So with the transfer window now firmly shut, the Football season can finally begin. With quite a decent amount of transfer activity achieved from us, will spirits be raised for the up coming season, or will the struggle still remain to make it back into top 4?
Time to dig out those crystal balls and prediction caps
No matter what, all of the top 6 can pull something out of their arse and win. Look at Pool last year, they pulled 3 wins out of nowhere. They still would’ve finished with 90 points. If any of the teams do that, top 4 will be a hot run.
We should really come 4th with our summer compared to Chelsea’s and United’s and given how close it was last season, I’m going to say 4th but wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if Unai Emery does worse.
Fuck it 2nd place. I just think City are a class of their own after all the investment plus what Pep can do with world class players. Don’t see them anywhere but first. I still have no faith in lolpool. They did about as good as they could last year no way they repeat 90 points. Not even sure they strengthened their team. I think they’ll take a big step back. Spurs are spurs they are always shit and only finished above us cuz we bottled more. United and Chelsea look like absolute dumpster fires. Only way we don’t finish 2nd is if Emery doesn’t improve and persists with Xhaka in midfield etc. The tools are there for him to finish 2nd it’s all up to him to use them or not.
City
Arsenal
Lolpool
Chelsea
Scum
United
FA Cup: Arsenal
League Cup: City
Europa League: Arsenal
Disclaimer: This is just the positivity after a very nice window talking, I still don’t have much faith in our manager but as I said on paper we look like we should be able to bring home some silverware. I’d be absolutely delighted with us doing the EL and FA Cup double. Would be a dream.
If our squad stays injury free especially our front three and our better defenders. If Emery goes all in with the PL and rests up a lot of the squad for Europa League and League Cup until the later stages. If one or two of the youngsters come good and hit the ground running. If Pepe doesn’t need to much bedding in. Ceballos is more Carzola then Dennis Suarez. If Ozil decides to show up for a full season. Our Away form improves.
With Chelsea and Utd at their weakest for a while, then getting 3rd or 4th isn’t out of the question. I’m going 4th and a cup thrown in there too.
We had the best window so it would be unacceptable to finish below Chelsea/United. Liverpool may have a hangover after last year with the CL campaign and title race being massively taxing. We really should be finishing above Spurs again too because there were clear cracks showing up with them last year.
It depends on:
Can we improve our away form? This is psychological. We need leaders/personality for this one, so Luiz might help here.
How much stronger will the defense be? Luiz and Tierney are very good additions and Holding and Bellerin being back are big additions.
Can we unlock defenses and kill off games earlier due to Pepe creating/scoring/stretching defenses and Ceballos creating? Does Luiz’s long passes improve our transitions? Because scoring earlier makes it easier to defend
With the attack we now have, it only takes David Luiz to have an incredible season and we could be challenging for the title.
Unfortunately the same can be said if we can’t find any in-form defenders and we could finish 6th.
I think the most likely is 4th behind City, Pool and Spuds, ahead of United and Chelsea (in that order).
After that I reckon it’ll be Leicester, Everton, Wolves, West Ham, Bournemouth, Watford, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Burnley, Southampton, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Norwich, Sheffield.
We finished 1 point off Spurs in 4th, and 2 points off Chelsea in 3rd last season. It was an utter clusterfuck in April / May, and our away form continued to be abysmal.
Factoring in the considerable strengthening of our first team at CB, LB, CM and RW, we should be pushing high 70s for points this season. However, I can’t envisage an 80+ season with our defence. We might not ship 51 goals this season, but it is arguably still the weakest unit out of the top 6. Notwithstanding, a 7-10 goal improvement will provide a huge positive points swing.
Spurs have got stronger. Managed to keep the core of their defence together whilst adding power and creativity to their midfield. Given their superior defence, I make them favourites for third.
Chelsea are undoubtedly weaker. Inexperienced manager with new ideas, no Hazard, losing their most experienced defender, transfer ban blocking them from buying in January - we should finish above Chelsea.
United have significantly upgraded their starting defence with AWB and Maguire. However, they have an unsettled Pogba and lost Herrera + Lukaku without direct replacement. On paper, both their midfield and attack has lost quality and goals. Again, we should finish above United.
I predict a solid 4th place finish. I also predict that it won’t be as tight as last year - we should seal it with a few games to go. We’ve improved the squad dramatically and created a small gap between ourselves and Chelsea / United. I want Emery to be replaced at the end of the season irrespective of a 3rd / 4th place finish, but if we finish outside top 4 again then he should be sacked without any deliberation.