Are We Live? Episode 55

Premier League Preview

Song: Podcast By Snail Music (Loop)
Author: ‪@SnailMusicES‬

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Are we lying? No, no, no, yes. Yes, yes, yes. We lied. Yes. Okay, so I ain't gonna cover you.

unknown 0:06

But these pump.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Yo, we back. A little hiatus, one week hiatus because of vacation, but we back. Their Premier League season is here. So you know what that means. We gotta preview it. We gotta talk about. I'm gonna I'm gonna dig into the top five or big five, I should say top is the wrong word. Big five clubs. I'm sorry, Tana. I'm gonna exclude you from this list for today's episode. Um, but big five clubs, City, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Chelsea. And we're gonna get into everything. You know, transfer window, expectations, important players, predictions, all that stuff. So let's just start with Arsenal, the running champs. We'll go in order of the table from last season. Pretty big favorites to win again by the odds makers. Um, and let's start with their transfer window. Now let's go. Sold players, they sold, um, Trossard they sold, and Norgard, I think, went to Everton. Um, in terms of incomings, they signed Bruno Gomares, Christos Solis from Club Bruges, and uh Meslier as a backup keeper from uh Leeds, I believe. Um so yeah, not a ton of activity to be honest. I mean in terms of guaranteed starters, I would say only really Bruno Gomares. Now, as of right now, this uh the uh Christos Tazolis to the left winger from from Bruges is gonna have to be a starter, I would guess. But I don't think that was their initial plan. Um, in terms of outgoings, only really Trossard is anything meaningful. I mean, Norgaard basically did not play at all last year. Um, so yeah, I've parted about this before, but um the Vinny and Rogers saga or the transfer saga for both of them really poorly handled, in my opinion, from Arsenal's perspective. Rogers, even though I've said I don't think that would have been a good transfer, but the fact you couldn't convince him, I would say, is a little bit worrisome. Vinny, I mean, it feels like they just got played um and used for a big contract for for him, so bad process on both ends, in my opinion. Um, there's been some whispers that they want Osimen from uh God Tessera. I don't know how true that is, but I mean that would be a scary proposition because I mean I think I parted at the end of last season that if they had like one of the better attackers in the world, or one of those attackers you can rely upon to produce, you know, um, basically every week, they would be nearly unbeatable, you know. And that's a bit dramatic, maybe, but like they would be a really, really crazy team if they actually were able to secure someone like that. And that's why the idea that I'm signing Vinny was so scary, you know. And Osterman would be, I mean, he's not as good as Vinny, I would say, but I mean that was the same idea. Um, so yeah, I don't know how real that link is, but if they were to pull it off, that'd be massive. Um the Bruno Gamara's thing. Now, to me, it's a great signing, and there's been a lot of discourse about his age and how you know some clubs don't want to buy players that are at around you know, around or at 30 um for big money. Um, but first of all, what is big money these days? Because 75 million at this point is like the going rate for any like d even just average player. So from Arsenal's perspective, I think for any from any club's perspective, there is gonna be a lot of risk when you sign a player, you know, near 30 or at 30, however you want to frame it, right? Because in theory, you're gonna get the downside of their prime, most likely, right? And there are some players that from 29 to 33 or so are still amazing, and um, but there are some words not, like it's it's impossible to really predict when the fall-off is gonna come. Like, if you had said this time last year, Mahmo Salah we will be playing at uh Trebenzborg, you'd be like, man, what the hell are you talking about, right? Like he was just the best player in the Premier League, and now he's I mean, I don't want to say he's finished, but you I mean he was not very good last season at the at the very least. Um, I remember Alexis Sanchez was not that it was not too old, actually. I believe around 29-30 when United got him from Arsenal and he was completely cooked. Um, a more comparable signing might be United signing Casemiro from Real Madrid. I think he was 29 or 30 at the same time. And while the player United got in Casemiro's tenure was, you know, in the aggregate pretty good, there were some really bad points because I mean he's a player on the downside, and that's just kind of how it goes, you know. Now, having said all that, all the stuff about the risk and all that stuff, for Arsenal, if Bruno Gomarez leads them to another Premier League title or a Champions League or a Champions League win, then what happens after that does not matter in the slightest because this is a win now move. If they win now, then it's you know, um doesn't it's the downside is irrelevant if I if I'm a fan to be honest. Um and speaking of all this, I mean I believe he's not gonna play the first game because of a hamstring injury. So, I mean, on the surface, they've signed one of the best handful of midfielders in the Premier League. And when you're the best team in the league and you do that, that's a home run. Um, and I do believe that is the case. Like, I'm not just framing it like that, but I think there is some downside you have to at least consider when you talk about the transfer like this. Um, and yeah, I mean the they are about to sign Ezri Konsai as well, I believe. That's not quite finish, but it's it's um it's going to happen, looks like. Now, that makes sense on the surface, right? Saliba has his back thing, which is kind of problematic. You have Moscara, but he's young, he had some ups and downs last season, mostly ups to be fair. Um, you have Timber and uh Ben White who are good players, but also injury concerns. So adding an I know the the jokes with Arso and defenders um are prepared of at this point, but I understand why they just want to be like, look, we don't want this to be an issue in derail a season where you know we don't have enough center backs, so let's just 50 million, it's not that crazy a price, all things considered, for a player that's been in the league that's gonna you know fit right in, all that jazz. So I I understand so to me that's a good signing, a sensible signing. Um, my only thing is what does that say about Saliba? Like this back injury stuff, there's been some conflicting reporting. Like, it first came out that he's gonna get surgery and be out four to five months, then it was no surgery, he's still gonna be out for a while. It's like anytime you see someone have a major back injury, it's just kind of like I don't know, it's kind of scary to be honest with you. Like, to me, the fact that they're willing to buy a player um instead of trusting Mosquera kind of indicates that they're a little worried about Saliba, and probably rightly so, you know. Um but having said all that, I mean their defense is solidified or should be solidified even without Saliba. Um, the midfield is looking good. You've got Gomares, Defno Rice, you've got uh Miles Miles Lewis Skelly um being utilized more, you would think, this season