The Potential Impact of Man City on the Premier League's Future

[Inverted]

Just now, Harry said:

It's less obvious what we need to do to improve in the summer relative to what was required last year. And any such improvement will be more incremental.

City should again be looking more at the CL next year but still going to be the team to beat. What's needed is a strong United Chelsea and Arsenal to make things more unpredictable and provide more opportunities for the top team to drop points....

A single elite forward who can play either side mostly solves Liverpool's biggest issue which is creative burnout. 

Another big issue is lack of centre forward backup which could be solved with one signing (or by playing Mane central more regularly with the new wide player in the 11). 

Then there are the lesser but also more complicated problems of the midfield lacking creativity, and fullback depth. These could be dealt with using the squad as it is, or with signings, but either way you'd expect some progress will be made. 

[LFCMike]

4 minutes ago, Inverted said:

A single elite forward who can play either side mostly solves Liverpool's biggest issue which is creative burnout. 

Another big issue is lack of centre forward backup which could be solved with one signing (or by playing Mane central more regularly with the new wide player in the 11). 

Then there are the lesser but also more complicated problems of the midfield lacking creativity, and fullback depth. These could be dealt with using the squad as it is, or with signings, but either way you'd expect some progress will be made. 

Yeah I think another attacker is important, as you say even if it's one that lets Mane or Salah play through the middle. Full back depth would be next on the list for me. They're the two positions that we could probably do with a bit more rotation in at times to give Robertson and TAA a breather now and again.

I'm not sure the midfield will be high on the priority list unless we lose someone. Keita will have been a year next season and we'll be expecting more from him on a regular basis and we'll also have Chamberlain back

[The Artful Dodger]

Any chance one of Salah or Mane may go? Strong links with Real Madrid, I agree with Carragher than Mane would be a bigger loss for you.

[LFCMike]

19 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Any chance one of Salah or Mane may go? Strong links with Real Madrid, I agree with Carragher than Mane would be a bigger loss for you.

No idea, I hope not. It feels like whatever happens during the rest of the season, we're in a good position to be keeping our very best players though.

[Stan]

I can see Liverpool challenging for title next season.

They recognised where improvement was needed (Allison & Van Dijk) and now I think they'll do the same when it comes to central midfield (it still appears relatively weak compared to other parts of their side and also other teams).

Keep the main stars and performers, build on that which they have the capability to do. 

Man City will do the same and it'll seem more ruthless their end because they just have quality all over. One thing that's been questioned of Liverpool is strength in depth compared to Man City and the ability to rotate when it comes to being involved in all competitions (Man City getting further in FA Cup; Liverpool in CL which is the bigger feat of course).

All dependent on transfer activity I'd say. Both managers I'm sure will be given money to spend to bolster their squads. The only other side I can see doing the same and challenging next season is Spurs; Arsenal, Chelsea & Man Utd seem too far away to do anything realistic when it comes to pushing Liverpool/Man City/Spurs all the way. 

[Harry]

1 hour ago, LFCMike said:

Yeah I think another attacker is important, as you say even if it's one that lets Mane or Salah play through the middle. Full back depth would be next on the list for me. They're the two positions that we could probably do with a bit more rotation in at times to give Robertson and TAA a breather now and again.

I'm not sure the midfield will be high on the priority list unless we lose someone. Keita will have been a year next season and we'll be expecting more from him on a regular basis and we'll also have Chamberlain back

We were after Nabil Fekir last season so that may rear it's head again in the summer.

For fullbacks I'd be looking at Milner as backup at LB and wondering whether to take Clyne back from loan or promote someone from the youth team. Bottom line is Trent and Robbo seem like long term first choice options so you're only looking at a backup and injury coverage.

CM I think we hold firm. Bottom line is fabinhos been a success but we haven't given Keita a proper chance to be the lynchpin he was at Leipzig that saw him good for a goal or assist every other game. He needs more time but I think he will get there.

[Harry]

42 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Any chance one of Salah or Mane may go? Strong links with Real Madrid, I agree with Carragher than Mane would be a bigger loss for you.

Real Madrid are always a possibility but I'm not sure how certain it would be for us to sell to them in the current climate.... The momentum seems to be with the big Premier league clubs.

In any case it would need to exceed the Coutinho price to be entertained and surely they'd rather go after Neymar or mbappe if they're doing in that ball park.

