In my opinion, we will finish 3rd next year, and for me that would represent a big step up and give us a great platform to build from.
1st: Liverpool
Van Dijk, Mane, Salah, Firminho, Henderson and Wijnaldum are all bang in what you would consider their sporting prime i.e. 28-30. Key squad players like Lovren, Matic and Milner are at an age where they're certainly not going to get better and will have started to decline. They have a couple of players who you would say are approaching their prime (Robertson, Allisson, Keita, Fabinho) and a few young players who are still improving (TAA, Gomez)
That gives me optimism in many ways for the future, because I remember reading an article about how Michael Edwards had made signing a bunch of players who would peak at the same time a priority. That strategy obviously paid of handsomely but it does also logically mean those players will all starting declining at the same time.
Now, people get confused when talking about 'prime' and 'past it'. In no way am I saying that Salah, Mane, VvD etc...will hit 29/30 and become bad players. However, the laws of nature dictate they will very steadily decline bit by bit, % point by % point over the next 18-mnths. They will also start to pick up niggling injuries and not be able to play at the intensity Klopp demands three times a week.
All of that being said, I do think they will get one more 'world-class' season out of this squad and I think they will win it again next year with a virtually unchanged XI.
2. Man City
I think they have been really, really poor this year. They have actually lost more games than us which I think is a disgrace considering the money they have spent consistently year-on-year and the number of games we've been forced to give to the likes of Pereira, Lingard, James, Mata etc....this season. Add to that the fact we have been without Martial, Pogba, McTominay and Rashford for long periods and have added Bruno Fernandes/Mason Greenwood to the starting XI, I think that 11pt gap will all but disappear next season.
They look like they are about to start having problems in the CF position as I don't think Jesus is the level required to adequately substitute for Aguero and they obviously need a CB. All of that being said, when it all clicks, they do have a great side and with one or two good signings they could be a different team next year.
Highly, highly controversial opinion I know but I'm not sure Pep actually helps them at times. They've underachieved on balance across his time at the club in my opinion.
3. United
Being the wise Oracle that I am, I basically predicted how this season would go for us down to a tee. I have been right about absolutely everything (as usual)....please feel free to go back through the threads I have posted and confirm this :-)
As I stated at the start of the season, we struggled initially to get over the clear-out of inadequate but experienced/useful players. However, as I also predicted, we have really grown into the season by sticking with talented young players and making some great signings along the way.
Greenwood will be one of the best players in the world by 22/23. Fernandes and Pogba are approaching their prime. Rashford and Martial are improving all the time. We finally have good options in CM. For all our apparent defensive woes, we don't actually concede many goals, especially against top sides where we can sit a bit deeper.
Again, my caveat to all of this is that our squad is still very light in some areas. If we lost Martial, Maguire or Fernandes, for example, I think we would struggle disproportionately. Not because I think they are necessarily our BEST players (they may be, they may not be depending on individual opinions), however, I do think we lack genuine replacements for them and the job they do in our squad
Also, our goalkeeper is beyond useless. Zero command of his area, zero ball-playing skills, scared of his own shadow/the ball and reflexes on the wane. If we stick with Dave next year, it will cost us net 10 goals. Ole needs to be brave and go with Henderson, who is yet to prove he can do the job long term but deserves the chance to do so and can't possibly be any worse!
4. Chelsea
I'm not buying the hype around Chelsea at all. They have been rubbish this year and I expect them to be pretty rubbish again next year without major surgery in the transfer window. I couldn't give a monkeys if they have signed Werner or Zayich....their defence and GK are well below the standard required. Since all of this talk started about them challenging for the title next year, on the back of the agreement with Werner, they have conceded 5 goals against West Ham and Palace. Seriously, that's not going to get you anywhere near a challenge. I expect that situation will only get worse as well as the likes of Rudiger, Azpi, Alonso and Kante are going to be steadily declining (probably are already).
I am also not convinced by Frank Lampard. I don't care about credentials and I don't think a manager has to be a tactical genius (he has coaches and analysts for that) but I've yet to see ANY evidence he can set a team up to be greater than the sum of it's parts. I've seen it with Ole many times. I've even seen it already with Mikel Arteta (I was tempted to put Arsenal 4th then gave my head a shake!) but I've seen NOTHING from Frank at all to suggest he's a top football manager.
Again, the positive is Pulisic looks fantastic and they do have two new players coming into the squad with decent reputations. IF they can conjure up two full backs, two CMs, two CBs and a GK from somewhere I might think about bumping them to 2nd/3rd
5. Arsenal
Mikel Arteta will do a good job there, I can see it already. They're still rubbish right now though and he can't fix that in one summer!
