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.
There’s a bit of a ‘price of success’ theme for some clubs in this year’s piece…
Firstly, my predicted end-of-season league standings:
1st Manchester City
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2nd Arsenal
3rd Tottenham Hotspur
4th Liverpool
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5th Manyoo
6th Chelsea
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7th Newcastle United
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8th Brighton & Hove Albion
9th Aston Villa
10th Brentford
11th Fulham
12th West Ham United
13th AFC Bournemouth
14th Crystal Palace
15th Nottingham Forest
16th Wolverhampton Wanderers
17th Sheffield United
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18th Everton
19th Burnley
20th Luton Town
Notable points about that predicted, final table for the 2023/24 season with regards to us, initially:
Forgetting a certain Benjamin Mendy who hadn’t played for us for some considerable time before being released in the summer, we’ve seen four players leave who could be classed as ‘first teamers’ and have replaced them with the same number. When you chuck into the mix the fact that we’ve lost Kevin De Bruyne through injury for at least the first half of the season; with so many other teams having strengthened to various degrees in the transfer window just gone then on the face of it; that doesn’t look as though we’ve done enough to ‘keep ahead of the Joneses’ does it?
However, I honestly believe that we’ve improved the quality of our side with the incoming players we’ve acquired and, in fact, I’m going to repeat what I said in my last blog-posting, which is that I think this is perhaps the best squad we’ve ever had in terms of quality in ALL areas, with so many excellent options in EVERY department now as opposed to “just” most. In addition to that, I believe Pep will have a very strong desire to do what no other manager or club has ever achieved in this country, which is to win the ‘top flight’ title four times in a row. I think, possibly to the detriment of one of the domestic cups at least, the league will be his main priority-focus this season and I, personally, would love us to achieve that too.
As for some notable points about some of the others:
A still-very-strong, slightly improved Arsenal squad are now fully experienced and more ‘battle hardened’ in terms of what it’s like to be in a title scrap. That goes for their manager too. I can see them pushing us all the way just as we did when we chased them down and eventually overtook them last time around.
With no European entanglements, a new, well-respected manager and a brand of football that’s raising a few eyebrows and receiving some quiet applause already; I can envisage Spurs being quite a threat this season in the league. I can see them doing well in the domestic cups too. It’s all looking good once again for both North London sides.
Liverpool have managed to keep hold of most of their many attacking threats and have added FOUR experienced central midfielders to their ranks. They will fare better this season in my opinion and that will result in an improved finishing place. However, I think they still look a little flakey at the back and with Thursday night European football / Sunday Premier League games to consider; that might just see them wobble enough from time to time and climb just the one place from last season.
Manyoo still look like a massive cruise liner attempting to turn around 180-degrees in rough seas with a broken rudder. They’ve certainly got some decent players and have added what they very much needed, in a decent-looking, young striker in Rasmus Hojlund. They’ve got a good keeper too in Andre Onana. But they just look like a side full of individuals with a few troubled & unfocused souls mixed in. With fans still protesting about their owners, a player being hurried out of the club after a well-publicised court case was dropped, a player-manager spat being aired in public and now another player being embroiled in controversy that sees him suspended by his national team until the matter can be investigated further; I don’t think it bodes too well for the Trafford outfit this season. I think it says a lot when we see them now loaning players and bringing back a 35-year-old defender who last played for them in 2015. On top of all of that, they’ll be facing far tougher European opposition than they faced last season. I’m not saying they’ll have a terrible season but I can see all those factors having a bit of a negative impact in terms of their final league placing, which sees them slip two places in my predicted final table.
I might be wrong about Chelsea – like Tottenham, they too have no European adventures to ‘get in the way’ and have a good, new manager at the helm. Wow have they spent and brought in some numbers; with a nod to them-also offloading a coach full too. That’s a lot of change and I can see this being something of an adjustment season for them. They could do well in a cup and, in my predicted table, they will finish six places higher than they did last season. But with so many strong, more-stable clubs around them, a 6th-place finish might have to be seen as ‘successful progress’ for them in this campaign.
I’ve got a feeling that Newcastle will find this season a little tougher than last, which appears to be the case already. I think they’ll still be a tough side to break down and will-also ‘blow teams away’ on occasions, as they’ve done already at home to Villa. But I’m guessing that they might find some of their many draws from last season turning into a few more defeats this time around; leaving them 3 places lower than they finished last season. They’re also in the ‘group of death’ in the Champions League, which could leave them licking their collective wounds.
Brighton & Villa will be strong and will ‘have their moments’ but might find themselves just outside of the European places after Game-number 38.
As for the bottom, I can’t imagine for one moment Luton Town staying up, sorry Hatters fans.
Burnley? I think Vinny has already quickly learned just how hard it is to manage in the best league in the world in comparison to both the Belgian top division and Championship. Of course, our ex-player & skipper knows how tough the Prem is as a player but I suppose being a manager is a completely different story.
What a mess of a club Everton are. A poor transfer window and STILL can’t score goals! To the delight of one-last promoted side I’ve yet to mention, I can honestly see The Toffees playing Championship football in their new stadium next season.
And, so, to Sheffield United. I can just see them surviving this season. Like Everton, they too struggled for goals the last time they were in the ‘top flight’ but have recently added to their ranks a young, hungry, England Under-21 striker, Cameron Archer, who scored in his one & only game, so far, AGAINST Everton. Re-signing our very own James McAtee on loan for another season is a good move for them also.
Every season for the last 3 or 4 in this very piece I keep putting Wolves down and every season they, often just about, prove me wrong. Like Everton (& Manyoo?), they too look like a club in a bit of a mess but I think what might save them this time, is the recent signing of their new Manager, Gary O’Neil. He has barley had time to involve himself with recruitment - as well as coaching etc. - and that could see them struggle for a time. However, I get the feeling that with time, and then another transfer window better prepared for, they’ll do enough to stay up…and possibly finish higher than I’ve suggested too.
The rest are the rest and will, I believe, battle it out for those middling, safe positions.
City and the cups?
Finally, here’s how I think we’ll do in the other three competitions:
League Cup - Quarter final.
F.A. Cup - Quarter final.
Champions League - Final and, therefore, possible winners.
I just think that with, potentially, heavy focus on wanting a 4th, Premier League title ‘on the trot’ together with, I believe, a strong showing in the Champions League once again – PLUS the price of success with us competing in the Club World Cup postponing a league fixture or two and congesting our fixtures in the second half of the season – will take its toll on our domestic cups. I could be wrong.
I could be wrong also in-suggesting that we’ll REACH the quarter final of the League Cup, seeing as we’ve drawn Newcastle away in the 3rd round – a side who will be desperate for any silverware in their new-owner’s cabinet this season.
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| Will we be travelling to the Etihad of the South again on 1st June for the Champions League final? |
To ‘sign off’…
I think it’ll be a crackin’ season. As for the league, I seem to say this every year - that it’ll be the best / toughest yet. I think that’ll be the case once again.
Would it be arrogant for me to suggest that Pep - and we as a club in general - keep setting the bar higher almost every season and that we see other sides reaching ever closer to that bar; only for us to nudge it ever-so-slightly higher just as they’re about to grab it? It could well be deemed a little conceited…but I think many non-Blues would agree with that idea, even if it was reluctantly.
One thing is for sure, that desire to knock us off our various perches sure does help to keep us on our toes!
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