Can ANYBODY Stop Arsenal From Winning The Premier League Again?

Adam Clery analyzes Arsenal's chances of winning the Premier League again amid new managerial challenges for rivals and injury concerns.

Key Takeaways

Arsenal have a clear quality advantage but must manage player fatigue and injuries carefully.
New managers at rival clubs add unpredictability to the title race.
Squad depth is a critical factor in sustaining a Premier League title challenge.
Injuries and forced changes disrupt team cohesion and can impact results.
The Premier League remains unpredictable despite Arsenal’s strong position.

What the video covers

Arsenal are the defending Premier League champions and considered the best team on paper this season.
All traditional title challengers are entering the season with new managers, creating a unique competitive landscape.
There is a significant quality gap between Arsenal and the rest, with Arsenal's squad depth being exceptional.
Arsenal’s starting eleven and even their second-choice players are among the best in the league.
Injury and fatigue are major concerns for Arsenal’s key players due to their heavy workload over the past year.
Replacing injured players disrupts team dynamics and preparation, affecting overall performance.
The quality of Arsenal’s squad allows them to absorb injuries better than most teams, but consistency is key.
Other top teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Manchester United face challenges adapting to new coaches.
The unpredictability of the Premier League means surprises are always possible despite Arsenal’s dominance.
Adam Clery emphasizes the importance of managing player fitness and squad rotation to maintain title challenge.

Chapters

Why is Arsenal considered the favorite to win the Premier League again?

Arsenal is seen as the best team on paper with a high-quality starting eleven and exceptional squad depth, making them the clear favorites despite challenges.

What are the main challenges Arsenal faces this season?

The main challenges are managing player fatigue and injuries due to heavy minutes played over the past year, which could disrupt team consistency.

How do new managers at other clubs affect the Premier League title race?

All traditional challengers have new managers, which adds unpredictability and transitional challenges, potentially weakening their immediate title chances.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Right, hello everybody. Welcome to the Adam Clery Football Channel. And as the new season kicks off, like literally tomorrow, depending on when you are watching this, the question on everybody's lips is, will there be a title race? Well, not

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everybody's, obviously, but you know what I mean. Arsenal are the defending champions, undeniably the best team in the country on paper, but we're about to embark upon a truly unique season in the history of the Premier League. And that

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is because of all the teams you would traditionally expect to challenge for the title, and don't worry, I'll address that statement at some point in the video, every single one of them is about to embark upon a first full season with

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a new coach, and three of them are yet to even kick a ball in anger for their new man. So, is this going to be a procession to a second title for Arteta, or is there a major threat to them this

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season from either one of these teams, or just from themselves? Could the call be coming from inside the house? Let's have a look.

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Our usual reminder before we start that I'm doing all this running to raise a very big sum of money for charity.

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We're well on our way to doing that. The link is in the description below.

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I'll tell you all about it if you ask at the end of the video, but just that's what that's for. Okay, so just to set my stall out here at the start, and this is purely my opinion, right, the standard

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of the Premier League currently looks like this. Just purely in terms of the players available and the managers' proven effectiveness of using them, I would say you've got Arsenal way out at the top of the Premier League, then a

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pretty major gap down to Manchester City, then a small gap down to Liverpool and Manchester United, then another small gap to Tottenham, Chelsea, and Aston Villa.

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And Aston Villa should absolutely be in the group above that, by the way. But despite qualifying for the Champions League, they've still lost most of their best players. So, I would say they're more unpredictable than they should be.

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So, they're down there. And then from there, you've got every single other team that was in that bog, that mire of mid-table last season, plus Ipswich and Coventry. And then, you've got 50 ft of crap before you get to Hull City. And

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I know what you're thinking. Is that a prediction, Adam? Is that how you think the Premier League tables are going to finish? No, absolutely not.

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You cannot predict the Premier League. That's the beauty of it. This is just the starting point we have before a ball is kicked. Like, Hull are that far down from all the other teams, but they could still surprise you. That's why we watch

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this stuff. But if you do actually want a prediction, you know these good teams with all the new managers, I guarantee you one of them, one of them will get sacked before Christmas.

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Put your house on it. But yes, just to go back to the very top of this, right?

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To make the case for a title race, sound like Dr. Seuss there, you somehow have to bridge the gap between Arsenal and everybody else. So, how can you do that?

