Tottenham: Will surely be considered the outsiders for a spot. Spurs are likely to lose a few top players due to no Champions League football next season. They will need to repeat what they did last season to even have a sniff at a top four finish which will be hard for them.
Liverpool: A team blooming under Kenny Dalglish and a new group of owners, Liverpool should be taken seriously. However, they still have a lot of work to do in terms of personnel, but definitely in contention next season.
These are the six teams, along with Arsenal, who will be competing for Champions League positions next season. Now having taken a look at that list, Arsenal will surely be in a dog fight for an illustrious Champions League spot next season.
I personally feel that Tottenham will find it difficult purely for the fact that top players will want Champions League football and they will be unable to offer it. So really it’s five teams and only four places up for grabs. But with the team he has got right now, Wenger can compete for those places, even if others spend heavily. Arsenal should be challenging for trophies rather than fighting for league positions in my view, and Wenger seems to agree:
‘It [finishing in the top four] is not enough, I agree. I work the whole year to win the championship. But, it is not guaranteed for anyone to be in there – not even Manchester United.’
Trophies determine how successful you are in my view. In order for this to occur Arsenal must spend. There is no need to talk about our transfer activity this summer because enough has been said. Wenger needs to look at his current team and eradicate the weak links. Wholesale changes are not needed – a few in and out would do the trick. Everyone knows that a top four finish is not what Arsenal are all about.
A club like this needs trophies. Wenger needs to spend his transfer funds wisely this summer in order to bring back the glory days to the club. If this season was a good chance to break our trophy drought, there is no reason why next season can also be an achievable one. Wenger knows his team better than anyone else, but if he does not try and improve things this summer, then Arsenal could possibly pay a huge price. They simply can’t risk being left behind.
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Criticised for their consistent lack of success.
Depends how you want to look at them
If you take them to be a top club – then criticism yes
If you take them to be a middle level club who has managed to reach top 4 – then criticism no