06:17, 12/08/2023
Premier League 2023 - 2024 has started and fans are waiting for the best season in Premier League history. Will Man City write a new chapter in the 134-year history of the tournament: The first club to win the championship 4 consecutive seasons?
1. Coach Guardiola has completed his final mission of conquering Europe with Man City, having done so twice as Coach of Barcelona. But he declared his ambition to achieve more than the historic "treble" last season - Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. This season, Pep faces the challenge of becoming the first coach to win 4 consecutive Premier League titles. Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United (MU) have all won the championship for 3 consecutive seasons. But that is the end, the cycle of success cannot be prolonged any longer. Pep's ambition is clear, but Man City players have the same ambition as Pep is another story.
Although Man City parted ways with captain Ilkay Gundogan, they managed to bring in Mateo Kovacic as a replacement and especially added the "blockbuster" Josko Gvardiol for a fee of up to 78 million pounds, making him the second most expensive central defender in the world. Obviously, Pep Guardiola currently owns a very even, quality and deep squad with most of the pillars at their peak age, and has just strengthened two contracts as desired. Therefore, coach Guardiola is not worried about the quality of the squad, what he wants to avoid most is any risk of complacency creeping into the dressing room.
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| Haaland (right) and Man City lost to Arsenal in the Community Shield last week. Photo: Reuters |
2. Man City's biggest challenge is undoubtedly Arsenal - a team being built by a coach who knows Pep all too well, namely former assistant Mikel Arteta. It is worth remembering that even in a season that saw Man City win the "treble", for most of the Premier League, Arsenal were the team leading. Mikel Arteta's team held the top spot for 248 days. Arsenal themselves missed out on the chance to win the English title for the first time since 2004 due to a lack of experience, and partly due to a lack of squad depth. Of course, Mikel Arteta will know how to fix that.
For the first time in history, Arsenal spent £208 million to bring in only three expensive new players including Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber. The psychological barrier was removed by the Gunners after 8 consecutive defeats to Man City, by defeating their opponents in the Community Shield match last weekend.
There are sure to be some returning powers this season. First up is Manchester United, who finished third in the Premier League last season. Erik ten Hag is in his second season at Old Trafford and after an impressive first campaign, which saw them win the League Cup, reach the FA Cup final and return to the Champions League, he is expected to challenge for the title. But even if he fails to end the 11-year Premier League drought, it would still be a huge achievement if the 53-year-old Dutchman can keep up the challenge against Guardiola and City until the end of the season.
Man City's second obstacle is Liverpool. Coach Jurgen Klopp's team is in the process of "blood change", with a series of players who won the championship in 2020 and reached 3 Champions League finals in 5 seasons leaving the club. Being dropped out of the top 4 in the Premier League last season still hurts Liverpool fans. However, once they are not in the Champions League, they may also focus on the Premier League. Candidates for the Premier League crown are forced to be wary of Liverpool. Meanwhile, after a chaotic year and not winning a ticket to European cups, new coach Pochettino's Chelsea promises to be an unpredictable unknown...
Although there are many fierce competitors for the "throne", it seems that Man City is still the most prominent. The problem is that they have to overcome themselves and the "curse" of the highest league in England, where no club has won the championship for more than 3 consecutive seasons. That promises a colorful season. Of course, the opponents will do their best to block the way for Coach Guardiola and his team to create an "unprecedented" miracle of the Premier League.
Phong Uyen
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