Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher claims that Manchester City are more likely to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League than Arsenal next year.
Speaking on The Overlap, Carragher said he has a suspicion that the Gunners have already peaked under manager Mikel Arteta and he thinks Pep Guardiola’s side will have a greater chance of regaining their crown:
“City have had the drop-off this season and I think the worry for Arsenal is and I take it back to when I played for Liverpool in that under Arteta, I think he’s been here five years and every year you get better and you get to that point and we get there under [Gerard] Houllier, we got there under [Rafael] Benitez where you just don’t make that final step, we dropped off massively.”
“Now, when you say you aren’t the team of the last two years, are you a little bit worried that we’ve actually seen peak Arsenal and Arteta? I think we have actually, the second half of last season I think was the best, I thought Arsenal were brilliant, as good as anyone in Europe and I was watching them every week thinking this is a proper team. We were talking after the game yesterday that I still think, if Liverpool go on and win the league, you can always so, who’s going to challenge the champions next season? I think I would still back Manchester City more than Arsenal right now.”
It’s a big summer for City
Any future title challenge depends on two key factors. It is believed that an independent tribunal will issue its verdict on breaches of the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules in the next couple of months.
A 7th league success in 9 years next season will depend on whether the Manchester club are found guilty and the severity of the punishment meted out.
On top of that, the Cityzens are likely to make significant changes to their squad over the summer. Up to 8 first-team players could leave and new Director of Football Hugo Viana has the unenviable task of finding replacements who possess sufficent quality.
Guardiola is sticking around
One person who will not be leaving the Etihad anytime soon is the manager. Speaking at the weekend, Pep Guardiola made it clear that he signed a new contract last year to demonstrate his long-term commitment to the club.
The fact that the 54-year-old is staying in the job will give supporters confidence that the team can start challenging for trophies again very soon.
Read our exclusive interview with Shaun Wright-Phillips. He talks about why City should still make the top 4 this season.
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