Plus: Paul Merson believes Tottenham fans are in for an entertaining season under Ange Postecoglou; Questions whether Arsenal can handle the expectation to challenge for the Premier League title; Insists Newcastle must finish in the top four to build on last season
Monday 14 August 2023 20:36, UK
Chelsea already look a hundred times better than last season and with Moises Caicedo moving to Stamford Bridge, they'll finish in the top four instead of Liverpool.
You could see in Sunday's game that both clubs need Caicedo and that's why he's going for £115m. Is he worth that? Not for me, but Chelsea supporters won't care how much they pay.
Liverpool were so open. I just don't see who is going to win the ball back for them. Conor Gallagher did a good job for Chelsea to break things up after a slow start, but Liverpool didn't have that.
If Liverpool had played one of the top sides, like Arsenal or Man City, on Sunday then they'd have been in trouble, it could have been four or five. They got ripped open a lot of times and were never punished.
Arsenal used to be the best team on the ball but the worst without it. You don't want Liverpool getting into that situation. You've got to get the ball back. That's why they want Caicedo. They're not trying to buy him for that money to score 15 goals from midfield like Frank Lampard used to do.
When Liverpool had the ball: very good. When they didn't: too easy.
The biggest problem Mauricio Pochettino was going to have, and every Chelsea manager had it last season, is no one knew what their best team was. You would never know who was going to play.
Before the Liverpool game, they would have taken a draw but afterwards, it was disappointing that they didn't win. Chelsea would have 100 per cent lost that game last season.
They moved the ball quicker than last season and moved it forward. Enzo Fernandez playing higher up the pitch helped him. He's top-drawer. An outstanding player. You've got to get him on the ball, it's as simple as that.
Nicolas Jackson will score goals and it will help that he won't be playing against Virgil van Dijk every week. He ran past Ibrahima Konate with the ball and he's quick for a centre-back.
There were a lot of pluses for Chelsea after the season they had last year. I expect them to go to West Ham this week and not lose. Then I expect them to beat Luton. That's a good start.
They've got to learn how to run before they start sprinting again. They were in the fast lane a couple of years ago and all of a sudden pulled a hamstring. If they get into the top four then they've done an outstanding job.
A friend of mine who is a big Tottenham fan and follows them everywhere, text me saying they would be better without Harry Kane. He knows it sounds silly but he's convinced. I'd said that they wouldn't finish in the top half without him.
I like Ange Postecoglou, I hope he does well. They're going to be like Liverpool this season: you're going to love watching them, they'll score loads of goals but they'll let a load in.
But I think Tottenham fans will be happy with that. They've been bored to death over the last few years that they'll take that. They'll take 2-2 draws at Brentford, end-to-end football, winning 3-2s and losing 4-3s. They'll give the manager a chance - I hope they do.
They've got £80-odd million to spend now but they've had that before and look what happened.
What are they going to get? I hope they don't go out and buy six or seven players from Primark. They've got to go to the top shops and buy a bit of quality. Quality over quantity.
The pressure is on Arsenal. We're all watching them now. No one expected them to finish in the top four last season. They were unlucky in the end not to win the league.
They went 2-0 up against Nottingham Forest on Saturday and you're expecting them to kick on. They sat back and got nervy. Then Forest score and suddenly you're thinking they can get another one for 2-2. Forest should have been one up when Brennan Johnson missed a sitter.
That's just pressure. If it was last season, when they weren't expected to do anything, they probably win by five or six. It's a good result for Arsenal but this is what they face now.
Eddie Nketiah never lets Arsenal down which is a big thing. The manager trusts him. I don't see him firing Arsenal to the title though. He's one you bring in for three or four games and then take him out again.
But the squad looks a little bit bare already. Jurrien Timber getting injured doesn't help and Gabriel was on the bench.
I didn't understand Thomas Partey playing at right-back instead of Takehiro Tomiyasu. Sometimes the manager complicates it and tries to be a little bit like Pep Guardiola.
I expect Arsenal to challenge Man City for the league but if they don't perform they won't even be in the top four. That's how hard this league is. There are no gimmies.
I didn't think Newcastle would lose against Aston Villa but I didn't see them winning 5-1.
Sandro Tonali made a great start with a debut goal and they've bought well with Harvey Barnes too. They play with energy and at a high tempo - other teams can't cope with it by the end of matches.
If they don't finish in the top four then they'll have underachieved because they've got to kick on. It's going to be hard. This league is phenomenal.
But you can't fall out of the Champions League places. They need to keep getting in there, keep bringing in a better quality player, and then, before you know it, they've got six or seven of them in there.
