A new era for old empires? How a summer of rebuilding could change the Premier League
Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all hope to close the gap on Manchester City and, as Miguel Delaney details, recruitment is key to any resurgence
Shortly after the end of last season, transfers dominated discussion at an England squad gathering, but it wasn’t all about Declan Rice. A lot of Gareth Southgate’s players firmly believed at that point that Harry Kane was going to end up at Manchester United. Some were openly discussing it outside the camp. The feeling was it was Kane’s priority.
That talk still hasn’t gone away, even as it looks like England’s highest ever goalscorer is going to Bayern Munich, and Erik ten Hag has signed Rasmus Hojlund.
There are still those within Old Trafford who believe United would make separate funds available if it got to a situation where Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy was genuinely negotiating Kane’s sale. The difficulty of dealing with the London club was one reason United didn’t pursue their interest. If that changed, it would be one of those transformative signings, to go with the steadier changes Ten Hag has been making.
Overseeing his third window, the United coach has been calculatedly improving his squad position by position rather than going all out with name signings in the way the club has done in the past. It all gets the team that bit closer to Ten Hag’s ideal – even if it has still been expensive.
His approach has been like an accelerated version of Jurgen Klopp’s first few years at Liverpool, as he gradually went through his team each window. The German, himself, has had to be more direct this summer, as he has finally overhauled his midfield for the first time since that period. Liverpool have their engine back, even if it still needs some pieces. There is at least a feeling of freshness again.
That is true of Chelsea, too. It is like so many of the clouds of last season have started to evaporate. That essential focus is what Mauricio Pochettino has brought, even if it remains a hugely complicated job.
It all raises a big question for a new season, that really opens a new era.
After a campaign where some of the Premier League’s most powerful clubs had bad seasons at the same time, and even a resurgent United faded away, will the old empires strike back?
Will we see recent orders re-established?
None of this is to take away from Newcastle United, Arsenal or even Ten Hag’s side last season, especially since a relatively high 71 points was the threshold for Champions League qualification. It’s still true, however, that the struggles of Liverpool and Chelsea created openings. Those openings were forced even wider by the unprecedented disruption of a mid-season World Cup, that played havoc with the entire European domestic calendar.
There is a theory within the game that it at least partly explains the over-performance of some clubs such as Napoli, Osasuna, Feyenoord and even Newcastle and Arsenal due to how many players were in Qatar.
That may be a stretch in some cases, but it can’t be described as a “normal” season when something as abnormal as a winter World Cup happens. It shifts the field.
The question is now whether it has shifted back.
The mood at Liverpool has certainly gone back to something that people around the club have found more enjoyable. It is currently being described as completely different to this time last year. Then, as reported by The Independent in the middle of Liverpool’s hugely difficult winter spell, there was a lot of disgruntlement. There was actually a feeling things could go badly wrong on the eve of the campaign, as the chemistry just didn’t seem right. Too much of the team remained the same, meaning things had gone stale. Klopp, himself, seemed more irritable. There was increased muttering that it could have been his last season.
That talk has now been banished. Klopp has committed to building a second team, and it has brought clarity. Everyone has got behind it again.
The changes to midfield also allow the team to get fully behind attack again. Many at Liverpool insist it was the main issue last season. That energy that drives the team’s essential pressing had gone. Now, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai look ideal Klopp midfielders in how they carry out specific tactical instructions in a highly intense way. That’s what he wants from his “eights”, and why he insisted on them.
Klopp has his starting XI again. The remaining issue is he doesn’t yet have a full squad, with midfield still short. Liverpool have so far lost 10 players and only brought in two, even if many of the former were just not going to be used. Three of them, in James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, also offered a seniority and experience that is now missing. That could have another effect. The counter-argument is that it represents something like Klopp Redux, and a squad profile closer to his great Borussia Dortmund team.
It is young and vibrant again. The belief now is that it should be a Champions League team again, at the least.
Ten Hag now expects more from United, and a title challenge, although it would be a surprise if they got there without a signing like Kane. Some at other clubs scoff at this given what United have already spent for the Dutch coach.
There has been some huge money, with over £140m alone being spent on two younger prospects in Antony and now Hojlund. Ten Hag would argue the squad needed a lot of work. It was a mismatch of expensive signings from three previous managers, compounded by how big contracts meant it was very difficult to sell players. One of the most striking observations from those within the staff last summer was how it felt that it was the first time many of the squad had undergone ‘‘ball-oriented pressing”. Too many players just didn’t fit, with captain Harry Maguire the most prominent at centre-half. He still wants to prove himself. Ten Hag would prefer to move him on, possibly to West Ham United for a £30m-plus deal. The United boss needs his backline to be much slicker in possession and on the turn.
It’s why a ball-playing goalkeeper and modern No 9 were so crucial this summer. One, in Andre Onana, starts everything. The other, in Hojlund… doesn’t actually finish everything. Ten Hag so wanted the striker because he sees him as having the attributes to offer that tactical link at No 9 that was so missing last season. He believes it was one reason why Antony wasn’t as good as he could have been, because he didn’t have the three references around him that he had at Ajax.
This is the modern game now. The hope at United is that this has an amplifying effect on every individual and Ten Hag’s overall approach. Some of his comments from the summer make it appear like the manager doesn’t think they are yet ready – but that could be a public message to both his players and the board.
Pochettino, meanwhile, came in with a completely different approach. Even though he is at a new Chelsea, where there would actually be some allowance to build for the medium term, the Argentine immediately came in like this was the Roman Abramovich era.
He spoke of having to win straight away. That may have been due to perceptions of his own career, as someone who supposedly only builds with young teams. It may also have been confidence that he’s in a situation that fits.
The new Chelsea are apparently aiming to become a higher-level Brighton, buying the best young players in the world so they develop into something much greater. This is precisely the sort of squad that Pochettino has done his best work with. Younger players have naturally tended to have the energy the Argentine requires, and are also more malleable as regards such tactical ideas. There was always a resistance to such running amid the egos of Paris Saint-Germain.
This is instead the order that Chelsea badly need, after so much chaos. There is still a lot to sift through. The squad is very far from streamlined. That is probably reflected in some of the staff still getting to grips with the number of squad members available, occasionally referring to players by their age or position rather than name. Pochettino himself has been spikier than the paternalistic role he is often cast in. This is no bad thing, though. He has been intent on immediately setting an expected standard. Pre-season has been very big on fitness, as was the case at Spurs. Pochettino and his staff want Chelsea to be a “nightmare” to play against, a force that just overwhelms teams. They are likely to do more deals, at least two. Pochettino still wants a midfielder above all. All three of these clubs are looking at Southampton’s Romeo Lavia, as all want another midfielder.
They all just have that bit more shape, though, that could yet restore old orders to the Premier League.
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