After encouragement from Yung-T I copied my reply from the 21/22 thread on my predictions for the upcoming season to serve as the jumping off point for 22/23 conversation. Hope to get people's pre-season predictions before we get the real thing started. I did not mention Champion's League. Not worth a prediction as I'm always going to pick City but boy do I hope Haaland was the missing piece that gets us that trophy. The new season is all but upon us with most of the friendlies out of the way. I know the Community Shield is this Saturday along with what I imagine would be all the other top leagues version of that match this weekend and then the real thing starting the the following week. Below is how I see the championship races going in each top league. Premier League: Like the last 5 season it should be a two team race between City and Liverpool. I think Chelsea and Arsenal and even United got better this offseason but not at the level needed to challenge the top 2. League can go either way with the homer in me giving it to City. Ligue 1: Nothing to see here. PSG will run away with the league. La Liga: Should be interesting this year with Barca and Real after Barca picked up Lewandowski. Think this becomes a close race again but until I see Barca with Lewandowski on the pitch I can't pick against Real. Serie A: The only league that seems to be more than a two team race. Also the league I keep up with the least so don't feel confident about a winner but I expect it to come down to Milan, Inter or Juventus. Bundesliga: The gap between Bayern and the field should have been big enough that even the departure of Lewandowski won't change the league result. I do think it gets closer than it has in past years with Dortmund (I like the replacements they got for Haaland, Leverkusen and Leipzig rounding out the top 4 like last year.
Premier League: Hard not to predict City and Liverpool as the top 2. Stranger things have happened but they're still the class of the league. I think Chelsea struggles as there doesn't seem to be reasoning behind the players they've brought in and not sold or bought. Feels like they're going to struggle badly defensively and then have too many chiefs up front, even without a 9. Arsenal and United will fight it out for 3rd and 4th, with Tottenham falling off a bit. I think the signing of Richarlson will prove to be a big mistake. West Ham/Wolves/Leicester/maybe Brighton/maybe Aston Villa will be in that next tier. I'll be curious to see what coaches don't make it back for Boxing Day after the World Cup hiatus. I'm betting Tuchel doesn't see 2023 with Chelsea. I am following Leeds to see if Marsch can improve them and seeing Aaronson and Adams make the transition to the EPL. Ultimately, I'm a United fan and I think Ten Hag has already had very positive improvements and think we'll see them get off to a very good start. I'm fine if we don't get de Jong as I do think Zidane Iqbal might be ready for some minutes. I'm curious to see how he integrates Eriksen into the lineup. Possibly inverting the midfield diamond. But if he can get Rashford and Martial playing and scoring again, then he's done magic and we will be much better than last season. Bundesliga: boring and predictable. A bunch of teams fighting to finish 2nd to a Bayern team that will clinch the title again in February. La Liga: I think Real actually runs away with it this year. Think of what's going on at Barca. Bring in a bunch of high priced players and asking those that stuck it out to take massive pay cuts. Feels like that's going to blow up in the locker room. Atletico is struggling financially but should still finish in a CL spot. Ligue 1: see Bundesliga Serie A: I might start watching this more. I don't have a team that I follow but this should be one of the most interesting seasons in a long time. 6 teams fully capable of winning the title. Big improvements from top to bottom. This might be the 2nd best league in Europe now. I don't have a prediction other than to say Paul Pogba will spend most of it injured and Lukaku will score 30 goals.
Really improved a ton compared to years ago, especially the fluidity and passing/shooting, it's pretty watchable now. The goalkeepers are really lacking though, some of the mistakes I've seen in this tourney are brutal.
Group stage was tough to watch sometimes but quarter finals on has been good -- COPA has been really rough.
That's where the woman's game has not and probably will never catch up...in the goalkeeping. It's so bad.
Liked our attack without Lewa, seems more versatile and harder to defend vs the many options and approaches we can utilize now. If Tel also adapts well we should have serious firepower.
US and Canada need a special waiver to play in women's EURO -- 90,000 fans sold out Wembley for the final - that's impressive.
I'm really happy for them, women's soccer has improved a ton and they deserve the spotlight, Germany is also rooting for them. I will probably watch their leagues and competitions more this season, when available.
Bundesliga back tomorrow with Europa League winner Eintracht Frankfurt at home versus Champion Bayern. Really looking forward. I can understand the reservation towards Bundesliga due to the lack of competitiveness at the top. It is more a lack of consistency, though. Dortmund have made themself comfortable with running for 2nd place and blaming the apparent money gap. Teams like Leverkusen or Mönchengladbach don't manage to show up more for more than one year in a row, while high profile clubs like Schalke, Stuttgart or even 2nd Bundesliga's HSV completely fail to enable their potential. But: We still have the best stadiums and the highest attendance and our football belongs to us. Crowd will be cooking tomorrow.
Did Bayern clinch yet? Maybe Dortmund could close the money gap if they quit selling all of their good players and built around them instead...getting them further into the CL ...thus earning more money. I know that's not the only reason as Bayern is simply a global brand like ManU, Real, Barca, etc. It's hard to compete with that...if you're constantly finishing in 2nd. I thought Red Bull was going to be more consistently competitive with the money behind them but they're just another farm team like the rest of the league.
Could ask the same about Shity, Real or PSG. And I'll take that any day over a soulless mercenary tourist sheik toy sportswashing blood money league. Jamal Musiala will be the best player in the Bundesliga in 2-3 years and the best player in Europe in 4-5 years. You've read it here first.
Too funny they wanted to hardball us over CHO (who's turning bust) and instead we got Musiala for free from their academy, absolutely fleeced em.
Early thoughts from matchday 1 of the Premier League. Arsenal are going to be a problem. Not just the 4 goals but there style of play I believe can be replicated against the top clubs. They feel like the 3rd best team in the league this year. Chelsea looked good but did not show a dominate level against Everton. Still see them as the 4th best club in the league but close enough to Tottenham to make the race for the last Champions League spot interesting. Liverpool even with the draw are clearly a top club and will be neck and neck with City for the League both domestic and Champions. Manchester City are going to be a problem. Against a solid club in West Ham on the road and they feel invincible. Between unlocking Haaland and pushing the wing backs central when in possession opening up the field for the forward players anything less than a Domestic and Champions League double will fall short of expectations. Manchester United are bad (for a top club). There team doesn't make much sense with a lot of one dimensional players. Clearly the worst of the top 6 English clubs and a real possibility to fall outside the top 6. Tottenham looked good and feel like a threat from just about anywhere on the pitch. I worry about them on defense and that feels like the only think holding them back from competing at a City/Liverpool level. With United not feeling like a top 6 lock I look at clubs like Newcastle, West Ham, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton and even the team that best them Brighton as potential 6th place finishers.
Apparently done deal according to today's BILD, Brazzo is a beast this summer. Some saying he's the best talent in Spain's 06 generation and similar to Busquets, player with #8 jersey in this vid:
City and Arsenal with strong performances again and 20 minutes in United are in a world of trouble and I for one absolutely love it. Tomorrow's Tottenham Cheslea match will give a early glimpse of who could join City, Liverpool and Arsenal in the top 4.
