HelloCity
Well-Known Member
A drop off was almost inevitable this season. Going full pelt for all trophies over the course of a year really takes it out of a team. Even just winning the league can lead to a drop off the following year, due to decreased motivation, which can make it feel like suddenly you’re miles off where you were.
It’s why the league has only be retained twice since 2009 - both by Pep’s City. Just look at the performances from our rivals the year after winning the league or even them going full pelt just to come second by a point. There’s a huge drop off across the board. I’ve got to admit, Liverpool looked great at times last season but this season they’re an absolute shambles.
Now imagine going for 3 consecutive league titles. This drop off is why it has only been done by 4 teams in the history of English men’s football. Huddersfield & Arsenal in the 30’s, Liverpool in the 80’s & United in the 90’s and 00’s. Today, the competition is much greater with most of the top teams splashing the cash to chase the top prizes. That means going for 3 in a row is an even more difficult challenge than before.
We’ve seen this before in the 19/20 season where we were absolutely miles behind Liverpool by January. The league was already over for us 3 years ago. There were also massive drop offs 12/13, 14/15 and most notably in 1938! If anything, we’ve actually done brilliantly to get back to back titles in this modern era and keep our name in the hat for a third. Seeing how difficult it is to achieve, I would probably see it as Pep’s greatest achievement, by far, if we were to somehow go on to top the table at the end of the season.
This form has obviously impacted us in the league cup last night as well, although I’m willing to put that down to the mish-mash side as Pep tried to keep us as fresh as possible for the derby. Obviously this back fired but I can see the thinking behind what he was trying to do.
There has also been a World Cup mid season where we had more players competing than any other club in the world. There’s no doubt this will have impacted us physically and mentally.
If we don’t turn our form around, don’t worry too much and don’t panic about what’s going on right now. History clearly shows that this is all following a familiar pattern and that we’ll be back to our best soon enough, and who knows, maybe we’ll finally get that bit of luck in the Champions League. Our worst team of the last 12 years ended up in the semi final in 2016 so I’ve no doubts this team of today could pull off something even better.
It’s why the league has only be retained twice since 2009 - both by Pep’s City. Just look at the performances from our rivals the year after winning the league or even them going full pelt just to come second by a point. There’s a huge drop off across the board. I’ve got to admit, Liverpool looked great at times last season but this season they’re an absolute shambles.
Now imagine going for 3 consecutive league titles. This drop off is why it has only been done by 4 teams in the history of English men’s football. Huddersfield & Arsenal in the 30’s, Liverpool in the 80’s & United in the 90’s and 00’s. Today, the competition is much greater with most of the top teams splashing the cash to chase the top prizes. That means going for 3 in a row is an even more difficult challenge than before.
We’ve seen this before in the 19/20 season where we were absolutely miles behind Liverpool by January. The league was already over for us 3 years ago. There were also massive drop offs 12/13, 14/15 and most notably in 1938! If anything, we’ve actually done brilliantly to get back to back titles in this modern era and keep our name in the hat for a third. Seeing how difficult it is to achieve, I would probably see it as Pep’s greatest achievement, by far, if we were to somehow go on to top the table at the end of the season.
This form has obviously impacted us in the league cup last night as well, although I’m willing to put that down to the mish-mash side as Pep tried to keep us as fresh as possible for the derby. Obviously this back fired but I can see the thinking behind what he was trying to do.
There has also been a World Cup mid season where we had more players competing than any other club in the world. There’s no doubt this will have impacted us physically and mentally.
If we don’t turn our form around, don’t worry too much and don’t panic about what’s going on right now. History clearly shows that this is all following a familiar pattern and that we’ll be back to our best soon enough, and who knows, maybe we’ll finally get that bit of luck in the Champions League. Our worst team of the last 12 years ended up in the semi final in 2016 so I’ve no doubts this team of today could pull off something even better.
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