They have exactly what they have had for years. An on-paper exciting attack with a n umber of options, but with a woeful defensive spine. In the past that meant they could blow away the bottom third of the PL with nice score lines. not be PL challengers but still finish top 4 with ease. But now, so many of the top 6 can match or seriously exceed their GF, and all have far better defensive regimes.
They didn't seem to improve as the season went on, though. If anything they got worse. Couldn't win a game away from home to save their lives. They had the Europa League advantage last season too and it didn't help.
Yeah, I think a title challenge definitely isn't on the cards and won't be for a while if I'm honest. It's very rare that you see a team go from 5th to title challengers in the space of a season. City and Liverpool are still the teams to best, and we aren't at that level. However, Pepe is a very good signing. If we can add Tierney and a CB too, for me, there are no excuses to not get CL football (unless we suffer significant, long-term injuries to all our key players throughout the season). The pressure is now on the players and the manager to deliver.
I mean, I would love for you to be right, but I think this is wishful thinking at best. We've improved in some areas, but haven't strengthened in others. We still have too much deadwood at the club, our defence is shambolic and there are huge question marks over our away form. Mkhitaryan, Elneny, Jenkinson, Monreal and Mustafi don't look like going anywhere, which is a huge problem, as they aren't very good. They are also taking up spaces in the squad from other players. Koscielny is arguably our best centre-half, even at 34, yet he looks set to be leaving. That leaves us with: Sokratis - who was good for most of the campaign up until the final 2 months. Chambers - who performed well in a position we don't need help in. Mustafi - the less said, the better. Holding - out of action for nearly a year, how long will it take him to get up to speed? Mavrapanos - injury-prone and nowhere near ready. Monreal - he can play as a LCB, but his lack of height, physical presence and the deterioration of his speed does us no favours. At left-back, though we are linked with Tierney, it remains to be seen whether that will get done. And even if we do sign him, he may miss the first month of the season. Our current options are: Monreal - lost his pace and sharpness. Though he is versatile, he shouldn't still be at the club. Kolasinac - has his uses going forward (sometimes), but isn't reliable defensively. At right-back: Bellerin - not due back till October. After being out with injury for so long, may need time to get up to the required level. Maitland-Niles - he's a CM by trade and was forced to play RB, yet due to our lack of options there currently, he may still have to play there. It's not his position. So as it stands, our midfield and attack have improved (on paper), but our defence is just as bad, arguably worse. A shoddy defence won't win you titles.
And if you want plentiful evidence of their always being the victims... https://www.reddit.com/r/LiverpoolF..._of_harvey_elliot_opening_mocking_harry_kane/
Congratulations to the Leicester board for holding out against Man Utd but utd could of had 3.5 Toby's for the same money
No risk no reward Both teams needed to sign players and spend big or they’d have no chance of closing the gap to City and Liverpool.
Wrong risks and you end up like Leeds, Portsmouth, Coventry, Wimbledon, Charlton, Ipswich, Villa ...and the countless others
Both need to get back in the CL ASAP for financial reasons. You would assume Man Utd would have more leeway having been the recent empire. However it seems that the supporters are now on the Glazers' back about all the money spent on servicing their takeover debt (with allegedly hardly any capital repayment having been made) .
