The great managerial battle, round two

The top six Premier League clubs have kept faith with their managers from last season. What can we expect to see from them in 2017-18?

The 2016-17 Premier League season was billed as being a showdown between six of the world’s elite managers. Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte were in England for the first time. Jose Mourinho had signed on at his dream job at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp was ready for his first full season at Liverpool.

Despite a growing wail of dissatisfaction from the fans, Arsene Wenger remained steadfastly in place at Arsenal. Across north London, Mauricio Pochettino was looking to build further upon his encouraging first two seasons at Tottenham.

Between them, and including caretakers, these six clubs have employed 65 different managers in the Premier League era. The 2017-18 campaign will begin with all six managers from last season still in place, though. It’s hard to see any of them leaving their posts during the season either.

Despite the heavyweights flexing their managerial muscle last season, there wasn’t a battle at the very top of the division. Chelsea’s 13-match winning run throughout the last three months of 2016 put paid to that. The true battle among them was for fourth place. This state of affairs will not have been satisfactory for managers who are this well-revered.

This season promises to be different. Lots of money has been spent on recruiting new blood, but that happens every year. The most interesting factors may be the new challenges that most of the top teams will face in 2017-18. How Mourinho, Guardiola, Conte, Klopp, Wenger and Pochettino handle these challenges will likely define the title race.

The Manchester clubs are spending big

It must be hard being an elite manager at a massive club. You think you’re a genius, while naysayers point at the insane amount you’ve spent on transfers. Both angles of this will be on display in Manchester this season.

Take Jose Mourinho. He somehow managed to keep a straight face while calling the transfer spending of rival clubs “dangerous.” This despite signing the two most expensive players in Premier League history in the last 12 months. He has since signed Nemanja Matic for £50 million.

Mourinho has certainly made a fine addition in Romelu Lukaku, who was crowned the best forward in the league last season by this site. The Belgian gets accused of failing to turn up in big games, but that wasn’t the case in 2016-17. Or at least, he did better (non-penalty) goals-wise in matches against the top six than Alexis Sanchez, Diego Costa, Harry Kane and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

United’s underlying shot numbers were better than their results suggested last season. Poor finishing scuppered them, but Lukaku scored more (non-penalty) goals in the box than any other player in 2016-17. If he brings his finishing boots, the Red Devils could have a very good season indeed.

Across town, fellow big-spending managerial messiah Pep Guardiola has been splashing the cash on full-backs.

As much as their old guard have served the club superbly, City have needed to update their full-backs for a while now. Guardiola demands a lot from those positions, and his new signings should add another dimension to their attack.

Kyle Walker created more chances and got more assists than City’s full-backs managed collectively in the league last season. Benjamin Mendy got four assists in the Champions League from the other flank for Monaco. Expect to see both flying forward at the Etihad next season.

Wembley woes for Spurs?

Spurs face a very interesting campaign in 2017-18. White Hart Lane is being expanded, so Spurs will have to contend with playing their home games at Wembley this season. Their recent record at the national stadium is terrible, with only two wins from their last 10 matches there.

One reason might be that the pitch is larger than their regular home; indeed, Spurs wanted to reduce the size of the pitch but have been refused permission. Arsenal played their European games at Wembley in the late 1990s, but Arsene Wenger has said recently it was a mistake to do so.

Mauricio Pochettino demands hard running and intense pressing from Spurs. This will be tougher on a larger pitch. Over the course of a long campaign featuring Champions League soccer, it may prove very costly.

They have also failed to add any new players to their squad. Has the cost of their stadium expansion impacted upon their transfer budget? Only Liverpool and West Brom used fewer players in the league than Spurs last season, and they have lost their first choice right-back to City. Kieran Trippier will take Walker’s spot in the XI, but it will be a testing season for Spurs’ small squad.

Arsenal’s Europa League conundrum

Arsenal fans have become bored of exiting the Champions League at the first knockout stage for the past seven seasons. The Thursday-Sunday grind of the Europa League they face in 2017-18 may make that seem like heaven.