than last year. Um now for them they need Odegaard to you know run it back. I know apparently I didn't watch, but apparently he was amazing in the uh community shield. So if he if he can you know roll back the years a little bit, and it's crazy to say his age, but roll back the time a little bit. I mean, that midfield is looking completely set. You've got Mikhail Marino who's like a a decent squad option. I mean, Zoomendi was like very up and down last season. We'll see if he can fit in better this year. Um, Eze, I think, in the end, was a disappointment out you would say, as uh as that spark in the final third. I mean, he had his moments for sure, but in general, I don't think you would be happy with you know what he provided last season. Um, and in general, the attack it definitely needs more, right? As of right now, they've got Tizolis, uh, I think I'm saying that right. You have Havertz, you have Yokarez, you have Sbukayosaka, and you have Metawake in the in the attack. Now, I know they just won the league with that attack, or except for you know, Trosard instead of Tzolus, but I don't know. I don't I don't think you're gonna get you're gonna have the same luck is the wrong word, you're not gonna I don't I I I think so this is a complicated conversation because I don't think that attack is good enough to win the league, right? But who else is gonna take it for them? So that's the thing that's kind of like coming at me from uh attacking me. I mean, um that I'm thinking about from both sides. Like that attack is not good enough to win it, but who was good enough to win it, you know? But um, anyway, from Arsenal's perspective, their attack. I mean, thing is for Arsenal, at this point, the goals are more than Premier League, it's also Champions League, uh, domestic cups doing trebles and doubles and all that stuff. Like, you know, they should be going for everything at this point, right? So that attack is not enough to compete at the highest level in the Champions League. There's just no way. Um, so yeah, they need to do more. Now, if I had to rate their transfer windows so far, I would say around like a six or seven, you know, because the Gumario signing is great, the console signing makes sense. Uh Zolis, I'm not familiar with, but you know, the clips in here I have seen here and there. I'm like, okay, I can see something with him, I can see something, I see the idea of signing him. Um, but they need more, they need a lot more in attack for sure. So I'm gonna go with like a six-ish type window so far. Now let's look at what their preferred or best 11 is for the upcoming season. You've got Raya and Nett, that's a no-brainer. At right back, you have either Timber or um Ben White, I guess, depending on the game, or fitness or whatever. Um with with everyone foot, fit, it'll be Saliba, Gabrielle, Calafiore in the back four. Now, fitness for Saliba and Calafiore is you know up in the air quite a bit, especially. I mean, Saliba is currently injured. Cala Fiori is often injured, and if he's injured, does that mean we see Luis Skelly at left back? Maybe. Um, yeah, going to the midfield. We'll I'm sure them sorry midfield will be Declan Rice, Bruno Gomares, Martin Odegaard, um, and then the attack will be Tzolis, Havertz, and Saka. Now, I think it's quite clear that at the end of last season, Arteta kind of gave up on the Yores experiment to some extent, you know. Um, and even the community shield, have her started over Yakeres. Um, yeah, he's just not good. He's just not good. Like, people can cope as much as they want, he's just not good. Um, so yeah, I mean Ordegaard, we'll see. Like, is he gonna keep his job? Like, is he gonna come in for him? Is Maz Louis Kelly gonna come in for him? I don't know. We'll see. But um, I think as of right now, Arteta would probably roll with this lineup, you know, as his preferred 11 going forward. Um, so yeah, expectations for the upcoming season, I would say, I mean, clearly, when you win the league and you lose in the Champions League final, the only thing you're looking at is now to win the league and championship final and actually win the Champions League, right? And I would say from their perspective, they should be looking to win the league a bit more comfortably than they did last season. Now, you know, the uh glass half full perspective would be that now that they've actually gotten over the hump, the mental hurdle is gone, they can play freely, they can, you know, all that you know, botling stuff is behind them, all that, and now they can just you know wipe out the league from start to finish instead of those bumpy roads at the in uh March-April type time. Um, Gladys Half Empty would say that they got fortunate that Man City wasn't that good, and they couldn't really keep you know capitalize on their uh inconsistencies. So we'll see. I think last season I would say Arsenal should have wrapped up the league a bit earlier, I would say. I mean, just based on how the season was going and how the you know the fact that I think they were much better than the city, generally speaking. Um, so yeah, I think this year they should be looking to like win the league with some games in advance, right? Um, like a 15-point type league win, I would say that should be their aim at least. Um most important players, you know. I've gonna I'm gonna try and keep it to like two, maybe three for each team. But to me, for them, is Mon Odegaard, this it's Bokayo Saka, and this Tizolis guy. And to be honest, the Tezolus guy can be for whoever ends up starting at left wing. Like, there is it's it's possible they can end up still signing another forward. So if that's the case, then it can be that guy instead of Tazolis. But in and basically, the guys in the final third, I mean, they're gonna dictate how good this team is, right? Because we know, like, the rest of the team, we kind of know they're what it is, right? They're gonna they're gonna keep the ball, they're gonna not gonna give up chances like that, they're gonna be resolute at the back, keepers solid, midfield is solid, defense is solid. It really comes down to how you know productive and can and threatening they are in the final third, you know, because last year, despite winning the league, I would think most Arsenal fans would agree their attack was just not not inspiring, and you know, you would like it to be more um a bit more flashy than that, and that's probably even a bad word to pick, but yeah, whoever ends up being their main attackers, that's who the spotlight's gonna be on to me. And that includes essay to be honest, because it's kind of gone under the radar that he's you know not really looking to be a starter going this is the start of the season at least. Um so yeah, that's all in Arsenal moving on to the team that finished second last season and had loads of change. I mean, of course, you know, Pep Grolia Pep Gorilla steps down after what was it like eight, nine years of managing a city. Um now let's go through the transfers first. Sold to Johnny Reinders, Rodri, uh Trafford, Nathan Ake, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, um, a lot of mainstays in that list, and it looked it looks like Savinho is also going to be sold to Tottenham for 79 million. It looks like Marmouch could be on the way out to Tottenham as well. Um, there's been talks about Diego Gonzalez going to Newcastle. Um, just a crazy amount of um players leaving on top of Pepe leaving himself. Um, and