Only Prem’s top brass can halt Pep’s heroes
FORGIVE the facetious take, but Manchester City’s biggest ‘rivals’ next season will be the Premier League hawks chasing them with a rap sheet containing 115 charges of financial jiggerypokery.
One hundred and fifteen charges. They can’t all be phishing expeditions. That’s a lot of potential scandal to bat away. City’s best formation will be their formidable XI of King’s
Counsel and big-shot lawyers.
It might even make the title race more interesting if they were docked 30 points, like Luton were in 2008. They haven’t done too badly since then – the Hatters will start next season as City’s equal partners in the top flight.
On the pitch, I don’t see Arsenal repeating this season’s near-miss with the title. Their best chance was this year, and those six points tossed away in draws against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton may haunt them for years to come.
Manchester United are showing signs of the giant awakening from its slumber, but they still look horribly vulnerable away from home, so for a surprise contender to turn another City procession into a contest, how about Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea?
Poch Spice (right) can’t do any worse than the last 12 months of under-achievement at Stamford Bridge – and if he gets off to a flier, it could take him further than anyone outside SW6 imagined...
JOHN CROSS
THIS is a bit of a cheat when it comes to saying who will be Manchester City’s closest challengers next season.
But I’m gonna say Manchester United AND Liverpool. It will be a bit of a return to the status quo with that trio in the title race.
However, I don’t think anyone will be able to stop City (top, celebrating their title triumph) until after Pep Guardiola leaves the Etihad because they are so far ahead of the rest in every sense.
But Erik ten Hag has done so well at Old Trafford, getting them back into the top four by making square pegs work in round holes. So with more time and a chance to build again in the transfer window, United will be so much closer next season.
Liverpool’s problem is so obvious – the midfield. Not just the midfield but the protection for the back four, the creativity for the attack and finding the right balance in the middle.
If the Reds buy well – and their track record suggests they will – then I expect Jurgen Klopp (above left) and his men to be back next season in terms of being closer
challengers.
NEIL MCLEMAN
ARSENAL have lost momentum this season while Liverpool and Chelsea need too much work to challenge for the title next season.
But Manchester United are the team trending in the right direction. They have found a proper manager in Ten Hag who has reached two cup finals and qualified for the Champions League in his first season.
Takeover permitting, more big spending this summer – especially the purchase of a top-class centre-forward such as Harry Kane or Victor Osimhen – will help push them up to the next level.
It might not be enough to overtake their City rivals in the next 12 months, but they will get the closest.
SIMON BIRD
IT’S five titles in six years for City, but there are ways that the Premier League can avoid becoming a one-team league. A points deduction for a start. City face charges they breached Premier League financial rules more than 100 times over a nine-year period.
But that is probably kicked into the legal long grass for a few years yet. Next season the only way they can be touched is if Arsenal kick on and learn from this campaign.
Can Declan Rice (above) help the Gunners bridge a fivepoint gap? Maybe. A new driving force in midfield and another couple of elite recruits could see them put up a sustained fight.
Liverpool will be stronger and with a refresh, look like the only club that could put together 15-game winning streaks needed to lift a title.
If, early in the season, a top rival can find a way of exposing City, and others then tap in to that formula, then perhaps it will see the champions lose seven or eight times – and that is what’s needed to give others a chance.