General Premier League Thread 2024-25

What's 2009 about? Arsenal won the FA Cup three times between 2013/14 and 2017/18.

I agree to a certain extent. I think those 97/98/99 etc point seasons from the Klopp and Pep era are done. The middle of the pack are too strong, in the last few years, clubs like Bournemouth and Brighton etc, the money getting spent at the likes of Forrest now. It just makes it impossible to win week in week out.

But Pep will not want to go out without a whimper. He will be doing his best to win another title before he leaves, and he will be backed heavily. I also think that next year the league will be even harder if Bournemouth and the likes get some European money to back them, that 85 odd points could win a league. And Pep can definitely get a team to that number.

Arsenal are not Real Madrid or Chelsea. You won the league 21 years ago and have never won the Champions League. That comparison makes it sound like Arteta not winning something in 5 years isn’t par for the course with Arsenal, when it is.

Arsenal have far more history than Chelsea and are much bigger club. The reason we are not competing is because the owners don't have ambition. Kroenkes are happy with the UCL money and nothing more.

Arsenal only have champions league and they’ll have to play Real Madrid in the next round. Man City have FA Cup but still early days and they might have to play Newcastle/Forest/Aston Villa/Brighton.

Arsenal have really pushed the boat on transfer spending the last few years after initially being really frugal when Arteta first came in.

€110m, €235m, €187m & €170m spent on incoming players in the last 4 seasons.

There was also a massive jump in their wages last year too with wages increasing from €284m to €396m as the current wage bill. That's a 40% increase.

City might yet win the cup. Less than brilliant sides have won it recently. Arsenal are goosed on the trophy front.

He knows that. he just likes to bring it up once a month or so to provoke a reaction.

Still, any excuse for us to talk about that incredible dominant season is a good excuse!

Liverpool absolutely underdogs this season

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cp8nkkwjk39o

Here's some predictions from the summer. Nobody was calling for a title challenge with a new manager. A lot of our fans were down on Slot because they wanted Xabi Alonso or Ruben Amorim and blamed the owners for not going all out for either

It's not over yet, but it's been a remarkable season so far.

I think 8-10 is a Liverpool supporter??

It’s no surprise that nobody expected a title challenge from Slot, no new manager who comes into any team in the PL is expected to challenge from the off, especially in an era where that might mean hitting 90+ points.

It’s a great team Klopp left him but he’s done remarkably well considering he hasn’t brought anyone in. Obviously the situation has been helped by Arsenal and City’s form but it’s still beyond what anyone would have expected. I think it’s a testament to the clubs backroom management, they have clear idea of what football they want to play and who can help them achieve it.

Pre-season odds -
6/4 City, 7/4 Arsenal, 13/2 Liverpool, 20/1 MUFC, 25/1 Chelsea, 25/1 Spurs, 33/1 Newcastle, 66/1 Villa, 100/1 bar.

Ya, if you think of Arsenal post Wenger and Utd post Ferguson. It's been over a decade and Utd still haven't recovered. It's a remarkable achievement to come in and win the title post Klopp, but it also points to the strong position Klopp left this squad in, for that he should also get a lot of credit.

Well, you have to try something, don't you? Limited options otherwise:

1. Post nothing, sit it out, silence
2. Post honestly: the current situation is annoying, and they would prefer if Liverpool were worse and Utd were better

So you have option 3, the preferred option, pouring some cold water on the situation. 'It's a weak league*, probably Liverpool's first actual title given the asterisk on the COVID year, and Liverpool fans don't win properly, do they? They don't win like we do anyway, and sure, we are the only fanbase who knows anything about winning.'

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*I think Liverpool will get a relatively handy title compared to 2019, 2022, and the shadow Pep's City cast over the league generally for years. And this must not be very pleasant for people, as it is hugely surprising for Liverpool fans. Klopp left during the team crashing out last year, followed by a summer of relative inactivity with a new manager from the Dutch league - I forgive rival fans for crossing Liverpool off the list. The era should have been over, and Liverpool should have been dealing with a painful rebuild. Grabbing a league title against preseason expectations must be entirely tilting in that context.

The glorious mystery of sport!

Can you show me your posts pre-season where you said they would be challenging for the league title? Or is this just pure hindsight stuff trying to get a dig in?

A lot of the stuff I read during the summer from fans of other clubs, and some Liverpool fans too, was about the drop off after Klopp, the unknown of Slot, players such as Endo Elliott Nunez Gravenberch Szobozlai Gakpo Quansah Konate Diaz Trent not being good enough to win a title, Robertson on decline and the ages of Alison, VVD & Salah.

I certainly didn't think that this was possible after last season's tail-off, albeit enhanced by injury, but mainly because of the loss of Klopp and no new first team signings. For my sins, I thought we would we finish ahead of Liverpool as we were on the up at the start of a cycle and them on the way down at the end of their cycle. I definitely didn't think the title was such a foregone conclusion until this weekend. If you were able to ignore all that and predict a comfortable Liverpool title win 8 months ago, then you can hand over this weeks lottery numbers please as you obviously can see very clearly into the future, things nobody else can see.