European Championships, Olympic Games and a summer Cricket Test series against The West Indies have flashed by since Pep’s perennial winners lifted the PL trophy in May (again!) and weary players across the country have completed their pre-season work as we enter the longest season in English football history – 11 months long for Manchester City and Chelsea who are competing at FIFA’s ridiculous ‘World Club Cup’ in the USA during June and July ‘25 – and with only a short 3-game cricket series against the visiting Sri-Lanka left to remind us that the sporting summer isn’t yet officially over, our obsession with the national sport is already underway.
Early signs are that we may be in for a genuinely competitive Premier League season – Manchester City and Chelsea will have to rotate their squads more than ever before in order to cope with their attack on five-fronts, whilst Aston Villa have enjoyed a very busy transfer window with a number of ins and outs, seemingly giving them a deeper, improved quality squad as they enter the Champions League for the first time in the PL era.
Arsenal look a formidable force again whilst there is much interest in how Liverpool will cope now that Jurgen Klopp and his Heavy Metal football have departed Merseyside.
Manchester United once gain look to be trying to hang on to the tails of the top six and the new owners decision to retain Erik ten Hag following their worst ever Premier League finish will be scrutinised regularly during the first few weeks of the season – a poor start will undoubtably see the under-pressure Dutch coach become the first managerial casualty of the year. Their 1 – 0 win at home to Fulham this week did not inspire confidence – ten Hag’s new signings will need to shine, and shine quickly!
Chelsea’s new coach Enzo Maresca will also be looking over his shoulder if he cannot solve the puzzle of an enormous squad of talent and ego – his decisions regarding players left out and transfer listed will be the deciding factor. Several top-level coaches have tried and failed to figure it out in the mad, mad world created in west London!
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur will also be a fascinating side to watch this year – their all-out attacking style of last season will have been analysed by every other club now and he may-well need to tweak it a little if Spurs are to progress.
Leicester City look likely to receive one, and maybe two points deductions for falling foul of PSR rules and look very likely to suffer relegation on that basis, the remaining two clubs dropping back to the Championship will, as always, be a battle just as engrossing as the top end of the table.
Buckle-Up…. Its going to be a ride!!
Image credit: Ank kumar via commons.wikimedia.org
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