How close are we to challenging City & Liverpool ?

[Mr Pink]

They are levels above us incredible teams

We'd top the mini league between the three of us.

Conte was only in come November as well.

Couple that with a full pre season with his targets in and we'll not be levels off either of them.

 

[ShelfWatcher]

IF we keep all our key players and Skipp and Doherty fully recover, we probably are 3rd best, IF Chelsea don't improve significantly
Need two or three quality signings more before thinking about 2nd.
Its doable but, etc

 

[Wilsy]

You need absolute top quality in every position, with back-ups that can realistically challenge the starters for a place in the XI - We don't have anywhere near that, we have a good first XI but far too many squad players. Realistically we need another 6 quality signings to be challenging.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I think the answer should be pretty obvious - we took 8 of 12 points from Liverpool and City.

We don't lack the talent to compete, we lacked the consistency.


Assuming we back Conte with players of a similar mentality/ability to Romero, Deki, and Bentancur - there is no reason why we cannot compete for a title next season.

I believe that Conte has instilled a much tougher mentality in the squad - and even with CL matches, we have players who know how to win. And, we have arguably the best front-3 in the league, and a stout defense.

 

[JCRD]

It's going to be a question of consistency and for us that will be how well we add to the squad.

Liverpool and man City didn't just rebuild over one summer but several windows.

But I don't think we are far behind in terms of quality but they have such great mentality both man City and Liverpool.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Still think there’s work to do but I went from thinking we were looking at YEARS from being able to be anything of note to believing with a a great summer we could really do something special. Call it the Conte Effect but Paratici getting us 3 absolute studs really makes a big difference in our prospects, too.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I think the answer should be pretty obvious - we took 8 of 12 points from Liverpool and City.

We don't lack the talent to compete, we lacked the consistency.


Assuming we back Conte with players of a similar mentality/ability to Romero, Deki, and Bentancur - there is no reason why we cannot compete for a title next season.

I believe that Conte has instilled a much tougher mentality in the squad - and even with CL matches, we have players who know how to win. And, we have arguably the best front-3 in the league, and a stout defense.

And. assuming Conte is back next season - he won't set the goal at "Top-4"... he, and the squad will be backing themselves for a title run, with a trophy along the way. I hope the supporters have that same mentality.

 

[Saoirse]

I think we're just a bit short in depth and consistency to beat Liverpool and City to a title over 38 games. But there's absolutely no reason why we couldn't win the Champions League.

 

[Gassin's finest]

 

[tony0379]

We need 22-24 year old who are established. They'll run and run and press

 

[Tucker]

In some ways I think we are closer to them than many would think, whereas in other ways we are miles off.

Our forwards are as good as anyone in the league imo. Our defence is solid too. But our midfield and creativity is lacking and our squad depth is abysmal.

A good summer where we address the above, and I think we can at the very least challenge for the cups.

 

[SUIYHA]

Starting XIs - a couple of top quality additions, assuming that Son and Lloris don't drop off as they get further into their 30s, and we'll be there.

Overall squad - we're not even close, especially when considering teams can use five subs in the PL next season and we'll be expected to put out stronger XIs in the Champions League than we did in the Conference League.


For sure - we've got some players that they're jealous of. But beyond 5 or 6 individuals, I don't see many players in our squad that would get significant game time for those two clubs. Our bench was shocking at times this season.

Would be surprised if we finished within 10 points of either side to be honest - only way I see that happening is if we can pull multiple rabbits out of the hat this summer and if they have some sort of injury crisis / managerial implosion that brings the house down - even if we go out of all the cups early I can't see a scenario in which we put 92/93 points on the board next season.

 

[Japhet]

We need a major influx of players. Normally it would take time for them to settle, but the way Romero, Bentancur and Kulusevski have slotted in contradicts that. If we could make a few key signings that adapt as seamlessly as those 3 we'll be in terrific shape. Depth off the bench will be absolutely crucial too though.

 

[Trix]

Squad wise 6-7 players and at least 2 seasons.

 

[Guntz]

We need two transfer windows that replicate what Liverpool did in 2017/2018 - where they addressed their main weaknesses by signing Van Dijk, Fabinho, Salah, Robertson and Alisson.

Our January window went some way in doing this with Kulu and Bentancur.

1. Two Top quality CBs: Gvardiol, Bastoni, N’dicka, Bremer, De Vrij, or Torres.

2. Wingbacks: Hakimi, Perisic, Kostic, Carrasco, Raum, Singo, Baku.

3. Central midfielder: Bissouma, Neves, Tielemans, or Phillips.

4 Forward: Osimhen or Martinez.

Free transfers: Johnstone or Forster & Eriksen.

So to answer your question, we probably need 6-7 key additions that are first team quality in order to give Conte the squad to compete against City and Pool.

So it’s unlikely we get everything sorted but definitely not impossible.

 

[Derryank]

Absolutely miles off.

7 wins and 1 draw

 

[riggi]

Ffs

 

[WeGotLedley]

Esp with 5 subs, the gap on our squad depth vs first 11 will (I fear) be most telling. City esp (well.. Makes sense when grealish doesn't get in the pitch) have such depth it makes getting above their crazy totals so hard.

But, head to head, and, if somehow the stars align, does feel like we are only a few off pushing them hard. Should be a lot of fun!

 

[WiganSpur]

Starting XIs - a couple of top quality additions, assuming that Son and Lloris don't drop off as they get further into their 30s, and we'll be there.

Overall squad - we're not even close, especially when considering teams can use five subs in the PL next season and we'll be expected to put out stronger XIs in the Champions League than we did in the Conference League.


For sure - we've got some players that they're jealous of. But beyond 5 or 6 individuals, I don't see many players in our squad that would get significant game time for those two clubs. Our bench was shocking at times this season.

Would be surprised if we finished within 10 points of either side to be honest - only way I see that happening is if we can pull multiple rabbits out of the hat this summer and if they have some sort of injury crisis / managerial implosion that brings the house down - even if we go out of all the cups early I can't see a scenario in which we put 92/93 points on the board next season.

Conte will be well aware of this. If he has his way I'm expecting at least 6 signings, even if some are typical Conte experienced pros/utility players.

 

[stormfly]

We need to stop the Brighton, Southampton and Burnley performances. If we consistently start beating the teams we should beat. (Anything below the top 6) then I think we have a great chance as I’d back Conte to come up with a plan to get enough points from the top teams.