Now as things stand we know the Emery is pretty much doing as much as could be expected so far this season after the dire state Wenger left us in. But the question that has me thinking is when can we next realistically challenge for league title ?
When I look at our squad I think we need 2 starting CB’s, a LB & LW. Obviously we won’t get all 4 over one transfer window. It’s also debatable as to if Leno can be a no 1 keeper in a title winning EPL side but I’ll reserve judgement on him for now.
Is Emery the man to make this happen ? Even if we make these signings will it take to long and the declines of Aubameyang and Ozil hit full swing ?
We’re going to need 3 or so seriously good transfer windows before I think we can expect a title challenge, last summer we had holes in defence, central midfield and out wide. At least we fixed the central midfield issue by sighing the top notch Torreira and a young talented player like Doozi.
All in all my assessment leads me to beleive the earliest we can expect a title challenge is the 20/21 season, but we’d need to make a lot of good decisions to make that happen. I’m not sure as I’ve said previously Emery has this sort of scope, but one can hope hey ?
It’s a good question and I personally think that we are not likely going to be challenging for the title anytime over the next season or two as we have a lot of catching up to do. With the right investment in the right areas we can be as good as any team (not named City).
I think Pep has another season or two left in him at City and the post-Pep transition might be rough for City. I also think Klopp’s team are peaking and if they don’t win the title in the next season or two, then I don’t think they will ever win it under him. He’s 3 and a half seasons deep into his Liverpool journey and the cycle of managers in modern football is shorter than it ever has been.
The next 3 or 4 transfer windows are going to be so important for us. We don’t have much room for mistake and this is where Sven needs to shine. We obviously are working on limited funds and that ultimately means that we don’t have the same luxury as the Manchester clubs do in the sense that they’ve been able to sign players for big money and leave £150-200m sitting on the bench (or in City’s case, double that sometimes).
But if Jardim could win the title with Monaco (against the mega rich PSG) and Napoli could obtain over 90 points under Sarri last season (and run the ultra-dominant Juventus close) then there’s nothing to stop us challenging for the title in a couple of seasons time.
We’ve handled the post-Wenger transition very well so far and it’s gone considerably smoother than the post-Fergie one did that’s for sure.
If we want to make the most of the prime of Aubemeyang, who will be 30 in June, the aim should be next season. If Emery manages to get 75-80 points from a perspective of natural progression competing next season shouldn’t be impossible. A lot also depends on the approach the club will take on the market. If Arsenal are mostly going to sign under-25 (or even 23) players those players will need 1 or 2 seasons to adapt and grow and it’s probably not realistic or fair to ask for a competitive team and to conserve our position would be the main target.
We need to look at the competition too. If City (or Liverpool for now) are going to keep deliver historical seasons and I’m not sure competing is realistic anyway.
We don’t really know how Emery and the higher up’s look at Mustafi though. If they have a lot of confidence in him paying big money for another 27/28-year old centre back is probably not the way they will go.
Good lord, I sincerely hope they view him as a hugely misjudged transfer and a relic from the Wenger era that needs fucking off. Or basically permanently consigned to the bench meaning we sign someone better.
The two best teams in the PL are Man City and Liverpool and it’s no coincidence they have several world class players in their teams.
Man City have spent a lot of money, and very wisely, on building one of the best teams in Europe and have top quality players sitting on the bench.
Liverpool were criticised for spending more than 100m on VDV and Allison but they were positions that needed strengthening and the decision to make such a big outlay has proved to be right.
There has never been a PL title winner that hasn’t had several world class players and realistically we have Torreira, Ozil and Aubameyang.
But with Ozil’s recent poor form and Aubameyang being almost thirty we are short of genuine world class talent.
Our defence needs a complete overhaul and we need a top quality winger which is going to cost a lot of money.
Also Man U aren’t going to tolerate another season like they have had, and spurs, without spending, as well as Chelsea who could spend, are ahead of us as well.
So unless Kroenke decides to start splashing the cash, possibly around 200m to catch up with Man City and Liverpool, a CL place is what our level of ambition is.
I’m not sure consistently spending 40-50 million per player if spending ‘wisely’. Obviously they are forced by other teams because they know what they can get out of City, but still. Liverpool deserves more credit in that regard.
@JakeyBoy@Electrifying next summer will learn us how they look at Mustafi, but I’m not sure he will leave.
I wouldn’t say Liverpool have “several” world class players. I mean, they fielded a midfield of Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum last night! Klopp has done well to get the best out of average players, so if Emery can can get ours playing to their potential, then in terms of actual personel, we’re only a couple of signings behind Liverpool IMO.
If we can sort that out (mainly our defence) in the next couple of windows then I don’t see why we can’t perform to Liverpool’s level. City on the other hand are a whole different kettle of fish. Despite what the table looks like now, I still think they’ll win the league with games to spare. We might be able to put up a good fight in the next few seasons, but unless they drop off somewhat it’ll come to nothing.
Manchester United are nothing to worry about and won’t be so long as Ed Woodward is still making football decisions. He’s made three consecutive failed managerial appointments and overseen over half a million of transfer spending, the majority of which has been failed investments.
Spurs can’t spend because of the new stadium and Chelsea’s spending is hit and miss.
Spurs and now maybe Liverpool have technically competed in the last few years.
I think we’re not far from Wenger 2009 - 2016 level competing. We competed and bottled it. If we can avoid the bottling, we can compete, maybe next season. From then I’d expect us to have a good effort every 2 or 3 seasons maybe.
Good thread @Aussiegooner . It all depends on several aspects really. It requires Pep to leave Man City firstly to slightly weaken them. Secondly we need to strengthen a heck of a lot more. Everyone knows defensively is our weakness but there are other areas to improve as well. More creative players. Better wingers options.
Overall we need more squad depth. It’s been an issue for many years where we have a good first 11 but our options after that with backups has often been lacking. We’ve done well to get rid of a LOT of deadwood in the last 18 months, but rebuilding is going to take many seasons. And even then, we don’t know for sure if under Emery that’ll be enough. But who knows. If we can follow a similar path to Liverpool under what they’ve currently doing under Klopp, I’d be really happy with that.
It’s going to take time, hard work. Getting the structure in place and possibly needing some luck along the way to win it. I just hope we’re not having to wait that long for the next one. The last title in 2004 really does feel like a long time ago. I’d literally finished school when we won our last title
Man City and Liverpool to not have these freak near perfect seasons they’re having
A manager who knows what it takes to win the league (I think that manager is Emery, but until he actually wins a very competitive EPL title, who knows)
To not be in the Europa League (the added pressure of playing on a Sunday every week when your rivals have all won on Saturday seems like too much)
Win our winnable games (which we’re doing now, but if we hadn’t slipped up against Palace and Wolves, there’s no reason why we couldn’t have been mentioned in the title picture)
I’m happy with the direction Emery is going, we are going to get beat again, but what I like is the energy the team has now, I like the adaptive tactics he is instilling in the team. I like that the players are standing up to the so called top 5 opposition.
If this carries on and he adds the players he wants over the next couple of seasons we should be challenging in the season after next. 20/21
I think if Emery is backed properly by Stan (10% chance it happens), we can within two years challenge. It’ll also depend on the other clubs of course.
. After years of mediocrity.
