Very soon we will see the start of the next Champions Cup campaign. And before the action begins, let's run through the list of obvious and not so much (read, notebooks) favorites. "Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern, Ajax, Atletico... Have you forgotten anyone?
No, I really didn't forget about Real, PSG, Tottenham. The first period of perestroika (the former leaders became old, the new ones did not appear), the Parisians were restless inside the team in the camp, and the "spurs"... These are just "spurs" that jumped over their heads in spring.
But what about the others? The Grand Catalan Grande de la Catalunya demonstrates in full what it means to depend on one person. Of course, the acquisition of Grizmann and Frankie will disguise to some extent the two main problems of the team: lack of defensive actions and volume in the first phase (i.e. from the attackers) and poor quality of ball delivery to the attacking third. The thing is that everything - the game system, individual qualities of the players, the mood of the president - is either tied on or set up as Lionel Messi. The problem is that Barcelona's Messi has only one, and in what condition he will approach the decisive stage of the tournament, it is impossible to predict. And Valverde does not shine with ideas on how to act in an attack without an Argentinean.
"Bayern Munich let Robbie and Hummels go, signed the young defenders and rented Coutinho. This will be enough for another Silver salad bowl, but no less cool players will play in the playoffs of the LC against the Bavarians. This means that such things as coaching ideas come to the fore. And on this point, Niko Kovac is inferior to much more matured colleagues. Their ceiling is 1/4.
Amsterdam left two very important players, one of them was not even systemically important - the whole system was adjusted to it. Ten Haag is a flesh adept of Cruyffian flesh, the phrase "four, three, three" is sacramental to him, and that is what football is all about. However, he came up with a way to incrustate a real diamond named de Jong into his team, partially sacrificing the basic principles of the players' location, switching to 4-2-3-1. Without Frankie, the team in the attack creates far fewer chances, which was evident even in the game with PAOK. Amsterdamers are likely to win the group, but it's unlikely they'll make it far.
"Atletico is undergoing a period of active reconstruction: Simeone is changing details every year, literally turning a heavy tank into a maneuverable robot, surrounded by a variety of weapons. Of course, the loss of Grizmann in terms of play is very significant, but not impossible to solve. And with a certain layout, this "Atletico" to some extent will be able to impose a fight in the La Liga "Barca", far from reaching the King's Cup, but even the semifinals for the younger, but still damp team will be the limit of dreams.
Thus, we have three more or less obvious favorites left. As for Juventus' prospects, it's too early to say yet - for the first time in a long time, the coach has changed, and the new one is still to be taught the players to play Sarriball. Therefore, the rest of the text will be dedicated to the strongest clubs of EPL.
Mangala, Delphi, Danilo - these players left the team. Someone has not mastered the requirements of the Guardiola, someone lacks either mentality or technique to play and win at the highest level. In return, the necessary people were signed: Rodrie's backbone hawk, the smart and technical Cancelou's wagon to the right side, and the changer for Zinchenko (Mendy, apparently, still hasn't recovered) in the face of Anhelinho.
But there is one more thing: the contract of the legend of the club Companioni has ended, and here for him he was not found a replacement. Most likely, it was supposed to use Fernandinho in the position of CZ in the matches that were not decisive. But we will come back to that.
Liverpool's behavior on the market does not coincide with anyone else's. There are no mass purchases (Real Madrid), no task to replace the team's main star (Atletico), and there is no need even for point reinforcement (as in City). Jürgen Klopp's words seem to suggest that he thinks about your transfers (though, in fact, they just need to fit in with the FFT). And what is on the way out?
The current champion of England is diligently and consistently getting rid of the remnants of the past, the preparatory stages. The changes, by the way, began 10 years ago and ate a huge amount of money aimed at systematically instilling the attacking mentality in the team and staging technically clever football. Mancini was preparing a "skeleton" for Pellegrini, who, in turn, was invited to build up the "muscle frame". And only then - Josep, as a master, who will bring all this to the level of homo.
to be continued in the next part