For football fans, this time of year is a funny time.
There are no games on, and you’re longing for the season to restart, but at the same time, the news is coming thick and fast.
The transfer market is in full flow, and teams across Europe are making decisive moves for managers and players. Mo Salah has today signed a new contract, Tottenham are buying players for £60m, Manchester United are continuing their Dutch revolution, and Man City have already wrapped up several of the world’s most exciting young players ahead of the new season.
Chelsea meanwhile, have done… nothing. Well, at least they’ve not completed any deals. We’re sure they’re working hard behind the scenes, and we’re hearing plenty to indicate they’re doing business, but we can understand the frustration fans feel until there’s a done deal.
Now we’re into July, there’s a real fear we won’t get everything we need, especially considering how much we need. A glance at the online sports betting Malaysia odds will show that teams like Tottenham have drastically shortened their odds of finishing ahead of us in the table next season, just by getting stronger as we’ve got weaker.
We can reverse those changes, but it will take some serious effort – and some serious cash.
We’re two central defenders and a centre forward down – and signing those three will only take us back to where we were a year ago. We may have finished ahead of Spurs in the end, but if they’d had another few weeks they might have caught us.
Chelsea fans are all too aware of how good a coach Antonio Conte is – and if he’s given the players he wants, they will be a major threat this year.
Liverpool and Man City are streets ahead of us, and even if one of them drops off last year’s pace, we will still struggle to catch them. Man U can only get better, and even Arsenal have shown some real promise at times in the last year.
Todd Boehly knows all this, and he knows that winning the league is going to be a multiple year project. Given how much work there is to do on the team, it might be that he decides we’re better off taking things slowly and looking to build a team that peaks in three years time, rather than cashing all his chips on a doomed attempt to chase the title this year.