For the first time in 18 years, the Gunners will compete in Europe’s lesser continental competition. Many teams have found balancing the needs of that tournament with their league commitments very difficult. The Wenger Out brigade could be very vocal before too long this season.

Not that things are too bad at the Emirates at the moment. Arsenal won a trophy last season, and got the most points ever by a team finishing fifth. They’ve also signed the highly rated Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.

The French international tended to play up front alone at his former club. Wenger will likely revert to the 4-2-3-1 formation he relied upon for years. Last season’s experiment with a back three may not be entirely over, though, as Arsenal started in that formation in their recent friendly with Benfica.

Liverpool must contend with European soccer

Jurgen Klopp’s Reds had a very encouraging campaign last season. Their drastic dip in form at the turn of the year cost them any hopes of trophies, but they did secure their main aim of a top four finish. How will they deal with the added fixtures?

They will certainly hope to cope better than they did in 2014-15. That season got off to a sticky start, and Brendan Rodgers ended up fielding a reserve side at the Bernabeu.

Liverpool’s transfer business that summer was a mixture of cheap but promising youngsters, and taking a punt on Mario Balotelli when other targets fell through. Things are looking much more promising this time around.

Mohamed Salah has been secured to add further pace to the Reds’ front three. He will play on the right, while last year’s hit signing Sadio Mane shifts across to the left. Klopp is expected to persist with the 4-3-3 formation which worked so well last season.

The thought of Coutinho playing behind Salah and Mane and setting up chances galore has Kopites salivating. The Brazilian has already assisted Salah twice in preseason. Liverpool only had four combinations with more assists in the whole of 2016-17.

Dominic Solanke has also looked promising in preseason. Klopp will be desperate to secure Virgil van Dijk too, though, especially since his other main target, Naby Keita, appears all but certain to stay at RB Leipzig. Liverpool have a strong starting XI but the quality drops off below that. This has been the case too often at Anfield in recent times. Injuries and international commitments fatally undermined the Reds’ trophy hopes last season, and they won’t want a repeat.

Especially as they should have Champions League soccer this season. Klopp’s ability to balance the twin demands of intense midweek games and another tilt at the top four will define the Reds’ 2017-18 campaign.

Can champions Chelsea retain their crown?

Ahead of Chelsea’s return to the Champions League, Antonio Conte has freshened up the spine of the team. Antonio Rudiger has joined from Roma to strengthen the defense. The picking apart of Monaco’s team has continued with Tiemoue Bakayoko joining the Blues in midfield. The most interesting acquisition has been Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid.

There’s no doubting the 24-year-old Spaniard’s ability. Morata bagged 15 goals and four assists in under 15 matches worth of pitch time in La Liga last season. Can he lead the line for a full season in the Premier League, though?

Diego Costa looks likely to leave, and Michy Batshuayi barely played last season. Morata has yet to play more than 1456 minutes in a top league season. He can expect to double that in 2017-18. Throw in European games, and there will be a lot of weight on the Spaniard’s shoulders.

Conte is expected to persist with the 3-4-3 formation which powered the Blues to the title last season. As Chelsea won 19 of the 22 matches which they started with those tactics, can you blame him?

Morata is a very different player to Costa; will this cause the Champions an issue? The Chelsea new boy is a more mobile forward, but he may not have the physical stature for the battles ahead. He also won’t have a gentle introduction to the Premier League. The Blues face three of last season’s top five, plus Everton, Leicester and Stoke in their opening seven matches. Welcome to England, Alvaro.

Conte was desperate for Chelsea to land Lukaku this summer. The former Blue would have been a more like-for-like replacement for Costa. Will the champions’ failure to land their manager’s top transfer target prove costly?

No club has managed to retain the Premier League title this decade. With a Champions League campaign to contend with, and new players in key positions, it will be a big ask for Chelsea to do it. Regardless of that, it promises to be an intriguing battle between the world’s elite managers at the top end of the league.