KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —- The 33rd season of the Premier League will be a test of credibility on and off the pitch.
For most of its 125 seasons the English league prided itself on its egalitarian structure. England considered itself superior to Spain where Barcelona and Real Madrid shared the prizes or Netherlands with Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord or a Bayern-monopolised Germany.
Then, in 2008, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates bought unfashionable Manchester City, hired Europe’s top manager in Pep Guardiola and invested millions of pounds in building a squad whose talent and depth outstripped all their rivals – even in Europe’s richest league. Guardiola’s eight years in charge have earned 15 major prizes at home and abroad.
The gloomy prospect for the Premier League in 2024-25 is that no-one is equipped to challenge them, except perhaps Arsenal. On the pitch, at least. Off the pitch a dark cloud hangs over City in the shape of 115 charges of breaching financial fairplay regulations. A decision is expected in November though appeals will drag the process and the uncertainty into 2025.
City have denied all the charges and Guardiola insists the club have told him he has nothing to fear. The verdict could influence Guardiola in deciding whether to extend his contract which expires at the end of the season. In the meantime he must focus all his attention on keeping his challengers at bay, his old protégé Mikel Arteta above all.
Guardiola’s City, whatever their future, are favourites to register a record-extending fifth Premier title in a row. They have the best manager, the most money to invest in transfers and wages and thus the strongest and deepest squad. Hence they can afford to regularly offload an Ilkay Gundogan or Cole Palmer or Julian Alvarez without breaking their trophy-winning stride.
Foden chance
This can even be the season when Phil Foden takes over as playmaker from the ageing and increasingly fragile Kevin de Bruyne.
Arsenal are again expected to be City’s closest pursuers followed by a new-look Liverpool, last season’s surprising Aston Villa, London dreamers Tottenham and Chelsea, Saudi-owned Newcastle plus unpredictable Manchester United.
Manager Mikel Arteta, Guardiola’s old apprentice, is said to wake up every morning at 5.30am “thinking about winning.” He is now in his fifth full season since replacing Unai Emery and is more fixated than ever than guiding the Gunners to a first league title since Arsene Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ of 2004.
Arsenal have steadily increased their points tally under Arteta and last season was the first in which they have been within reach of the title on the final matchday.
Last season Arsenal set club records for wins (28) and goals (91) in a Premier League season, conceded the fewest goals (29) and were unbeaten in all 10 matches against the rest of the traditional Big Six. Arteta believes this should all give his players even more confidence about what they can achieve in the new season.
High standards
He says: “We know the demands in the league and the competition we are facing so all our work is trying to find ways to see where are the margins for improvement and get even better. After analysing last season with all the staff it’s clear that, probably in any other context, we would have won the Premier League. That’s a big jump. But the pain from last season is also still there.
“We showed the necessary consistency, capabilities and quality against the top sides and proved we can beat them by being dominant and deserving to win. It was a big stride but, again, it was not enough. We are heading in the right direction for sure and now we’re going to have to improve even further.”
Arsenal are not short of money as they proved last year by investing more than £200m on Kai Havertz, England midfielder Declan Rice and Dutch defender Jurrien Timber. More signings are expected before the transfer deadline on August 30 though Arsenal are restricted by the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
Last season City won the league with 91 points followed by Arsenal on 89 and then a significant gap to Liverpool on 82 despite the emotional swell of Anfield support for the Reds in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell campaign. Filling his shoes in a daunting task for Dutchman Arne Slot.
Tough ask
Being the immediate replacement for a club legend is an almost impossible task. David Moyes discovered that after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Slot has been much a ‘hands-on’ coach during Liverpool’s pre-season work in the United States. The young players in his tour squad were impressed though the experienced internationals, on their late returns after the Euro finals and Copa America, may prove more resistant to change.
The 46-year-old, who has never worked previously outside Netherlands, wants a possession game instead of Klopp’s heavy metal football. This may not sit comfortably with the fans at first. The Kop expects to see Liverpool competing 100pc for four trophies each season. Winning a first match away to promoted Ipswich will be important to settle nerves about a Klopp-less future.
Liverpool lead a pack of hopefuls whose ambition is not to win the title but a Champions League place. Aston Villa want a repeat after their remarkable revival under Unai Emery. He replaced Steve Gerrard in October 2022 and has led Villa from relegation zone to Champions League. Emi Martinez remains an inspirational goalkeeper while top scorer Ollie Watkins demonstrated his talent at the Euro finals with the semi-final winner against Netherlands.
Spurs weakness
Tottenham led the early table last season under new manager Ange Postecoglou before fading to fifth. The Australian’s belief in attack and entertainment is in the Tottenham tradition. However his failure to instil defensive discipline proved fatal. Spurs conceded too many goals from set pieces which, ultimately, means they compete this season in the Europa League and not the Champions League.
Chelsea have the talent to push for a top-four place but new manager Enzo Maresca has no Premier experience. As for Newcastle, uncertainty hangs over Eddie Howe amid his status as favourite to succeed Southgate as England manager. Howe insists the FA has made no approach and that his focus is on his club but this will not prevent speculation continuing to swirl around St James’ Park.
Similarly, managerial doubts will hang over Eric ten Hag at Old Trafford where new part-owner Sr Jim Ratcliffe is restructuring the club from top to bottom.
At the other end of the table promoted Ipswich risk an instant return to the second tier but not necessarily Leicester and Southampton. Both enjoyed the cushion of parachute payments after being relegated only 15 months ago.
Intriguing new additions to the Premier League will be the “captains-only” rule to cut down player dissent and semi-automated offside technology. The first is likely to bring a host of yellow cards before players get the message; the second should help speed up referees’ decisions.
That is good news. What the Premier League needs, more than anything, is less talk about VAR and more talk about the football.
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