2023-2024 EPL Season

[CuuuJooo]

Newcastle with hardest start

Can’t the Toon Army have nice things just once?

As a fan of both the Leafs and the Toon, I’m used to crushing despair.

 

[S E P H]

Watching rugby and football, it is crazy to witness how respected the refs are in rugby and well trained they are in explaining the situation to players and how unbelievably opposite all these aspects are in football culture.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Been thinking about my 1-20 a lot this offseason. One of the hardest to predict in. years imo.

Other than Luton in 20 lol

I think I'd put Sheffield below them potentially. But overall yeah I'd agree table predictions this year will be hard.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

1. Man City - pick ‘em til proven wrong
2. Newcastle - they’ll go out of the UCL in the group stage and finish with the best defensive record in the division
3. Man United - really like the Onana signing.
4. Arsenal - think they have worse injury luck than last season and that the young guys will have some trouble balancing PL and UCL (in which I think they go deep)
5. Liverpool - midfield remains a sieve, Salah remains brilliant, Nunez settles in more, and Klopp remains a great coach
6. Chelsea - hot out the gate, top four at Christmas, but burn HARD in the festive season owing to young legs before settling into 6th by end of year.
7. Spurs - if they keep Kane. If not, swap with Villa in 8th. Think they’ve made decent moves, but teams above them have either gotten better or already had a clear gap.
8. Villa - don’t like their transfers, which have felt like throwing shit at the wall to me. Love their core though.
9. Brentford - sure, why not
10. Brighton - step back with Euro football, but get a big step forward from Ferguson.
11. Crystal Palace - keeping Olise and Eze is all they need
12. West Ham - can’t be worse than last year
13. Burnley - I’m a believer in this being a Championship walker that can stay up
14. Fulham - step back
15. Bournemouth - firing O Neill sucked
16. Forest - scraping by
17. Everton - clinging to life
18. Luton - bad but sparky
19. Sheffield - bad
20. Wolves - calamitous

 

[JPBolts]

Been thinking about my 1-20 a lot this offseason. One of the hardest to predict in. years imo.

Other than Luton in 20 lol

I think there's a clear top tier (City) and a clear bottom tier (Sheffield United & Luton). After that, I think any of the teams that finished in the bottom half of the league (plus Burnley & possibly Brentford with no Toney & Flekken looking terrible in the summer series/Fulham with no Mitrovic and minus Chelsea). Then everyone else that finished in the top half last year & Chelsea could finish anywhere from second to ninth.

 

[Savant]

I think there's a clear top tier (City) and a clear bottom tier (Sheffield United & Luton). After that, I think any of the teams that finished in the bottom half of the league (plus Burnley & possibly Brentford with no Toney & Flekken looking terrible in the summer series/Fulham with no Mitrovic and minus Chelsea). Then everyone else that finished in the top half last year & Chelsea could finish anywhere from second to ninth.

So the thing with Flekken looking terrible.

I think the three teams that went down last season were the three teams with the worst goalkeeping. Wondering if that can be a trend this year as well. One of the reasons Brentford should hold out for big money for Raya. Flekken can send this team down (especially if they are lost without Toney) almost single-handedly. He might be that bad

 

[JPBolts]

So the thing with Flekken looking terrible.

I think the three teams that went down last season were the three teams with the worst goalkeeping. Wondering if that can be a trend this year as well. One of the reasons Brentford should hold out for big money for Raya. Flekken can send this team down (especially if they are lost without Toney) almost single-handedly. He might be that bad

yeah, that was definitely something I noticed last season. Having a nervy keeper will unsettle the fans and the defense, which can completely sink a season. Completely agree on Flekken, and the Tony goals are gone for the first half of the season can completely torpedo them. I have similar worries with Villa if Emi gets injured bc Olsen is not good for our system at all.

 

[The Abusement Park]

1)City
2)United- Think they improve slightly from last year but still finish ~10pts back and lack a legit title challenge
3)Arsenal- I think balancing CL could be a problem but they and United scrap it out for 2/3
4)Newcastle- Like their moves a lot but think CL will be their undoing.
5) Liverpool- Midfield still isn’t there and even with the rumored new signings will be a bit inexperienced.
6) Chelsea- Inconsistent year but still manage Europe
7) Spurs- Don’t love the makeup of the roster and that’s before a potential Kane exit. If he leaves could see 8th.
8)Villa- Think they making the right steps towards being quite a decent team. Could see them finishing 6th or 7th depending on Kane and if Chelsea can score goals this year
9)Brighton- Think they have the coach and roster to compete for 6th-8th but Europe could be an issue
10th)Crystal Palace-Think they’ll be fine but nothing to write home about.
11)Brentford-
12)West Ham-Still haven’t replaced Rice but still have enough talent to keep them afloat. Plus Moyes being fired eventually will help.
13) Fulham
14)Forest
15)Bournemouth
16)Everton
17)Luton-Just plucky enough to stay up
18)Wolves
19)Burnley
20)Sheffield

 

[bluesfan94]

Why does everyone think that Arsenal will have a bad time adjusting to CL but United won't?

 

[Savant]

Why does everyone think that Arsenal will have a bad time adjusting to CL but United won't?

I think both will if it makes you feel better.

I think last year was weird and I don’t think it was a coincidence that three of the four UCL teams didn’t make it back. We will see how it goes this season

 

[The Abusement Park]

Why does everyone think that Arsenal will have a bad time adjusting to CL but United won't?

1) Never said United wouldn’t. 2) United played like 645 games last year.

 

[mmk786]

Liverpool
Arsenal
City
United
My top four at the moment with the window still open, so could change.

 

[bluesfan94]

1) Never said United wouldn’t. 2) United played like 645 games last year.

