PREMIER LEAGUE
‘A HOST OF INJURIES RESULTED IN LIVERPOOL STRUGGLING TO ESTABLISH ANY CONSISTENCY IN THE LEAGUE’ time last year, and the Champions League the season before, much was expected of Jurgen Klopp’s Reds. Unfortunately a host of injuries, which saw influential centre-back Virgil van Dijk out for the majority of the season, resulted in Liverpool struggling to establish any consistency in the league. Missing a number of key players was fundamental to their disappointing performance, yet the poor form of the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino should not be underplayed. Throughout Liverpool’s 18 months of success much was made of how Klopp rarely rotated his side, with his players maintaining remarkably consistent high standards. As a result, it seems almost inevitable in hindsight that injuries and a dip in form were on the horizon, and whereas Manchester City have reinforced year-in, year out, Liverpool have paid this price this season for a lack of investment in the summer after they lifted the title. The blame should not be laid solely at the feet of the former champions, as the teams that made up the rest of the top four, Manchester United and Chelsea, also failed to put pressure on the eventual winners, although the latter
PREMIER LEAGUE SUMMER TRANSFERS Harry Kane could be the headline mover in the Premier League this summer and some of his England teammates are attracting attention too…
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SOCCER360 JULY • AUGUST 2021
Injuries and key players losing form meant Liverpool’s title defence barely got started
did best City in the Champions League Final. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side came closest in the table, though finishing 12 points behind their cross-town rivals despite not partaking in the Champions League knock-out stages can hardly be seen as a success. Likewise, Chelsea’s resurgence under Thomas Tuchel came too late in the season to ever come near to Manchester City, despite beating Guardiola’s side every time they met. At times the 2020-21 season looked set to break the monopoly of the Premier League giants, with Tottenham and Everton both enjoying spells at the top of the table in early weeks. As with much of the narrative, this unpredictability was firmly over by the mid-season point as Jose Mourinho’s Spurs tenure came to an end after a spell of just eight league wins in five months. For Everton, consistency was the problem as despite winning three consecutive games three times in the season the team had similarly lengthy spells of defeats. This season did witness a change in the Premier League’s regular top six as Leicester and West Ham were able to break in at the expense of the North London clubs. While the prospect of European football is undoubtedly
Tottenham Hotspur threatened an early title challenge only to fall away – with Jose Mourinho sacked in the spring
There is one rumour that is expected to dominate the summer transfer headlines: where next for Harry Kane? The England captain revealed his desire to leave Tottenham Hotspur as the season was drawing to a close and is widely expected to be granted his wish. However, with three years remaining on his contract, and Daniel Levy a competent negotiator, the question remains which clubs will be able to afford what is expected to be a record-breaking transfer fee. Of course, the club that immediately comes to mind is Manchester City, the big-spenders having seen Sergio Aguero leave after 10 years this summer.
Sheikh Mansour is one of few owners that has the cash to stump up for Kane who is likely to want to remain in England. City’s only real financial competition within the Premier League are Manchester United and Chelsea. The former have other areas in the squad that they are likely to invest in over the summer whilst the latter have regularly refused to deal with Tottenham and that isn’t likely to change now. Thomas Tuchel already has a host of forwards in his squad, and other departments need addressing more urgently if Chelsea are to build on winning the Champions League with a Premier League title challenge.
