That in itself is a pretty damning verdict though. It's basically just saying the only way Arsenal will have a chance is if all of their serious competitors stack it massively. And even then it will hardly be a shoo in, as this season has demonstrated fairly emphatically.Think Ikki is on the money. If Pep sets the bar stupidly high first season then Arsenal are completely irrelevant. If we have a season similar to this (just remove Leicester) then they can/probably will be in the mix.
Chelsea have no European football.I think they're obvious favorites to finish top 4 tbhI'm sticking to Chelsea not finishing top four next season. City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool is what I'm going with at the moment.
I agree with Hazard but no way they'd let go off 3-4 stars especially for a club thats mostly used to buying.They would retain some of them even if they wanted to leave especially someone like Courtois.There's pretty much no club higher than the standard of Chelsea that desperately needs a top GK atm.Its all speculation at this point anyway.I think they're at least as likely to lose 3-4 top players. Hazard def wants out and Courtois is strongly hinting that he does too. The only really high quality players left would be Costa and Willian, maybe Azpilicueta I guess. Conte's a good manager but as it stands they're in pretty bad shape.
Dubious assertion.Whats CC ?
Anyway you claim Chelsea are vulnerable in terms of losing their stars,i say Arsenal are just as vulnerable if not more.Regarding the ambition,it perhaps not be the right word,but Chelsea are just more likely to make good use of their financial resources then Arsenal would in normal circumstances.A new manager and a disastrous season means they're likely going to spend even beyond normal conditions and do everything they could to keep their stars.Thats basically it.
I dint claim Arsenal would finish outside Top 4 though(its difficult to make next season's predictions anyway),i am talking about Chelsea.Without the pressures and travelling involved in European football,Chelsea would play more freely and i think that'll help.
And nope,at the start of the season,the consensus was that City had the best squad in the league and i agree with it.They were playing some top stuff during the first few months of the season.After Pep's announcement,they just happened to stop caring.
I might be wrong but didn't they fall of a cliff results wise after the appointment?Dubious assertion.
It's arguable that their form took a hit after the appointment was announced, but they were hardly looking like world beaters beforehand. They'd already eaten a number of defeats and were looking unconvincing.I might be wrong but didn't they fall of a cliff results wise after the appointment?
Yeah, I'd agree. Probably have 2-3 good to serviceable players in every position. Can't really think of many other sides that could be said of. As you allude to though, that just makes them all the more annoying. Particularly given a lack of depth has been one of Arsenal's biggest killers over the last 5-10 years.Arsenal's squad is probably the best in the league this year imo, which is kind of damning for Wenger, but I don't see them finishing 5th. Your last line is just arse-gravy, need to take that kind of shite back to CC.
Yep.I might be wrong but didn't they fall of a cliff results wise after the appointment?
Needless to say,City would still be in the title race right now if not for the poor run of form they had recently.It's arguable that their form took a hit after the appointment was announced, but they were hardly looking like world beaters beforehand. They'd already eaten a number of defeats and were looking unconvincing.