Well no, you just said Arsenal would and were silent as to United. But more to the point, you moved United above Arsenal, who finished comfortably above United (9 points, but Arsenal tailed off once the title race was over) with the only explanation being that Arsenal is going to struggle balancing UCL. It just seems like this mantra with Arsenal (see WBS, as well) while no one is mentioning it for United.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[The Abusement Park]

Well no, you just said Arsenal would and were silent as to United. But more to the point, you moved United above Arsenal, who finished comfortably above United (9 points, but Arsenal tailed off once the title race was over) with the only explanation being that Arsenal is going to struggle balancing UCL. It just seems like this mantra with Arsenal (see WBS, as well) while no one is mentioning it for United.

Because it’s a very common theme for teams that do well with no Europe. I think Newcastle will struggle with it as well as Brighton. I don’t think it’s crazy to think the extra games and less recovery time could have a negative impact on their results this year.

Now I do think it will have less affect on this United team because they must went through a season playing in 4 comps basically all season. Plus the core players have been major parts of CL wins and runs.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

United’s entire core has significant UCL experience.

Arsenal’s doesn’t.

Balancing PL and UCL is especially hard if you make a decent UCL run, and I think Arsenal will get at least to the QFs.

An easy answer

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Because it’s a very common theme for teams that do well with no Europe. I think Newcastle will struggle with it as well as Brighton. I don’t think it’s crazy to think the extra games and less recovery time could have a negative impact on their results this year.

Now I do think it will have less affect on this United team because they must went through a season playing in 4 comps basically all season. Plus the core players have been major parts of CL wins and runs.

Wasn’t Arsenal in Europa last year? If anything, those Thursday/Sundays are more taxing than the CL.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Wasn’t Arsenal in Europa last year? If anything, those Thursday/Sundays are more taxing than the CL.

The travel definitely sucks, but like I said above I think there’s a lack of UCL experience in the squad as well. I don’t think it’s going to destroy their season or anything but it’s not uncommon for CL to pose a problem for teams that didn’t have it the season prior. Happens all the time to big and smaller teams. But I mean it’s a good squad so they could definitely handle it fine. That wouldn’t surprise me either.

 

[bluesfan94]

Because it’s a very common theme for teams that do well with no Europe. I think Newcastle will struggle with it as well as Brighton. I don’t think it’s crazy to think the extra games and less recovery time could have a negative impact on their results this year.

Now I do think it will have less affect on this United team because they must went through a season playing in 4 comps basically all season. Plus the core players have been major parts of CL wins and runs.

Which would be a fine argument if Arsenal wasn't playing in Europe. I don't think there's a significant difference between playing in UEL/UECL and UCL in terms of experience other than the former likely requires more significant travel.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Which would be a fine argument if Arsenal wasn't playing in Europe. I don't think there's a significant difference between playing in UEL/UECL and UCL in terms of experience other than the former likely requires more significant travel.

I mean I think there’s a difference between handling a CL cup run and a EL cup run. Maybe not as much physically, but theres a lack of experience there that could be problematic. Casemiro, Varane, Onana, Eriksen, Mount have all made long CL runs and know what that’s like.

Only Havertz and Jorginho have really experienced that for you guys. Now you guys have a talented roster so it wouldn’t surprise me if it doesn’t affect you either. But adding CL to teams plates often times can be problematic.

 

[Live in the Now]

There isn’t a difference between a team playing in different European competitions, but it’s perfectly valid to think any English team besides City doesn’t have the quality to compete in both.

 

[bluesfan94]

The travel definitely sucks, but like I said above I think there’s a lack of UCL experience in the squad as well. I don’t think it’s going to destroy their season or anything but it’s not uncommon for CL to pose a problem for teams that didn’t have it the season prior. Happens all the time to big and smaller teams. But I mean it’s a good squad so they could definitely handle it fine. That wouldn’t surprise me either.

I guess. The following players have either played UCL or made long runs in UEL/UECL (semi-finals or further), or both: Tierney, Partey, Gabriel, Saka, Odegaard, Jesus, ESR, Timber, Nketiah, Holding, Cedric, Jorginho, Havertz, Zinchenko, Rice.

So I guess if we assume this is the depth chart, the bolded are players who don't have substantial European experience:

Martinelli - Jesus - Saka
Nelson - Nketiah - Trossard

Havertz - Odegaard - Rice
Jorginho - ESR - Partey

Zinchenko - Gabriel - Saliba - White
Tierney - Kiwior - Timber - Tomiyasu

Ramsdale
Turner​

 

[bluesfan94]

Only Havertz and Jorginho have really experienced that for you guys. Now you guys have a talented roster so it wouldn’t surprise me if it doesn’t affect you either. But adding CL to teams plates often times can be problematic.

Also Jesus and Zinchenko.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I guess. The following players have either played UCL or made long runs in UEL/UECL (semi-finals or further), or both: Tierney, Partey, Gabriel, Saka, Odegaard, Jesus, ESR, Timber, Nketiah, Holding, Cedric, Jorginho, Havertz, Zinchenko, Rice.

So I guess if we assume this is the depth chart, the bolded are players who don't have substantial European experience:

Martinelli - Jesus - Saka
Nelson - Nketiah - Trossard

Havertz - Odegaard - Rice
Jorginho - ESR - Partey

Zinchenko - Gabriel - Saliba - White
Tierney - Kiwior - Timber - Tomiyasu

Ramsdale
Turner​

Like I said it wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t a big deal, because it’s a good roster. But it’s a common drop off when teams get back into CL. Can Arsenal or United challenge for a title and do well in the CL consecutively? I don’t buy it yet personally. I think United and Arsenal will either do well in the league or CL, but not both.

 

[phisherman]

Who cares. Everyone is wrong on these anyways.