Beware! Premier League in danger of becoming another 2-Horse League

The 2018-19 Premier League season would certainly go down as one of the most entertaining of all time, considering the peaks both Liverpool and Manchester City scaled throughout its duration. The former racked up an incredible 97 points across 38 games and in the process, notched up the 3rd highest tally of points ever.

Yet, the Reds would start the 2019-20 season without the elusive PL title they crave, not due to any deficiency of their own but due to the excellence of their Mancunian peers.

Pep Guardiola’s men garnered 98 points along their way to become the first team since Manchester United in 2008-09 to retain the Premier League. Incidentally, the blue half of Manchester also became the recipient of the two best points totals ever achieved in the Premier League.

Thus, it leads one to question whether the brilliance of the aforementioned teams could lead to ‘the world’s most competitive league’ being reduced to just another two-pronged battle for the title or do the teams below have something in their tank to avert the unthinkable?

Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that the Premier League might just be on its way to becoming a skirmish between two superpowers, akin to what transpires in Spain and to an extent, Germany.

Since Jurgen Klopp’s arrival on Merseyside in October 2015, Liverpool has undergone a startling transition. The German was brought into the mix after Brendan Rodgers, the Reds’ previous manager, had failed to keep up the momentum of the 2013-14 season. Unsurprisingly, the club was in turmoil with no clear direction chalked out.

Klopp has made Liverpool a force to reckon with

However, Klopp, courtesy his excellent vision and man management abilities, was able to resurrect a historically strong club and bring it at par with not just England’s best but also Europe’s elite.

A plethora of new faces came in with an eye on the future as well as the present. The likes of Andrew Robertson, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold were thrust into action straightaway and the trio repaid the German massively.

In addition, Klopp has been extremely shrewd with his summer signings as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson have all made their mark.

However, the most encouraging aspect for Liverpool at this juncture is that they boast of a core which is either at the peak of its powers or moving towards it. Thus, one can expect the Reds to be challenging for every major honour under the German’s tutelage for at least a few seasons more.

Manchester City, meanwhile, have spent a lot of money and have created a title-winning machine that keeps churning out trophies. Pep Guardiola has now won every major domestic trophy on offer and the perfectionist in him would want to replicate the feat as often as possible.

However, the club might have to negotiate a transitionary phase, in light of Vincent Kompany’s departure and the waning of David Silva and Fernandinho’s powers. Yet, the Sky Blues seem well equipped to handle any obstacle thrown at them as they possess several impressive youngsters capable of taking up the mantle. Additionally, their strong financial clout makes things a tad easier in today’s inflated transfer market.

Hence, the Cityzens, like Liverpool, look on course to emulating their heroics of 2018-19.

However, the same can’t be said of the four clubs below them namely Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The summer of 2018 saw Arsenal finally line up for a game without a certain Arsene Wenger in their dug-out. Though his successor Unai Emery was able to showcase signs of promise, the old frailties resurfaced time and again and he eventually missed out on the top four bus.

Moreover, the Gunners are expected to be inexplicably cash-stricken for another transfer window which makes a squad revamp potentially problematic.

A tough summer awaits Emery

Their North London rivals, Tottenham, have enjoyed a scintillating 2018-19 season which has seen them make the UEFA Champions League Final. However, like their neighbours, the Lilywhites might also not have a lot of cash to splash in the summer.

Spurs’ beautiful stadium was recently inaugurated after a renovation exercise and it was an absolute sight to behold. Yet, the enormous amount of money spent on the arena would hamstring them financially for a season or two.

While they have an amazing group of players coupled with a superb manager at present, the lack of squad depth, which they might not be able to rectify soon, could ultimately prove to be their kryptonite.

Chelsea, the other London club in question, have problems aplenty and even though they might have more money in reserve than Arsenal or Spurs, they simply can’t put it to use. After all, they only have themselves to blame for the transfer ban they’ve contracted.

Though the Blues have an extraordinary quantum of players out on loan, it would be extremely naïve to expect them to hit the ground running at the start of the 2019-20 season.

Thus, the West Londoners are stuck with the prospect of continuing with an ageing squad which could be further depleted by the exit of Eden Hazard.

In addition, the future of Maurizio Sarri still doesn’t seem secure with numerous reports linking Frank Lampard with the managerial job at Stamford Bridge.

The questions seem to be piling up for the London clubs as the summer approaches yet their issues dwarf in comparison to what Manchester United are likely to face in the off-season.

Solskjaer and Manchester United have plenty of problems to address

The Red Devils have endured quite a fall from grace since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson. The club has shunted from a ‘handpicked manager’ (David Moyes) to a ‘system manager’ (Louis Van Gaal) and then finally to a ‘pragmatic manager’ (Jose Mourinho). Yet, United were unsuccessful in their Premier League endeavours.

With the above experiments not working out, the Red Devils decided to hand the job to one of their own, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Though the Norwegian possesses the ‘Manchester United DNA’, it would border on being ludicrous if one expects the above facet to solely be the tonic for all their ailments.

United’s case hasn’t particularly helped by the knowledge (or the lack of it) they’ve displayed in the transfer market. Countless times in the post-Fergie era, the Red Devils have made impulsive signings only to regret them later.

Thus, at this juncture, the club needs to build from scratch and even look the other way if another poor season comes along. For if they show patience now, they could reap the rewards later.

Unfortunately, though, ever since Ferguson hung up his boots, that has hardly been the way Manchester United have functioned.

Hence, one comes to the conclusion that the clubs below Manchester City and Liverpool are in tight fixes and would find it extremely tough to turn things around in a jiffy.

On the other hand, the Sky Blues and the Reds show no signs of slowing down and have an ideal roadmap for the next couple of seasons in place.

And despite the Premier League being dubbed as the most competitive where 6 teams challenge for the crown every season, maybe, just maybe, the English top-flight is transforming into a two-horse race, at least for the time being.