Premiership End of Season Review.

mike65

I think "meh" sums it up for me, a shocker of a start, a good run then some stumbles as Rafa clearly started to shift his focus to the Champions League, a pity but I guess if Athens is another one of "those nights" we'll not mind too much, second place has been out of reach for some time.

Next season is another matter however.

Mike.

el rabitos

i'll see your meh, and raise you a bleh.

awfull stuff at times from the pool. take away the cl final and you'd have alot of unhappy campers. still alot of bull****ters at the club imo, some more dead wood needs to be shipped off to be replaced with some genuine winners.

glad west ham survived though

fade2black

I'd expect Man United to sign 1-2 players, bring on some more of the youngsters and defend their title relatively comfortably.

I can see Liverpool and Chelsea slipping back further and we will probably see better from Arsenal and maybe Spurs.

A good season all in all, a pity we couldn't add the CL final to everything else but in this day and age you probably need two starting 11s to realistically challenge for all the major trophies.

Dont be at yourself

From a Liverpool point of view, same-old, same-old. A poor start meant we were out of the league by Christmas.

The cup defeats to Arsenal weren't too devastating for me, as the cups obviously weren't Rafa's priorities.

Champions League run has been great. Fantastic night in the Nou Camp and another semi-final victory over Chelsea. Whatever happens against Milan, I'll be happy enough. no doubt we'll give them a game though.

Of the new signings, few have impressed. Aurelio looked to be hitting form before that injury, Arbeloa came in and looked solid for the most part. Macherano has had his ups and downs, but is a welcome addition. Pennant seems to have settled in, and Gonzales hasn't done much at all.

Kuyt has been solid if unspectacular, Bellamy has been disappointing.

Well done to United for proving that Chelsea can be stopped, and well done to Chelsea for pushing them the whole way. Hopefully next season will be even more competitive.

Next season? We'll have a bit of money in the summer by the sounds of things, and yet again the areas that need strengthening are the wings and up front - as has been the case since Rafa arrived. Kewell & Garcia being back fit will be a bonus, but I think we still need more of a cutting edge. The gamble on Pennant has perhaps paid off, but Gonzales has much to prove. As such, I'd like to see us go for an established name. I'd love to see David Silva in a 'pool jersey, but I can't see Valencia selling.

Up front is the other problem area. With Fowler and presumably Bellamy out the door, and Voronin coming in, it's an area that needs to be addressed. Crouch and Kuyt have both done well this season, but don't particularly seem to play well together. I feel Kuyt could benefit enormously by having the right partner up front. Who? I don't know. Tevez might be on the cheap, and could be the answer. Villa is likely to be too expensive. I wouldn't be keen on Trezegeut. Alfonso Alves is apparently being looked at, and while it is a gamble, he could be a good addition.

jank

I would add to this but unfortunately us arsenal fans had this dicussion 2 months ago...

Says it all really

Cant wait for next season though...so long we bring in some good players. Too many deadwood players at arsenal

Mitch Connor

fade2black wrote:

I'd expect Man United to sign 1-2 players, bring on some more of the youngsters and defend their title relatively comfortably.

I can see Liverpool and Chelsea slipping back further and we will probably see better from Arsenal and maybe Spurs.

A good season all in all, a pity we couldn't add the CL final to everything else but in this day and age you probably need two starting 11s to realistically challenge for all the major trophies.

i applaud your optimism....

I don't think it will be an easy campaign at all next season. I fully expect Arsenal and Liverpool to improve on the performances this season, and Chelsea will be strong as ever, especially with a good few million worth of additions. They won't let themselves get in the same mess in defence again, and they might even sign a striker that they can play alongside drogba, who actually scores. Joe Cole will also be back, and he will be a big plus.

I do expect United to add to the squad, and i hope Pique and Rossi can add to the team too, but it will be another wonderful acheivement if we retain the title again next season, no mistake. Also, I don't think Rooney will have as poor a season again (despite his goal tally, he was pretty poor for the majority of the season) so if he is on form next season, along with Ronaldo we certainly have a chance.

This season was fantastic for us, i couldn't have asked for more; but i am under no illusions that this squad will require some top quality additions to keep moving forward.

Chucky the tree

As liverpool fan it was ****, as a neutral it was ****. The premiership is becoming awful. The only team worth watching are spurs.

astrofool

If you're a 'pool fan you can hardly claim to be able to judge it from a neutral's pov.

PHB

I was happy

United were great, played great football, and won. I think Ronaldo dragged us a bit too much this season, but I think if the squad is strengthed in the right areas (midfielder, winger, and striker) then I think we can be favorites for the next season.

I was very impressed with Spurs, if they can get their defence in order, I think they can challenge for the CL next season, at the expense of who, if I had to guess, Liverpool, but it'll be tight.

Chelsea's squad wasn't deep enough, and Mourinho playing the same 11 week in week out can only work for so long, and unless you have strength in depth, eventually you'll get done for it. They'll be stronger next year, but unless they can get a system in order, they won't do any better.

Arsenal were very very unlucky with injuries this year. Star striker gets injured, a new young striker does amazing, then he gets injured. Next season, Henry and Van Persie wil be a sight to fear. Fabregas has also come on in leaps and bounds. I think with a bit of steel added in defence, then they will be competing for the title. Considering their problems, they did great to get 4th place only on goal difference.

Liverpool were kinda lucky this year, in that they had the least injuries of all the top 4. They started poorly, and had a couple of blips. They have to strength in every area imo to get to the level required for them to challenge.

Overall, it's been a good season, we'll see how the window goes

marco_polo

Think I can save everyone alot of time here discussing squad improvements for next year with a handy cut out and keep guide.

More Steel:
Man Utd,
Arsenal,
Spurs.

More Flair:
Chelsea,
Liverpool.

.

PHB

I don't think Chelsea need that much more flair to be honest, maybe one more winger would be good.

It's just how they play.

I don't think if Joe Cole, Robben and Shevchenko were playing for another team the team wouldn't have flair.

cson

marco_polo wrote:

More Flair:
Chelsea

They have flair players, their playing style is just reflective of their managers mindset.

Fratton Fred

I thought it was a great season. Last game and we were still in with a shout for a european spot, we were practically safe by easter as well!!

now I can't wait for all the managers to get their holidays out of the way so we can get down to some decent transfer gossip

Defoe is on his way to Pompey...you heard it here first;)

Tusky

PHB wrote:

I was happy

Liverpool were kinda lucky this year, in that they had the least injuries of all the top 4. They started poorly, and had a couple of blips. They have to strength in every area imo to get to the level required for them to challenge.

Every area ? :rolleyes: heh.

The league was pretty disappointing. I think rotation is important but only after you have picked up a bit of pace and consistency. Theres no point rotating heavily every game at the start of the season and I feel this hurt Liverpool in a big way. We also lacked flair with the loss of Garcia & Kewell. Gonzalez was absolutely awful while Pennant took 3/4 of a season to get going. In general, the form of the big players was pretty bad too. Gerrard & Alonso were average and Riise had a bad season apart from a couple of nice goals. I also think that Rafa is too negative in away games. We are good enough to finish off weaker teams and shouldn't play so defensively.

If Rafa buys the right striker/winger and adopts a slightly more attacking style of play in away games I feel Liverpool can be a serious contender next year.

Chucky the tree

astrofool wrote:

If you're a 'pool fan you can hardly claim to be able to judge it from a neutral's pov.

who says? Is this a new forum rule in the charter i have missed?