as of right now, they've only signed Ellie Anderson for the first team, I would say, right? Um, and it's hard to really have a definitive answer on how good or bad their window is right now, as we speak, Thursday, Thursday evening, the day before the first game of the season. Because, I mean, surely they're gonna spend loads of money on players by the end of the window, right? Now, the two players they've been linked with the most that I've seen at least is Enzo Fernandez and uh Buadi from uh Lil, the Moroccan midfielder. Um and the prices they're both I mean they're looking like a hundred million around for both of them, so maybe that's it, maybe it's just those two, and you know, but um the thing that I have to I have to ask is like why does Enzo Moresco want Enzo Fernandez so badly at City? Because listen, it's not foreign for a manager to bring someone from his previous club to his new job, like it happens all the time, right? But normally, if you're a coach going up in the ladder to this degree, sorry Chelsea, but you're going to City, right? They've been the premier team in the league for the last 10 years or so, right? They've been able to sign basically whoever they want for the last 15 years or so. So then to have a hundred plus million to spend and be hung up on Enzo Fernandez, I mean, that's just I don't understand it. Like, I just don't understand it. Like, I just don't think he's that good, to be honest with you. Like, I know this is kind of like uh a reductive way to look at it, but if he was that good, would Chelsea be 10th last season? Like, I don't think so, like at all. Um, so yeah, I mean, I just don't if that happens, I think that would be disappointing allocation of the money they got. Um, of course, losing Roger E. Rodri is monumental, like that's like an area-defining type player that they've had for the last five or so years. Um But I think that this the loss of Trafford, who went to I believe, Leeds, um, because they chose Dunruma over him. I think that's gonna look, I think it's gonna age like horribly, horribly. Like, I mean, Don Ruma to me is just not that good a goalkeeper. Like, he's his shot stopping can be fine at times, but like on the ball, he's poor, claiming crosses, he's not like that. Like, Trafford is just more, you know, of that the type of keeper that you would think, you know, some of these uh hipster coaches would prefer. And the fact that they they pep was the coach when that when that when that happened to me is it's like baffling, to be honest with you. Um, and I think that something that's gonna it's gonna slowly look worse and worse as time goes on, that that whole ordeal. Um, and if I had to rate their transfer window, I mean at this point, I mean I have to give a 2 out of 10, right? Like, Ellie Anderson was a big coop for them for them. I'm not gonna act like it wasn't. Like the price to me is a little bit nutty, but he's a premier like midfielder in the league in terms of on the market. So I can't be uh that's a great signing for them, don't give me, but like to lose that many players, and as of right now, have nobody, and even the players that they're linked with is not that promising, in my opinion. So, as of right now, I'm gonna say like it too. Like, um, yeah, so let's go through what we can expect their best 11 to be. Now, this is gonna be hard because despite losing so many players, they still have a lot of good players, don't get it twisted. So, picking their best 11 is not gonna be easy, but let's try, right? So, they got Dunaruma and right back. I mean, I don't even know. Like, who is it gonna be Mateus Nunez? Is it gonna be Kusinov who started in the champion in the what's it called? The uh community shield. I mean, I don't I don't really maybe gonna get to the buyout at right back. Um, center back pairing, is it gonna be Govardio? Is it gonna be Gay Diaz Kusinov? Like, it could be any combination of those four guys, which in a way is a good thing to have some depth, to be honest. But who is gonna be their primary guys, right? Um, of course, Govardio can play at left back at two in certain systems. Um, but left back, I would guess it's gonna be Nico O'Reilly. Uh midfielder, I'm guessing it's gonna be Ellie Anderson. I mean, Ellie Anderson is a nail-down starter. As of right now, Kovacic is a starter, which is very bleak in 2026 for Kovic to be starting. Um, in the number 10, I would guess Shirky is gonna start on the wings. Samenyo and Doku, it looks like, as of right now. I mean, we've just seen that Savinio is about to sign for Tottenham. It looks like Marmoush is on the way out, too. Um, Holland is obviously gonna start up front, and then where does that leave Phil Foden? Is he gonna play somewhere as a number 10? I don't know. Like, there's a lot of a lot in flux with this starting 11, to be honest with you. Um, and yeah, let's go to expectations. Now, normally, with the older Man City, and you look at the money they've spent over the years and the players they have in the team, I think you would normally say this is a title or bust type season. Every season would be title or bust, right? But since there's so much change. You know, one thing for God. I mean, if it's just Pep to Mareska, that itself is a massive change, right? Um, but in the squad is massive. In the squad, it's also massive change. So I would say, like, their goals for this upcoming season is to just look like one of the better teams in Europe, still. Like, yeah, they want to win trophies, but ultimately, if it's like end of the season, we're like, look, we competed for the league and we did well, and we made like you know, a quarterfinal, semi-final champions league run. We're still one of the best teams in Europe, then I think that would be a success, right? Because, first of all, that would do a lot for your brand, I would say. Like, I mean, the lower city is just completely different without Pep. Now, but if you are still one of the best teams in Europe, then that you know, maybe you maintain some of that lure, you know what I mean? And on top of that, you'd have a lot more confidence in Moresca as your coach going forward. So I think just maintaining their level as one of the best teams in Europe, even if that means they don't win any trophies, I think that will be considered um a success for say this summer. Now, this season, I should say. Now, if they go on and spend money on some crazy players, and their squad looks incredible after the after window shuts, then they can go back to you know win it with title or bust type mode, you know what I mean? Um, most important players. Um, now it's good to remember when I mean most important, obviously Holland is their most important player, right? Like, but I think at this point you you can just write down Holland 25 goals every season, at least in the league, right? So that's not really interesting to me. When I'm talking about most important, I'm talking about like X factors, basically, right? So for them, to me, it's clearly Elie Anderson and Foden. Now, Elie Anderson, he's the guy in the midfield, like Yavituri, Fernandinho, David Silva, Brando Silva, Rodri, uh, Kevin De Bruyna. Who else am I forgetting? They've had loads of great midfielders over the last several years. But like, all those guys are gone. He's the guy in the in the midfield, and yeah, you gotta be that guy. You gotta be one of the best in the league. You got to. You just got to. Um, yeah, so be interesting