves in a position to pick up a trophy. It's all interesting stuff.
Thanks, as always, for taking the time to read – especially as this one was a rather long blog-posting.
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| HM Queen Elizabeth II - R.I.P. |
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