Where do you think we will finish in 2022/2023?

[mr ashley]

Arsenal have signed 2 players who seriously upgrade their starting XI, with another (Saliba) coming back from a loan. Perisic is an upgrade at LWB but the rest of our signings are depth.

In my opinion we need a special player in the middle of the pitch. I like Holjberg and I think Bentancur is a really tidy player but we clearly have an issue with ball progression. The first half today was so painful.

I hope we can make a splash before the window closes.

That said, Arsenal have Europa and that has proven time and again to kill momentum in the league. I don’t think they have the depth but they do have an excellent starting XI now.

So if our starting 11 is better than theirs, and we’ve signed players to give us greater squad depth than them- have we had a better window than them?

 

[H-SF]

Anywhere from 2nd - 5th mainly depending on how many injuries we/ (our rivals) get and how deep we / (our rivals) go in Europe. I think we’ll struggle domestically if we go deep in the UCL. The prem is ridiculously competitive and Conte has struggled coaching 3 games a week in the past. Likewise if we bomb in the UCL I’d be pretty confident of top 4. If I had to put money on it now I’d say 5th but we’ll go deep in Champs.

 

[eddiev14]

So if our starting 11 is better than theirs, and we’ve signed players to give us greater squad depth than them- have we had a better window than them?

The question should be whether we have taken advantage of our Champions League status and recent cash boost to put them in our dust.

I don’t think we have.

We started the window with the likes of Gvardiol, Bastoni, Martinez etc as targets, all of whom are players who oust players in our starting XI.

I think the window has been ok, but we’ve not taken advantage of our current position. The fact that Emerson is still starting at RWB is just poor imo.

Arsenal have got closer to us instead of us using our position to get further away from them, which to me feels like an opportunity missed.

 

[Yiddo100]

Between 3rd and 5th for me

 

[amathews3416]

I think Liverpool are vulnerable this year. I don’t think Mane is as easily replaceable as people think.

Arsenal first 11 look great but wait to see what happens when fixtures start coming thick and they have some injuries. I also think they have a weak mentality that will lend to some dry patches.

City clear number one and 2-5 all up for grabs.

 

[Rogmeister]

If we keep playing this style footy then 5th.

 

[Mr Pink]

Sticking with 2nd.

We'll get stronger as season goes on, I've no doubt about that.

We often start quite slowly yet we're digging out points.

Arsenal have certainly improved but they'll be behind us come the end.

They'll probably be ahead of us as we break for the WC...but second half of the season with our fixtures being more favourable and them probably going deep in the Europa...we'll take them.

Totally confident on that...and that's even if they sack the EL off.

 

[mr ashley]

The question should be whether we have taken advantage of our Champions League status and recent cash boost to put them in our dust.

I don’t think we have.

We started the window with the likes of Gvardiol, Bastoni, Martinez etc as targets, all of whom are players who oust players in our starting XI.

I think the window has been ok, but we’ve not taken advantage of our current position. The fact that Emerson is still starting at RWB is just poor imo.

Arsenal have got closer to us instead of us using our position to get further away from them, which to me feels like an opportunity missed.

Whilst I’m not convinced our transfer business is finished yet, I’m not sure I agree that we’ve missed an opportunity to put them in our dust as things stand either.
Arsenals confidence is high, and the signing of Jesus has helped to start their season well.
However, as we saw last season their squad is paper - thin, and one injury /suspension and they were down to the bare bones. Has that changed?
Take the Romero situation- we have Sanchez who did well (again) today. Who do they have if Gabriel gets injured? Holding?
Or when xhaka inevitably gets suspended? Sambi lokonga? Ramsdale?
I hope you get my point.
whereas we can legitimately say that we have two players in every position now. We can rest Kane and /or son.
we can cope with Hojbjerg getting injured, or Romero getting sent off.
We can play CL football and cope with the following game at the weekend.

So whilst they might have improved their starting 11, they’ve not improved their squad so I believe as the season progressses (and they play some tough games btw) that they will drop points.

I don’t have the same concern for us.
I think 2nd is there for the taking.

 

[piedpiper]

I'm staying with 4th...... but another tight battle for 4th.. we keep saying Arsenal will battle with Europa league.... we have CL to contend with as well.

I'm sticking with 4th. As another poster put it. We've signed 2 decent PL proven players in Bissouma and Richarlison..... but those two aside not much else... we've got better squad depth and no more. I haven't seen anything of Lenglet yet to make an assessment there.

Having said all that..... I keep reminding myself that Kulusevski & Bentancur haven't had a full season so they too are new signings. We stronger than last season that's certain.....but the way we play doesnt fill me with confidence.