to see how he's deployed, how he fits in. Like, going from running and forest to city, it's not easy, it's not like it's not, you know, it's not a walk in the park, I would say. Um and the second guy I would say is Phil Foden. Like, no two ways about it, he's been not good the last couple of seasons, so much so that he wasn't even in contention for the England squad at all, basically. Um, and that would be crazy to think about, you know, three, four years ago. But yeah, to me, it Phil Foden, if he doesn't perform this season, like would Man City be looking to get rid of him? Like, I don't I don't know at that point. Like, his career would have fully derailed, and it's it's crazy to think. Like, what is gonna happen with Phil Foden? Um, but yeah, that's it on City. Moving on to my club, Manchester United. Now, this conversation would have been a lot different, or it would have been a much different tone if it happened like three days ago, you know. But um, yeah, let's talk about the transfers. Um, in terms of players sold, I mean, the only thing that really happened sellers-wise sales-wise was um Erasmus Horland's loan being confirmed as a permanent signing because Napoli got top four. Um, incomings, they bought Andre Santos from Chelsea, Yori Tellymans from Aston Villa, and it looks like they're about to wrap up Baliba from uh Brighton. Um United have legitimately needed a midfield ramp up revamp for like I'm trying to think, like 15 years. Like, since they signed Michael Kerrick in 2006, the only midfielder signing I can remember that was like high profile or whatever was like Paul Pogba in uh 2016. 10 years later, by the way. Um yeah, and then since then it hasn't happened until I would say now, probably. Um, of course, there have been some, you know, Bruno was a big signing, but that was he was going from sporting, you don't really know what you're gonna get, right? Um, but yeah, the United have needed this type of summer for the midfield for God knows how long. Um, and it feels- I mean it's felt like I wandered every summer being like we need at least two midfielders, we need at least two midfielders, and it every summer ended up with United either signing none or signing one that ended up being you know pretty shit. Like if there's the Mason Mound, there's the Ugarte, there's the uh the Chris Amiro sign window, there's the uh Fred, there's the Amrabat. I mean, it's just been a total disaster in the midfield department when it comes to signings. And they'll finally get through signed. Well, I'm assuming three that Poliba's gonna be um gonna be announced somewhat soon. But they'll finally sign three midfielders that I like, that I'm actually excited to watch. It's just it feels crazy to be honest with you. Um, I mean, all three I'm happy to you know, happy to sign, uh happy that we signed as well. Andre Santos, I mean, there's a lot of hype around him when he was at Strasbourg alone. He came back, he didn't really play much for Chelsea this season. He was kind of in and out of the team, not even not too much in, to be honest. But uh watching him in a preseason, like I mean, I've liked I've liked what I've seen. Like he looks like an all-rounder midfielder, which I prefer to see. Yorusie Lemons, I've been a fan of this guy since he's been at Villa for the last couple of years. In my opinion, he's been one of the best hand float midfielders in the league for the last few years. Um, and the price that we signed him at is just crazy. I mean, 35 million in this day and age. I know it's a release clause, but still like utterly ridiculous. Um, and Carlos Baleba, I mean, to be honest, Baleba out of the three signings, is probably who I'm the lowest on. But I will say his skill set when it comes to running and tackling and carrying, they don't really have that in the midfield. Now, Kobe can do that, but he's not the athlete that someone like Baliba is, right? Um, and it seems like we're gonna sign him for like 65 million to 70 million. That I can live with, you know, but it was last summer and it was 120 million, I'm like, man, hell no. Um, and on top of that, when we were looking to sign him last summer, they were kind of framing it like he's just gonna be the savior of the midfield. And that to me just was like crazy. Now that he's coming as a part of three midfielders, and we have Kobe Meinu, and you have Bruno Fernandez, and you have maybe Mason Mount, who knows? Probably not. Um, along with you know, Santos and Tierlemans, I'm like, okay, as a part of a midfield room, I feel a lot better about it than 140 million as them as the guy, you know. Um, so I'm happy with they've done so far, but they still need more. They need to sign a left back, and based on the reports, I think Fabricio said that they're going to sign a left back for sure. So I'm optimistic about that. But the thing that's worrying me is they really need to sign a center back. Um, because in this last preseason match, now I don't want to take anything too much from one preseason game, but Lissandro McGuire and Luke Shaw all looked horrible running in space defending. I mean, they got cooked. Now I know people will say Lissandro is his first game from the World Cup, all that jazz. First of all, he's always injured. So at this point, it doesn't even matter how good you think he is, he's injured too often for it to matter. Second of all, he just doesn't have it physically to defend at the highest level. If you want to be a front foot possession-based team, you just need better athletes in the back. I'm sorry. Like, trust me, I appreciate his talent, his uh ability on the ball and all that stuff. It's a it's second to none, but you need more in this DNA to defend than just on ball ability. Um, so yeah, they need a center back. Um, I believe in Aid in Heaven, I believe in Lenny Euro's ability, but they're 20-year-olds, bro. Like, I think expecting them to be consistent performers at this point is kind of crazy. And even Maguire was like, Yeah, man, I don't care if I don't play. I want us to sign players so we can win trophies. Um, so yeah, they need a left back, which looks like it'll probably happen. Hopefully, it's Lewis Hall. Um, they need a center back. I don't think that's gonna happen, sadly. And I think if you want to be a serious top-level team, you'd probably need another forward to be honest. But again, I doubt that happens because there's been basically no links, and the fact that it sounds like Marcus Frash 4 is gonna stay for sure. I don't think they're starting a forward. Um, now I think the signings they may have liked, but they need to be way more aggressive in selling some players. Lysandro, I talked about Xerxy. I mean, he's just not that good, man. He's just he's just not that good. And Cunya and Bumo, Rashford can all play as a striker if need be. So I just don't think the need for him is there at all. If you can get 30-40 million, that would be amazing. Um, yeah, so he should be he should be on the way out. To be fair, I think they are trying to sell him at least. But um, to me, the biggest thing is that Lisandro and Dorgu, Dorgu has to be sold, in my opinion, because at this point, it's clear as day, Michael Carrick does not see him as left back, right? Now, whether he can be a good left back or not, I think is up for debate amongst uh um amongst reasonable people, right? But the simple fact is Michael Carrick has decided he does not believe that he can play as a left back. Now, whether