JULES
Well-Known Member
wolves ?
It will be interesting to see what other teams do in the transfer window.
I'm inclined to say Liverpool as they have the makings of a really strong first eleven, but then again there is not much quality when you look beyond that. The high pressing, in your face approach works well against the top teams, however when the focus is on them to break teams down they often lack that quality on the ball, which is what happens when your midfield is Henderson, Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Chelsea have massively underperformed this year and there seems to be a constant clash between Conte and the board. They've got a good squad, so if they get the behind scenes stuff sorted and with a few new additions they could be a threat. Having said that their recent transfer policy has been bizarre... Barkley and Drinkwater?!
United... strange team to work out. In theory a strong attacking line up, but very rarely demonstrated. Central midfield needs improving as their current set up just doesn't work. The haircut might get sold in summer, but not sure who would want him or be able to afford him. Mourinho's negactive approach has seen their league position improve compared to last season, but a lot of their big name players aren't performing and the fans aren't happy (Great from a City perspective!).
Spurs - A lot of credit to Poch for the job he has done there but realistically they blew their best chance for a title the year Leicester won it. Kane has proven himself to be a truly top class Premier League player (Champs League and International remains to be seen), Eriksson is also another quality player but I don't see many of the others getting in the starting line ups for the other top 4 teams aside from maybe Vertonghen. I think Delle Ali has been found out this year and not sure they have enough quality to challenge for the league.
From a City perspective it's incredible to think we've won the league in this style in only Pep's second season. Might we improve even further next season? Last year was a transition period as Pep instilled his style on a group of players unfamiliar with his methods, this year we really saw that come together.
In terms of our squad, this season it became apparent just how much we rely on Fernandinho and I would like to see another midfielder brought in to share the burden with him. Despite our goal scoring exploits I'd also still like to see another forward player come in. The emergence of Fodem and Diaz has been encouraging this season and hopefully they will play a bigger part next year.
Regardless of what the other teams do, I think we have the best chance of retaining the title since we won the Premier League for the first time. In the meantime I'm hoping Pep can keep the players on track to see out this season in the manner we've performed up to now. 100 points and the goal record would be a great way to do it. What a time to be a Blue!
wolves ?
Biggest threat is us and complacency