I think its safe to assume the next 20 years will be very different. The last 2 decades have proven very successful for United but will another club ever replicate the sort of sustained success we have had again or will the silverware be spread amongst a host of teams season by season? There are a few things to consider though. The game is changing and the days of chucking huge sums of money around like its nothing are soon going to be a thing of the past. Financial Fair Play rules, while still not totally understood are likely to have some impact on the game and this is just one of many new rule changes we will see over the years. Technology could well become a factor in years to come. So who is going to be challenging? Will United be up there competing for honours? I think so, the signs are there already, besides City we are a long way ahead of everyone else right now and our young players are coming into their own. I can only see us getting stronger and whoever takes over from Sir Alex will inherit a great squad of players. FFP rules should also help us out in the future while providing issues for other clubs. Its pretty certain Man City will play apart in the next 20 years, huge sums of money and certain to improve year by year they will be a major force over the next 2 decades thats for sure. FFP rules could have an impact on just how successful City will be but until we know everything on that front its hard to predict. Alongside the two Manchester clubs we will have Chelsea, As long as Roman decides to stick around they are will be a threat. Who else then? The three above are pretty certain as are Arsenal. FFP rules should work in their favour and put them in a stronger position in the market if they are willing to invest in players. Liverpool are a club to watch, we might all be laughing at them now but with their fan base, global appeal and glittered history if and its a big if, their owners unlock the potential and build them a new stadium they could become a big player in the next decade. Similarly Tottenham. If they redevelop White Hart Lane then they may find FFP puts them in a stronger position. City and Chelseas spending cannot continue and any ideas City will dominate for years to come is laughable. They and a host of other clubs will contest each title every year in the future. I find it hard to believe a club will win 12 of the next 20 titles like we have just done.
I noticed this last night, not really got a minute to put in a reply worthy of the article as I'm on my phone but it would be a shame if this got ignored in favour of the usual guff on here. I think the premier league has peaked and is on the way down. Those investing will realise this and get bored and it'll just settle down to being the usual suspects. Whether Chelsea and City get some residual money and stay up there remains to be seen but I can't see them going out of the top six. What is certain is United will stay up there, as will Arsenal and sadly Liverpool will creep back up. Another certainty is that some clubs will go down the pan and financially stable clubs like Reading and, I think, Southampton will come into the prem and stick around. I can't see the likes of Wolves and Blackburn (if they go down) being back for a while.
Really good post, I think we will challenge along with Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Liverpool. Credit to spurs at the moment but in my opinion I don't think they will in the long run unless they get a new stadium. One thing I'm looking forward to is more derby matches like the one we have on monday!
Liverpool are going to enter a prolonged dominence of not just English but World football. This was clear from the way they beat a World Class outfit in Norwich City.
Personally I think things will be a lot more sinister than that if some of what I have seen is true. I think the game of football is fast becoming the property of those engaged in the 'black' markets and is teh perfect foil for laundering of money I remember seeing a huge investigative report on RA of CFC and his involvement, which disappeared when he became CFC owner see also shiniwastra (sp), Man city owners money is based on world drugs etc (how do people think the likes of Abu dhabi and Dubai were built) So for me its gonna be corruption, corruption, corruption in the beautiful game and if you look at the Italians and some other countries, it has started already
Yes good OP. IMO it is a good thing that the unlimited spending that some clubs carry out had to be controlled. Wenger it was who called it financial doping. Even when the scousers (in the long distant past) and United were top dogs and were buying the top players, they still had to keep an eye on the books. yes, they could spend the money but it was not unlimited. Before the arrival of the oligarchs and middle east sheiks, it was Real who bought as if money was no object. Domestically, I think it would be good thing that more clubs have a realistic chance at the title. United has had the major share (not that I am complaining and I wish it to continue). What United showed was that even when the money dried up, it could still be top dogs. The manager is largely responsible and whether we like it or not, the fabulous SAF era will end sooner or later. How many of the titles we won were directly attributable to him i.e any other manager would not have done it with the same group of players? There will be a period of City being top dogs, with Chelsea and Arsenal still around, the scousers could challenge (hope not) but their manager will be their weakness. The reality any premiership club could challenge if they are taken over by a keen billionaire/corporation intent on glory. For me the Financial fair play (FFP) rule cannot come in soon enough.
Good thread compared to some of the same threads on the same topic that is posted on our board. The FFP rules are good as it means the likes of Chelsea and City cannot go and spend silly money on whoever they want and they will have to balance the books or they will be punished by UEFA. I do believe we will continue to challenge for trophies for plenty of years to come. The players that have made the step up from the the academy (E.g. Cleverly) and hopefully we can continue nurturing these talents in the reserves such as Petrucci, Lingard, Will Keane, Tunncliffe, etc can make the step up to the 1st team and become big team players in our team for year to come. I believe the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and City will be a threat to us and will be challenging us for a while. I doubt Spurs will be a big contender next season as they have choked and they may not even make the top 4 which would be catastrophic for them considering the way they started the season.
In my opinion Arsenal will be our biggest rivals, like ourselves they wont feel much impact of the FFP rules as they are structured well as a business and a club. Liverpool could reach this level in time but it wont be any time soon. They are a few years behind Arsenal without a new stadium just now. If we go of what the LFC fans tell us then their are plans in place to take Liverpool back to the top over time but right now we have to consider them as outsiders. I hate City and Chelsea, I would love both owners to pull out and walk away leaving both clubs devastated but chances are they will stick around for a while yet. Now the big thing for these clubs is FFP. Chelsea have made strides towards complying and are likely to pass the first years test while City have made no such attempts. City will be excluded from Europe within a few years. The moment they are will give us a clear signal of whether they will be a top 2 side for years or if they will be outsiders like Liverpool. How the ban from Europe effects them is key. They will change the way the whole club is run and may have to sell many players to comply with regulations and get back into Europe. Domestically the will fine but the best players want Champions League football and if City cant offer it then it will be interesting to see what happens.
It all depends on the FFP and how effective they actually are but I can see City being are biggest rivals with Chelsea and Arsenal challenging. Like you said Liverpool depends on what happens with there current plans.