Edit.... we 3 games in..... let's see how the team evolves but on current showing....fighting for 4th.

 

[greavesy461]

I'm staying with 4th...... but another tight battle for 4th.. we keep saying Arsenal will battle with Europa league.... we have CL to contend with as well.

I'm sticking with 4th. As another poster put it. We've signed 2 decent PL proven players in Bissouma and Richarlison..... but those two aside not much else... we've got better squad depth and no more. I haven't seen anything of Lenglet yet to make an assessment there.

Having said all that..... I keep reminding myself that Kulusevski & Bentancur haven't had a full season so they too are new signings. We stronger than last season that's certain.....but the way we play doesnt fill me with confidence.

Edit.... we 3 games in..... let's see how the team evolves but on current showing....fighting for 4th.

Perisic?

 

[barry]

1st. This is Conte ball. It's not high pressing dominating football it's a mid block quick transition affair. If we stay defensively strong, and can hang around the top till Christmas we can do this. Conte ball really comes to the fore in the new year when teams are tired. This is my belief.

 

[Rout-Ledge]

Far too early to be worrying about Arsenal finishing ahead of us. I don’t think that will happen.

I agree that given this was supposedly our big transfer window to take the club forward and keep Conte happy it’s really disappointing that we haven’t been able to upgrade the defence (yet) given that this was the position we’d set out to improve as a priority at the start of the window.

 

[piedpiper]

Perisic?

I was referring to PL proven....but yeah......let's see how he fairs and the difference he can make. I'm holding out on him for now. His experience will help in fairness...jaut that dies he still have the legs for the PL.... I remember when Reguilon joined and the excitement and now his been cast aside.

 

[dontcallme]

I maintain my prediction of 3rd.

I think Utd are poor, Leicester have lost it and West Ham were never very good. So I don't see much challenge outside of City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

City go in as favourites and show no sign of slowing down. There's a bit of a question mark over Liverpool but I still think they're strong enough to go in as 2nd favourites.

Chelsea have bought well and their potential demise hasn't happened. I see us as being relatively even with them.

Arsenal have also bought well Zinchenko is a very good signing and Jesus is already providing more than Lacazette and PEA did. Saliba is looking good too.

I still think in the long-run Arsenal will fall short. They're looking better but I think they have weaknesses in the squad and their playing style looks great when winning but when the going gets tough I think they'll struggle a bit.

 

[Mattspurs1982]

Looking at the fixtures over the next few months, I believe we will have played Chelsea, West Ham, Arsenal, United and City all away. Just Liverpool at home. Bodes well for the 2nd half of the season given the home form momentum we’re building and if we’re somewhere in the top 4 mix

 

[SPURSLIFE]

I said from the start 4th and I still think we will. Yes we have added to the squad and we have more depth but we still haven't signed that killer player that can turn a season. Not yet anyway. Liverpool, Nunez, City Haaland, Arsenal Jesus have. So I stand by 4th but it will be tough just like last season and again I think it will be us or Arsenal. Those tipping 1st are probably the same ones who tip us to win every game 4-0 just wish full thinking as we are still a long way off City, probably 12 to 15 points and possibly 10 points off Liverpool. A lot closer than last season but in my opinion we still don't have a starting eleven good enough to challenge for the title or CL. There are teams out there that we will struggle to get points off like Brighton and Leeds.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Chelsea losing, city losing, lpool terrible, man.U relegation battle, going to be a NLD title race then

 

[whitechina]

Between 3rd and 5th for me

So 4th then
?

 

[davidmatzdorf]

Thus far, no one has even considered Newcastle in the discussion about who will occupy the top 6 places. It all been "usual suspects"

Hmmm.

 

[jurgen]

I said from the start 4th and I still think we will. Yes we have added to the squad and we have more depth but we still haven't signed that killer player that can turn a season. Not yet anyway. Liverpool, Nunez, City Haaland, Arsenal Jesus have. So I stand by 4th but it will be tough just like last season and again I think it will be us or Arsenal. Those tipping 1st are probably the same ones who tip us to win every game 4-0 just wish full thinking as we are still a long way off City, probably 12 to 15 points and possibly 10 points off Liverpool. A lot closer than last season but in my opinion we still don't have a starting eleven good enough to challenge for the title or CL. There are teams out there that we will struggle to get points off like Brighton and Leeds.

If we're comparing 'killer' players in the forward positions, well we already have them - which is probably the reason we didn't sign Jesus as he wouldn't get in our first XI, at least not as a striker.