Still think that for all Pep's faults last season - without that awful run before Christmas when half the team was injured and but for a worldie from Dean Henderson in the FA Cup final, we were basically good enough for 2nd in the Premier League and probably an FA Cup win. No doubt we'll be better this coming season. Maybe we won't win the league - I think Liverpool look really solid and if Arsenal get a proper #9 they'll be hard to top - but the good vibes will come back. It'll be a bit bumpy by our standards up to the new year while Pep works everything out, but we've got the good vibes back up front (lots of goals in Haaland, Foden, Cherki, Reijnders, Marmoush), a nice partnership forming with Doku and Ait-Nouri, and once Pep works out a system that's a bit tighter at the back we'll be looking alright again.
Ederson
[new RB], Dias, Gvardiol, Ait-Nouri
Rodri, Reijnders
Cherki, Foden, Marmoush
Haaland
Ortega (Bettinelli)
Nunes, Stones, Khusanov, Ake (Akanji, O'Reilly)
Kovacic
Bernardo, Nico G (Gundogan, Lewis)
Savinho, Bobb, Doku
That's enough to finish top four quite comfortably, get some credibility back in Europe, and make a good fist of the two domestic cup competitions. I think we'd be wise to let Akanji and Gundogan go, alongside Grealish and McAtee who are presumably on the way out as well. Everything else can stay how it is. Next summer we'll probably be losing Ederson, Ortega, Bernardo, and Stones, but we can worry about that in 12 months.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, 24-25 was equivalent to the 15-16 season. We finished on roughly the same points, the squad was in a similar state (full of older players, injury issues, a soft centre in bad moments), and the a major cycle of the takeover era was coming to an end. 25-26 will be a lot like the 16-17 season imo. Lots of new faces, a bit inconsistent in the league but will come good eventually. The 26-27 season will be worth this, imo.