he's right or wrong, we don't really know, to be fair, right? But let's just all agree that he's decided that. Now, with that being the case, there is no world, there's no universe, there's nothing that I can I can believe that he should start at left wing ahead of either Marcus Rashford or Matthias Kunan. There is no world where I believe that should happen. So if that's the case, he's gonna spend the bet the most of the year just sitting on the bench or you know, at most cut minutes here or there. Like, I just don't believe he should or will get the minutes this season, and that can only hurt his value. So, right now, cash in what you can, get your 30-40 million, whatever it is, and move on, you know. So I think they need to be a little bit more aggressive when it comes to selling players. Um, if I had to rate their window so far, I would say, and I'm gonna count Baliba in this calculation to be fair. I would say seven because they came in with the midfield being dire in terms of bodies, number of bodies, you know, Casemiro leaving, Ugartes, um Torne Ciel, and bad anyway. Um, the only midfielders they had on the books coming to the summer was Bruno Fernandez and Kobe Menu, right? So the fact that they've addressed that completely, like without any stone unturned, for great prices. I might add for the fact they signed three quality midfielders with good at good ages, well, two of them at good ages at least, for a combined 140 million. When you look at the prices for players these days, I mean that's that's great work, and yeah, like I said, this is this the optimist it sounds optimistic on them signing a left back. So for right now, I would get a seven. If they sign a center back, then that's going to like eight-nine range, but yeah, a good window, I would say, so far. Now, their best 11, I think center lemons for sure, of course, and left back for now is gonna be I guess Lu Shaw. If they sign someone, it'll be him, hopefully. Uh, now the center back pairing can be tricky to talk about because I think it should be Aiden Heaven and Lenny Euro because that's your only chance of playing with athletes at the back. And yes, they're gonna make mistakes, they're gonna have bad games, all that jazz. But I would rather just sink and swim with through their ups and downs, to be honest, than watching Maguire and Lessandro attempt to run in transition and get dusted in races and physically just be not good enough, to be honest with you. Now, if I had to guess, I would guess Maguire starts, and then it's between Heaven and Euro for the second center back to start, at least in the immediate future. Um, and I wouldn't be shocked if Lissandro starts with Maguire for times as well. Um, right back will be Dalo for sure. The midfield, I mean they're gonna there's there's some debate on who should be the midfield parent, you know, trio to start, but I think it's pretty clear that you should be and will be Kobe Menu, Yori T. Lemons, and Bruno Fernandez. Point blank your best midfield trio. Um, your three best midfielders. I think this idea that you're gonna be cooked defensively, I don't believe it. Um, will there be some times where you want someone quicker than Tierlemans and Kobe to recover and make tackles? Yeah, sure. But there'll be a lot more times where teams can get the ball because they're they're too good on it technically. So I'll live with that. Now the front three, again, some debate on who could be the trio could be. Um, as of right now, Cesco is still not fit, I would say. Uh he just came back in training and all that, so he's not gonna start a season, obviously. But eventually I would roll with Marcus Rashford on the left, Sesco through the middle, and Amadiello on the right. Now, to be fair, Brian Ambomo has looked good in preseason, especially his last game against Leeds. He looked amazing. So I maybe he could be in that starting lineup too. So, but yeah, I just think, and to be honest, like, we'll see, right? Like, if Cunha is better than Rashford, then he'll start. If he's not, he won't. As simple as that. Um, I think they have a lot of flexibility in these three in these uh three positions, like Cunha can play on the left, he can play centrally, and Boomer can play on the right, he can play centrally. Uh Alman can play on the right, he can play as a 10. Rashford can play on the left, you can play as a cent as a striker. So there's a lot of flexibility. So with with those uh forward options. Now, expectations. Now, this is probably United are probably the hardest team to nail down for expectations coming into this season because you know for City and Arsenal, it's quite easy, right? Top of the table, you should be aiming for first, right? For is for Liverpool and Chelsea, I think top four, you know, comfortable top four, especially for Liverpool's case, is the aim when you have you know new coaches, a lot of change, all that jazz. For United, you have the same coach that you had. I mean, you already finished top four comfortably last season, right? So the only thing up from there is to it's to challenge for the league. But am I confident in their ability to challenge the league? I'm not so sure. Like I think they need to sign the players I was talking about earlier to give me the confidence to believe in that. But I would say they should be aiming for a second place finish and to be within like 10 points of Arsenal, you know, or whoever ends up winning the league, I should say. But um, I think the most important thing is that you have a lot of confidence in Carrick as your manager going forward after the season. Um, and now if he continues the performances and the results of last season, then I think that's that can happen, that will happen. Um and the last thing in terms of expectations, I would say United have a lot of players in that age 20 to 22 you know area. You got Cesco, you've got um Menu, you've got Santos, you've got Baliba, you've got uh Heaven, Euro, um I think Lemenz is around the same age. If those guys continue to progress and show themselves as club stalwarts going forward, then that would be a big thing, right? Because Dennis is like, okay, you've got a core of players that you can look to build around. Um I think a good amount of those you already kind of believe in. Like to me, Kobe Mainu, I believe in Sesco. I know some people are a bit lower than me on him, but I believe in him. Lemenz, I mean, he's a keeper, I don't really care to be honest with you. Santos and Baliba, I TBD, in my opinion, Aiden and Aiden Heaven and Lenny Euro, same thing, TBD, but I believe in their ability. So yeah, I think if some of those guys pop as like maybe more than just good players, then that could be a successful season as well. Um, now to most important players. I mean, I could name so many players here for the you know, for X Factors, I guess you could say, but I'm gonna try and keep the number low. Um, and for me, for United is three guys Aiden Heaven, Lenny Euro, and Benjamin Sisko. Now, Euro in Heaven is kind of self-explanatory because, like I said, McGuire and Lassandra are not guys I think you want to play with, you know, for 30 plus games a season at this point in their career. Um, so you need those young guys to come in and look like they're gonna be starters going forward. Um, but sesco to me is your only real ticket to that top bracket forward currently on the squad. You know, there's a small chance that guys like Ahmad or Rashford can maybe