[LFCMike]

23 minutes ago, Harry said:

We were after Nabil Fekir last season so that may rear it's head again in the summer.

For fullbacks I'd be looking at Milner as backup at LB and wondering whether to take Clyne back from loan or promote someone from the youth team. Bottom line is Trent and Robbo seem like long term first choice options so you're only looking at a backup and injury coverage.

CM I think we hold firm. Bottom line is fabinhos been a success but we haven't given Keita a proper chance to be the lynchpin he was at Leipzig that saw him good for a goal or assist every other game. He needs more time but I think he will get there.

Clyne is no where near good enough for this side anymore. We've just completely out grown a player of his ability 

[Harry]

Not even as a squad player?

He's not that effective going forward but now near the liability of Moreno...

[LFCMike]

1 minute ago, Harry said:

Not even as a squad player?

He's not that effective going forward but now near the liability of Moreno...

I don't think so no. The full backs are so important to this side going forward and that's a huge weakness in his game

[Dr. Gonzo]

8 hours ago, LFCMike said:

I don't think so no. The full backs are so important to this side going forward and that's a huge weakness in his game

Yeah in our system the fullbacks are important to our width - they’ve got to be pretty decent going forward as well as solid defensively. Clyne’s not the greatest crosser, even though some of his runs forward are good for giving us width. Makes me think he’s not the best option for us

[Carnivore Chris]

I don't know why Barcelona are mentioned here as the only time the club have won 3+ leagues in a row were 4 back in the days of the Dream Team in the early 90s and when Pep won 3 between 2009-2012. Barcelona have to work hard to win La Liga and the situation is nothing like what Juventus or PSG are currently doing. Those 2 sides would struggle to win the Premier League or La Liga, although PSG would likely become a brilliant side if they were to play in Spain or England, where they are much more attractable leagues to play in. It's not like they don't have the money.

City can certainly dominate though as they have all the resources to do it, although there will always be teams who win it in-between, similar to when United dominated the Prem in the 90s and 00s.

[The Artful Dodger]

6 minutes ago, The Rebel CRS said:

I don't know why Barcelona are mentioned here as the only time the club have won 3+ leagues in a row were 4 back in the days of the Dream Team in the early 90s and when Pep won 3 between 2009-2012. Barcelona have to work hard to win La Liga and the situation is nothing like what Juventus or PSG are currently doing. Those 2 sides would struggle to win the Premier League or La Liga, although PSG would likely become a brilliant side if they were to play in Spain or England, where they are much more attractable leagues to play in. It's not like they don't have the money.

 City can certainly dominate though as they have all the resources to do it, although there will always be teams who win it in-between, similar to when United dominated the Prem in the 90s and 00s.

It's slightly different in Spain because Barcelona are still not the biggest club in the country, despite completely selling out all of their 'principles' getting in bed with dirty oil money and trying to steal their rivals best players. I thought the Griezmann saga was a triumph but he'll probably go this year. 

Serie A is very strange, it was the stronget league in the world for nearly 2 decades but the whole cheating scandal has ruined it and I doubt it will ever recover.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, The Artful Dodger said:

It's slightly different in Spain because Barcelona are still not the biggest club in the country, despite completely selling out all of their 'principles' getting in bed with dirty oil money and trying to steal their rivals best players. I thought the Griezmann saga was a triumph but he'll probably go this year. 

Serie A is very strange, it was the stronget league in the world for nearly 2 decades but the whole cheating scandal has ruined it and I doubt it will ever recover.

It was the strongest league when it had the most TV money. Calciopoli did fuck the league though and I think a lot of people were turned off to Serie A football because of that scandal. Also Juve were probably the biggest benefactors of the aftermath of the scandal where they were the biggest offenders, in the long run. Inter had a nice little spell... but after all the dust settled Juve are once again the top dogs of Italy, meanwhile AC Milan is a shambles and a shadow of what it was before the scandal. Inter right now is a soap opera with Icardi

[Harry]

It would probably take the award of a world cup or euro host role to get Italy to do what's required to reform it's football and rejuvenate it's football infrastructure. But I don't think economically they're in a position to do it.

Italy strikes me as really losing pace against its competitors both economically and in football terms in the last decade or so. It's a bit sad to see tbh.

[Dan+]

The Milan clubs are just basketcases though. I think the fact Napoli have become the biggest contender to Juventus says a lot really because they get frequently shown up in Europe.