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Can you even do that? Because the thing is, if you look at Arsenal's probable best starting 11 here, right? Take a second, absorb it. All these players are very, very good. You could actually make the case that their second 11, not using a

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single one of their main starters, is as good as any of the other teams in the division this season. Like, where does that team finish, realistically, if Arteta's still the manager?

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Third or fourth? They've got six different center-backs you would be comfortable starting. And sorry, what's that? Oh, they've just signed Ezri Konsa as well. They've got seven center-backs you would be comfortable starting. And I would argue that Merino

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Bruno Eze is, in its own way, equally as good and effective a midfield as Rice, Odegaard, and Zubimendi. They would do very different things, but they're equally very exciting. Which, perversely, means the man who played this pass in their most recent game is

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actually like their seventh-choice midfielder. I'm not going to be wrong. Yes, there is a bit of a steep drop-off in the quality with the wide attackers.

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That's something Arsenal fans have wanted to see addressed. But if in terms of output, it turns out that Zolis is an upgrade on Trossard, that's still a really, really effective attack. It's maybe, honestly, one of the best squads

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we've ever seen in the Premier League. But if I was Mikel Arteta, this would be my concern. This is a nice handy little graph I have made of Arsenal's presumed 11 and the minutes they have played since they last got a

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break last summer. And honestly, when you look at that, it is obscene the amount of football that some of those players have played. Like, if Declan Rice was a dog, the RSPCA would have flown out to Mexico City this summer and

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taken him off Thomas Tuchel. 5,400 competitive, top-level, intense minutes of football in 12 months is inhuman, especially when we have literally watched him have to manage a back injury while he's been doing all this. And you would have to be

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superhuman or just extremely fortunate not to wind up missing a big chunk of the season with either injury or just fatigue. And I would honestly put most of the rest of the players in this graph in that same category. Like, Saliba is

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already injured with a back problem, and we're not sure when he's going to return. Saka had a major Achilles problem in March and never looked quite right in the World Cup. Odegaard had a knee issue that kept briefly flaring up

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as the season went on. Havertz missed almost the entire season with a knee injury that will require really careful workload management probably for the rest of his career. And even the players on that graph who are comparatively fresh are mostly only so because they

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missed big chunks of the season with soft muscle injury. So, my worry, if I was Arteta, is not about the quality of this 11, it is how often this season can you get it all on the field and for how

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long? And hey, look, don't get me wrong, they may all be genetic freaks, right?

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It might just not be an issue whatsoever, but I can guarantee you internally at Arsenal this will be a concern that the last 12 months especially may start to physically catch up with their best players. But hang on a second, Adam,

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weren't you just pulling yourself off over the quality of this second 11? Isn't that why you buy all these players? So, if they do lose one of their key men for an extended period, the standard of the guy who replaces

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them means they'll barely feel it. And yes, that is absolutely the point in doing that, but football is not that kind. Changing your team because you are forced to rather than because you want to is disruptive. It ruins your

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preparation through the week. It creates problems elsewhere. And I've always said a good way to judge the good managers from the great ones is how they are able to navigate those unforeseen selection problems. Because the reality, right, and

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take Bukayo Saka for example, how he plays for Arsenal and what he offers them is very different depending on who's around him. Like, is this Ben White or Jurrien Timber? Is this Havertz or Viktor Gyökeres? Is this Eze or

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Odegaard? Maybe the team starts a bit deeper, maybe they start a little bit higher, maybe some players instinctively look for him as soon as they get the ball, maybe others expect him to do things while they're in possession

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rather than relying on him. He becomes a different player depending on the players around him. That's one of the hardest things about managing a football team is it's never just as simple as replacing one good player with another

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one. That's why managers love to have consistency as and where they can find it and they want the changes to their 11 to be stuff they've decided to make well in advance. And don't get me wrong, I know this is a really basic point to be

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making. Like injuries are bad. Thanks, Megamind. What els

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well be based on the fatigue they're surely accruing, then the quality of that second 11 beneath it doesn't quite matter as much as you'd think. Which is why, as much as it pains me to say, I think Bruno is an absolutely brilliant

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signing for them. Like as someone who's watched pretty much every single game he's played in English football, he is not perfect as a six. He's quite limited when he's that deep and he's also not a great fit for Arsenal, I don't think, as

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an eight. But he is still a wonderful player and can play both of those positions at this sort of level. So, bringing him in as only one person reduces the amount of disruption. Like say, for example, one week you want to

