2013/14 English Premier League: General Discussion

[AngryTitusPullo]

I guess there's always next season for Liverpool. So near yet so far away. Man U will not be distracted by European competitions next seasons.

[Mary The Quene]

congratz citeh

[Riverknight]

Thank god this season is over with.

[Halie Satanus]

Ha. Your nightmare is just beginning..

Congrats to City, they deserved it in the end..

[Petrucci]

The most dynamic season ever! Congratulations City ,awesome party on Etihad ,blue part are going to demolish themselves tonight and they deserved to do it.
To all City fans on TWC: As Nasri said we won you title light blue bastards rep me!

[Ybbon]

And so ends another season, wonder if Arsene will finally look at transfers before the end of the summer for a change. Ho hum 4th is OK and we were much more competitive than I thought we would be, Ozil will have a better season next year but we have got to play better against the big teams.

[Treva ★]

I guess there's always next season for Liverpool. So near yet so far away.

Will they live to fight another day?

Man U will not be distracted by European competitions next seasons.

Won't they? They need a lot of cash just to service debts.

[Halie Satanus]

And so ends another season, wonder if Arsene will finally look at transfers before the end of the summer for a change. Ho hum 4th is OK and we were much more competitive than I thought we would be, Ozil will have a better season next year but we have got to play better against the big teams.

Sadly no. He's already said he doesn't think much business will be done before the world cup is over. That's Arsene speak for 'I'm going to leave it until the last minute and see who I can get on the cheap.' Thing is, I think the majority of fans will crack if he does that again. Probably a bit early to start talking about targets but those the media are claiming we're after are nearly all likely to play in the world cup, and Wenger won't risk buying a player who might be injured.. Not again surely...

[Ybbon]

Sadly no. He's already said he doesn't think much business will be done before the world cup is over. That's Arsene speak for 'I'm going to leave it until the last minute and see who I can get on the cheap.' Thing is, I think the majority of fans will crack if he does that again. Probably a bit early to start talking about targets but those the media are claiming we're after are nearly all likely to play in the world cup, and Wenger won't risk buying a player who might be injured.. Not again surely...

I thought I could try and convince myself otherwise - you're right of course, he will do what he does every year and leave us cursing him come August - still at least we'll be playing in Europe which is more than can be said for Louis van Gaal and Man Utd - like there is any doubt he will be their next manager!

[Halie Satanus]

No flies on Yahnited. £27m bid for Luke Shaw...

Maybe it's not to early to start talking transfers..

[Sir Adrian]

I still don't understand why he does that. If he invested in players like the other big clubs do we'd dominate the PL.

[Riverknight]

Ha. Your nightmare is just beginning..

Not with this crazy dutchmen at the helm!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[AngryTitusPullo]

Will they live to fight another day?

Don't know and don't care.

Won't they? They need a lot of cash just to service debts.

They just need to sell more shirts.

[Col. Tartleton]

I actually watched part of this because the grass looks so nice in HD.

[Adhamh Ashashi]

I still think United will struggle next year and Liverpool won't be challenging for the title.

United will need to overhaul completely. They have so many expensive flops on their books such as Nani, Young, Fellaini (has time to improve), Cleverly. Then with Rio probably retiring, Evra and Vidic leaving, RVP is past his prime now and Rooney possibly on a collision course with LVG, it will be a struggle.

Liverpool have a number of flops but they will be gone. Moses is heading back to London, Aspas will probably be going back to Spain, Alberto is most likely going to be loaned and Lucas is on the hitlist. With Suso, Borini, Illori and Wisdom coming back having had successful seasons (Suso more so on a personal level, been Almeria's best player this season) it will add much needed depth. Then you have the likes of Rossiter and Ibe coming through the youth ranks. This will be along with the signings made during the summer, so far heavily linked with Lallana (great player but not too sure if he is worth 20 million, same for Luke Shaw's evaluation) and rumours are that Javi Martinez is another target. Liverpool have the drawing power of CL, challenging for the title the season before, having two of the best attacking players in the league in Suarez/Sturridge and having a legend in Steven Gerrard in their midfield.

It's gonna be an interesting summer for both United and Liverpool fans.

[a tw player]

Congratulations to Man City, the best team won the prem in the end. Our lack of depth showed in the end, and taking 37 out of the remaining 42 points was a remarkable feat, along with the obvious success of moving up from 7th to 2nd in just one season.

We will no doubt strengthen plenty over the summer, and it will be interesting to see who comes in - The squad will certainly need to grow in size to fight on multiple fronts (and it will be nice for Rodgers to have the luxury of being able to change games with personnel rather than through tactical tweaks as has been the case this year); I expect to see: an LB, CB, CM, LW brought in, a back up ST and also possibly an RB and another CM/DM. So 6 new players...

My wishlist:

Moreno
(a CB...Ilori is coming back from Spain, we may not need to sign a new one)
Lallana (BBC are reporting a bid has been made - I'd take him for around £15m, go above £20m and I'm not quite so enthused)
Konoplyanka
Kovacic
(a back up ST - will borini returning be enough?)
And...Ashley Cole if his wage demands aren't too outrageous

Outs (permanent only):
Reina - £5m
Coates - (£3m?)
Assaidi - £5m
Aspas - £5m

Would also sell Johnson, if we get in a top class replacement.

(That's right, never too early to talk transfers! )

[Riverknight]

The only reason city won is because Liverpool and Chelsea slipped.

[Halie Satanus]

They won because over 38 games they were the best team. Scored more and conceded less than their rivals. The numbers don't tell the whole story, but they don't lie either..

[Azog 150]

Congratulations to Man City. Pitch invasion looked fun, and I'd always rather you got the title over Chelsea. You've played some very attractive football all season and have some insanely class players. I don't begrudge the likes of Toure, Aguero, Hart and Kompany lifting the trophy.

As for Liverpool, having got over the disappointment of coming so close to the title only to see it snatched away, I can reflect on what has been easily the most entertaining season I have ever seen us play. Some insanely good football and plenty of quality highlight reels. Absolutely mental season. And of course Champions League football to look forward to.

I think we'll be back to gunning for fourth spot next season, but that won't bother me if we play football like we have this season. With some new defenders to shore us up at the back, along with some new midfielders, we'll play even better football (problem is so will everyone else at the top). We certainly need a LOT more depth in our team as that was ultimately where we fell short this season (well that and our rubbish defence). Should be a very interesting transfer window.

Also Anfield stadium expansion plans look quality, with the capacity set to increase to 59,000 after the first stage of expansion (the Main Stand) with the Anfield Road Stand also expected to be expanded. I think that would make it the third biggest in the Prem. Still kept the old-school feel of Anfield; none of that bland-fancy-modern rubbish. I can only dream that one day in the future that the Kop will see the introduction of safe-standing.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As it is now:

Exciting times ahead under Brendan and Fenway.

[Søren]

Mildly interestingly, the title was decided by West Brom.

Excluding games against the Albion, the top 3's points are:

Man City: 80 (W25, D5, L6)
Liverpool: 80 (W25, D5, L6)
Chelsea: 80 (W25, D5, L6)

However Man City's two wins against WBA put them two points ahead of Liverpool, who managed one win and a draw, and Chelsea finished third with just two draws against the Baggies.