become that, but I would say the most likely candidate is Cesco. Now, as I've said before, most teams that win the Premier League have one of the best two or three attackers in the league, right? I mean, you could look at the teams that won the league in the past. I mean, United had Rooney, Ronaldo, Chelsea had uh Drogba, you could they had Diego Costa, they had Eden Hazard, um Arsenal. I mean, Arsenal is the exception, to be honest with you. Uh, but when they were in their in their heyday, they had Tier Henry as their main guy, um, you know, Robert Pires, all that. Um, Man City had Aguero, they had um how they have Holland, of course, Raim Sterling, we had Mares, these are all like, you know, top world. I mean, it's Liverpool had Salah Amane, um, you know, the list goes on and on. Like, all these guys were certified world-class attackers and guys that'll go down as like you know, Premier League Legend type of players, right? So nobody in United's current team projects to be that, currently speaking. Now, Benjamin Cisco to me, there is a universe where he has that kind of ceiling, right? Like, he has all the tools in his bag to be that kind of player, in my opinion. So I think, yeah, if and if he does it this season, because his I mean last season, his goals for Minnet was like, I believe, only second to Holland in the league. But um, he had a couple injuries, you know. For some reason, he was coming off the bench for a period of time. But like, if he can submit himself as a 20-goal a season type striker, that would be monumental for Man United going forward for this season and going forward. Um, because if you look at the market, like what striker do you feel good about signing to be that? Like, nobody really. So if he can become that guy, that would be I mean a create amazing development for United's prospects um short and long term. Um all right, on the Liverpool, last season's fifth place team, they stacked on a slot, they brought in Ariola from Bournemouth. Let's get into the transfer stuff. Um but for to be honest, for Liverpool, it's a pretty hard discussion because they've not actually signed too many players, but they've been linked with a lot. But let's talk about this players they've sold Robertson, Sala, Konate, all left on free transfers. It looks like they're gonna sell Curtis Jones to Inter Milan as well. They've brought in Victor Munoz, Arajo on loan, and uh Jeremy Jacket, they signed in January, but he's officially joining in this summer. Um, they're obviously still trying to do this Barcola thing, the Mbaye. I mean today they're linked to uh Minta from Brighton. So I think it's clearly they're gonna try and sign two wingers, and I think their preference is one of them to be Barcola at least. Other one, who knows? We'll see. But um the thing, I mean, Araho to me was a panic signing that I talked about at the last or two weeks ago. Um uh but the thing is to me, is like, are they really gonna not make no additions to the midfield or at fullback? Like, I mean, you have last year's midfield, which was not very good. Now you can put a lot of that blame on Arnest Slaw and his tactics for sure. But I would imagine Florian Verts is gonna play as a number 10 this season instead of like on the left. Um, so where does that lead their midfield? Like, is it gonna be Gravenverts and Sub Buzzlai? So as a midfield three, you're gonna get Gravenverts, Subuzli, and Verts. I think they need to I think they need to add some more into their SP. Especially some ball winning, I would say. Um, and a fullback like Kirk is up and down first season. Um, they don't have much cover for him. I guess is Simikas back on loan. I think he is. Right back. I mean, Connor Bradley is still injured. Fring pong is not good. Maybe they believe that Arajo can be a you know makeshift right back. I know that Sabuzla played there at times last season as well. I don't know. There's just a lot of holes in the squad, if you ask me. Um, and a lot of faith in their young center backs. You know, Giovanni Leone, who was injured last season, I think believe it towards ACL. I don't believe he's returned yet. The um Jacket, I know he came back. He played in the previous friendly, apparently he was good. Um, but it's a lot of faith in two young center backs. Again, young center backs are gonna make mistakes, they're gonna have bad games, especially when you're that young. Uh Van Dyke at his age, I mean, I don't know. I don't I think he was he's still good, but there's uh he's not the same guy anymore. I think that's fair to say. Um, yeah, so like assuming they're gonna land the wingers, two wingers, and I'm assuming one of them is gonna be Barcola for an assert amount of money. Uh, I'm gonna give their window kind of a four out of ten. So like I just don't think they've done enough to address the holes in the squad. That started last that started last summer, remember? When they lost Trent, they lost uh Kwanza, they lost uh Luis Diaz, and they didn't replace a lot of these guys, and they still haven't replaced a lot of these guys. So I and and now more holes are picked up with Salah leaving with Conate leaving. Like, I don't know, I just feel like there's I don't feel there's enough urgency for how many holes they have for a team that was had was finished fifth, you know, after one of the worst high defenses we've seen, it doesn't feel like there's a lot of urgency to sign, you know, add to the squad that you would think. Um, so yeah, I'm not really impressed with the windows so far. Um, going to the best 11. Allison, of course, Kirkz, of course, Van Dyke, of course. The other center back next to him. Is it gonna be I'm assuming it's gonna be Jacket? I believe that's how you pronounce it, Jacket, Jeremy Jacket, and right back. I mean, who is it gonna be? Is it gonna be Freempong? I mean, Connor Bradley, I believe he's still injured. Is it gonna be Arauho? I don't know. I I don't know, honestly. Uh midfield, we talked about that. I'm guessing it's gonna be Sobazla, Graven Birch, and Verts. I mean, to me, that's kind of lightweight, if you ask me. I mean, then in the front three, I'm guessing whoever they sign as the two wingers, it'll be them and then Isak. Um, so not a lot of certainty in that starting 11, as I just said. Um Expectations. Now, I think Liverpool are kind of starting at the bottom. Now, the bottom might be a bit dramatic way to frame it, but to me, this is definitely a a rebuild situation, right? All basically all the guys from the club era are now gone, at least from the team that won the Champions League. At least, you know, uh Van Dijk is still there, but and Alice are still there, but I would imagine in a year or two they'll be gone. Um, so to me, this is clearly a rebuild situation. Um the squad still has a ton of holes. Um, and yeah, I think they should be aiming for a top four finish, and like by the end of the season, you're confident that Iriola is the manager you want to build around going you know in the next three, four years. To me, that would be a successful season. Um and for most important players, this is clear as day. There's no debate who these two players are. It is the 200 million record-breaking signings of Alexander Isak and Florian Furz. It has to be these two. Now, Isak, I'll give some excuse to because he had no preseason, he was probably not fit to start the year and all that stuff. Then he like broke his leg, and I'm sure it was not the easiest transition