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play him over Zubimendi, so he goes in at the six. But in the very next game, Declan Rice badly needs a rest, so he just brings Zubimendi back in and put Bruno there. That's only really one change you're making to that team, which

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is easier on his teammates than making two. And then, And course, there is the psychological impact on Arsenal this season, which I also think Bruno could be very important for. Cuz you see, the thing about Arsenal and I don't know if this ever came up from

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opposition fans or anybody like that, but they actually finished second three seasons in a row. That takes a toll on all of these players, never mind the fans who've had to sit through the whole thing. And you go ask any sports

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psychologist about the relief that comes from finally achieving the main goal, right? And they'll all tell you it comes at a price. And honestly, I'm not making that up, right? There's stuff called goal disengagement and the arrival fallacy, which documents in a

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lot of detail how hard it is to mentally re-engage yourself with the same task after you spent a long time trying to achieve it and then finally doing it, which is why I think someone like Bruno and today Ezri Konsa are good additions

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because they have not won the Premier League. They have not been on that journey, but they will be experienced loud voices in the dressing room that continue to drive standards even if a couple of these existing players, understandably,

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find it hard to keep going. Like neither of these two are looking to retain the Premier League this season. They are looking to win it for maybe the only time in their careers. So it doesn't really matter if I stand here and go,

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"Got a lot of question marks about how they play or how important they'd be to the system." Cuz what you're really bringing them in for is to add some motivation to a dressing room that science tells us some of these players

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could lose. So these are the challenges facing Mikel Arteta this season. And unless he navigates every single one of them perfectly, I would say they're very unlikely to improve on 85 points uh from last season. And don't get me wrong, if

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everybody miraculously stays fit, I think they could go above 90. That's how good this team is. But basic human physiology tells us that is extremely unlikely. So, the question then is, can any of the other teams get anywhere near

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that sort of total? Well, um interestingly, Michael Carrick's points per game as Manchester United manager in the Premier League was 2.30, which if you were to extrapolate that out across an entire season, would give you 87 points. So, unless, and just bring up a

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fixtures for a second, unless they massively underwhelm in those first three games, then somehow beat Manchester City before losing at home to Fulham, and we've seen that film before, I think they should probably be considered the most obvious challengers.

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Their transfer window, at the time of recording, has left them with some pretty major holes. Like, they need left-back cover, another midfielder with a bit of power, but that is still an 11 that's probably up there with the best

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in the league. Ring ring, hello? What's that? They're probably getting Carlos Baleba? Yes, I think that would be very good.

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No, I've told them. I'm on camera now. Bye. And then of course, there's Manchester City, who we just don't really know enough about at this stage.

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I actually thought they played pretty well against Arsenal in the Community Shield, but despite the domination of the ball and how weirdly good they were at the counter-press, they manufactured next to nothing in key areas and then got run ragged uh on the counter-attack.

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But, I could make the argument that's simply just the quality of the opposition they were up against that day, and this team will probably dominate against everyone else in the division. But, any other team in that division with a bit of pace and good

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transitional threat will look at that 11 and think, "Yeah, we can we can probably get at those." So, I think they'll up too many bad goals to really be a threat. And also, this would really worry me. Look at the ages of their

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outgoings and the ages of their incoming. They have let so much know-how, so much experience, and so much leadership leave that club and replaced it with players who may well be great leaders, who may well give them that quality back, but we just don't

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know at this stage. So, Marusco would have to bring a lot of very different elements together very quickly to keep them where they feel like they should be. Big ask. And then for Liverpool, it's the same really. Like losing Mo

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Salah could be an enormous gift for them tactically. Allows the manager to play the way he wants to play rather than having to accommodate someone who's got several defensive uh shortcomings, but still, that's a lot of goals you've just

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lost. And also in pre-season, they have just looked so wide open in the midfield. Like there's massive spaces between the lines, players unsuited to defending large spaces, being asked to do that because of the way they press.

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And don't get me wrong, I think this 11 will blow some teams away this season. I think they're going to be so much fun to watch, but you also have to be able to be boring and to defend in the games

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where you're not playing that well. And I think everyone has got a lot of work to do to get that part of this Liverpool team working as well as it needs to do.

