The dominant league in the world, the most spectacular and brilliant, the one with the most money, finally sees its hegemony threatened. For the moment, he has managed to stop the siege of the European Super League by Florentino and company, but now the Saudis are lurking, who have taken Firmino, Fabinho and Henderson (Liverpool), Mahrez (City) and Mendy (Chelsea), and are It has become a paradise in the desert and without alcohol – at least officially – for any star of thirty years and over, which is not even the retirement age of a star. On the football planet, the rivalry between Al-Nassr, Al-Ahly, Al-Ettifaq and Al-Hazem is not of much interest at the moment, but it is all a matter of time, dollars and the necessary advertising and television projection.
Has the Premier peaked, despite the conquest of Europe by Manchester City and the pockets full of the sheikhs, oligarchs of multiple nationalities and North American investors who control most of the teams? Are you about to experience a revolution that will undermine your foundations? For now he maintains his halo, but a bad sign for the English is that some of their best players opt for exile or think about it: Bellingham has gone to Real Madrid and Harry Kane, their top scorer, has been tempted by Bayern ( Tottenham received an offer from the Bavarians yesterday for around one hundred million euros).
This is a Premier League with more television cameras in the stadiums to reduce VAR errors, more yellow cards to combat simulations and loss of time, and matches that will last one hundred minutes to compensate for the long goal celebrations and endless substitutions. But what is not expected to change is the champion. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are the big favorites to win a fourth successive title and to continue to dominate in Europe, unless the losses of midfielders Mahrez and Gündogan have a bigger impact than expected.
On paper, City will not lack talent or creativity (last season they had 64.9% possession of the ball). The Norwegian Håland is the equivalent of Nikola Jokic (NBA star), a goal-scoring machine, as if artificial intelligence had already arrived in football, fueled by De Bruyne and Jack Grealish. The additions of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic have to make up for the losses.
His main rival in 2022-23 was Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, who eventually ran out of gas and suffered a kind of stage fright. He has invested two hundred million euros in the reinforcements of Declan Rice (West Ham) and Kai Hervetz (Chelsea), whom he intends to recycle as an attacking midfielder, but the big question is the same as always: will his defense be up to the task, or will he fail? in decisive moments?
Last season was disappointing for a Liverpool hammered by injuries, and whose formula of counter-attacking, constant movement of pieces and openings on the wings was finally neutralized by the rivals. Jürgen Klopp hopes to have a more balanced squad with the additions of Argentine Alexis Mac Allister and Hungarian Szoboszlai, but it is possible that the escapes to the Saudi league (Fabinho, Firmino and Henderson), and the absence of a recognized defensive midfielder, have impact. A mystery.
As for the rest of the “big six”, Manchester United expects to take another step forward in rebuilding the team through Ten Hag, and for this they have gotten rid of goalkeeper De Gea (too irregular) and have spent their good million in the hiring of the Danish Hojlund, the English Mount (from Stamford Bridge) and the former interista Onana. Chelsea, with Pochettino on the bench, has changed half the squad and is fully entering the post-Abramovich era, while Tottenham aims more at mid-table.
Below, the historic Everton aspires not to pass the troubles of last year, and the newcomers Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United, to survive.