from him to Newcastle Liverpool. So I'll give him I'll give him some grace. But for the inverts, you cannot get away with what you did last season again. That was not good enough, and I don't care what nobody says, that was not good enough for a supposed world-class player, or whatever you want to call it. So he is spotlight is firmly on him to provide to uh to perform. Um, and yeah, if Liverpool are gonna be you know higher than I am protecting to be, it has to be because of these two players, it just has to. Um, so yeah, that's it on Liverpool. I'm not as high on high as them as other people, as uh probably consensus, I would say, but we'll see how it goes. I mean, last year, last year I told you guys that they were gonna be third, and that this is all this all this fireworks was kind of fugazi, and totally right, so we'll see. Um Chelsea now, another club, but there's lots of ins and outs. Let's go through the transfers. Sold Andres Santos United, Cucurella to Madrid, Chalaba to Como, Garnacho, I believe, was like a loan with obligation or like an easy obligation, something like that to Assin Villa, Tyree V George, to uh Everton. They're still looking to sell more players. It looks like Enzo's gonna go. Maybe Petronetto, maybe Nicholas Jackson. I mean, they're gonna, you know, they're gonna they're gonna offload a lot of players. Um, but brought in, they've got Morgan Rogers for the record fee, Maxon Tharcroy from Crystal Palace, a center back, Marco Palestra as a wing back, Quenda. His loan is um ended, so now he's officially Chelsea player, Valentin Barco, uh Pep Chaveria, another wing back, Danny Webek, and last but certainly least, Jordan Henderson. Um, and they're probably gonna do still more stuff, to be honest with you, because that's just how Chelsea um operate. Um but the biggest takeaway from all these from all this activity, I guess you would say, is they are all in on Xavier Alonso and his three-of-the-back wing back system, right? Because at Real Madrid, he had to kind of adapt and play four the back and all this stuff because he had like a you know a mismatched squad. He didn't have the squad that you would want to play with wing backs and all that jazz. But now at Chelsea, he's given the manager tag, they're building the squad in his image, clearly. Um, and the best thing they probably did was signing two real wing backs immediately, because these type of systems without the wing backs, it's just a waste of time. Trust me, I know. Um, yeah, and Morgan Rogers, I mean, I've gone up, I've gone over him over and over again, even though I hate the price, even though him as a player I'm not the biggest fan of, as I think about it more, his fit in this left hand position in this system, it kind of makes sense, and there is a world where I can see him becoming like a really good player. Now, because I mean if you think about it, he's not a winger, he's not really number 10, so this in-between halfway house is kind of perfect for him, right? Um, so yeah, we'll see how that goes. Um, Jordan Henderson's signing is just a communic relief at this point. Like, you know, they took the experience stuff really to heart. I mean, I if I don't believe that's gonna make any difference in terms of oh, we're now gonna be a smart experience, like no, bro, he's not gonna make any difference, bro. Um, the Welvick signing, uh, that to me actually makes sense because Welvick is still a playable player. I mean, he was quite good for Brighton last season. So if I had to rate the window, I'd actually it's actually higher than I thought when I was thinking about this, but I would give it like a seven or eight out of ten. Because, first of all, they made a lot of good sales um on some bad players, I might add. And the players they've uh they've signed, like we can argue how good they are, but it's clear they are fits in this type of system. So we're gonna at least Shai Lonzo has no excuses for going for this season in terms of oh, I don't have the players that fit my no, you have the players that fit your thing. Now you gotta you gotta make it work. Um, yeah, let's look at the best 11. Um, I don't even to be honest, it's kind of hard. I think you're gonna see in the back three, you're gonna see Reese James, LaCroix, and um Levi Kovo, who's back from injury. The wing backs, you're gonna see um on the left, Chaveria, and the right you're gonna see Palestra in the midfield pivot. I'm assuming it's obviously Cassedo be one of them. The second one, I'm not really sure because I think as of right now, it kind of has to be Enzo Fernandez, right? And if it's not him, who is it? Like, is it Barco? I don't to be honest, no idea who the other midfielder is gonna be. But um, the front three to me is pretty easily gonna be Jão Pedro to the middle on the left, Morgan Rogers, on the right, uh Cole Palmer. Um, and that's it that's an exciting attack, to be honest with you. Um I think something they should experiment with at times is uh Jal Pedro as a left hand, and you know, either Wellbeck or if they keep Nico Jackson, you can play through the middle. I think that's something that can actually be quite good, to be honest with you. Um my only thing is like who's gonna run in behind in that attack? Like to me, they're all like ball ball-to-feet type players. Like, who's gonna run in behind and stretch the defense? Now I know in the system, like the wing bags are supposed to do that, but I still feel like you need a runner in the front in the attack at some point, so we'll see. Um, expectations to me, it's about the same as Liverpool, I would say. Um, finishing the top five and confidence in Xabi Alonso being your manager, you know. Um the one thing I will say though is having confidence in Xabi Alonso is more important for Chelsea than Liverpool to have confidence in Ariola because now that you've made these you know system hyper specific type signings, if it doesn't work out, you could be in big trouble going forward because then you have a a mismatched squad that doesn't like you have you have to bring you to bring another manager that plays this kind of system, or it's gonna be hard to reload again, you know. So that's that's that that's what I'm saying. When you commit to a manager like this, it kind of has to work out, or you're in big trouble. Um, and most important players to me is pretty clearly Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer. They need to be two of the best attackers in the league. They just they do. I mean, Morgan Rodgers, you spent 117 million. He has to be one of the best attackers in the league. I'm sorry, he just has to. Cole Palmer. I mean, to be fair, he has been at his best, one of the best like attackers in the league. Last season was obviously a down year, he was not good. There were some injuries here and there and stuff like that. But this season, he's gotta provide, he's gotta, he's gotta come through. I mean, you would think this right 10 position is kind of built for him too. Um to like you know, play the strengths and whatnot. So, those two, Mr. Iceman, it's on you. Um, so yeah, that's for all the big five clubs. Now let's do some predictions or superlifs, how you want to call it. Premier League winner. I'm gonna go with Arsenal, and I don't like it, but there's reasons I explained in the Arsenal section because I don't believe in the attack. I think the injury stuff with Saka is real, even with Dutch and Rice. There's been some stuff about him, you