For sure not time to panic but plenty of reason to be concerned with a few days until the season starts. The three biggest issues for me that needed fixing this window were; - the spacing issues (mainly caused by slow CBs / slow DM ie Mag, Cas, Evans, Amra) - inability to progress the ball from the back (caused by players like Mag, AWB, Evans, Cas) - really poor defending (AWB, Mag, Lindelof, Cas) Yet with Varane gone and Yoro injured it looks like same old sh1t again as cant see the spacing, progressing the ball and defending improving sufficiently with Mag / Lindelof / Cas / Evans etc getting big minutes again Plus attack not sufficiently improved to make up deficit esp with Hojlund unavailable.
Panic is overstrong word anywho - not like there is anything any of us can do anyway This windows has been fairly slow for a lot of teams, probs the Euros / Copa partly responsible for that. It has that feel of a window that is waiting for a lot of deals to only get done at the end of the window (which is 3 weeks on Friday). So premature to call the window yet but it doesn't look great based on lack of momentum last few weeks. Will be p1ssed from a personal point of view though if we don't go some distance to solving the problems above - as I can't switch it off, so condemns me to best part of 10 months of pain and misery watching
I really need to see progress on our goal scoring and chance creation. I want to see a +15 GD or better. Rasmus needs more service, Rashford needs more end-product. The addition of DeLigt gives me more hope for the defense, especially with Yoro out for a long time. Take some time for him to integrate with Martinez. Onana still makes me worried. If we can get Ugarte, I'll be feeling much better about the season than previously. Without him or another CM... I think we have to make progress over where we finished last year. I will also need to see EtH implementing this here-to-unforseen "system" of DeLigt/Martinez pushing high up and us controlling possession in the opposing half more. Maybe not against Arsenal/Shitteh, but we need to start beating up on the lower-tier teams in the league this year. If we can qualify for Europa league from our league position, I'll be satisfied, if not happy. I don't think we're quite to where we need to be to challenge for UCL.
I'm hoping for top 4 finish and any other Cup would be bonus. New players will need time to settle/ get use to league. We are still light in MF. One thing I want badly is some good fexking quality football.
top 4 is acceptable for me. two of those spots are locked up barring massive collapse which leaves 4-6 clubs for 2 spots. i don't think liverpool is a lock with no new signings, and especially if they don't sign anyone to replace/supplement Salah's output. more importantly, a working style that optimises our pieces is what i want to see. it can't be that wide open crap with no upside from last year
Agreed that top 4 would be good for us this year. I think only 1 top 4 spot is assured and it's Man City of course. Arse for all their good play haven't won anything yet and coming second again and again will wear them down. Plus I think they've overachieved. Liverpool could easily drop out of the top 4 with a number of their best players aging and also no inspiration Klopp. Chelsea and us, lots of ins and outs so who knows? Spurs, Villa, Newcastle... it's hard to tell.
Top 4 would be over acheiving imo. The top 2 for me are City and Arsenal. I wonder about Liverpool. Spurs are interesting. They signed some talented young players, but IMO that doesnt push them forward yet. Villa are the best bet for 4th imo. They have CL now and thats gonna be interesting. Newcastle, they cant spend enough to fortify their squad. They've signed no one of note. Chelsea... lol All that said, if we stay healthy, we could challenge, but if we finish 5th in a close race, while not just showing progress as a squad, but mutiple players progressing individually as well. Lets see Rashford get back. Lets see Hojlund, Mainoo, Garnacho, Yoro, continue to improve. Lets see Dalot, Amad, Shaw, take it up another level. etc etc
I mostly agree with above. Spurs and Chelsea feel unknown right now, especially Chelsea. Can see them top 4 but also struggling to be top 10 depending on how they manage the squad, egos etc. My only pause is Villa. I feel that they will drop off this year. They overachieved last year, most clubs will now be better prepared for them and CL will bring its own difficulties with managing the squad.
Spurs should be better because Ange is stable in his approach and they weren't that far behind Villa in 5th last year. they also had a worse injury crisis than United did and have a real forward now. chelsea are a mess. i couldn't even begin to pick their best xi. not even the keeper. of which they have 6 or 7. liverpool will probably get there (top 4) in the end, even if only because of the struggles of others
Where do you rank the loss of Luiz for Villa? That feels significant to me. He was pretty darn important to that lineup, and a model of consistency for them.
Think the top 3 will be same old but probably in a different order. Maybe even Arsenal, Liverpool then City. Arsenal have momentum and a settled manager who has shaped a squad to his likening. Liverpool have the risks associated with a new manager but have mitigated it by getting a manager who has a style that fits. Provided they do actually do some transfer business it could go well for them as some of their younger players will be a year more experienced. City will have more off-field issues to contend with - 115 charges case, Pep probs going end of season etc. Alvarez going a big loss, he did a key job filling in for injured Haaland and off the bench. Plus KDB / Silva / Walker etc. getting older. I think we can and should come 4th. However Newcastle will not have CL this year and will not get injuries like last year. Villa will have the CL “problem” but have made some smart additions and I rate their manager. Spuds will probs be there or thereabouts too and we cant rely on them being Spursy forever. Hope we can hang in the fight for top 3 for a while but expect us to end up scrapping the teams in paragraph above for top 4 which I think we will get. Though we need a DM (Ugarte) and a backup #9 (other than just Zirkzee) before the window is done. Havent mentioned Chelsea bc throwing as many players and managers at a dart board and hoping something will stick has not proven a good strategy this far and hopefully that wont change
I think its a blow, but to replace him with Onana and Ross Barkley, imo helps a little bit. They also lost attacking depth and replaced them with young potential. Not that Zaniolo was super effective, but he and Diaby are better than the 3 u23 players they signed to replace them. I think their manager is clever and their midfield is still strong. Aside from the signings, they still have some legs and a bit of everything. They have a bit of depth. As it stands, we are screwed in that regard. One injury to Casemiro and Mainoo gets compromised and one injury to Bruno....
Injuries are the hand grenade that make any predictions hard. Only team that has been immune is City with their 115 charges deep squad (as evidenced by them losing KDB & Haaland and still winning the league). Us and Newcastle killed by it last season. Plus who still remembers Spurs top after 10 games then some injuries happened and they drop to 5th.