Is It more Than Coincidence that City/Liverpool/Spurs All look Burned Out.

[SidJames]

Is it more than coincidence that the three teams who have been pushing regularly for the Title,and performing in the Champions League these last few seasons all look burned out, fatigued, exhausted, this season.

Our biggest problem. We look badly in need of a couple of months break with no football only "RR" relaxation.

The same problems we see with us are going on with Liverpool who have been desperately trying to keep up with these last few years. Spurs look in a similar state.

We had the Covid lock down followed by playing catch up ever since in the Premier league, European Championship/Premier League/Nations League/Champions League/World Cup etc. Literally 3 years of football with no real brake.

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow Blue before that got me thinking. He said the last few seasons have not only taken it out of the players, that some fans also feel burned out. That it has been draining being invested in games of football week in week last few seasons.

That falling by the side in a Title challenge this time around might not be such a bad thing long term.

Start enjoying only the game again for a while ..

I think he might have a point.We have had these types of Seasons before.We have won 4/5 last Premier League Titles.That is going to take it out of you.We can be banging on about this and that for poor form on here.The reality is the players are knackered,they look knackered.We will not win the League every year.

Get top 4 in the Bag,we go again next season fresher and fitter.

 

[chaddblue]

Not helped by having 16 players in Qatar .. far more than anybody else

 

[City Hobgoblin]

Some other teams have got much better, worth noting.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Liverpool finished third in 2021, 17 points behind City, only sneaking into the Top4 on the final day of the season after barely being in it in the second half of the season.

Spurs finished 7th that season, 24 points behind us.

So I’d hardly say that either of them have been pushing for the title every season.

They did attempt to win all four trophies last season but we fucking broke them by winning the league in the way we did.

Spurs have signed poorly. They’ve spent less on their squad than Everton. That’s why they’ve got the likes of Sessengon playing in their team alongside players far superior, they’ve got a huge squad imbalance of top quality and dross.

 

[Corky]

All looked dodgy before the WC. City looked off for good month before and similar now. 9 wins from last 16, and 5 from the 9 before the WC.

 

[coolcity]

Some other teams have got much better, worth noting.

Yes, the teams who haven't had such a demanding schedule over the past couple of years.

I said this right at the start of the season though. it would be extremely tough with the World Cup break after what has gone before, and that whatever we did I expected Liverpool to drop off because they don't have the strength in depth. I also thought Arsenal would be a threat, it was obvious they have been improving but everybody rapidly but everybody either laughed or slagged me off, which is fine.

We're only half way through and we're doing OK all things considered. Most seasons we have a blip, this might be a season too far but I'd prefer us to play the second string for the domestic cup comps and not bring the key players on if it's not going to plan. This season it was always crazy to try and chase 3 or 4 trophies but in the greater scheme of things nothing's really wrong.

 

[El_george]

Not helped by having 16 players in Qatar .. far more than anybody else

Barcelona had more, but I assumed you meant PL so I agree.

It's interesting that normal 'mid-table' type teams (presumably with few players at the WC) are now pushing for top-6 when they usually don't, furthermore currently the 3 in the relegation zone (West Ham/Everton/Southampton) include none from last seasons Championship. Without researching it I guess W.Ham, Everton and Southampton had more internationals in Qatar than Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Bournemouth.

So there is evidence at both ends of the table that your theory has merit.

 

[Stephen230]

We’ve got more points than we had at this stage in either of the ‘13/‘14 and ‘20/‘21 title winning seasons.

It’s not been great so far but we nearly always come on strong in the second half of the season. I’m not saying everything is on course and it’s a formality we’re going to go on some amazing run. I’m just saying it’s too early to panic or throw in the towel.

If the leaders were just having a good season rather than been on course for 100 points, our form probably wouldn’t be under quite so much scrutiny.

 

[cyan]

Good article in Guardian about the way Klopp's system exhausts his midfield because his system relies on a midfield that can press hard for long periods of the game. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/15/wasted-summer-liverpool-collapse-jurgen-klopp.

Our situation is different. We are trying to win the title for third time in a row. It has only been done by Huddersfield (1926) Arsenal (1935) Liverpool (1984) United (2001 & 2009). There is a reason for that - it's hard to maintain that consistency over that period of time. It's hard to maintain that hunger, or to integrate new players into a team and keep winning. So this season was always going to be hard - but the big unknown was always the World Cup - it came at the point of the season where we normally put a consistent run together that wins the league - it disrupted any chance of picking up momentum. But perhaps that is an easy thing to blame - perhaps three in a row is just a championship too far - or perhaps Pep will work his magic and everything will slot into place fro a thrilling second half of the season.

 

[WestGorton]

Good article in Guardian about the way Klopp's system exhausts his midfield because his system relies on a midfield that can press hard for long periods of the game. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/jan/15/wasted-summer-liverpool-collapse-jurgen-klopp.

Our situation is different. We are trying to win the title for third time in a row. It has only been done by Huddersfield (1926) Arsenal (1935) Liverpool (1984) United (2001 & 2009). There is a reason for that - it's hard to maintain that consistency over that period of time. It's hard to maintain that hunger, or to integrate new players into a team and keep winning. So this season was always going to be hard - but the big unknown was always the World Cup - it came at the point of the season where we normally put a consistent run together that wins the league - it disrupted any chance of picking up momentum. But perhaps that is an easy thing to blame - perhaps three in a row is just a championship too far - or perhaps Pep will work his magic and everything will slot into place fro a thrilling second half of the season.

I fully agree and it's more demanding now. I watched a game from the noughties and it was like walking football.