know, you know, running off fumes last season. I worry about his body, I worry about Saliba's back situation, I worry about Timber, uh Ben White and Calafiore's overall injury proneness. So yeah, I don't feel great about it. As like I'm not as high on Arsenal as everyone else, and I know the community shield probably made the picture a bit more rosier than it is, but at the same time, I'm looking at all the other teams. I'm just like, you're not ready to compete. Uh you know, you're not ready to compete. So by default, I kind of have to go with Arsenal as my prediction to win the league. Now, my top five order. I'm gonna go with Arsenal first, of course, and second, I'm gonna go with United, and third, I'm gonna go with City, and fourth, I'm gonna go with Chelsea, and fifth, I'm gonna go with Liverpool. Now, to be honest, Aston Villa could have been in this, and probably should be in this. It's probably harsh to not include them based on what United Marie has done over the last like three years or so. But the fact they have so much turnover with their squad, I mean Tillemans is gone, it uh Ezri Consa is gone, um, they've bought um a new keeper. Oh blank on his name. Um to replace Emmy Martinez, um Zion Suzuki, that's who it is, that's the keeper. Uh I believe they lost Luca Dean, they've lost. I think they're gonna I think they're they might lose, and of course they lost Morgan Rodgers, they're gonna they might lose um Ali Watkins a Saudi. So it was a lot of change here. So I if they were if it was last year's team, I would say they're probably a good bet to be like fourth-fifth, but I think there's gonna be a little bit of a drop-off, plus Chamber football is gonna not make it easy on them either. Um, and having said that, I love uh Mon Zombie, that's the player they signed. So maybe I'm being a bit harsh to Villa. But those, I mean, I think the most surprising inclusion there will be United at two. I mean, simple fact is look, in the games Michael Carrick managed last season, they were the number one team in the league on points, right? And that includes them playing Arsenal in City and winning. And uh they played Liverpool, they won. They played Chelsea, they won. They played Aston Villa, they won. They played who else they played Brighton away in a meaningless game. They've absolutely destroyed them. Um in the preseason, they've looked good. You know, this last game they looked terrible, but outside that they've looked good. They've addressed their biggest, you know, their biggest, yeah, their biggest need, I would say. And yeah, I just think this is a good team. I think Michael Carrick is a good manager, and at least a lot of questions in City, at least a lot of questions at Liverpool. Um, I think City is just so much turnover that's just like it's hard to expect them to be cohesive in year one, in my opinion. Um, Liverpool, a lot of holes in the squad, which I'm gonna keep yelling about until they actually um figure it out. Um, Chelsea, I'm kind of optimistic on Chelsea this season, to be honest with you. I would be I would I would be tempted to put them a bit higher if I had like more confidence in Shab Alonso as a manager because I'm not completely sold on him, to be honest. But if I look at their starting 11, I'm like, okay, this is a pretty complete unit, to be to be honest with you. But um, yeah, and they've got no European football, so I could see I could as I'm talking about it, I'm kind of like uh they could be in a conversation for like second or third, you know. Um some other predictions, golden boot, Holland, duh. Uh but there's not even anyone to even consider, like seriously, like in previous years you could say maybe Salah, um, Isak gave Marin for the money, but like now it's like there's nobody, right? Like the only thing would be Isak, you know, rediscovering his newcastle form at Liverpool. Um but maybe Cesco, maybe Cesco, but I don't see him being injured right now, it makes that much less likely. Um the best signing of the summer is gotta be either Bruno Comerz, Bruno Gomares or Tillemans, to me. Um, simply put, I mean they're two of the best players in the league that were signed for reasonable prices in a day and age where guys that done nothing go for 100 million. So to me, it's those are no-brainers. The worst signing of the summer is there's a lot to pick from, as you as you may imagine. I would say it's Garnacho. The fact that he somehow again has upgraded after being playing horribly for a whole season is incredible, but uh yeah, it's a horrible signing. I I don't is I don't I believe it's like basically obligation, but um yeah, Aston Villa are gonna Aston Villa fans, you're in for some you know wherever the opposite of a treaty is, you're in for that. Uh Arajo, again, I don't think he's good, I think he's gonna be exposed pretty quickly, and I think Ariola is not gonna play him much after the first two months of the season, if that. Um, and the last thing I wrote here for worst signing, I mean Tottenho, what the hell is going on? Now, to be fair, in some regard, I understand it because when you finish 17th twice in a row as the ownership, you're scared shitless, right? Because the amount of money you lose from getting relegated or in missing off from Europe to say the least is massive. So I understand whether like, yo, we need to assign players to make sure we're a top half of the league type team, at least. You know what I mean? So I to some degree I understand that, but I mean the money they spend is bonkers, like a hundred million for Sandra Tonali is ludicrous. There is no world where you get a good return on that investment. There's no world because it's not like oh, we have Tonali, we're a great team. No, not the case at all, it's not even close. Uh Savinio, 75 million plus, I don't know how much for a winger that doesn't do anything. But I mean he can to be honest, the Savinio thing, I don't like it, but I can understand it a little bit as a swing to like okay, it's hard to sign good attackers in this market. Maybe he's got he's got some traits that we can use and he can become a good attacker, maybe, right? So I could to some degree I can see that one a little bit. I don't I don't know, I wouldn't do it to be honest with you, but I can see it a little bit. But like if they spend big money on Marmoush, I'm just like, bro, what the hell are you guys watching? Like, what honestly, what is going on? And to be honest, also, like, isn't Marmoush on a massive contract at a city with like 300k? Like, how are they gonna afford all? Like, if they do all this and then don't get European football, what is gonna be the like the reaction to that? What's gonna be the fall, the um the fallback on that? Like, it's just kind of I don't know, I don't know, to be honest. But um, hey, Mateus Fernandes is really good, at least he overpaid for him, but he's really good. So that that that one I can get behind, to be honest. Um, but yeah, it's just I'm not, I mean, I kept trying to think, like, when have Tonham ever spent mad money like this, like without selling, like, you know, at least when they when they sold Gareth Bell, you was saying them buying a bunch of players, like you can expect that to happen. But this one is like out of nowhere. They spent like 400 bands. I'm like, whoa, this is crazy. Um, but yeah, that's all I got on the preview. I'll be back next week recapping every match week going forward. Till then, I'll see y'all then.