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I think they'll probably look like title contenders at some point in the season, but not early enough. Then of course, there is Chelsea who could well be the surprise package here. Like Alonso is an unbelievable coach, and unlike the rest

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of them, has managed a team challenging for and in one case winning the biggest prizes in the sport. Chelsea have looked dangerous. They have looked fluid. They have looked solid if not watertight. And João Pedro has scored about a million

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goals in pre-season. And their potential starting 11, whether it's a three or a four at the back, is absolutely stacked. They've also got a number of players like Colwill and now like Rogers who will help facilitate any switch between a 3-4-2-1 and a 4-2-3-1,

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so they'll be adaptable. And they do not have European football. And for a team that talented to have one game a week and that much time on the training ground with a manager like Alonso, it's going to go one or two ways.

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They're either going to fall up in their face and be another disaster or they are going to look like king shits on day one. But just if Alonso finds anywhere near a winning formula here, like Levi Colwill stays fit, Rogers hits the

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ground running, Palmer gets anywhere near his previous levels, and probably Enzo Fernandez stays, they're going to be a massive problem this season. Maybe. And meanwhile, Tottenham, you'd expect them to be well clear of relegation this season, but the

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gap between there and the top of the league is so big, it's quite literally impossible to predict. It's hard to know exactly what their preferred 11's going to look like, but Van Hecke definitely helps with the problems they had last

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season. Senesi and Robertson are unbelievable pickups. And as someone who has watched like Bruno every single game Sandro Tonali has played in the Premier League. He is absolutely capable of elevating a team who have been down the bottom of that division and dragging

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them pretty much right the way back up where they want to be. He does occasionally have a bit of positional ill-discipline. And I think not having players like Bruno and Joelinton around him could be a weird adjustment period.

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But if there's any manager in the world who's going to be able to fix something like that, like they've gone off, it's Roberto De Zerbi. And well, as for the other teams who should absolutely be in this conversation here based on how

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good the players are and the momentum they've got, um Aston Villa finished above three of the teams I have just mentioned. They have achieved more than them on a sporting basis and yet have been completely raided for their best

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players by some of those same teams. Don't get me wrong. Look at their income. I mean, you actually think they've bought really well given what they've had to work with this summer, but that regardless is going to be a

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period of adjustment. It is another rebuild for Unai Emery. Given Champions League football on top of that, they could finish absolutely anywhere. But any logic there was in considering them title challenges, the way the Premier League works has ensured

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they're probably not going to do that now. And yes, while I'm at it, I will simply not be commenting on the fortunes of my beloved Newcastle United. The top of the league is almost certainly none of our business

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this season. So yes, there you go. Those are Arsenal's chances this season. I think by a million miles they are the best team in this league and are considered massive favorites to go and retain it, but they may have some issues

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regarding chopping and changing the team, the fitness of certain players, how disruptive that ends up being. And those are I think the realistic chances the other teams have of making a go of it. If this has somehow come off as me

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saying Arsenal aren't going to win the league, go back to the start and watch it again.

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I absolutely think they are. I'm just trying to make the case for why the season will at least be good to watch.

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And speaking of good to watch, here's me in a pair of shorts. Why am I showing you that? Because we're trying to raise loads of money here at AFC for various good causes across the course of the year. The goal is 10,000

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pounds and right now we are raising money for Mind, a mental health charity in the UK. And I'm doing that by doing all of these runs all over Europe. I just got back from Stockholm. I'm in this mess rubble

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somewhere. It was an amazing experience. But next up we've got the Great North Run, half marathon, and the Rome half marathon half marathon like the next 7 weeks. And all the money is going to Mind, who as I say they're a mental

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health charity here in the UK. If you've ever had to rely on mental health services in this country, you will know how badly understaffed and underfunded they are. So, charities like Mind do just the most important job in the world

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of making up that shortfall and ensuring people have the support they need. I'm so like genuinely honored and privileged to be doing stuff for them. So, if you have got any money kicking about, five or 10, it doesn't

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matter. It goes so much further than you think it does. It finds the people who really need it. So, the link is in the description below for that. If you have me on Instagram, I'm sorry about how many Strava posts I

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do, but a lot of this running is hard. I'm not a young man, so if I don't stay fit, I'm going to do myself a lot of fun though. That's the point.

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Subscribe to us here at the Athletic Football Channel, get me on all social medias at Athletic Interest earlier wife for more shorts content.

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And I will see you I'll see you in the new season. Cuz it starts this weekend. We'll see you on Monday with something that happened. Could be anything. Bye.

Topics:ArsenalPremier LeagueMikel Artetatitle racefootball analysisplayer injuriessquad depthnew managersPremier League 2024Adam Clery

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