jimharri
Moderator
I can see Norwich, sorry, "Naaarwich" pushing us hard next season.
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Who will be our main rivals this season?
- Thread starter bobom
- Start date
blue b4 the moon
Well-Known Member
Top two will be us followed by Chelsea then a sizeable gap to the reds shirts, assuming PiGMOL don't get too involved.
I am just giving Tottenham and Arsenal the benefit of the doubt. But then again Leicester would be closer to winning the league than both of them!Chelsea since Tuchel came and gave them more discipline as well as the bedding in of the players they signed last summer have looked very good and I expect them to carry that on next season.
United, for all we might look at them and wonder how they get away with it, are effective and will continue to be so. Greenwood is getting better all the time, Calvani has settled in to Premier League football and has at least one more season in him - they will remain dangerous and their ability to grind out results - particularly away from home means that if we slip they could challenge.
Liverpool need to rebuild their midfield - it isn't good enough. Another struggle for them as Klopp takes a year to beds new players into the demands he places on them.
Tottenham and Arsenal - ha ha why are they even on this list?
Leicester will make another couple of cute purchases, but they need to replace Vardy - if they do and can cope with Champions League then they may be in the mix for good part of the season.
I like Arteta, and I think with the right set of players he can make something out of Arsenal. He did learn from the best at the end of the day!
supercity88
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The rags will continue to struggle when the pressure is on. They're very good at putting a run together when Ole is under criticism but these runs never achieve anything. It depends how big they go in the transfer market but I still don't see them being able to close the gap. Particularly as we should strengthen further and still have a lot of players yet to hit their peak.
Chelsea will be our biggest challenge. Tuchel has made them solid and hard to beat and they have a huge array of attacking players who, once they gel, will be hard to stop and a lot are young and will keep improving. I think they'll be hard to stop next season.
Liverpool without further expenditure are done for in my opinion. They've had a lot of injuries but I think Klopp has taken them as far as he can do. They'll be better but I don't think they'll ever hit the levels they did before. Van Dijk was very good for a couple of seasons but could be a completely different player coming back from this one. If he's lost any of the pace or mentally has a block over fully committing to tackles then he is going to be half the player he was.
Alongside us, that's your top four next season though. Arsenal and Spurs are miles off it and Leicester wont be able to compete next season for the top four based on Liverpool and the Rags dipping into the market and Chelsea continuing their upward trajectory.
Chelsea will be our biggest challenge. Tuchel has made them solid and hard to beat and they have a huge array of attacking players who, once they gel, will be hard to stop and a lot are young and will keep improving. I think they'll be hard to stop next season.
Liverpool without further expenditure are done for in my opinion. They've had a lot of injuries but I think Klopp has taken them as far as he can do. They'll be better but I don't think they'll ever hit the levels they did before. Van Dijk was very good for a couple of seasons but could be a completely different player coming back from this one. If he's lost any of the pace or mentally has a block over fully committing to tackles then he is going to be half the player he was.
Alongside us, that's your top four next season though. Arsenal and Spurs are miles off it and Leicester wont be able to compete next season for the top four based on Liverpool and the Rags dipping into the market and Chelsea continuing their upward trajectory.
Rags or Chelsea. A lot will depend on who addresses the striker position. If we play with a false 9 and Chelsea get a top striker then can see them being the danger. Cannot write Rags off as they will spend heavily again and have the PL/PGMOL behind them so that’s a 20 point start though hard to see how much more cheating they can achieve over the current level.
Gobshiight
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Think people are underestimating Liverpool a bit, they've done to us what no other team has managed since Pep joined (not counting his first season)
Well put!Spurs - might as well say Norwich.
Arsenal - might as well say Burnley.
Gorton_Tubster
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- Manchester City
Chelsea - looking very good under tuchel, he seems to be a Pep lite
Lfc - look at their stats for this season, Klopp is still managing to get something out of them. The right signings (or no injuries) and they'll be back.
Arsenal - are now Everton
Utd - are now Arsenal (this year has been an anomoly of late lucky goals and pens - they're just not in the same class as che/lfc/city)
Spurs - should they be in this list?
Leicester - could be our rivals but depends on Vardy. Leicester = Vardy
Lfc - look at their stats for this season, Klopp is still managing to get something out of them. The right signings (or no injuries) and they'll be back.
Arsenal - are now Everton
Utd - are now Arsenal (this year has been an anomoly of late lucky goals and pens - they're just not in the same class as che/lfc/city)
Spurs - should they be in this list?
Leicester - could be our rivals but depends on Vardy. Leicester = Vardy
Ourselves. Bringing in a new striker is a big deal. To what extent do we change our game to accommodate him? Does he settle into his new role and do any changes impact other players. Tune in next season when all will be revealed. Witness the mania as we think all is lost. Enjoy the internal bickering and being told you're a rag and you don't understand the inner workings of Pep's genius mind. Take the opposite opinion to everyone else in the hope of an I told you so moment. Be amazed at which great player last season suddenly becomes shit and which shit player becomes great. Season 21/22. Coming soon to an internet forum near you!